Well, you all told me it was possible and I never quite believed it, but I made it through First Year! 

OK, so I obviously could have told you all that 6 months ago, but what I didn't know is that I not only made it onto the Dean's Merit List but I was awarded the prize for Top 1st Year Nursing Student!

So thanks for all the support folks! Rereading your comments motivated me, made me smile, made me cry and for all of those things I am incredibly grateful!

What Happened To You

OK, so I have been incredibly slack! Well here is the update.
I am now 7 weeks into my degree and struggling to keep up with the lectures, tutorials, simulations and workshops. Then there is the assignments (one down and 4 due in the next 3 weeks) and the exams (one down and 2 more this week). My first clinical placement is in less than 6 weeks and I feel like the only thing I am competent at is Hand Washing and Making Beds! I had to hunt for a new house and then move in the first month of uni and three weeks later the only thing fully unpacked is my new study (no longer working in the livingroom). I 'lost' a very expensive textbook only to find it a week later in plain view on top of the printer. My 7 year old is coming home from school and lecturing me on neuroscience and drawing diagrams of nerve cells and brains (he was absolutely mortified that I didn't know what the Corpus Colossus was). I am pitifully broke and my love life is nonexistent. To summarise, I am a mess!
But I am loving it! I have never been happier! This truly is the best thing I have ever done!
So sorry for neglecting the blogosphere, I will make a concerted effort to write more often. In fact I have already started composing my next post in my head!

Stay Safe
Nurse Wannabe

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone.]

Doin A Happy Dance!

It's been a long wait to find out, but on Friday morning I got an Offer from the University! I officially start the Bachelor of Nursing program in February!!!!

I'M IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Time Continues To Creep Along......

Well, the end of the road is in sight! I have submitted my scholarship applications for next year with only days to spare and now I am at a bit of a loss. 
My University application is 'pending', but applications for those close on Friday as well, so I am now just hanging around waiting to hear back from everyone to tell me if they will let me do what I want. 
God only knows what I will do if I don't get in because I really don't have a 'Plan B'.
Should I have a 'Plan B'???

Perfect Day!

 Perfect start to the School Holidays! Found a quiet spot away from the tourists and lay back in the sun watching my boy play. The only drama was the fight over the prawn he caught and wanted to take home as a pet. I told him I was not going to allow him to take home a dead prawn, to which his reply was 'I am sure I felt a pulse!' Shit Eh! Still looks dead to me! Needless to say we are now the proud owners of a dead prawn!

Got Lucky Again!

My son and I got lucky again today! Took his scooter out for a ride along the airport and not only saw a plane land and take off but were also lucky enough to catch the RAAF (Airforce) Rescue Chopper as it did a brief fuel and coffee stop. Awesome!

It Just Gets Worse

I am writing this as I watch my good friend bounce off the walls.
This week has been very challenging for him. His primary carer has pretty much discovered that she is in no way prepared for the realities of helping someone through the last stages of life and asked him to move out. He had already been advised by his nursing service that it might be a good idea to sort out other accommodation as the situation there is less than ideal but this was something he was going to take his time considering and not something he expected to be thrust upon him while on holidays via email and text message. Says it all really! The stress of all of this has been showing in various ways, but none so impacting as the effect on his health.
Last night he asked me if the right side of his face looked funny, but I could not notice anything wrong. His eye was weeping and he was having minor difficulties eating but was not especially worried. We went to sleep last night and he slept till 5pm this afternoon. When he woke up his face was noticeably different and after several hours of analysing how it felt he agreed to get it checked. So off to Small Town Hospital we went. Well the verdict was Bells Palsy possibly caused by a minor stroke. It is a little hard to really tell what is going on because of the sheer amount of narcotics and neuroblockers he is taking. Also our small hospital is obviously not equipped to run certain tests, but after consultation with his usual hospital he has been put on steroids and we will take it from there.
Needless to say he is taking this latest downturn quite hard. That is evident in the fact that since we returned home he has cleaned my shower, toilet and sink, scrubbed my kitchen and now has spent the last hour melting down my old candles and making new ones. And this is after taking 15mg of Valium! Holy Crap! The man won't stop! And at this stage there is nothing I can do but sit here and and watch him be a human yo-yo and make sure he doesn't burn down my house. So I will stay up until he winds down and hope that tomorrow brings him some small measure of peace and acceptance.
Thanks for listening to my ill-composed waffling but I really needed to vent.


