09 to 10

It has been exactly six months since I've last posted an entry in this blog. A lot has happened and my new job and other "extra-curricular" activities have kept me busy and have prevented me from blogging. To make things simple, let me just make a list of what has happened for the past six months before I go talking about my plans for this new year.

1. I am now part of the workforce again. I am now working for an international organisation which I believe plays a great part in making the future of their clients a lot brighter, to say the least. :) I am quite enjoying myself in this new job even if it is totally different from my previous one. The people are great! I met new friends, a few them remind me of the friends I made in my previous job. Weird huh?! :) LOL.

2. A couple of days after working again, A and I were super duper uber to the nth level happy when we found out that we passed the June 2009 Nursing Licensure Exam. No words could explain the excitement and joy when we saw our names on the website of the Phil. Daily Inquirer. It was so funny because we were holding hands when we were scrolling down the page to check our names. I literally screamed at the top of my lungs (I never thought I would be able to produce such sound, a shriek only a hungry infant or a bruised toddler can make) and then the pipe works started working. I only realized that I was crying already when I tasted something salty while I was speaking with my mom-in-law. I also didn't feel that I cut myself (I have no idea where) on the side of my right thumb from all the excitement. LOL. After calling my parents, we went out to meet our other classmates and celebrated. Thank you Lord. :)

3. One of the letters that A and I are waiting for the longest time finally arrived.
This too also made me cry. Unfortunately, I cannot explain more on this as I don't want to jinx it. To my close friends, you know what this is... so thanks for your prayers.

4. I've watched two live concerts from two foreign artists. Something I haven't done in a long time. The first one is actually "A's concert" as he is a fan of the artist, Nine Inch Nails. And the second one was "my concert"... it was Katy Perry's!!!

5. Lastly, A and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary last month. We went to Tagaytay and stayed there for three days. We were able to spend quality time together and at the same time was able to eat at most of the excellent restaurants the city has to offer. I'll post another entry to show the photos of the food we ate. Yes, we had more photos of the food and the restaurants than us. LOL. Foodies indeed.

I may have forgotten other events that have happened over the past six months, I'll probably post them once I remember them. But for now, these five are at the top of my list.

Now that it is the new year... another clean slate presents itself. Another opportunity to renew ourselves (for the better I hope). I hope that for our sake, the people around us and the world we live in, let us always try to be considerate of one another. I hope and would definitely try to be optimistic. Will always look at things as being "half full" rather than "half empty". No new year's resolution as always only dreams becoming realities.

Happy 2010 everyone!

PRC Filing

Last Tuesday was a very stressful day for me. My classmates and I went to PRC for the filing. This was my first time to set foot in PRC. Getting there was already stressful as the traffic was terrible. Jeepneys move like snakes as they slither their way in those side streets. Not to mention the pedicabs that just pop out of nowhere! Haay...

So we got there around 2:30 p.m. and as we successfully parked our car (somewhere safe..hehe!), we proceeded to walk to PRC. As we got there. We still needed to have our forms and other documents notarized as part of the requirements. We had to pay 150 pesos for the notarized school documents and application forms. This I find weird because all the documents that we will be submitting are all certified by the school. Hmm... Anyway, after having all our documents ready, we proceeded inside the building. I have three words to describe what I saw: Divisoria in December. There were a lot of people and this was just outside the building. When we went in to find a shorter queue, there were more upstairs. I was beginning to think if the building could bear the weight of all the people in it. As we searched and searched for the shortest queue to have our papers processed, we found this room at the second floor where they can process everything. This was good news for us because for some, they would have to go to different queues just to get their metered stamp, the blue and white forms and the one for the payment. In that office at the second floor, they accept payment, they have the metered stamp and give out the blue and white forms. In short, combo meal slash package deal. Kulang na lang eh foot spa. Lol! We were even saying that we got the best queue and we might even end up getting the "license" too. Hahaha! How I wish!

So there at around 4:45 p.m., we were done. It was good that there were eight of us because we would each fall in line in a different queues and would switch places once done. Hehe! It was also good that we were told to go there after lunch because there were "less" students that time. Sa lagay nung pumasok kami eh less pa pala yun! Kaloka! What more if we went there in the morning. I heard from some of our classmates, that they were already there at 4:30 a.m. and was able to finish around 2:00 p.m. Yikes! I would've gone crazy if that was me!

