The first semester was so stressful that opening up a blog seemed unrealistic. Now that we are almost done, it’s more manageable. We first had to get all of our vaccinations, CPR/healthcare provider card, background check, etc. The list of things to do feels like it’s never-ending until you are finally done.
We learned many skills including simple skills like bed making, helping a patient ambulate (walk), feeding a patient, etc. to more complicated ones like inserting a Foley catheter. We get checked off by our instructors on the more difficult skills, which we must pass in order to advance. We are tested for medication calculations and we have to earn 100% on the final math test. During this semester we have a class about nursing research and one about learning how to perform a full health assessment on a patient.
Today we had our final math test and I hope I got 100%. We have several more weeks of hard work left. Some of the important items we get to look forward to are a medication administration check off and finals of course, but we also get to finally got to our first days in the hospital.
At CSU: Stanislaus, we get several clinical locations, the three possibilities for the second semester, in which we start our full rotations, are at Memorial Medical Center, Doctors Medical Center, which are both in Modesto, or Emanuel Medical Center, which is in Turlock.
I found out two weeks ago that I got Memorial Medical Center as my first rotation, which I am very excited about. I have yet to buy my student scrubs, but I don’t need them until Dec. 2nd.