Monday, December 26, 2011

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

Merry christmas everyone!

Last night the family went to a cousin's house and had christmas eve dinner there. We didn't get home until about 10:30, put the kids straight to bed and hubby and I watched some tv via the net. I told my eldest, who's 10yrs, that he couldn't wake us until 8am. And he ALMOST listened - he woke us at 7:45am.... too bad I didn't get ANY sleep last night. Unfortunately it wasn't for lack of trying either....

Little tyke sprung a fever in the middle of the night and was sporting quite the diaper rash, so she woke me up being MISERABLE! I changed her bum and of course, she woke up enough that she thought that we should then wake up.... uhhh I don't think so!!! She made me make her a fresh bottle and back to bed we went.

When kiddo woke up, he first went and had a shower (like I had talked to him about having the night before) and then he came to wake us up... poor mommy made him wait the 15 minutes to open presents. Such torture I know, but hey, I learned from the best - MY parents. Hahahaha

Then I allowed little girl to turn on the tree and we opened gifts. Since kiddo's the oldest I let him be responsible for handing out the gifts, not that I didn't have to give a few reminders that he had to take time to enjoy people OPENING their gifts.

All in all the kids enjoyed opening their presents. They enjoyed what they received and I had a ball watching them through the entire process. I even got a couple of pictures. Too bad I don't know where my camera is right now and I had to use my new phone (which I'm still working out the kinks for), so we'll see what kind of quality I will get.

Now if you didn't already know, I AM a muslim - but that doesn't mean that I have to leave my roots - my culture behind just because I found myself a different religion. This is something that my husband and his family struggle with. They equate celebrating christmas to celebrating another religion's holiday. HOWEVER, the way I was raised was that there was no religion in play, just simple giving and receiving of love, presents, time and happiness....... oh and a good ol' homecooked turkey (which I'm having tomorrow since I'm a bonehead and forgot to take it out early enough.

Well there's more to say, but I have to get to bed, I have to wake up early to get my turkey ready for the oven.

Thursday, December 8, 2011

What nurses talk about....

At the end of my shift last night, a bunch of us nurses gathered to talk about a couple of things.... we talked about one of the new hire nurses (got hired at the same time as I) experiences and how it differs from the veteran nurses experiences - more like what one would do vs. what another would do.

The situation was this.... if you did a bladder scan on a patient because they were complaining about fullness and pain - found that there was a substantial amount that was being retained, would you do a straight in and out THEN call the Dr for the order OR would you call the Dr, report the finding and request an in & out, also, what would you do if a Dr refused it....

Veteran nurse said that she would NOT have waited for a Dr's order, would have done the in & out and called the Dr for the order - neglecting that policy indicates otherwise... and even said that she didn't care if she got fired for it because it was in pt's best interest.

Newbie nurses (I included) - have called Dr's for such FIRST - but this is seen as us not having a back bone.

So what would YOU do?

When I have called Dr's for in & out's, I have already done a bladder scan and feel that information is a girl's best friend. I think it's like arming yourself for when questions get asked. Now, if I had a pt who required an in & out but a physician was refusing to give one (did happen to that newbie btw), I think I would go to the unit leader/charge nurse to speak about it, since having the leader on your side is like arming yourself - it's peer review and support. I know that the nurses on my unit support one another, and their patients - and ultimately would do what's best for the patient. Even if that means going against a Dr.

The newbie kept paging that Dr. for several HOURS, probably not realizing that the other option available to him was to do the in & out without the order and that one could be obtained later from the MRP (most responsible physician).

We also talked about our past patients and where they are... one of the nurses generally checks out various units within the hospital, as some of our patients end up on rehab units, we like to know if they're still there or not...

