University Life Versus Real Life

As I sit here typing I am counting down the minutes until I have to get ready for my last university class for 2013.

I have...

1 essay
1 laboratory class
2 exams
1 week - 40 hour placement

left before I can say I've finished my first year of uni.

And tell you how fast it's gone! 

Mind you I probably have spent more hours on holidays then at uni, but thats uni life.

I've always wanted to do something in medicine, and I think it's because it's always fascinated me!

The smarts, the confidence, the ability to help people.

Initially I wanted to be a doctor, this probably came from watching too many episodes of ER and Grey's Anatomy, but I thought I'd never cope and wasn't smart enough.

This usually arose from being in the higher classes which I shouldn't have been in. I was in class with kids who had been studying since primary school, I didn't even know what study was. They got 90% in every test, in every subject.

I got a few good results on a few tests so they thought, alright, we will chuck her in with the smarty pants.

Probably the worst thing ever.

I did not flourish, instead I just compared my 80% to their 90% and decided I wasn't capable and didn't want to try.

It's amazing the environment in which you are, can determine your attitude and mindset.

Next year's nursing subjects will be a bit more in line with what I always thought nursing was, working in a hospital, dealing with life and death situations.

Next year I will be going on placement in a hospital in Sydney, on a medical/surgery rotation and I will be given my own patient load...

If that doesn't sound scary I don't know what does!!!

I mean, taking a BGL on a person this year was hard enough and it was only drawing a little bit of blood, I'm not sure how I'll cope next year honestly.

It's such a huge task, but since the course is only 3 years it has to happen sooner or later.

S commented last night that they will teach me everything I need to know before I'm let out on placement. 

And yes sure enough they will teach me and tell me everything I'll need to know before I go, but the difference is the setting.

I don't have a supportive teacher telling me what I'm doing wrong nor do I have a dummy to practice on who wont go ouch.

I will be dealing with real people, real problems, and real emergency's that I will need to react to without fault. Which frightens me.

I'm not quite sure if my natural response is flight or fight yet, usually my brain just shuts down when trauma happens and I can't think things through when high adrenaline situations happen.

Hopefully I will move past that with experience and learn how to keep a cool head in extreme situations!

Anyway. As I sad, I still have an essay to finish, which is due tonight and a lab class to get ready for, and a big scary arse science test on tuesday!!!

Hope all is well and I shall see you after exams!!!

P.S. This is a photo I took at the start of the year when I got my nursing uniform.

I'm Back!!!

So I've been absent for a few weeks, my apologies. It's been quite busy down in this small town.

Clinical placement, university, study and just general life has been happening this last few weeks.

Clinical placement was, well, interesting is a good word to describe how that first week out in the life of a nurse.

First day was nerve-wrecking, made the hour long trip out to Narrandera at 645 in the morning. All teary eyed because I didn't want to go!!! 

But I left and made my way, to my surprise it was not as bad as I had made it out to be, like always. What is it with me blowing things out of proportion inside my head, is it just me?

I arrived about 20 minutes early and made my way inside to be orientated around the doctors surgery and meet everybody. The first few hours was just watching and listening. Then the fun happened.

Well depending on your perspective.

On the first day I watched the doctor remove a tumour from an elderly man's leg. The needle going in was fine, watching the doctors stick it in and move it around administering the anaesthetic, then the scalpel came out, watching him cut, I'm all good, calm fascinated. Then it came to removing the tumour and cutting underneath the tumour to remove it from the leg, still going fine. Removal of the tumour revealed the dermis layer of the skin, awesome, fascinated, white and weird all at once. Then came closing up time.

This is where it all went down hill. I did not faint, luckily, I pretty much know when I'm going to be faint so I removed myself from the room and got some fresh air. Tried going in for a second time but the heat and the nerves were getting the best of me and I just had to sit out for the rest of the procedure.

I think it was just the doctor trying to pull the two pieces of skin together and figuring out how to close it up and it just started bleeding massively when he was pulling and tugging on the skin.

So that was my first day.

On Tuesday was a completely different story! I watched the doctors remove another, wider tumour, even more pulling and tugging and I was completely fine! I watched a sebaceous cyst removed from the head, which was messy, also was a few moles removed and a wart burnt of throughout the week. And I was completely fine. So I'm just putting Monday faintness to the nerves and heat inside that room!

The rest of the week was good, took BP's and BGL's and took histories and watched the nurse do a GP management plan, which tied in more with the primary health care subject in which I was on placement for. 

I visited the podiatrist in the first day, and the physiotherapist, chemist and pathologist and the primary health care nurse.

It was a great week and saw so much, and enjoyed just experiencing the everyday working of a nurse in a doctors surgery setting.

Second semester will be full on, it already it, into the second week now, and in three weeks have another 4 weeks of placement which is exciting and daunting at the same time, but having gotten the first time out of my system, I'm sure I can handle it.