What only made things bearable was the staff in PRC. They were all very helpful and courteous when approached. The only real thing that I disliked was the lack of organization and signs inside the building. You wouldn't know where to go first. We were even joking around saying that PRC made it that way so that the students would make sure that they pass the board so that they wouldn't have to go through with that again. Hahahaha!

All in all, it was an adventure again. I'm beginning to think that every time I go to any government office, it would be an "adventure". LOL!

We did it!

Yes, I am back! After another long break from blogging, I am here.

Last week, April 1 to be exact, April Fool's Day, was our graduation day. A and I are now BSN graduates. Woohoo! I cannot believe that it's been two years already. I remember telling A that two years is a long time to wait but I didn't even notice that it's been that long already. All the adjusting to being a student again (after eight years) has finally paid off.

So anyway, the commencement exercises was held in PICC. We were 800 BSN graduates. Imagine, 800?! Whew! That was a long list!

The guest speaker was a priest and he gave a Homily-like speech but it was ok. There were funny parts but as students, we got bored and wanted to get on with the giving of the diplomas. So while the guest speaker was ending his speech, this is what we were doing...




And once we got our diplomas, we didn't go back to our original seats. Instead, we looked for our other friends and decided to sit together. Lol. Mga pasaway! And this is what transpired while waiting for our other friends to get their diplomas.




And being the second-coursers that we are, one by one we sneaked out of the auditorium so we can start with our photo op. Lol! And here's a peak of some of the pictures....

Moi and A... "We did it!"


Ladies in Black


"Alin...alin... alin ang naiba?"


Group pic!!!


With my parents and A's mom


Now we got one more hurdle to overcome and then we're set.

I thank God for everything, my parents for being supportive in this path that I've chosen, for A who was always so patient and understanding, for the friends that I've made in this new chapter of my life (they made exams, hospital duties and our case presentation bearable!) and lastly, I would like to thank my hairstylist for this event and the 33 hairpins (yes, I counted them!) that held up my gorgeous bun. Too bad, I forgot to take a photo of it. :)

To all the graduates of 2009, congratulations!!! Woohoo!!!! *Tumbling tumbling*

No more teachers...No more books...

The crossing of the fingers and the constant prayers have paid off. A and I have (surprisingly) passed the Final exams AKA Preboards that we had last Sunday and Monday. The results were released today and our classmate, M texted us our scores. It wasn't a high score but it was a passing mark. Honestly, I wasn't really expecting this but I was hoping I'd pass.

We were really worried because we were told that if we fail in the exams, we would have to retake it. Waaaa! That would be really stressful. So I am sooo happy that A and I and also my other friends have passed the exams! Wee! Graduation here we come!!!

Dreaming of the Beach

The sun is really blazing in the afternoon and the temperature has really made itself clear that it's summer already. A lot of people have probably scheduled their summer activities already. *sigh

I so wish that I could go to the beach at least once for this summer. But I know that would be impossible. I'm so busy and my mind is so preoccupied that I can't even day dream of being in one of those Carribean cruises.

I so envy my friends who are on their way to Pangasinan and another group of friends headed to Batangas. Waaa! I want to go but I can't. My social life is on hold right now because of my studies so I guess the beach would have to wait. I'll see you next year pure white sands and sky blue sea.

Finals Week

My head is still recuperating from all the cramming I've done for our Final exams last week. And FYI, that was last Sunday and Monday. Yes, you read that right, the first day of our Final exams was on a Sunday. Given that my mind is on autopilot in the morning (and especially on weekends), it was harder because I was on two opposing planes that day. One was my usual "lethargic" self while the other one was the "high on caffeine overload" self. Let us not forget that my tummy's butterflies had butterflies in them as well. So anyway, that day was a long one. The format of the exams were like the board exam. Three exams with 100 items each for Sunday and the remaining two exams also with 100 items each was for Monday. Imagine the pain I had on my neck from looking down on the test paper for 5 1/2 hours for all three tests. But it didn't stop there, I had to take the final exam that I missed during our Intensive lecture for Psych Nursing. So that's four exams all in all. On the latter exam, my mind wasn't functioning properly anymore (as if it were on the first three tests). The questions in the exam weren't helping either because most of them were very long statements since it's a Psych exam. At the end of Day 1, both my mind and body were drained.