Last night this nurse revealed that one of our patients.... the one I told this blogging world about - the woman with the MASSIVE CVA (AKA stroke). Turns out that she aspirated at home - from the family trying to feed her! And she was back in ICU, intubated and STILL not a DNR (Do not resuscitate)... it amazes me, truely astonishes me that a family would WANT to watch someone suffer. If that was MY family member, I would NOT want my family member to be a full code if they are going to have crappy quality of life. If they can barely move, can barely communicate, and are entirely dependent on others for EVERYTHING, and that the family isn't all that interested in learning to take care of this family member.

It's crappy when people keep a loved one around for THEIR need, not caring about how it is for their family member. I guess this is something that I will learn to live with, because there is NOTHING I can do about it.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

My life is a drama and everything that follows

I have two children - a boy who JUST turned 10 last week and a girl who is now 2 1/2 years.

I had my son with my previous marriage and the man was abusive - physically, psychologically, and emotionally - but I was naive to think that just because I was pregnant I had to stay. When kiddo was 4 months old, he hit me and choked me while I was holding him in my arms - that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I left him and haven't looked back.

I have since gotten married to a wonderful man - one whom I met and married within 4 months - I just KNEW that he was the one. We have the little girl together - little tyke.

My husband and I moved from my hometown (hubby was there for studies), as we didn't really have a future in my hometown so we moved south... unfortunately, I was stupid enough to think that my ex husband had grown up and could be trusted - boy was I STUPID!!!! Now I'm paying the price with the relationship b/n kiddo and myself.

I was stupid and tried to arrange things outside the courts - and it seriously backfired on my ass, I COMPLETELY got fu**ed over. We had to go to court afterall and STILL I got fu**ed by the courts.... even though I provided documentation that he was abusive and controlling and manipulative. Other people even provided affidavits and STILL the court gave kiddo to live with him, because they didn't want him to move from his hometown. The Office for the Children's Lawyer (OCL) even interviewed everyone to make a decision on what's "best" for the kiddo... you know what they asked kiddo???

OCL - "kiddo who do you want to live with"
kiddo - "my mom"
OCL - "If the court decided that you have to live with your dad, would you be alright with that"
kiddo - "yeah"

Well what child who isn't being sexually or physically abused is going to go against that other parent, but it should tell you a LOT if a child says who they "prefer" to live with. And STILL the OCL guys decided that it would be best for my son to live with that man.

I have fought for TWO years - having to go back to my hometown for court - for naught.... and even now, with a court order in place - that a-hole has the gall to keep my son from me - AND manipulate him so that he wants to leave early.

My son thinks that I am the bad person, he thinks that I have abandoned him - but he doesn't know what's happened - to his father getting me criminally charged as pay back for when he was charged with assault. He doesn't know that I didn't feel safe in my own hometown city. He doesn't know that his father is STILL verbally abusive to me and STILL tries to control and manipulate me.

Last week was his birthday - our court papers indicate that I was supposed to get him that weekend - from thurs to sunday - and I also am supposed to get him every other long weekend during the school year, and this coming weekend it was supposed to be our weekend with kiddo. The week before his birthday, the A-hole asks my mom to convince me to switch my weekends for his birthday to THIS coming weekend. And I agreed, but more for the sake of my mom because she wanted to take my son to a hypnotist show that was going on in my hometown last friday.

But where it gets really crappy is that when I explained that I should be getting him from thurs to mon (the extra day on the monday is considered the long weekend part) and the thurs & fri are due to his birthday weekend - he refuses to let me have him that period of time and tells me that unless I go to my hometown (9 HRS AWAY!!), I cannot have him.

My mom intervened on my behalf and said that she would bring my son half way so that we could see each other - but my son informed me last night via telephone that he wants to cut it short because he has a hockey game on monday... which in my opinion, I feel that family is more important than a hockey game. I get that he's 10 and hockey is really important to him but I think that his controlling and manipulative father is the one whose really behind my son's verbalizations.

Sometimes I feel so down and low that I wonder if I can continue to have my relationship with my son this way - that it just may be easier to cut all connections and tell him to get a hold of me when he's old enough to make his own decisions and at that point I'll tell him the REAL truth....

