I haven’t said much about starting the nursing program. It’s been a little confusing and halting, but I feel like we’re about to fully swing into the schedule now. Here’s what I’m doing:

Health Assessment
In this class we learn the very basics of a health assessment (duh). We started by talking about interview technique and how to get a full health history. Then we started learning about the examination, starting with the head and working toward the toes. So far we talked about palpated the head and neck region, and checking for skin, hair, and nails. This week we have had lectures on the eyes (acuity, peripheral vision check), the ears (visual examination and tuning fork tests), and the lungs (auscultation and percussive exams). In lab Thursday and Friday we will practice these techniques.

Professional Nursing Role part 1
This is a touchy-feely, getting to know yourself type class held in one weekly 4 hour class session. Last week we told stories about what our name means to the class, had a long lecture about the Service Learning component, filled with fluffy meaningless verbage about philosophy and diversity and charity (Amanda knows all about these talks), then we went to the nursing home where we will be “volunteering” for the Service Learning. Basically SL is part of the Jesuit tradition, where students must spend time doing charity and journaling/writing essays about how it helps them grow. Blah. I’m trying to get my hours done as soon as possible. This week we spent the entire class session each giving the class a 5 minute presentation on “Who am I? Where did I come from? What can I bring to Regis? What do I expect from Regis? How will I take care of myself during this program? Gag. Most people went on for 10 or 15 minutes instead of the allotted 5. So the teacher scrapped the rest of the day’s activities “because what you were doing was so important, I didn’t want to interrupt, and it accomplished much of what I wanted to do.” This class is supposed to eventually cover other aspects of the nursing role, like duties as part of a health care team and legal knowledge. I hope that makes up for this fluffernutter stuff we’re doing now.

Pharmacology I
A class about drugs. We did a couple introductory chapters on drug research, drug laws, and drug names last week. Today we talked about pharmokinetics, or how the drugs are absorbed, distributed, metabolized, and excreted. Tomorrow we start on GI drugs, probably only covering diarrhea and constipation, she said.

So that’s what I’ll be doing for the next month or so. The classmates are still great. I love that I easily find 2 or 3 groups to eat lunch with me (I’ve eaten lunch alone for years). A good bunch of them are already getting their pants in a twist, fretting over the first two exams next week. They’re doing the sample tests before we have covered all the material! Whenever people ask me questions about what I think will be covered and how we should study, I respond simply and reasonably, trying to get them to chill out. I figure there’s no reason to worry until there’s something to be worried about.

Waxy pointed out a hilarious out-of-context list from a Grand Theft Auto forum on in-game girlfriends. Ben plays GTA for hours every night. Maybe I should write my own girlfriend list so he doesn’t get confused.

snip

Good Advice From
a Grand Theft Auto
Dating FAQ.

BY DAVID ABRAMS

– – – –

[I]f you kill a girl through abuse, she will no longer be your girlfriend.

The main reason to date a girl … is to get stuff from her.

If you raise your relationship level with a girl to 100% you’ll be given a special outfit.

You can date more than one girl at once, and as far as I know, your other girlfriends won’t mind if you pick up another.

This is brilliant.

Have you seen the Green Porno on Sundance channel yet? Isabella Rossellini demonstrates the mating behavior of creepy crawly bugs. It’s artistically creative, performance art-like, but with graphic scientific explanations. It’s bizarre. start with the spider or earthworm. If you don’t mind seeing an elderly Italian actress humping a life-sized puppet insect, try the others.

I hate pepid. I hate installing applications. I’m mad at my BB. It will be punished.

So I will watch a kitty video to unwind. Hard to stay mad when you’re watching this.

I’m posting this and the previous from my classroom in Regis. I got here a few minutes early and decided to test the wi-fi. Success! I promise not to use the net once class starts 😉

Miranda has started a monthly dinner group for a bunch of girls. I’m so excited for it! We’re planning our first dinner for the middle of May. She started a website, which I added to my list of links to the right, or you can click to it here. There should be a lot of great recipes you can browse!

I got a couple great products at REI today. This anti-chafing stuff is supposed to prevent blisters. I put it on this afternoon, after going on a long hike this morning in thick boots. Oh my, my feet felt so good in my stiff red flats that I had changed into. I don’t know if they will truly prevent blisters, but it was very soothing. It’s also a sunblocker, great for my frequently burned footsies in the summer. It can be used anywhere on the body. I hate applying sunblock in the morning (so greasy!) so if I unexpectedly find myself outdoors for a while, I can whip this out of my purse and protect my nose.

Ben and I have been lusting over these stylish, cancer-free aluminum bottles. Especially since Nate got one. Since I’ll need to stay hydrated to power through 7 hours of classes each day, I can justify buying this cute bottle, right?

I freaking LOVE these shirts. They had another collection that I fawned over for quite some time before it eventually sold out. The sweet embroidery and feminine cuts coupled with irreverent words – it’s wonderful! They have posted a new collection. Many are reprints of the same design but with new sayings. Sadly, I’m not as fond of these new sayings because they overuse the F-word. High impact, I guess. But there are still a few I would conceivably wear. And some I wish I could wear. Were I to spend $90 on a shirt (Ha!).