When we got home at around 3:30 pm, I went straight to bed and woke up at 6:00 pm. Now this is the funny part, I got up in one of those irritating ways when I just bolted up from the bed and went to get my towel. You see, I thought it was the next day already and I was going to take a bath. Good thing I saw A sleeping on the couch and mom-in-law preparing dinner. If not, I would've gone straight to the bathroom and would come out feeling really stupid and annoyed. Lol.

Day 2 was a bit different. I was more calm now because after the discussions we've had with my other classmates, we've realized that the previous day's exams were really difficult. Well, let us not blame everything on the exams but partly to blame was myself who didn't really study hard. Who was I kidding thinking of jamming everything in my sluggish brain all that was taught in just a week and a half. Haha! Good luck with that!

Going back, as I have let go of my feelings of denial and accepted the fact that it was partly me to blame, I felt a bit of regret from not watching the second Eraserheads concert. I could have watched it and would still feel this awful after the exams. Hahaha! Oh well, at least I got to watch the first one.

So there, that was how my week was. It's a Friday and yet I can't get to say "TGIF" because I have review classes on weekends. Waaa! Kuracha, ang babaeng walang pahinga!

Start of Review

It's now October and I promised myself that I'll start reading slash reviewing for the local board exam next year. I started reading one of our textbooks but can't quite remember the things I've read when I try to make a summary. My gosh, is it really like this when you're getting old? I feel like my hard drive is already full and needs to be upgraded. It's like when I'm reading the book I understand everything but once I put down the book and try to recall the concepts discussed, my mind is a complete blank. I do hope that this will change in time. Otherwise, I'd have to try taking those memory enhancers. Sigh.

Freebies

It's pretty easy to distinguish inside the classroom those who are working as doctors or medical representatives. They are the ones who are using promotional items from pharmaceutical companies. They have everything from umbrellas, bags down to pens and clocks. All have the name of a particular drug on it. I saw this particular tote from one of my classmates. It looks so stylish and to my surprise it's one of those freebies given to them. I wonder if they give out the latest video games. I don't mind if it has a certain drug name plastered all over it.

Ready for Duty

I really can't help but get anxious sometimes whenever we have our hospital duty. As a nursing student, they have high expectations whenever we are on duty. We are expected to know about the different procedures and of course the medical devices in the area of the hospital where we are assigned to.

On our last hospital duty, it was my first time to see a dialysis machine and I was really able to appreciate how the machine works. If I didn't read about it, for sure I'd just be staring blankly on the nurse staff discussing the different parts and functions of the machine. What I am looking forward too is to be assigned in the O.R. I'm sure they have lots of really cool equipment there.

I need an upgrade

They say that there are a lot of reasons why we sometimes just can't really remember everything that needs to be remembered. Like I have been feeding my brain with all these new information from all our lectures yet when I try to recap these info, I go blank. Some say it's because of drinking too much alcohol or not getting enough sleep, etc. True, but I blame old age. I may not be senile but my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be. If only our brains were like computers and we could upgrade our ram so we could absorb more information. If this was the case then I'd be able to ace every exam without really exerting too much effort. If only it were that easy.

Ma'am, yes, ma'am!

Have you ever had a teacher before that just scared the living crap out of you? Whenever he or she would enter the classroom the butterflies in your stomach would also have butterflies in their tummies as well. It was either because you'd always have a graded recitation or your teacher is the kind that was really strict and just wants everything done her way. Last week was deja vu for this kind of situation.

We had our lecture in Ethics and because our teacher was "old school", everyone was very attentive and was taking down notes (well... some pretended). She wanted our undivided attention.

The lecture was for four days and here are a few "highlights" of the lecture.

Scene #1:
Lecturer: Class, why are there empty seats here on the 4th row? This is a waste of resources! I want someone from the back row to transfer here right now!
(People at the back row were staring at each other. Walang gustong pumunta sa harap! Bwahahaha!)

Scene #2:
Lecturer: Blah, blah, blah, rhetorical question... blah, blah???
(The class remained silent)
Lecturer: Class, I am asking you a question and I want you to answer with a "yes" or "no". I want a discussion here so I want you to answer! Don't make me repeat the question again!
(Nagulat kami dahil kahit mukhang rhetorical question eh gusto nyang sumagot kami. It really wasn't a discussion, it sounded more like a court trial. LOL!)

