9 Months to go!

Hard to believe that we are already through our first full month of the RN year! I have two classes this semester, Medical Surgical Nursing and Mental Health Nursing. While it sounds like an easy schedule, both classes are 7 credit courses so it is a full load! We have two instructors for each class and we will do a 7 week clinical for each class.

Currently, I am in the mental health clinical. I am working with veterans at the Knoxville VA Hospital which specializes in the treatment of schizophrenia and related disorders. I anticipated that this would be my least favorite of all the clinical rotations, but I'm finding instead, that I really like working with these patients.

In Med Surg, we have learned how to do in depth physical assessments and are studying surgical nursing as well as in depth study on the respiratory system.

The next couple weeks are BUSY! In the next 12 days, we have 7 tests, a 40 page case study, 6 days of journaling (about 40 pages worth), an oral exam on mental health medications and two smaller assignments for Mental Health. Enough to keep me more than busy!

When the class load has been less intense, I've been oil painting! You can see some of my recent work and some of my older stuff at the lpbonistudio link on the right side of the screen. Looks like painting will be taking a back seat to studies for a while!

Hope that everyone reading this will leave a comment so I can get an idea of who is following along on this amazing journey through nursing school!

Blessings and peace,
Lisa

On towards RN!

Accomplishments this summer:

• Graduated with LPN diploma in June
• A in Microbiology
• PASSED the LPN NCLEX exam!
• Licensed to practice as an LPN!!!
• Started oil painting again (see above)
• Enjoyed visits from family and friends in July
• Enjoyed camping with my kids in Rocky Mountain National Park
• Visited family and friends in Colorado in August
• Caught up on sleep!

After much prayer and thought, I am pushing forward to the RN year rather than working for a year first. Classes began on Wednesday! Would appreciate everyone's prayers as I make this journey forward!

Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victories by his right hand.
Psalm 20: 6

LPN!

Wow! The first year of nursing school is over and done! I graduated and received my LPN diploma on June 24, 2005! I had a bit of difficulty right at the end with clinical and as a result, I nearly didn't graduate. But thankfully, with God's grace and through the prayers of many, things worked out and I was able to graduate after all. Summer report card:

Med Surg ~ B
Sociology ~ A

The next step is to take the PN NCLEX, which is the LPN nursing board exam. That should be sometime in July once all the paperwork goes through. Microbiology begins July 11 and it should be an intense 4 week course.

Based on the recommendations of my advisor and the dean of nursing, I need to decide by August if I'm going to work as an LPN for a year before going on to complete the RN portion of my training or if I'm going to try and work part time as an LPN while I go to school. Since I came into the program without having been a CNA first, I have a lot less clinical experience than most of my fellow students and they would like me to have a little more clinical exposure before moving on. Would appreciate everyone's prayers as I make this decision.

Right now, I am blissfully enjoying time off from studying! I have been enjoying visitors! We had a delightful time seeing some of the sights and catching up. Looking forward now to some free time to paint and pursue non-nursing interests for a couple weeks as well as more visitors the week of the 4th of July!

Joy!

Today was a day of tests. We had one in Socology at the early hour of 7:00 a.m. and then at 1:00 p.m. we had a big test over the assessment and diseases of the renal (kidney) and urinary systems in Med Surg. It was a pretty tough test. What a great joy it was to find out this evening that I was one of 2 people in the class who got 100% on the test! 100% test scores in Med Surg are exceedingly rare so it makes me even more excited about getting that grade!! We also had a test on Monday, which I got an A on so it has been a really good week!

Spring into Summer!

Springtime in Iowa

Spring semester is over and summer semester has begun. Only six weeks away from completing the LPN program! It’s amazing how quickly this year has sped by. Testimony to how positive things can be when one really enjoys what one is doing. I find the thought of graduating from the LPN program almost bittersweet. I think back to how unsure I was of myself last August and see how far I’ve come and how much I’ve enjoyed learning this year. It’s really been a good year and I almost hate to see it end. All the same, I’m looking forward to moving on into the RN program beginning in July!

Spring semester finished well and I was able to maintain a 3.2 GPA and my spot on the Dean’s list! Here is my report card! Keep in mind that our grading scale is a little different from the norm. An A is 93% or above, a B is 83 to 92% and a C is 75 to 82%.

Medical Surgical Nursing I ~ B
Maternal Child Nursing ~ B.
Human Growth and Development ~ A
Nutrition ~ B

It’s a tough program and I feel pretty good about those grades especially since a couple of our instructor’s let me know that I am in the top 10% of the class! My grade in Maternal Child grade was actually 91.8% so I just barely missed that A!

Now in the first session of summer semester, I am taking Med Surg Nursing II and Sociology. We have clinical practice two days a week and I’m at Cass County Hospital in Atlantic, Iowa for that.

May 27th is the LPN lamp lighting ceremony and June 24th is our LPN graduation. I am looking forward to the 2-week break after graduation and anticipating visits from various friends and family! It’s a beautiful time of year here in Iowa when all the wildflowers are in bloom and the fields are growing lushly. It will be nice to have some time off to enjoy it and to share it with everyone who visits!

July 11th is the first day of the second summer session and I’m planning on getting a head start on the RN program by taking Microbiology. I'll get a two week break in August before Fall semester begins. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to come back to Colorado for a visit so keep those e-mails, letters and phone calls coming or leave a comment below! I really love hearing from everyone.

Blessings of peace and harmony to all!