Thanksgiving Blessings

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 100

The season has turned closer to winter as evidenced by the barren trees and the shift of colors in the landscape from bronze and copper to ochre and gray. The pasture outside my window still maintains a hint green and the horses have been frisking about. I think they enjoy the cooler weather as much as I do!

School progresses as well. Our second case study is due tomorrow. I'll be very thankful to turn it in! Amazingly, we only have 3 weeks until winter break! In that three weeks, we have 5 tests and 2 finals, so it will be a busy time.

For Thanksgiving, I am looking forward to Zach's arrival and also several of his friends. It will be a joy to have a bit of bustle in this normally quiet apartment!

Today I prepared the first pots of paperwhite bulbs and put the hyacinth bulbs in their glasses to chill in the refrigerator. They will brighten the dreary days of mid and late winter.

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Mid-term!

Autumn has been beautiful here this year. The hillsides are a rich tapestry of color. I've spent many an afternoon out walking and driving to enjoy this seasonal spectacle.

School progresses and after a rough start in Mental Health class, I feel like I'm finally getting my feet under me. As expected, this year has been more challenging than last year, but it is still every bit as interesting! Learning is a joy.

We are in our second clinical rotation for the semester. I'm at the hospital here in town and enjoying working with one of my favorite clinical instructors from last year. We are learning about IV's this year and I have to admit to being a little nervous about putting that first one in. Maybe this week! We've practiced lots, but as you can imagine, it's very different doing such things with a live person than with a rubber manikin!

Deep peace friends.

The pastures of the wilderness drip,

the hills gird themselves with joy,

the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,

the valleys deck themselves with grain,

they shout and sing together for joy.

Psalm 65: 12, 13

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!