Monday Gosling Meme

Pickles Anyone?

So I have always wanted to try and make pickles, especially since I have been getting so many cucumbers from the garden.  I googled a whole bunch of recipes and will keep you posted with how they turn out.

From Wild and Wonderful to The American Experience

This weekend is going to be one of relaxation!  Next week the unheard of is happening ... there are NO exams.  It's hard to believe that this is the first time in 9 weeks that we have no quizzes, tests, etc. (just a paper, but I was able to bang out much of it during clinical last week).

This morning I hopped in the car to swing by DC to pick up Emily and Alex and then onto Harpers Ferry to spend some time outside hiking around.  Harpers Ferry is not only a National Park and historic town (big player in the Civil War and industry until a big flood during the Great Depression).  Not only is it a place where MD, VA and WV meet, but also where the Appalachian Trail and C&O Canal Trail meet.

Away we go!

A dance video was taken on our way back to the parking lot.  

On our way we came across Storer College which started out as a one room schoolhouse and grew into "a full-fledged degree-granting college open to all races, creeds, and colors, and men and women."  Although it was closed in 1955 it now serves as a training center for National Park rangers.

On our way back to the car we found out that they needed an extra bike tour guide (Alex was working tonight) so I volunteered.  Although I have not given a tour in 2 years it all came back to me once I started my safety talk. 

It was nice to see the Reflecting Pool filled again!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

So I do not have cable (partially I am too cheap, partially because I would get sucked in and not study), but apparently there has been quite a controversial commercial.  Cheerios, wanting to represent the American family, depicted a mixed race couple and their daughter.

Kids React brings children together to discuss various issues and in this episode they talk about, you guessed it, the infamous Cheerios commercial.  It is amazing to see how much insight these kids have and gives me some hope about where the country is headed in the next few years.  I would be curious to see a break down of demographics and geography to see if that had any impact on their responses.

Monday Gosling Meme

Cognative Overload

The other day I learned about a new theory, Cognative Load, while several of us spoke with the administration about how the program can better itself either for the last three weeks this semester and/or for classes to come.  Little known to many of us when we applied, we were the first class to start the accelerated program in the fall and the first to complete Level 3 in 10 weeks versus the normal 14 week semester.  Talk about being a ginnie pig. 

The faculty member leading the discussion started to talk about Cognative Overload, something she suspected we had after talking with us for fifteen or so minutes.  This cognitive psychology term discusses how information is controlled and the process of working memory (A.K.A what actually retains the information you are learning).  If too much information is given, hello overload, the brain is not able to process and store said information because the working memory has been maxed out.  In order for new information to be retained, the previous information needs to be processed and stored. 

 

Unfortunately, do to the speed of the program and amount of information which has to be stored, many of use are utilizing our short term memory; with only a few days to study for exams we are not able to create those longer lasting synapses which will come in handy once we start practicing.  The more information which has to be processed at one time means the more difficult it is to translate the information into one's working memory. 

So apparently your brain can be too full of knowledge.  And without letting everything sink in you can have a major information overload.  Who knew?!?

Boh, Crabs and Some SUS Love

Last weekend Meghan, fellow biker extraordinaire, and I decided to catch up and get our Maryland on with some crabs.  Even though it was 100 degrees out, nothing was going to keep us away from two of Baltimore's favorite past times: Crabs and Natty Boh.  The evening was pushed over the top by eating al fresco by the pool!

I knew I was with some serious Maylanders when people showed up with their own mallets.  

Everyone was getting into the crabs, even our favorite Jewbian.  Not to worry he still kept Kosher.

LOTS of damage was done!!

Meghan made us a patriotic trifle and these BOMB birds/golden gram things (send me the recipe)

There was lots of time for impromptu photo taking and reminiscing over the good old days a.k.a. Bike and Build Days!!  We were even able to convince Kristin to come visit after dinner

The four SUS'ians were reunited once again, but things have changed.  

Instead of taking home chips and cookies people opted for bananas.  Strange, very strange.  

The perfect evening wrapped up with a spontaneous dance party 

at the gas station down the road with this crazy kid (maybe some things have not changed).

Code Blue ... Code Blue

While everyone has to come into school with a CPR certification, none of us have really gotten a chance to use these skills in a code situation (probably a good thing).  As a part of our Adult Health II rotation today's sim was all about codes.  During the first hour we went over equipment and roles and then the second two hours we put our skills into action.  I was one of the nurses for the first sim and thankfully no code here (just some respiratory distress).  For the second one it was a full code, but thanks to our work and the professors in the control room we were able to bring him back to life.

Moday Gosling Meme

Urban Gardening Continues

After days and days and days of rain it was back over to the garden to do some heavy weeding.  Sadly I got an infestation of Mexican Bean Beetles so I had to take some stuff out.  That meant I could move some plants around for easier access and get ready for the fall harvest (kale, rainbow char and beets galore).

As I am still waiting for squash, tomatoes, peppers and corn to come in I headed over to the farmers market.  Lots of colors and good things for next week!!

First Peds Shift

Today is the day that many of us have been waiting weeks and weeks for. As you can see my mother, who is a PNP, might be just as excited or even more so because today we had out first peds rotation.  The one difference with these next five weeks is that I do not have to wake up at the crack of dawn because our shift is 1300-2300 (a strange shift, but c'est la vie). 

