Domestic Bliss

It may be the “honeymoon period” where newly cohabiting couples revel in their shared address, but I must say having S here has been an absolute dream so far! How wonderful it feels to come home to a warm home and a warm hug.  To cook for 2 instead of 1.  To walk the dogs hand-in-hand.  To have someone to share your day with.  To fall asleep and wake up not only thinking about him, but to see him by your side. I’m sure every day won’t be perfection, but having him here is just what the doctor ordered!

Back to nursing stories tomorrow – for now I’m content to revel in my new domestic arrangement.  Still to come: how to reconcile your personal values and political beliefs with those of the congregation you serve as a parish nurse.  It’s a tricky one.

Mr. President

What a day. My parish nursing orientation began in the most appropriate manner – we all met at the student union and delayed our business to watch the swearing in of President Obama and his inaugural address. I think I’ll get the goosebumps every time I see, hear, or say that phrase for many days/weeks/months to come.

President Obama. *Shivers*

Although my own volunteer efforts waxed and waned with family commitments and a very trying two years of my own, I was behind the man from the start. I remember watching that fateful keynote speech in ‘04 and crying alone in my apartment because I was so moved. And I thought to myself, “That man will be president someday.” Little did any of us know. And I’ll remember where I was and what I was doing today for the rest of my life. I’ll be able to tell my children and grandchildren about this historic and momentous occasion.

1.20.09 used to be the last day of Bush’s presidency. Reason enough for me to celebrate. But it’s taken on a whole new meaning. No longer is it simply the end of a disastrous era. It’s a new dawn in a new world. We all have a lot of work to do. But I think the difference is that I’ll wake up tomorrow and believe that we can do it together.

And we have a president who believes it too.

I’ve never been prouder to be an American.

On A Roll…

Still January and already one New Year’s Resolution can be checked off the list!

S is moving here next week! The circumstances and reasons are too complicated to explain, but the long and short of it is, we’ll be sharing not only a zip code but an address in just a few days (as one of my classmates puts it, we’ll be shackin’ up ). He sets out Wednesday morning and should be here by late Thursday, and I’m sure will then proceed to sleep for two days. But it’s okay, because he’ll be home!

Now comes the fun part – co-existing in a tiny apartment with two dogs.

Who’s In The House With pH?

Week 1 of Semester 2 is officially under our belts. It was very public health-heavy, thanks to a 3-day workshop to introduce us to the basic concepts of public health. And I loved every second of it! With my degree in anthropology and 4+ years of working in social services-type jobs, this is right up my alley. Not to mention hospice nursing is considered part of public health nursing. So I’m tuning in carefully on this one. My parish nursing rotation starts this week – I’ll be at a large Lutheran congregation in a suburb of the city.

Then there’s Med Surg II – we focus this semester on complex health problems (renal failure, heart failure, etc.), and end the semester on trauma and critical care. Our professor is a hoot – a southerner who loves to tell stories. It’ll be an intense class, but I think I’ll enjoy it. Friday we learned a “tic tac toe” method for interpreting ABG (arterial blood gas) results. After practicing a few hundred times, I think I’ve finally got it. And I REALLY like one of our clinical projects – we have to watch a film featuring an end-of-life situation and put together a care plan focusing on the non-physiological needs of a character (either the patient or a family member). After going through such a traumatic end-of-life scenario with my own father, I am all about speaking up on behalf of families. This assignment will give me an opportunity to do just that.

But boy will I be glad when that monstrous Med-Surg ATI text is a thing of the past.

Do I Have To?

Alas, my Christmas vacation is coming to a rapid end.  The fam is accompanying me back to do a little exploring of my neck of the woods, then they all fly home and classes start on Monday.  Schoolwise, I’m prepared.  Textbooks are purchased, pre-semester assigned reading almost complete (teachers everywhere beware, assigning 5 chapters to read before the semester even starts is NOT cool), school supplies are organized save for a need to restock on highlighters.

Mentally, however, I am not ready for this.  I feel like I just got home yesterday and last fall was so intense on so many levels that I don’t believe I decompressed nearly enough.  Yes, I know, I got a month off from school, the real world won’t be so generous, blah blah blah.  But the fact that I’m already counting the days to Spring Break BEFORE classes even resume is not a very promising sign.

Not to mention my courseload is going to be hinky (my new favorite word, borrowed from a nursing school classmate):

• Med-Surg II (a 7-freaking-credit class) – featuring a whole new method of developing care plans called Dynamic OPTs (don’t ask me how they differ from “static” OPTs)
• Public Health Nursing – an interesting but reading- and writing-intensive course.  On average, we’ll be reading 100+ pages a week.
• Professional Role Development, Part Deux – 3 words: Waste of time.  Apparently last year’s cohort benefited significantly from the role development course sequence.  We, however, got a different instructor who didn’t even know she was teaching the class until the week before the semester started.  And that was pretty much indicative of how the course went.  At least it’s only 1 credit and we meet only 6-7 times.

The good news is, once I survive this spring, I’m on the home stretch.  Summer features peds and OB (woohoo!), and by August I’ll be preparing for my capstone and applying for jobs.  Considering how fast 2008 went, I can do this.  Right?!?!?!