I don't know, who knows what is best!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

For those who maintain our freedom, we remember

Tomorrow is rememberance day and I want to pay tribute to those who have served and still do....




Although you serve with every part of your being, you are so often not recognized and today I want to make sure that you are.

Thank you for our freedom!


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

My own bucket list

I saw this on a fellow blogger's site and figured that I would write one myself...


#1 - Become an RN

#2 - move to Texas

#3 - get a RN job at a children's hospital and work in a NICU

#4 - Become a neonatologist/neonatal nurse practitioner


# 5 - Visit Pakistan and see where my husband grew up


# 6 - Be solely responsible for saving a life & making a difference

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Hospital addiction syndrome - who would have thought!!!!

At work we've had the "pleasure" of taking care of a particular lady.... I'll try to paint you a picture....

Age - over 18 - so an adult
Diagnosis - Sepsis secondary to abdominal absesses & NARCOTIC ABUSE
Additional information - VRE positive and thus in isolation

Now note that our unit is NEUROLOGY... not Gen. Med! But we had an open iso room and thus this patient became "ours"..... shitty luck for us!!!!

This patient became the BANE of our existance!!! He was DEMANDING and insistive.... to the point that he would have a BM on a commode (which he is COMPLETELY capable of going onto a toilet - but refuses to) and expect us nurses to empty it!!!!

Also, EVERY TWO HOURS, ON THE HOUR would this patient ring his damn bell and expect us nurses to come running with his PRN narcotic med. And then indicate that we're causing him physical AND emotional pain when we get busy (or just ignore him) when we don't have his narcotic available.

What would rightly irritate me would be when this patient would complain to me that we were causing him anguish and that "no one knows how it feels to break a bone and have pain from it".... UMMM YES I DO!!!! When I was 23 I was in a 4 wheeler (ATV) accident and had soft tissue damage and a hairline fracture of my femur.... to be in the hospital for 3 days for IV pain relief.... so YES I know how you feel!!! But I assure you, I wasn't on the buzzer paging my nurses when I was due for my pain reliever and then questioning whether they're giving me the "FULL" maximum amount - HELLO NARCOTIC ABUSER!!!!!!

Now, this is the type of patient that no matter WHAT you do for him, he is going to complain, complain and complain some more.... which causes nursing burn out..... ever heard of such a thing?! Yep, sure have... in literature, not in real life and boy was he creating it for MANY a nurses on my unit! So much so that the UNIT AS A WHOLE indicated that whoever was doing the schedule would only allow nurses to have this patient for ONE shift a week - unless they wanted him (there was ONE nurse who could stand this patient) - because anything more would cause one to think about quitting or switching units, or just calling in sick.

And an interesting thing started to happen.... based on our documentation, the doctors and administration started taking notice. And I kid you not, one of the doctor's orders is as follows:

If patient does not take prescribed antibiotic, he does not get ANY narcotic medication until he does &
If patient pulls out PICC line, he is to be immediately discharged from hospital.

OMG did this order MAKE OUR DAYS!!!! No more could he try to manipulate us nurses with his crap! We held the upper hand.

More information also started to come to head as administration got involved.... obviously we knew that this person was a narcotic abuser, but he's also a hospital hopper (we figured as much) but from the hospital that he was at last, we found out that he was diagnosed with: HOSPITAL ADDICTION SYNDROME!!!!!!

Boy did THAT one explain a few things!!! Now for those who have never heard of such a thing (I never had), it's along the same line as munchausen syndrome - which I googled and found out that it's sort of like hypochondria - the difference between the two....

munchausen syndrome people KNOW they are lying about the condition that they "say" they have..... whereas
hypochondria people BELIEVE that they actually HAVE the condition

The possibility is that this patient probably created the absesess by injecting narcotics into his abdomen to create this so that he could be admitted to a hospital and have people wait on their every need and demand!!!!! So guess what our doctors and administrators did?! GET him discharged.... now that he was MEDICALLY stable and could be managed as an outpatient, there was no reason to be in the hospital anymore.