Over the years I have worked with tons of kids as a swim instructor/swim team coach, after school tutor and outdoor educator.  Up until this point everyone has been HEALTHY so it will be interesting to see how the next few weeks pan out. 

The joy of being in the brand new peds wing is that there is color EVERYWHERE!!  

The first day was filled with orientation and getting to know our two clinical instructors (we will have on for Thursday and one for Friday).  At JHH a pediatric patient can range from just born to one day shy of their 22nd birthday, so quite a range.  One day down and nine to go!

Monday Gosling Meme

Summertime and The Livin' is Easy

A four day weekend filled with no school work (until 2000 tonight) is just what the doctor nurse practitioner ordered. 

For much of the weekend I played with some new power tools (I was feeling completely envious of all the B&B'ers out there building houses) and put together some outdoor furniture, a table and four "chairs," to go with the newly mulched backyard.  I will now get to enjoy the shaded backyard and maybe do some studying outside the library.

First stop of the morning: coffee and raspberries from the farmers market.  Then it was into the car to swing by and pick Alex up and meet some friends at Six Flags.  Because I was a bit early I decided to stop by the National Arboretum, probably one of my MOST FAVORITE places in DC.  No filter here folks, just the real deal of the original Capitol columns

Today we spend the day running around Six Flags in the 95+ weather.  When we arrived back in the car I realized that SUS had prepared me for this very day in two ways:

1. I can function in super hot weather and not think too much about it (besides how sweaty I am)
2. I can spend the entire day outside without getting burned 

Happy Fourth of July

The Fourth of July is my second favorite holiday (after Thanksgiving).  There is nothing better than spending the day off by getting your patriotism on, eating some BBQ and watching fireworks.  Actually fireworks should probably be at the top of the list!  Things will be a little different than last year, but I thought I would share one of my favorite pictures from our ride into not-Cuba Cuba. 

5 Weeks Down and 5 to Go!

With the first half of the semester over that means we are diving head first into Peds.  After getting our feet wet in a three hour lecture we have been set loose for the 4th of July weekend.  Four glorious days of rest, relaxation and bike riding!!

ED Shadow Day

Before I tell you all about my day, can we please have a moment for Google Reader which was sadly taken from us this morning at the strike of midnight.

So this semester we are enrolled in four classes: an IT class, a 5 week OB rotation, a 5 week Peds rotation and an 11 week Adult Health 2 a.k.a. Med-Surge 2.  The difference between Adult Health 1 and 2 is we are now working on higher acuity floors; these step down floors are somewhere between an ICU and a regular med-surge floor.  One of the great things about my instructor is that she helps to set up externships and practicums for nursing students a.k.a. girlfriend has TONS of great connections with nurses/preceptors/charge nurses.

A couple of weeks ago I spent the day in the Medical ICU and today I spent the day in the ER between the trauma and regular bay area.  First I should probably debunk the myth/picture I had in my head (and I am sure that many of you do too) that a real ER is not like what we see on Grey's and/or ER.  There are no bombs in people's abdomens, no helicopter crashes on the roof.  Granted things can get wild, but not too wild because my hospital is only considered to have a level two trauma facility

While most of the people who came in were there because of MVCs (motor vehicle crash) the major highlights were: a broken femur, a back fracture, an intubation and burn patient. 

I was talking with my grandmother the other day and she said that it seems like I have not found any clinical that I was in love with/wanted to possibly pursue.  My first response was I have not hit peds and/or community health which was true.  After today I think I could consider working in an ER at least for a little time mainly because things are fairly fast paced and you would always be seeing different things. 

OB Wrap Up

We all survived our five week OB rotation despite some of our alarm clocks looking like this!

After seeing my first birth, my instructor asked me how it went.  My initial reaction "It was interesting, but DEFINITELY not my thing."  The later became a bit of a running joke, but I was able to get a lot out of the experience; I am waiting for the day when friends start becoming pregnant and the questions start pouring in.

We learned that L&D and postpartum nurses are very possessive of their moms and babies.  In many cases, you speak to friends and family as if you are going through the process yourself.  It does allow for some fun moments and mix ups like this one:

Midwives attend 70% of births in European countries and Japan compared to only 8% in the United States.  It is crazy to see how much the birthing process has changed in the US over the past few decades.  There are very few "natural births" today i.e. no inductions, no epidurals, no meds, no c/s c-sections.   What is interesting is once you start one of these interventions, lets say for example oxytocin (pitocin) is given to increase contractions, how a cascade of interventions will be needed (i.e. medications to manage pain because contractions are stronger and coming more frequently than they would normally, need for a vacuum/forceps assisted birth, c/s, etc).  In some instances these interventions can impact bonding between mother and child, as well as serious impacts on breastfeeding.  Now I am not knocking these interventions because sometimes they really are needed, but it is interesting to see how much the birthing process has changed since there was a switch between midwives and doctors.

1 in 3 births in the US today is a c/s.  While many are because of emergency cases, elective c/s are on the rise.  We are currently live in a society where "there is a pill for that," we like to have everything scheduled and follow a plan.  Planning the birth of your child works right into that mentality.

To see the opposite side of birth check out The Business of Being Born.  Many will see it as a bit granola, but gives an interesting perspective that many people don't see.  There needs to be a move towards reminding women that they have been doing this for thousands of years and this is what their bodies are supposed to do.

Anyway just some food for thought.

Monday Gosling Meme