Also finishing off some crocheting projects has been a high so declutter my spare room.

If you haven't noticed from previous posts, I have been waiting patiently for the new arrival of a royal baby, now just have to wait for another baby to be born and I'll be super excited! Now pressure Kylie!

Linking up with Essentially Jess for 

Phantom Aid and Blood Minerals.

So I’ve been learning a LOT in class so far, and one of the things I’m starting to get the hang of it essay writing. I hate essay writing, I hate looking for references and I hate trying to think of my own argument but then to make it sound legitimate by backing it up with someone else’s quotes. Fun stuff really.

But I digress, the point of this post isn’t to bore you on all the details of my new adventures into academic writing, or to tell how well I’ve been doing in my marks so far (except sociology, but really, it’s sociology).

One of the main things that has been coming out of my classes, sort of like a theme running, is the inequality of health around the world and even in our backyards.

The life expectancy rate of an aboriginal is shockingly low compared to that of a Caucasian, as well as that of rural dwellers to city dwellers.

There is a 31 per cent increase in C-section births in 2007 than compared to 18 per cent from 1991.

Citizens of Africa can expect to live at least 40 years less than that of Americans or Australia.

Russia’s life expectancy has decreased by 11 years since the end of the USSR.

The question we are asked about this is why? Why are all these things happening in society today where health is so well known about, preventative measures are so well thought out.

About three-quarters of deaths under the age of 75 are considered preventable!

And chlamydia rates are rising!!!

No seriously go look up that statistic. In this day and age, where sex education is told throughout schools, safe sex is advocated everywhere you look, adults aren’t pretending like there kids aren’t having sex, so they give them the information for them to have safe sex. So why are STI’s on the rise!!

Some things baffle me, but some things sadden and hurt me deeply.

Blood minerals and phantom aid, has anyone heard of these?

If you’ve seen the movie blood diamond you already have a glimpse of what blood minerals are, take for example the mines in the Congo, have hundreds of workers being beaten and rapped on a daily basis, and all to extract minerals from the earth and rocks.

I’m not naïve, the minerals they are finding, are the ones they use in this here laptop and my mobile phone, minerals that I don’t even realise are in my computer, and that someone somewhere half way across the globe is beaten so that I can have my laptop.

It’s horrible and it makes me sick.

Phantom aid is another topic we learnt about today, in sociology actually, what I thought would be a boring topic turns out to be pretty interesting.

Now if you don’t know what Phantom Aid is, it is where the countries that gives aid, such as America, Britain, Australia and Canada, give aid to countries that are having difficulties, such as a natural disaster where they are unable to help themselves, these countries give them money. But there’s a catch. Like there always is with money.

If America gives money for aid assistance, they will stipulate that they can only use food grown by American farmers, and only if they use America shipping containers, to get them there. So in effect, what America is doing by giving this money to poorer countries, putting these restrictions on it, they are basically using their own money to fund their own economy. These countries also then have to pay the higher pay rates for American produce and carriers, so more of their aid money is taken up by this when they could put this money in to their own economy, to create jobs in their own country, save some money on the cost of food, and maybe be able to put some into medicine, education, better infrastructure, and all these types of things, but they can’t because they are having to buy more expensive food.

Or for example, when a country pledges money to another country and says, we will help you build this dam, only if you use our consultants and our builders and constructors. So effectively, half the aid money that is pledged never actually leaves the country.

This kind of aid needs to stop, and I’m quite happy to say that Australia has become stipulation free in its aid giving. But it is still very prevalent in other countries and I encourage you to go research it if you don’t already know!

Why have I never heard of phantom aid? In a world with fast news and thorough in depth investigations like all the advertisement says, why do I not know about the people suffering for the things I use!

Here is a clip we watched at school today it is a bit sad but what makes us sad, is what people are living through. I think we can take the time out of our busy lives to pray, to think of, and maybe even see what difference we can do on our side of the world. Because nothing will change if someone doesn’t take the first step!

Congo: Blood, gold and mobile phones

I know it a bits late but I'm linking up with Jess for 

Vaccinations

The start of last year I wrote a post about assignments. You can pop over and read it here

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"I lost respect for you when you took over my life, monopolised my thoughts and stole my time."

These are the words I began with when writing my first post about assignments.

This time around it's a little different. I'm a year older and feel like bit wiser, or maybe just more sane.

I have 17 assignments due this semester, which goes for 14 weeks. One of which includes 2 weeks of clinical placement in a hospital somewhere in NSW.

This may sound exciting, being able to get some hands on experience, see what the workplace is really like etc. 

But just to get to this point is a huge obstacle.

I have to order and pay for my own national police check, child safe check, first aid(which I already had thankfully) and also all my immunisations.