Stay Safe - Nurse Wannabe 

On Watching Death Slowly Encroach

There are times when life seems so unfair! I have a good friend who is at the moment fighting a battle with AIDS and over the last 12 months has been on a decline with AIDS Dementia Complex that has been noticeable even from where I am 600+ kms away. The strange part of this whole situation is that He and I went to school together 20 something years ago. We were not really close friends at the time and had no contact for 20 years, but after my separation last year we came into contact on Facebook and so evolved a great friendship, from smartarsed comments on Status Updates, to text messages, to long phone conversations. We have for the last twelve months been planning a reunion, but we still had not seen each other and my fear was that we may not before his health declined to the point that made it impossible. I consider this man one of the best friends I have. He has been one of my greatest supporters over the last year and although he has been going through some incredibly hard periods of reflection and adjustment in his own life he has been there for me through my now seemingly small highs and lows.
Several weeks ago he sent me an email intended for all of his close friends detailing his illness and it's progression. I was asked to proofread this incredibly powerful, courageous and confronting piece of writing and it really touched me. I was able to read between the lines and see that he saw the end. What he spoke of had been known to many but never actually verbalised. For the first time I fully understood. What we had spoken of in the past regarding his health problems was suddenly all bought onto focus. This email has for him been a very brave step and been received by the recipients with varying responses.
I am lucky enough that this wonderful man thinks me important enough in his life, that in his declining health, he has made a 9 hour bus trip to spend a week with me in person. There must be so many others who are so much more deserving of this honour.
So I now find myself at 4:30am sitting in my living room across from this great man, and my mind is spinning with the gravity of the things he has shared with me. I am completely humbled by the knowledge that he has bared his soul to me in so many ways. There is so much more I want to get off my chest but to do so would I feel break the trust he has given me by sharing so much.
I truly am honoured to have a small part in his story and hope that that story continues on for some time yet.
Thanks for listening.
Stay safe - Nurse Wannabe

One Very Happy Camper!

This morning I had a rather upsetting fight with my ex, which I must say, left me in quite a state. I left there angry and shaking like a leaf. So I went to sit by the lake and regain some of my calm but found that after the anger receded it was replaced with a great wave of depression, followed once more by more anger, which no amount of deep breathing seemed to dislodge. 'Feel it and let it go' was not working and my normal therapy - grab the camera and go - seems to have lost some of it's appeal. So sitting there feeling quite miserable I sent out a plea to the universe - Goddess, I need therapy!!!
Then I heard it! Coming in low over the hill behind me was a chopper. Watching it go over my head and across the lake to the airport, I said to myself, there is my therapy! So I got in the car and followed. I sat in the car at the airport watching the planes and the grounded ChildFlight helicopter and started to feel a lot better. Now I should explain that our airport  is VERY small so there is not a lot to see. We have one runway and only a couple of flights a day. There are a few light aircraft and you really have to be lucky to actually see something land or take-off. But the bonus with an airport such as ours is the fact that you can park in the very small parking lot and be a few hundred meters from the runway and the only thing separating you from the action is a security fence. I waited for the crew to have their coffee break and get the call to get going and then emerged from the car to watch as the rotors slowly started to turn. So there I am, the only person at the airport clinging to the fence in anticipation. Well they didn't let me down! I was standing there wishing I could get closer as it suddenly rose into the air and then skimmed the ground till it was directly in front of me about 20 meters away, then turning away from me it headed towards the runway and turned north. It hovered there about 5 meters off the ground for about 30 seconds then suddenly it's nose tilted forward and it was off flying low and fast along the runway! Wicked!!! And there I was still clinging to the fence with a massive grin on my face!
There are several things that really get this girl's blood racing - ambulances and anything airborne. Combine those two things and holy crap! Several hours later I am still grinning! Damn, I really should have filmed it!

May I Please Have My Brain Back?

Meet our new toy, Arthur! He took us 3 hours to build!

 I think he wants his brain back! 

Pillow Talk From impactednurse.com

In his latest post over at impactednurse.com Iain Miller talks about pillows. Here is some of what he has to say. To read the rest click on the above link.

In hospitals, pillows are like puffy chunks of white gold.

Almost every patient needs at least one pillow. And many require complicated pillow constructions to pad and support the various broken areas of their anatomy. Or to stop them tumbling out of bed. Or, when the correct amount of pressure is applied,  stop those really annoying patients altogether.

Unfortunately, the worlds pillow resources are beginning to dwindle.

We are always running out of pillows in the ED and are often forced to mount covert pillow acquisition missions to the wards.

They in turn, are forever pinching our own pillows when we transfer patients. 

Yup, pillow smuggling is big business.

