My University of Michigan Experience - presented by eLearners.com

First day of Clinicals

melissa — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:38:00 GMT

Hi Everyone!

Whew! What a week and what a day. Lots of work as usual. But today was my first day of clinicals. There wasn't much to it, however. I had done my community health clinicals at the same agency in the winter semester, so I am familiar with the place and the owner.

For nursing students clinical activities are to revolve around clinical objectives. Your activities are geared toward meeting those objectives. That is sometimes easier said than done, since the objectives are sometimes pretty vague. One of the objectives I must meet is to find a problem within the agency and using what's called Evidence Based Practice - create a plan of change and implement it. That is what I was starting today. I was reviewing charts and gathering data in that review. This is for my management class, so there won't be any contact with patients at all, just office work. At different times, we'll deal with the budget, staffing, recruitment and other aspects of management. While it will be a good learning experience, I can't wait till it's over.

For each clinical visit, you must write a journal detailing what you did during your visit, apply it to the theory you have learned and state how it will impact your future practice. I was working on that this afternoon when my Internet went kaput. I have a broadband connection and it just wasn't coming back on. With this service you still have free dial-up service for just such an occasion, but several months ago, I dumped my land line in favor of just using our cell phones. This is the only time I have regretted that decision. Fortunately, my neighbor also has a wireless connection and I can get a weak signal from her and still do my work (although sometimes the connection is spotty).

My daughter cheered in her first football game yesterday. She is just the cutest thing! She had her cheers down pat and did so well, I was super proud of her. This is the first year they have had junior high cheering and this was their first performance. They did well, and I thought she did great. No biased opinion there!

Wedding plans are shaping up nicely. We have a hall rented and pretty much have the church chosen. I've looked a few invitations online, but need to see something in person. I'm sure there is tons more to do, but with school and work, I'm a bit overwhelmed this week. Fortunately my fiancée is a great help and has done lots (not pick out the dress though...lol)

Have a great week everyone!

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I found THE wedding dress!

melissa — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 02:00:00 GMT

Hi Everyone!

Ok, so this isn't related to my online education, but I just had to post this.

Today, I bought my wedding dress! Yippee! It's beautiful and just perfect. And on top of that, the bridal store was going out of business and it was ½ off! Can you believe it? Even the shoes were half priced. And a little matching purse, only $2.00. Yup, you read correctly, two U.S. dollars.

I'd love to describe the dress for you all, but my fiancée has a habit of reading my posts now and again. I want it to be a complete surprise.

I was glad that today was the only day I could get to the store. Since I live in a very rural area, the closest "city" is about 65 miles away. I'd finished my schoolwork for the week and this weekend I work and have other commitments. Next week includes work and time for homework and I wouldn't have been able to get there until a week from this Friday. The dress may have been gone by then. What a stroke of luck!

Well, that's one less wedding thing to worry about. On to more mundane things like dishes and laundry.

Count down to wedding date: 119 days

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Gotta Love the Library!

melissa — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 01:26:00 GMT

Hi Everyone!

Well, I am once again astonished by the benefits of online learning. You might remember that I am not new to this, but sometimes you are able to appreciate things over and over.

What I am referring to specifically is the ability to access the entire library via the Internet. I'm not talking about using a search engine like Google, I'm talking about the real library. I attend the University of Michigan - Flint and they provide links to all kinds of journals, books and newspapers. You access the library site; choose a type of search, such as one specifically for medicine, nursing, engineering or the arts. You then type in your search terms like any other engine and poof! Many results of articles are shown. You can even choose to display only those results that provide the full text of the article. The whole thing is just amazing. It is such a time saver as opposed to going to the actual library. I find this especially helpful in my town, since our library is only open 4 hours or so a day (and not at all on Sunday) and has a very limited and very outdated reference section. I definitely wouldn't find one nursing journal there. The whole library is about the size of two good size living rooms.

So even though I have used this feature numerous times, I'm still awed by the ability to gather several relevant references in a very short period of time. I couldn't have driven to the library in that time frame!

Now, I guess I better do something with all that good info!

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Lesson Learned

melissa — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 00:41:00 GMT

Hi Everyone!

Well, thank goodness this weekend is over. I say that not because my fiancée just left, but because I had procrastinated in my schoolwork and now next week can start anew.

And because I dilly-dallied I am going to lose points. Here's the scenario. I worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for 12 hours each. I am just done when I get home, especially when the ER is busy as it had been all those days. I spent all day Thursday doing errands and dealing with my ex-husband. Friday, I did all the work for my Synthesis class and then on Saturday I did my Management homework. Well, I had forgotten that for Management you had to post on the discussion board 2-3 times on different days to receive full credit for the week's postings. All work was due Saturday by 11:55 P.M. I did post at different times, but I don't think that will matter. Well, LESSON LEARNED.

You think that I would have known since that is usually the rule for most courses. I don't know what I was thinking. Fortunately it's not a ton of points, so it won't affect my overall grade in the end.

I am going to not think about school work today, and hit the books hard and heavy tomorrow, and not forget what I have to do and when. Now, I'm going to work on the guest list for the wedding.... Much more fun than homework!

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Class has finally started

melissa — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 02:20:00 GMT

Hi Everyone!

Well, classes have started and already the work has begun. I have two classes this semester if I haven't already said so and they are Leadership and Management in Nursing and Synthesis of Knowledge. The Synthesis course doesn't seem like it will be too hard, just a lot of reading and one or two projects/papers.

The Leadership course, on the other hand is going to be a lot of work. When I read the syllabus I was dismayed. I say that because I had signed up for the course before and had started it, when I became ill and had to drop out, so I knew what was coming. I was just hoping the work would have lessened a little. So much for wishful thinking!

This week I have to read 2 chapter for Leadership, take a quiz, post comments on the discussion board and write my clinical objectives. The clinical objectives are what I'd like to accomplish during my clinical time and to help focus that time to help meet those objectives. Things like that are difficult for me to write because you always have to write these things early on in the semester before you really know what the course is all about. I will figure it out however.

For my Synthesis class I have to read about 70 pages (but it's been pretty easy reading...large print, big margins), read lecture notes and take a quiz. I also have to check out a link that the instructor has posted.

So far, I have only read about 30 of the pages for Synthesis. That's because I have just worked 3 12-hour days in a row. Normally the info for the week is not available until Monday, but I didn't check earlier.. hopefully info will be available for these courses on Sunday.

I'll have to carefully budget my time this week. Besides all that homework, I also need to do grocery shopping, clean the house, take care of the garden some (maybe do some canning or freezing) and all the other misc. chores of life. Once I get back into the groove of things it won't be a big deal. I also want to do some shopping. I was officially engaged on Saturday. There is a bridal store going out of business about 50 miles away. My daughter, my best friend and I are going on Friday.

I'll let you know how I managed these next few days in an upcoming post.

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