The day that he was discharged was of course the day it was my "turn" to have him again..... I could have called in sick (seriously) then found out that he had JUST been discharged.... what a freeing feeling!!!!!!!! I could have had a party!!!!!!!!!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Do what I say, not what I do!

Haven't been around a computer much... or at least one that I can blog on, so that would explain why I haven't blogged lately.

This past weekend I spent working... little good that did me because my DARLING daughter gave me her cold/flu... and I ended up having to leave yesterday which by policy at my hospital spelled WALK-IN since OC health was closed.... and of course NO nurse slipped me in (which is what I was told "should" have happened) and spent 2 1/2 HOURS waiting to see a doc so that I could have a "sick" note.... to spend 2.5 seconds with the doctor to be told exactly what I knew was wrong! And to just go home and rest - which is what I was trying to do in the first place!!!! Geeze, sometimes I really hate the system, the health care system that is!

Now for those folks who DON'T know, I live with the husband and kids and my in laws and 3 BIL's.... makes for a cramped house and a lot of frustration (on my part mainly)... because I'm always reminded by things that THIS HOUSE IS NOT MINE!!!

I can't wait to be finished school so that I can move to Texas and get my own friggin house! Now everybody, DO NOT EVER MOVE IN WITH YOUR IN LAWS!!!!!!! I did it because it solved a lot of financial difficulties, but while it solved that, it sure did make up with other difficulties.

NOTE*** I'm about to get personal so you can skip this part if you want...
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Like how do you have sex with my husband with a house full of people?! And of course it can't be where "we" want to have it, and it has to be quiet.... who REALLY wants to watch what they say and how loud they say it when they're in the throes of love making????!!!!
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Ok I can speak again about less personal stuff.... like what would you ladies/gents do if you lost 12mg of hydromorph?! Of course make an incident report but SHIT did I want to piss in my pants when this happened to me! Now I have to meet with my manager, my nurse educator and my charge nurse.... damnit, damnit, damnit!!!!


Ok well I'll try to post more often... especially since we bought another computer!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!! It's beautiful and I love it... I'll do another post devoted to this soon.... until then, ciao everyone!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Trying to keep a balance

I've been working on my own since the beginning of September and while I still face MANY challenges, I find that it's becoming slightly easier to maintain a balance at work. I find writing my time line out helps a bit - what throws me is when ppl do things that they shouldn't, or I find things on assessment and I seriously have to think on my feet....

Like last night... I had a pt who had a PICC line in the left AC area who was c/o double/triple vision and said that he/she was becoming blind. The MRP knew about this and JUST at shift change had ordered a stat CT scan, a 500cc bolus of NS IV (over 1 hr), 25mg Maxeran, and 25mg of benadryl the latter first and they are to run concurrently with the bolus. The nurse giving me shift report hung the bolus for me and the benadryl - but the PICC (large) port was blocked and we had to use the small port but couldn't run the bolus that fast and so we had to run the bolus over 2hrs but also lower the bolus when hanging the other meds concurrently or the pump would beep - fastest we could run both meds was a TOTAL of 230cc/hr. Ok, no prob right?!

The benadryl went through and I hung the maxeran (which was supposed to help with the headache that was being complained of)... and I explained that we were giving medications to help with the complaints and that we were going to run some tests to see if anything was going on with the brain that would explain what was going on.

But little do I know that this explanation doesn't mean jack sh*t with this pt because while I'm assisting a fellow nurse in another room trying to take blood (I even had the tourniquet in place and the butterfly in my hand) - I get paged STAT to my pt's room for assistance... to find out that my patient had PULLED OUT THE PICC!!!

HOLY CRAPPPP!!!!!!!!!