Hahaha! Last year my son broke his arm and we began the great pillow shuffle! A pillow from Pambula went with us to Bega then to Canberra along with an extra one stolen from Bega. One of these disappeared into the Canberra Pillow System not to be seen again but we returned home with one small child cocooned in pillows all boldly marked with their supposed owners names. So sorry Canberra I gave your pillow (actually I believe that Royal North Shore may have staked first claim) back to Pambula Hospital as compensation for the one the Ambo’s initially stole. But while it was in my possession it racked up over 3000 kms in the car and came back to Canberra to visit regularly. Maybe I should have added my name to the list before returning it to it’s place in the Great Pillow Shuffle!
Another skill I have noticed around Hospitals is covert wheelchair theft. You park it, you lose it! I got quite good at it myself under the expert tutelage of a Paediatric Nurse who knew all the tricks. Lurking in all the right corridors, knowing who was going to give chase, it all becomes a bit of a game (until the chair goes missing and you have to find another way to get your child mobile).
So what I want to know is - What else gets stolen? And what bizarre measures do you take to get the equipment you need?




Stay Safe - Nurse Wannabe

There's A Veloceraptor In My Shower And Other Reality Checks

I am not really a scatterbrain, I can be a very focused woman. My main problem seems to be that when something gets my attention I focus on it to the point that everything else fades into the background. For example, at the moment I have Medical Terminology assignments to finish, so I have thrown myself into not only completing the course work, but knowing it thoroughly. I have been devoting a great deal of time to it and finding that sometimes I pull my head out of the books and the world seems almost surreal. People speak to you and you almost have to search for the words to reply. Prefixes, suffixes, root words and medical abbreviations - no dramas, 'Would you like another coffee?' - that I can answer, but to actually converse with a person about anything else is hard work and if you want to talk clothes, hair or make-up I am out of here!
This morning I actually wandered into the bathroom to have my shower with my textbook still in my hand. I balanced it on the sink where I could keep reading while I undressed, turned on the shower, stepped in and stood on a Velocoraptor. Then I came crashing back to the reality that is my life! I am not a Medical Dictionary in the making! I am a Mother! I am also a friend, daughter, housekeeper, ex-partner, waitress, photographer etc.....
Last week I put my son to bed with his favourite book (Advanced First Aid) and told him he could read for 10 minutes and then I would be turning off the light. I went back to the computer and started studying. An hour later I remembered my son! Cheeky shit was being as quiet as possible, still reading! Oh well! I haven't forgotten to feed him or pick him up from school yet, so for now I am not going to worry about my occasional mental trips to La-La-Land! He doesn't seem at all worried and lets face it, who else but Mummy is going to diagnose 'Ambo Bear's latest illness or help him fix 'Doggy's pneumothorax ?


Stay Safe - Nurse Wannabe

Red Dirt In My Veins

I have a dream. At best it will take me 10 years to achieve it, but I do have a dream. One day I'll go home!

Reality Check

Back in May I did a little spot check of my progress and was pleasantly surprised, so I decided that another reality check was about due. I have been feeling like life has ground to a halt, but it seems that it is no where near as bad as it feels.

• Beat Pot Habit - Dec - Done
• Put on weight - Steady on target weight since Jan - 1.5 kgs above Target - WooHoo!
• Leave Ex - Dec - Done
• Find a house to live in - Dec - Done
• Leave the cafe I ran with the Ex - Late Jan - Done
• Sort out Tax issues from previous years - March - Done
• Stat test - May - Done
• Human Physiology Class - Started - Done
• Advanced Medical Terminology Course - Enrolled - Start next week  Done
• Quit Smoking - Attempt 1 - Failed - Attempt 2 - Failed - Attempt 3 - Started
• Enroll for Bachelor of Nursing - Awaiting STAT results - Application Submitted
• Transition to Nursing Studies Course - Oct
• Buy a car - Awaiting Tax Return - Done
• Regain Drivers License - Been Ignoring it
• Senior First Aid Certificate - Well and truly expired - Done
• Get Immunisations up to date
• Get voluntary work at local Nursing Home - Paperwork just needs signing Done
• Nursing Student!!

I am getting there!