Immunisations they protect us and hurt us all at the same time. And I'm fine with immunisations because I'd believed that I was up to date. 

But apparently not.

My whooping (pertussis), diphtheria, and tetanus shots are all up to date, as well as my measles, mumps and rubella. Though my hep b and chicken pox shots may not be.

Hep B alone is three injections whilst chicken pox is two.

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I also need a serology (blood test), NSW Health need to be able to see how well my immunity is to all these diseases. 

But the funny thing is, a serology is not enough for Hep B, if your serology says you are immune to it, you still need documented proof you've had Hep B shots via vaccine batch no. etc. 

If you don't have those, but your serology says you have immunity to Hep B, you still need to go out and get the three course injections of a few months. 

So I'll be paying a visit to my childhood GP when I go home for Easter and hopefully he'll have proof that I had chicken pox and Hep B injections. 

If not I'll be coming home for a long, and maybe painful visit to the doctors.

So you could say I'm a tad stressed, or at least just freaking out, big time.

It's hard being away from home and feeling like you have everything to do and you don't know how to do it. 

I'm learning though, feeling more grown up everyday unfortunately.

You can guarantee that there will be a few more posts about the tumultuous journey to be able to get to my placement this semester. Which is a key component of the subject and I fail the subject if I don't go on placement.

So I'm off to continue my study of microbiology and the fundamentals of nursing, ah the joys of university! 

TwentyThirteen

INTERNET!!! Oh how I've missed you! 

This year has been so hectic! I feel like I've barely had much time (since we got internet) to be able to sit down and write a post.

I feel like I summed it up a bit with my previous post about the wedding, I will show more photos though. I haven't actually had a chance to go back to Wollongong (where the photographer is) and have a preview of the photo album, but upon this meeting I will get my own copy of all the photos taken. But so far I will show the photos that I do have copies off. 

So tune in tomorrow for some really amazing photos from the great photographers over at anna blackman images.

So what's so special about today. Well I'll tell you, it has been raining since 12 today (4pm now) and for a full January and February thus far there has been a cumulative 1 minute of rain, so to say that I'm enjoying the rain is an understatement.

This week is O week, those who haven't ever been to uni, O week is the week before uni starts. So week 1 starts off semester, O week also, Orientation week. So you learn a lot about your classes, your teaches, you receive your timetable, find out about any help that's available to you etc.

Well thats all good and dandy, if I could find the correct information for O week, the timetable of O week they had on their website isn't the one that actually happens, and since I wasn't able to attend yesterday because of work, and I thought, because of the timetable that I didn't need to be there monday.

So I turned up an hr late to my first info session but caught up quickly.

Had lots of info chucked at us.

Most of all was our clinical placement.

So if I haven't mentioned already I'm about to undertake a Bachelor of Nursing, which is really excited to start, but am a bit over-whelmed with everything thats expected of us, and most of all the expenses.

It'll cost about 500 dollars for textbooks for this semester alone, thats if I can't find them cheaper anywhere else. I also have to pay for a my own uniform for clinical placements. Also on placement, because I am attending a rural university I may have to go on a placement that is a few hours away from here, which then I need to fund my travel there and back as well as find a place to stay, and not being from around here or having any family around here. I may end up having to stay at a hotel or pub for 2 weeks while I'm away on placement. Which doesn't sound appealing.

This ^^^ does not include the money that is covered by my hecs agreement with the government, so I will be paying about 2grand or more for each semester. Isn't uni fun!?!

My one dilemma is learning all the chemistry components. I took a science workshop last week that was run by the university. Which was amazing, I enjoyed it and received a lot of good information as well as a lot of scary information. Including this like we are moving in to the age of bacteria resistance. And you know why?! Because no one finishes there full course of anti-biotics that the doctor gives them, so essentially by not finishing it you kill of the weak bacteria, leave the stronger ones which have now been exposed to a small amount of the anti biotic and are able to evolve to the become resistant to that anti biotic.

Also that E.coli can be very dangerous, but is also found naturally inside your gut, it's only when the E.coli moves from inside you intestines to somewhere else does it become dangerous. E.coli is essentially for making Vitamin K which is the blood clotting agent in your blood. 

So I learnt lots of things in this two day workshop so I am excited for starting this course!

I wont bore you any more with all these things I've learnt, even though I think its pretty amazing!!! 

I hope you have all been well and I look forward to continuing this blog, and will be updating it a lot with interesting things I learn at uni. 

Oh and marriage is going pretty well, it sucks having to cook dinner all the time, I'm not a cook, I do not enjoy it and will be looking for fast, easy, somewhat healthy recipes in the near future.

Tune in tomorrow for some more wedding pics. I post all the pro ones I have to make sure you check that out. 

Until then, good morning, good evening and good night.

Linking up with Jess for I Blog On Tuesday.