Another fellow nurse was thankfully in that room and had put pressure on the AC area, and the PICC on the other side of bed. I grabbed the PICC line but couldn't determine whether the PICC tip was intact as they surgeon MAY have cut it to make it fit in place. So I go in search of a ruler to measure the PICC line... and cross reference it to what it says it SHOULD measure. Thankfully they DO measure up the same. I get a hold of the MRP and let her know what's happened and that the bolus couldn't go in - and instead of dealing with the situation herself says that she'll have the on-call medicine physician come and assess the patient. The on-call medicine physician says that she's not going to come and assess the patient until it's her time (another hour away).

When she eventually gets around to coming and seeing my patient, she simply talks to her and changes her meds to TRY to placate her... but it worked!

Ya I was wiped to say the least

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Another first

Tonight I was involved in my first code blue - the patient has been on our unit for two weeks - he wasn't very old, and was there because he fell and hit his head and had a subdural hematoma, had a craniotomy done and had a tracheostomy done. Well tonight the hospitalisst came to our unit to handle a few of our concerns and this pt was one of them.

The pt hadn't been doing well all day - don't know the exact details as this pt was obviously unstable and was therefore given to an RN, not someone I can handle... and the hospitalist decided to do a stat CT scan... found out that this person had a VERY large DVT in the one leg.

Well this person gets back up to our unit and maybe 10 minutes, the hospitalist goes into the room and next thing I know, they're calling a code blue.

Since it's my first - I go in and try to see what I can do - at the very least observe - well I stood at the door and handed out the PPE (personal protective equipment) - masks, gloves, gowns - to those who attended the code... since there waasn't anything else I could really do - can't do any of the meds, they had a respiratory therapist there already and an ICU support RN there... so I observed in my corner.

It was intersting to say the least! What an adrenalin rush - I can certainly see why some people want to be part of the code blue teams! They worked on him for 20 minutes and then pronounced him as he had had 3 pushes of epinephrine, 2 pushes of sodium bicarb, and 1 push of vasopressin.... and he wasn't profusing, they couldn't get a pulse or rhythm.... the family was CRUSSHED!!!!

I felt bad for them for sure, I couldn't even imagine losing someone THAT fast - one day there, the next day gone.... I think I should look into a living will!!! For that matter - how many of you guys out there have one?

Friday, September 23, 2011

NEVER EVER give up hope! 1% chance at living

Ok so I will preface this post by saying that this is about an actual patient of mine but am following PHIPPA rules and will not disclose information that someone can accuse me of violating confidentiality rules.

So a couple of weeks back I was given my patient assignment and one of them had to do with a woman who had a stroke. Now I work on a neurology unit so this isn't anything new to me. What WAS new for me was this patient was in a coma. That's not normal! Even in a stroke patient, it's VERY rare to get a patient on MY unit who is comatosed.

I spoke with the neurologist to explain to me why my patient is comatose and what the chances were of this patient #1 surviving and #2 waking up.

His answer to my question was this:
#1 - he asked me what I defined as "surviving" - which I told him, was living - with or without deficits (which I told him I knew she was going to have)

#2 - he then showed me her CT scan....

HOLY SHIT BALLLS!!!!!!!!!!!! If you saw this woman's CT scan you would have to wonder how this woman was even alive at this point!!! The neurologist showed me the CT scan from when she was first seen in ER and then the most recent one that was 4 days after.

COMPLETE right sided necrosis - the right sided artery that feeds that side was 100% blocked - the swelling had caused a midline shift (which even I knew was BAAAAAAAAD) of almost 2cm - please remember that one's head is NOT very big and therefore this equals BAD!!!!! Also, any space that the brain had (pockets if you would cause I don't know the exact terms), were taken up by swelling.... her brain had herniated DOWNWARDS and was pushing on her brain stem... again NOT GOOD!!!