Scene #3 (happened right after Scene #2):
Lecturer: So do you think class....
Eager classmate: "Yes!"
Lecturer: Wala pang tanong class, di pa ako tapos...

>> Bwahahahaha!!! Natakot na di maka-sagot si classmate. Nauna pa tuloy sumagot bago makatanong si ma'am. LOL!

Scene #4 (happened on our exam day and we were all holding our test papers):
Lecturer: Ok class, you have a copy of your test paper?
Class: Yes!
Lecturer: Ok, write your name on the upper left portion of your test paper.
(One of our classmates seated on the 2nd row already wrote his name after getting the test paper)
So sir, you won't be doing that anymore because you were already writing your name there a while ago, did you not? Eh pano kung sabihin kong wag ilagay ang pangalan nyo ? Pano ka na?
(We were all laughing. Ang kulit kasi ni ma'am!)

>> Pano nga naman kung di ipasulat ang name namin?! Bwahahaha!

Despite the military-type of ambience in the classroom, we had fun, we were never bored, walang time antukin dahil scary siya (LOL)and most importantly we learned a lot. :-)

And then there were THREE!

As I have mentioned in this post, I have decided to create another blog. Yup, you heard me right... another blog. This is my third! It's a blog about my crazy experiences and newly-absorbed knowledge as a student nurse. It's not a serious blog if that's what you 're all thinking. It's not one of those nursing blogs that give out information about certain medical conditions, drugs, first aid, nursing care plan, etc etc. Well... it may contain these info but written in a way that you and I can apply in our daily lives. I didn't make this third blog to sound like a lecturer but a curious, fumbling, almost and always confused student nurse.

So check it out! You might actually learn a couple of things. I know I did... :-D

http://vital-sighs.blogspot.com

I have three words for you

Finals in Pharmacology = Super Duper Hard!!!!

On a lighter note, check this out!

Early Birds

Before I go ranting and raving about the things that happened last week which I was unable to post because of our exams, I would just like to say that SOMETIMES, the early bird SCARES the worm.

I've always been early and has RARELY been late in school and in the office. My friends, especially Kay know how fast a driver my dad is. I guess I got my driving skills from him. So anyway, even now when the school is just a 10-minute drive, I still leave the house 30-45 minutes before my class starts.

Being an early bird has a lot of benefits but this morning was different. Just when Aris and I decided to go to school a little bit earlier than the usual (our class starts at 7:00 am), around 10 before six in the morning, so our friends and I can get good seats in the classroom, we received a forwarded text from our classmate that the instructor who will be handling the lecture had an emergency and so our class (where we were supposed to have a long exam) was cancelled. Argh! Grr! Kainis! I even studied till 2:00 am for our exam (although I can hardly recall the info..LOL!). Plus, I already had the make up on, my hair is pulled up neatly despite my 2 1/2 hours of sleep. Sheesh!

We learned our lesson... Never again!

Later!

The stress test in this post is really going crazy. Before it was just making sluggish movements but when I looked at it a couple of minutes ago, their movement is that of ants when you disrupt their line going to a fallen candy on the floor. I am stressed. Will post the reason why later when the coast is clear. Same goes for the Song of the Week and the numerous tags. I will do them guys. Please bear with me. :-)

I'll be back.... with a vengeance! Happy Monday everyone!

We should all do our part

Since we're in the topic of drugs, it really is no laughing matter when a loved one is sent to a drug rehab. Most of the time, keen observation is key to detect signs of addiction because drug addiction as we all know isn't just about those recreational drugs like marijuana, heroin, ecstacy, etc. Addiction could start from the most simplest pain reliever. It usually starts there until the drug has little or no effect anymore that the person taking it would look for something that is stronger than the previous one. That's why we are taught in school that just because is saying that he or she is experiencing pain that we automatically give the medicine to the patient. We have to make the necessary assessment to know if the patient is in real pain or is just there to get more drugs that he or she is addicted too.

We should all do our part to prevent or to stop drug addiction. But we should remember that they are just as members of this society as we are so they need our love and support in this endeavor.

Serious about drugs

I didn't think I wouldn't be bored in our Pharmacology class. Actually, I'm really listening very well. I was thinking last Monday before the class started that for sure after a few minutes of the lecture, my mind would be going to la-la land and I'd be daydreaming already. Instead, I was really listening the whole time even though I knew that I'm recording the lecture. One of the reasons that probably peaked my interest is the fact that administering drugs is a make it or break it situation. Or should I say, it's a matter of life OR death situation. One wrong dose or drug given to a patient and that's it. It's either the patient's condition worsens or (knock on wood!) the patient dies. When this happens, I have two words for you: "Bye-bye license".

