The Kick is Good!

Congratulations!  You have been accepted into the University of Manitoba Faculty of Nursing!  Now just get us your paperwork by July 31 and we won't have to break your kneecaps.

And the Waiting Begins...

Well, that went quickly, two weeks of studying in a breath and two finals in the blink of an eye.

I honestly can't really gauge how well either final went but I do feel that I was adequately prepared for both, not much more to say than that.

So, to the ones of people that read my blog, I bid you a farewell until the letter stating go/no-go for Nursing crosses my desk...

Two-week(ish) Gut Check

Roughly two lunar cycles out from my last two final exams of the year and I've got to say, with all my life experience that I've accumulated thus far, I'm still pretty nervous for 1000-level exams.  This is not to say that all 1000-level courses are easy and things get progressively more challenging as you move up through 2000, 3000, and 4000-level courses, far from it.  Remember, this is Nursing...Nursing in the 21st century...Nursing in the 21st century where it seems to matter more if you mean well that if you know what 'well' is.  The Nursing program I have decided to undertake is filled with such useful credit hours like, "Nursing Leadership: Issues and Practices" and, "Health Promotion of Older Adults and Their Families." No, I foresee a large downturn in required skill when it comes to my program but, nevertheless, there exist courses that will challenge my ability to deliver whatever it is the professor is looking for. 

My present concern, Physiology, for instance, is apparently to be taken with the understanding that you will quickly and easily form a working knowledge of the body, its major systems, and their interrelationships within three and a half months.  Being that over 110 people out of a class of roughly 275 failed the midterm, I would guess it isn't a task to be taken lightly.  Which is why I have cleared my already-barren schedule to ensure I have copious amounts of time to devote to memorizing and pantomiming the testable material.

On the other hand, Human Growth and Development (a Faculty of Nursing prerequisite) seems to run on the understanding that the lecture has very little to do with what is being tested in the exams and in the written assignments.  If you do go to class, you are treated to plethora (read: circle-jerk) of emotion-sharing and either "My mom/auntie/cousin/sister is a nurse and..." or "When I was in the hospital once..." story-telling that is sure to (read: did to me) make one's forehead sore. 

I find challenge in each of these situations and I'm not sure how things will turn out.  I have an idea of where my GPA needs to be to ensure I get into the faculty and doing any result less than very good in both these courses will not help my chances. 

Here's to merciful Physiology finals and relevant HG&D questions.

Is it really any different?

Situation:  Most couples that become pregnant will not learn the gender of their child because they don't want to "ruin the surprise" yet, when doctors ask if the couple would like to be made known of any health defects their child may have then the answer is usually 'yes'.

Question:  What is it about perceived positives and negatives that predicts our reaction to them so accurately?

Most people that I have had this sort of conversation with tend to lean towards the reasoning that gender is less consequential than their baby having Down's syndrome or spina bifida and that knowing about the 'negative' of defects is to help them prepare themselves for what is to come. 

Really? 

Let me clarify that I understand certain conditions identified while the baby is in utero are important because they can now be corrected earlier with a better prognosis of overall health for the child.  What I don't understand is the thought process where parents of an unborn child will consider ending the pregnancy due to the issue identified being "too much to handle".  At the same time, these kind of people would never consider terminating the pregnancy if they found out that their child was not the gender they were hoping for.  No, they say, that would be wrong.  Now that you mention it, in some countries it is not wrong.  In some countries it is widely accepted and encouraged to simply "delete" the unwanted pregnancies based on the gender or physical makeup of the child-to-be and try again, hoping for a "better" result. 

Is it really any different, gender and physical ability or disability?  You can draw a line in the sand and say one is different than the other but can you control either?  Is it anyone's "fault" that children have genetic and physical defects?  Is it to anyone's "credit" that the child has favourable attributes? 

It's a reflex type of opinion that people have and it is subjective and wrong simply because the decision was made before the discussion happened.  The words (many, I know) that are in quotations are the ones I hear most used and have the least amount of logical reasoning behind them. 

Have a discussion with yourself, learn something new.

The wire is in view

As we come to the halfway point of this semester, I have realized that I usually outperform my own expectations.  This hasn't changed from grade school but what HAS changed is the stress caused by constant guilt trips from my parents about my not studying for four hour chunks as they would like me to do.  Now, I just get nagging thoughts about what would happen if I would "fall below the line" in any one of my exams.  So far, one unit test in Human Growth and Development: 77%, Midterm in Nutrition:  76.7%.  I have another HGD test on Monday and then the big kahuna, Physiology is on Friday.  Apparently, the majority of the test covers neurophysiology and, as much as I hate the insane detail we're expected to memorize, I would take this course over six credit hours of "Health Promotion of Child Bearing and Child Rearing Families" any day. 

I just read this paragraph after being distracted by the men's bobsleigh coverage....it blows.  My apologies, but this blog will consist of at least 45% suck until two things happen: 1) I get back into a hospital/healthcare setting and, 2) I get into one or more classes in my next year that involve debate and/or general feeling discussion, I can't tell you how excited I am to bring you the tales of humanity!

Oh yes, there will be tears...

What I want from you

In case you know me or have been able to deduce with the content of my blog (even the fact that I have one will suffice as a reason), I have some opinions. These opinions are my own and you are here reading them but I don't want it all to stop there. In fact, I think that would be a most unfortunately premature end to what could be a most engaging, stimulating, and possibly offensive relationship. If you, the visitor to this page, would be so kind as to leave your thoughts on this page then I could rest well knowing that I'm not banging rhetoric off like-minded individuals' nodding heads. Maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about, maybe you have opinions of your own as to what I should be talking about; whatever your thoughts, do me and those that will visit this blog (all three of them) after you the favour of letting those thoughts be known.

Thanks, may the thinly-masked ridicule flow...

Let's Break it Down

I have in front of me the four year course schedule for the Nursing program at the University of Manitoba.

129 Credit hours to be taken

29 Credit hours of Clinical Nursing Practice
15 Credit hours of Biological Sciences
12 Credit hours of Social Sciences
6 Credit hours of Electives
4 Credit hours of Nursing Skills Laboratory
3 Credit hours of Mathematics (Statistics)
3 Credit hours of Pharmacology

and...

57 Credit hours of Theory-Based Nursing Courses

By my calculations the graduate nurses turned out by this institution will have spent 44.2% of their time learning theoretical and lecture-based concepts, 30.2% of their time on courses that build a basic medical knowledge-base, and 25.6% of their time with any sort of actual patient contact or physical skills application.

This means the U of M graduate nurse taking care of the severely physically abused woman in ER bed 2 will be able to empathize with the patient's family issues and accurately identify the patient's current stage in life but will only be able to slide the IV in 25% of the way after she/he has missed three times and will then be able to think of 25% of the appropriate medications to administer.

That is, if the nurse is perfect...