REFLECTING ON: General thoughts on the first week...
I’ve been up since 5:00am. I figure 6 hours of sleep is how I will roll during the week and then I will catch up a bit on the weekend. I feel so out of sorts and overwhelmed with all of this right now. We’ve been assigned like 1 billion pages of reading, and none of it is all that mellow. I mean, it all has to do with saving lives, right, so how could any of it be mellow?
As I read the pages over and over, I am inundated with the same thought: can I really do this? I answer, “Of course I can. Others have done it before me and so can I.” But I’ve never done this. I’ve never been through this. It is SOO overwhelming I can’t even describe it in words.
Then, the logical part of my brain kicks in: Okay, so if you can’t do all of the reading, then probably most other people can’t as well. Just keep working and do the best you can, Nat.
I really hope that working hard and plugging away is enough.
I’m going to school with some pretty cool and interesting people. Several of them even seem balanced so I’m going to try to take some hints from them.
Today, Sonia said that we were really lucky. We get to learn what we really want at an outstanding institution and that’s all that we have to do. We get to do this. It’s a privilege. It’s true. Not an obstacle—a great opportunity.
I get to work really hard and become competent at helping people. I get to be dedicated and focused and supported. I am lucky.
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I have gone through my first year of MEPN (Master's Entrance Program of Nursing) at UCSF. I have graduated and become an RN. This is my journey.
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About "One Year Nurse"
Hi there. My name is Nat. I have finished my first-year as nursing student at UCSF in their Master's Entrance Program of Nursing (MEPN). I'm now an RN. It's an accelerated program and pretty much nuts. And amazing. It's nuts and amazing. When it's all said and done, I will be a Critical Care/Trauma Clinical Nurse Specialist. Mostly I just want to figure out how to be a damn good nurse. I think I'm getting there...
This blog is an autobiographical chronicle of my experiences prior to and during my time at UCSF. I now work at a hospital in San Francisco with cardiothoracic patients on a telemetry unity. Unless otherwise noted, all entries prior to December 2007 were written as journal entries without the thought of publishing and/or blogging.
In a former life, I was a teacher, social worker, live-in group home counselor at various places in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as Newark, NJ. I currently reside in Emeryville, CA with my girlfriend, Alex, her daughter, and my cat, Little Boy. If you want a more specific picture of what I did and how it lead me to nursing, I've actually included the personal statement that got me into UCSF, dated 09/01/06.
I will write a longer entry at least monthly, with smatterings of more "bloggish" entries interspersed. Entries range from deeply personal to pedantically clinical. All my personal information is true. Clinical/procedure information is intended as my interpretation of the facts but should not be considered to be definitive. Information about clinical interactions with staff and patients, although kinda-sorta true, have had significant changes made to their names and identifying characteristics in order to protect confidential information. Most patients and staff are composites of people that I've met. Locations of hospitals and clinics will not be given. Although entries have been fictionalized to an extent, all of these events "happened" to me, if you catch my drift...consider it a memoir of sorts.
This blog is an autobiographical chronicle of my experiences prior to and during my time at UCSF. I now work at a hospital in San Francisco with cardiothoracic patients on a telemetry unity. Unless otherwise noted, all entries prior to December 2007 were written as journal entries without the thought of publishing and/or blogging.
In a former life, I was a teacher, social worker, live-in group home counselor at various places in the San Francisco Bay Area as well as Newark, NJ. I currently reside in Emeryville, CA with my girlfriend, Alex, her daughter, and my cat, Little Boy. If you want a more specific picture of what I did and how it lead me to nursing, I've actually included the personal statement that got me into UCSF, dated 09/01/06.
I will write a longer entry at least monthly, with smatterings of more "bloggish" entries interspersed. Entries range from deeply personal to pedantically clinical. All my personal information is true. Clinical/procedure information is intended as my interpretation of the facts but should not be considered to be definitive. Information about clinical interactions with staff and patients, although kinda-sorta true, have had significant changes made to their names and identifying characteristics in order to protect confidential information. Most patients and staff are composites of people that I've met. Locations of hospitals and clinics will not be given. Although entries have been fictionalized to an extent, all of these events "happened" to me, if you catch my drift...consider it a memoir of sorts.
1 comment:
My best friend(wife) will soon be entering the program, which she wants so badly, and I know its going to be very hard. She is bright, thoughtful and has a passion for helping people. Sooner then later she will be the @ the top of her field and be doing what she lives. I am there for you all the way!!!!!
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