Crawling Out Of My Cave

Hi Folks,
My apologies for going missing. Life seems to finally be returning to some semblance of normality. Well sort of!
I have not heard from the Happy Stalker for about 4 weeks now and I am starting to feel a little more confident that that issue has been dealt with. My study is going well, with just over two weeks until my final assignment for my Medical Terminology course is due. I finished the last exercise in the workbook this afternoon and did a little happy dance. So now just to finish typing it all up and send it in. Should be able to complete that on time, which has quite surprised me. When I started the course it all looked so damn hard and I was daunted by the fact that I had to learn about 1000 prefixes, suffixes, root words and abbreviations, but completing the final page of the book I was amazed to realize that I had not referred to my cheat notes once. Yeah me!
I have also started Quit Smoking Attempt #3. This time I have gone the Champix option. Well I am on Day 19 and not doing as well as I had hoped I would be but then again I am down from 30+ cigarettes a day to 3-4. I have had pretty much every side effect listed from depression to nausea, but I must say that the strangest side effect has been the dreams (when I do sleep). I have been having the most intense dreams! They have at times been so disturbing that I have taken all day to recover psychologically. But I have stuck with it and it all seems to be settling down now (and I have not amputated any body parts in my sleep for a week now) so I am now more confident that this will work.
Still have not heard back from the Uni about my application, but it is still early for them to be sending out offers, so I am not too worried yet. Give it another month and I will start freaking out. First round offers are officially sent out in Oct, but I was told I would hear well before then. Anyway thanks for listening to me ramble.


Stay Safe - Nurse Wannabe

The Computer Ate My Homework

I have now half written this post 3 times, but every time I go to finish it it has disappeared! So I will now chuck the shits, condense what I have to say into 10 lines and hit post!

I have a stalker who has followed me around, stolen my mail and invaded every one of my internet 'sanctuaries'. So to cut a long story short, I have been hiding, both physically and in cyberspace. It all seems to be under control again now, but I must say it completely unnerved me.

I have moved my blog and shut down some of my other sites. My mail is a big issue though as I expected to have my University Offer by now, so I will call tomorrow and ask them. I am really hoping they have not sent it! My Federal Police Clearance was posted out 4 weeks ago and several other letters have never arrived, so I will also have to get a PO Box and get everything redirected! Grrrrr!

But on a more positive note, everything else is moving along nicely. I have been given a new opportunity at the Nursing Home shadowing one of the RNs for a few shifts a weeks, so that is really cool.

Anyway, thats about it for now! Thanks for listening!

Waiting For An Offer.

I handed in my application for University yesterday and now I wait for the offer I have been told will be forthcoming considering my test score and my application letter.


I started this post with that line 5 days ago actually it is now 12 days ago and for some reason have been unable to go any further. In fact rather than being ecstatic I feel like I have postnatal depression over the whole thing. The postman is only delivering crap I don't want and I am at a complete standstill as far as all study goes. The house is not exactly clean, my family are here for a holiday in two days time, I have a Medical Terminology assignment due in 6 days and I can't retain a single thing, and it is damn cold! OK, is that the end of my whinging? Hell No! I am mad about a man who shows signs of interest and then does nothing! And I have a stalker! Which really is not as cool as it sounds!
Well, thanks for letting me rant! I am now going to get off my butt and make this house spotless for my family who I haven't seen in a long time, then I am going to open those books and get the assignment done before they arrive and if I get frustrated enough I might even call that damn Ambo and find out what is going on in that head of his! Not likely! But I'll think about doing it!

Application Ready to Go!

I finally got off my butt and gave the University a call with my scores to find out for sure if they were good enough. I was quite confident but felt that leaving it a week to call them and check is probably way long enough, so I made the call. The lady confirmed for me that my score was well over the Minimum Acceptance Score for this course and should feel quite confident. So I then asked her when applications opened and she told me that I can apply immediately. Oh Crap! That means writing the application letter.
The application letter - there is nothing more painful than having to talk yourself up on paper! I find it a very uncomfortable process, especially when they are asking you to list your personal qualities. Ummm.............I have proven to be good at taking direction, but not afraid to step up and take control of a situation when necessary.  - Could probably also be written  -  I have proven to be good at taking direction, to a point, but not afraid to step up and take control of a situation when you start to piss me off.
Anyway, I did manage to behave myself and finish it tonight and I am happy with it. I had a friend proofread it for me and it is now printed signed and read to lodge tomorrow morning.

More Therapy

STAT Test Results

Nearly 4 weeks ago I sat the test that decides if I get into University or not and it has been one hell of a wait for the results. Well, today the postman delivered that scary letter. I took one look at the University Admissions Centre logo and ripped open that envelope. Then I froze! I couldn't look! I stood there next to the mailbox with shaking hands staring at the envelope and I had that sinking feeling in the guts.
The test has a funny grading system but to make it easier for you to tell how you went they give a Percentile Ranking which tells you which percentage of candidates nationwide in the last year you did better than.
Well, my overall Percentile Rank was 95.3%. I just about passed out! I am VERY happy! That means (that unless every one of those 4.7% who did better than I did decide to move to our small town and do their Bachelor of Nursing) I am in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!