Well, I started nursing school. That's right- I started nursing school. Officially, I am in an entry to practice program in nurse-midwifery, and I just finished my first week. It's crazy how fast we are learning things! I have 38 hours of class and clinicals a week, and then I come home and study for about five or six hours a day. I keep reminding myself that I have friends who are working 80 hours a week doing things they hate, so I should be grateful that even though I am busy, I love everything I am doing. Here is a list of clinical skills I have learned so far.

-How to give a sponge bath

-How to wash a patient's eyes

-How to transport an obese, immobile patient from one bed to another (lift with your legs!)

-How to take vital signs

-How to change (heavily soiled) sheets on a bed without having to move the patient from the bed

-How to take a sterile urine sample

-How to put anti-embolism stockings on an immobile patient (it's harder than you would think!)

-How to do range of motion exercises on immobile patients

I am learning about the nervous system in physiology, and about how drugs travel through the body in pharmacology. In my physical exam class, we learned about how to communicate with a patient, and the general process of the physical exam and history taking. I need to be able to give a complete physical by the end of the summer. Thursday, I will go to the hospital for the first time. Holy cow. Let's see how that goes!