When I assessed this patient - she had NO gag reflex, was aspirating her saliva, had no pain reflex, left pupil was blown, was in a DEEP coma.... I explained to this family that if she didn't die from her heart stopping or her breathing stopping, that she would die from aspirating the saliva. Let's just say that the family took the news HARD!!!!

Now it doesn't seem to me that the family is necessarily religious but BOY did that family absolutely believe this woman would pull through and survive. They understood that even IF she did survive that there would be GLOBAL, CAATASTROPHIC deficits, they were OK with this!!! When this was all happening, they were asking if they could take her back to her hometown.... but that they would NOT make her a DNR.... something that did NOT sit well with MANY of the nurses - or neurologists/physicians that have been involved with this lady's care. But hey, we're not here to pass judgement, but to give INFORMED choices!!!

Now, I haven't been able to be her nurse much since I had her as my patient but have kept tabs on her - the family and I have really bonded... they love me!!! LOL
They felt like I was the only one who was supporting them without judgement - which is exactly what I was doing. The other day her daughter saw me in the hall and told me that her mom was moving.... I could hardly believe it. So I asked her to demonstrate it for me.... I followed her into the room and SURE ENOUGH... she friggin moved! Now mind you, she could ONLY wiggle her fingers and toes - but would only do it if the family was speaking her language - a specific dialect. But move that woman did!

Well ladies and gents - I had this patient again - and was able to see her most recent CT scan - and no wonder she has come out of the coma - her herniation has decreased, not completely but certainly dramatically. Also, the midline shift has decreased significantly - which explains why her coma has lifted. Now, that's not to say that it's completely lifted, she can still barely open her eyes, hardly move her unaffected side and certainly can't speak yet - but she's reacting.... which just goes to show that even when clinically the picture indicates that this patient is a hopeless cause - DON'T GIVE UP HOPE!!!!!!!!!!! And ALWAYS, ALWAYS, give support and love and care for your patients AND their families!!!!

On the first attempt!

Today I have hit a milestone -

I did my FIRST IV initiation today - and did it the FIRST try!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY for me!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been writing a post about what I've been experiencing but it's taking me forever - sorry to take so long to write an update

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

A new chapter has begun

Ramadan has officially begun - at the beginning of August. Not quite half way done but already looking forward to it being over. Not being able to eat anythign or drink anything ALL DAY LONG is HARD!!!! Really really hard! Especially since this Ramadan I would take the same perspective of Christian Lent - you know, around easter where the christians give something up for the sake of God? Well I figured that i would do something during Ramadan to honour God and the relationship that I have with him.

So I figured that I would wear the hijab - head covering - since this is not something I would normally do... I get WAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY too warm. Hubby let me buy some new head scarves and caps so that I could do it correctly. I don't know if it's the shape of my head but if I don't wear the cap and try to only wear the scarf, the scarf slips back and uncovers my hair. Now really, what's the point of wearing the hijab if I'm not covering my hair?! That IS the hole point of a hijab. So now that I have the caps and thinner scarves, I've been doing it for almost 2 weeks. It's been good so far - but let me tell ya, you get sooooo warm. Espcially when doing patient care.

And speaking of patient care - I started my new job - in the hospital, on the neurology unit. Which is neurology with a side of medicine. Not a lot of active neurology on the unit at the moment. Today was my second day of orientation. I already feel at home. The reason for this is that I did my pre grad placement on this very same unit last year so I already know my way around and the team and the doctors.