So far, we've discussed the most common antibiotics found in hospitals. As I've mentioned in this post, we had our exam yesterday and it was really hard (again!). I never thought there were so many kinds of Penicillins. There are some that with prolonged use can cause gradual hearing loss. The generic names are so hard to pronounce and that means they are so hard to spell. Sheesh! Can you say: Sulfamethoxazole three thimes? LOL!

I have a renewed respect to Pharmacist.

Pharmacology

As I've mentioned here, things are going to be crazy this week. Last Monday was the start of our Pharma(cology) class and yesterday we had our first quiz. My gas abelgas! It was a 10-item quiz, matching type style.

You're all probably saying, the quiz should've been easy because it's a matching type quiz. No, it was NOT easy! It could have been if: 1) The number of items in column A would've had the same number of items in column B or could have had just at least 2 more in column B. Instead, there were 5 extra items in column B, that made things more confusing. 2) There were more than 2 possible answers for each number. Our professor said that he'll be doing the same format of the NCLEX exam for his tests. So that we'll be prepared once we take it. 3) We only had 15 minutes to answer the d@mn test! P-R-E-S-S-U-R-E!!!

At the first three minutes of the quiz, I was staring blankly on my paper. Hoping that the answers would magically appear. Haha! It was at that time that I wished it was just the normal identification type of exam. Things could have been easier.


Tomorrow, we would be having our second quiz. Get this, we need to memorize all 80 antibiotics, that includes their names (correct spelling), mode of action, indication and side effects. Good luck to me! I sure hope I passed the first quiz. If not, that's one bad omen.

Waaa!!!! I think I'm gonna need meds too!

Days ahead

This is going to be a stressful week. It's a Monday morning yet I feel so tired already.

My mind and body is still not ready to go back to school.

*sigh*

Still have a lot to do for my Case Analysis that is due on the 9th!!!

*a huge vein on my temple is starting to appear*

The remaining two days of my hospital duty is on Thursday and Friday.

*vein is now pulsating and growing bigger by the minute*

Clean the other room of the apartment for my future MIL.

*blood circulation is slowly depleting*

They say if these images start to move (worse if they're moving really fast!), then your stress level is high. Thank goodness they're just doing tiny jerks. Still... I am stressed.

























I definitely, definitely need to go to the spa after this week!

*daydreams: oils, soothing music, dozing off...*

Intensive Care Unit

I've been pretty busy yesterday as we were assigned for yet another hospital duty. The announcement was made last Monday so imagine my shock when they told me that I'll be having yet another duty this time in QMMC in the Medical ICU or MICU.

Thank goodness there were only six patients in the ICU yesterday because there were only two of us who showed up for the duty. We were supposed to be five in the group but I don't know what happened with the others. Actually, I would've been all alone if I didn't text my other groupmate the night before asking what time she'll be coming to the hospital. She wasn't even aware that she had a scheduled duty yesterday. Whew! Buti na lang nag text ako!

We weren't that toxic yesterday. The usual VS rounds were done but I did something new yesterday which was administering nasogastric tube feeding. This is where there's a tube inserted in the nose of the patient going down to his stomach. Another new thing was seeing how a dialysis machine works. There was one patient undergoing her dialysis session so we were briefed on how the machine operates, its parts and functions and the effects on the patient's body.

All in all, I think it was an ok duty. The only downside of being in the ICU is seeing these patients with all sorts of tubes and machines hooked on them. I was almost in tears when a nurse was doing suctioning in one of the elderly patients in the area. He was literally in tears from gagging because of the tube inserted in his mouth. I couldn't look because I might cry and it would look unprofessional. I cannot imagine going home and doing that to your loved one for the rest of his life. If only everyone can afford a home health care agency that would provide them with qualified caregivers once the patient goes home then it would be ok, I guess.

Though working in the ICU would be a good training ground for nurses, I don't think I can handle the emotional and psychological effect it would have on me. Seeing everyday patients that are in critical condition would break my heart again and again and I just don't think I can do that. Or maybe I'll get used to it. For now, I'd rather be assigned in the DR.