Remembering me is another story! SOOOO many of them keep asking me if I'm a student, guess I still look a little unsure maybe, who knows! Always telling one person or another that nope, I've been here before. Then comes the question of when and thus having to explain that I was there last year for my pre grad and who my preceptor was - and that usually sparks some recognition. Though, many ppl say that I look dramatically different with my hijab on. I mean, even one of the nurses that I worked closely with last year (BFF with my preceptor), said that he didn't recognize me, but only by my voice. Thankfully his BFF (and my preceptor) was there and smacked him and was like "you dork, it's Dee, the student I had with me last year" DUHHHH! LOL

Tomorrow (Thurs), I have my skills mastery course - runs thurs, fri, mon - to teach some of the expanded scope skills that RPN's (registered practical nurses) use at this hospital - blood administration, IV initiation, phlebotomy - to name a few. So this should be slightly interesting. I've already taken the IV initiation and phlebotomy course so that will be a repeat but it will give me a chance to brush up on my skills and practice a bit.

Oh, also speaking of early - I HATE DAY SHIFTS!!!!!!!!!!!!! Loath them! My body just DOESN'T wake up that early.... and guess what line I was hired for???? DAYS & EVENINGS!!!! I talked to my manager and he explained that I'm obligated to work 20% of either of them - so I have to be conscious of what my schedule looks like, don't want to get in trouble when I go to trade my days for something better!

Suppose I should head to bed, have to get up early to go to this thing.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Almost Ramadan...

I'm a muslim and August is the month of Ramadan. This year it runs from Aug. 1 to Sept. 1st. Last year was my first fast and I really sucked at keeping it.

This year I'm REALLY going to try to keep the fast. I can not eat, what I find difficult is not drinking. Also this year I`m going to be working a whole lot more often, and inside a hospital - which is REALLY dry and so I`m going to be even more thirsty. So this month is going to be interesting.

Also this Ramadan, I`m going to try to wear my hijab EVERY day. Currently I only wear it to pray. I feel the compulsion to wear it more often, but I get super over heated. Additionally, keeping my hijab onto of my head is difficullt. It always keeps slipping off my head and shows my hair. This is exactly opposite of what is supposed to happen. My hair is supposed to remain covered. I`m hoping that I`ll be able to wear my hijab when I`m at work as it`s air conditioned there. Inshallah (God willing) I will be able to keep my fast and keep my head covered - as this is God`s wish for me!

Friday, July 15, 2011

A daring new road

July has been SUCH a great month for me. At the behest of my husband I applied for schools, hoping that I would get in to complete my bachelors in nursing. Well July I found out that INDEED, I was accepted. Now I wait to find out how many transfer credits I will receive.

I applied for the LPN (practical nurse) to RN (registered nurse) track as this is a shorter time period than a traditional track (2 yrs vs. 4 yrs!).

It's taking a while for the transfer credit aspect to be completed (over a month already) as there is only ONE person who does this job for all the international transfer students. I'm finding it frustrating that it's taking so long but I have faith that the longer it takes, the more transfer credits I will receive. Besides, I have time - I'm not set to start the program until january anyways.

I live in Southern Ontario, in Canada. One of the greatest aspects of this university is that I can do the program distantly and do the practical aspect (placements) at a hospital in the closest area to where I live - or I could move but that just doesn't work for us!

Unfortunately, the closest place that my school recognizes is a long ways away. As such, I must travel to do my placements - a MINIMUM of 2 hrs driving - in GOOD weather! Hopefully I'll only have to do this once a week!!!!

Another reason that July has been such a great month for me is that I was offered - and accepted a position in a hospital!!! Where I live that is momentus, as you must know someone within the hospital to get in - it's just THAT difficult!!!! Thankfully my preceptor when I was completing my pre grad for my practical nursing gave my resume to his unit manager to get me that "in" to get the job. I was given an interview and was offered the job!!! YAY for me!!! Now I start the job on Aug. 8th and CANNOT wait!!!

Supposedly good news comes in threes, the ONLY way this could get ANY better was either if the uni told me I only had to take the placement courses to complete my degree OR if husband would agree to have another child - as if that one would EVER happen! LOL - he wants to wait until my degree is at least completed - which is definately the smarter move, I just see how quickly my 2 yr old is growing up and I miss the baby stage and wish that she had another sibling (We also have a 9 1/2 yr old boy).