Welcome! This blog is Retired. However, you may still enjoy some of the finer pages of vintage online ramblings out there! Inspired by the certainty of my headaches, "The Headache Diaries" may include my headache log, people, places, and things that I don't like, as well as people, places, and things that I do like. Blog officially retired 02.14.2021
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Hmm it looks like the baseball season is about to start. I should make an effort to see a Mets (guffaw! check out their logo "Catch the energy"... hmm should be more like "Let's catch something!" HAHAHAHA!) game this year. I want to try to see them with the Cubs (guffaw! ). (Oh man! The Cubs don't come here til SEPTEMBER! Shoo!) Okay then, I will go when they play the Marlins to see my hun... :P
I only bring this up because KCC's girls softball team has started their season... Boo hoo, I wanted to be on it but my nursing classes conflicted :(
:: Jane Dee 4:10:00 PM [+] ::
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:: 3.26.2004 ::
Hear Ye, Hear Ye!!
Calling all of you who think they can run the world!! Now is your chance to get a shot at a spot to be a presidential candidiate! Huh? Check it out! I would apply, but I really don't think I'm very democratic... :P
:: Jane Dee 5:06:00 PM [+] ::
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YAWN! Computer lab is such a snooze...
Here I am doing my computer lab assignments for nursing and I come across Vitamin D2... and I say "eh?". I'm not sure if I learned this and forgot, but there is a vitamin D2, or natural vitamin D! Looky here. Anyway, I will look at my notes about bones too see if we covered D2.. it's just not ringing a bell.
Okay now It's time I go back to the library and do my drug calculations. BTW: the "conversion" from minims to mL are different from the conversion from minins to drams to ounces to mL... can you believe that? Well, I read somewhere (! what kind of bibliography is that??) that the apothecary system is not exact. All the amounts are approximate and when you convert to a system like metric, you will find discrepencies... it's kind of like the statement "there are four weeks in a month" I mean, some months look like they have five, and 7 days multiples by four is only 28 days... that seems like more than four weeks to me... well, you get the idea. Basically, when you are doing apothecary conversions, it's best to just memorize all of the conversions because there is no identity. Maybe when I get home, I will post up the two examples that gave me trouble.
Oh and I will post my CNA graduation picture. It's neat.
:: Jane Dee 11:41:00 AM [+] ::
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:: 3.24.2004 ::
Yay me!
It's been quite a while (for me anyways) since I've posted anything! Well, I have been busy as a drone studying and doing whatever it is nurses do (still figuring that out). Currently I am doing my clinicals at an assisted living place for what we call "well elders." Yeah, anyway, the people there are cool. The guy I have seems pretty excited about my teaching plan. We are going to go over low sodium foods and high fiber foods, fiber supplements as an alternative to stool softeners (ducosate sodium), the importance of his life alert necklace thing, and of course fire safety! We are going to practice an escape route and I am going to help him walk down the stairs (he made mention that in a fire, he would crawl or drag himself as far as he can until he can't no more... eh? ... he was a marine, I guess they are all stubborn and irrational like that?) Anyway, we are going to practice his escape route and draw out a plan and we will walk down the stairs. I will assess his vital signs to make sure he isn't overexerting himself and hopefully, he will feel comfortable enough NOT to drag himself down the stairs, but get down them in a calm way that ensures his safety and minimizes something ELSE from hurting him. Yes, it's all very exciting.
What will be nice is that our next assignment will be in the HOSPICE floor of a nursing home! I'm very excited. Well, not because there will be dying folk, but because, I dunno, I just want to go. Over there we will have to do a care plan for the resident. Is massage and hair brushing a nursing intervention? LOL. Well it is now!
In other news, I used up all my energy buying my sphymomanometer today. I had to buy a case for it but I guess it was worth it. I should have just stayed at home, relaxed and ordered it online... but nooo, I had to take five million busses to go 10 miles and get worn out. Well, at least I won't have to share a "school" sphygmo tomorrow for lab and next week when we take the residents BP all day (well, except me. I will be walking down the steps and counting BPM of my resident... just for the record, I think I have the longest and most comprehensive teaching plan ever for this place. The resident Im with says no one has ever done all this before. He said they just come in and talk and mumbo jumbo. hm. I think I need to stop doing extra work that no one is expecting you to do.)
They still havent set up the nursing club and an unfortunate event has now left a vacant VP spot... a nursing student who had that VP of the nursing club spot had DIED from a heart attack last week. He was 41 and apparently "couldn't wait to be a nurse." Well, I didnt go to his funeral, but I thanked him for putting stuff into perspective... like my first test score of 80. Now okay, look, I'm used to 96 and above so even though 80 is good, its devastating.. or supposed to be. Then after hearing about this guy, I said "hmm does it realy matter?" and the answer is "Nope" My main goal is to have a good time.
Well, Im tired and need t gather my things for tomorrow. I made my VSS (vital signs)kit: Steth, sphyg, and thermometer. I would add alcohol wipes, but i threw them away a while ago so I will just add so alcohol and cotton balls.
Oh yeah and I need to buy a nurse dress. I think I will get it in Canarsie.
OH! and one more complaint: STOP SENDING ME BILLS! I have an endless stream of medical bills thanks to my stupid physical exam for CNA and Nursing school. As if I wasn't being conservative (cheap) enough as it is, I'm now going to have to try and get more from my dead presidents. BLEH! Maybe there are some clinical trials out there....
SO GUESS WHAT? I TOOK MY CNA TEST AND I AM 98% SURE I PASSED :) Good! Now all I have to do is wait for my certificate and find a nice job to start saving away. The "graduation" was fun and I took some nice pics. I will post them up later.
I also started my clinical component of my nursing class. Apparently, nobody gets A's or B's. Hm. That's not nice. Who the hell wants a "C" average? That sucks. Well, we'll see. I do like the nursing home we are at currently. I get this one guy who seems eager to talk to me. Good, that makes my life a whole lot easier.
I was becoming annoyed at the whole nursing thing. I am still annoyed now, but I hope I can see it through and do well. (NO C'S!!!!) The way these profs teach are very confusing and not well organized. No matter, I can only do the best that I can right?
Lou directed me to this test. I guess it's right, lol!
:: Jane Dee 2:30:00 PM [+] ::
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:: 3.10.2004 ::
I could do it in my sleep... no, really
Guess what! Great news... THIS Saturday is my state exam for the CNA certification! YAY! Anyway, I cut my nursing studies short to begin practicing my skills. Well, I started to fall asleep, despite my best efforts to chug coffee (yes, I am still sleepy now). I began to mumble things that didn't relate. One of them was "...so they don't hit you in the pie." I woke up when I heard that nonsense. Apparently I was talking through perineal care and somehow ended up there. Interesting. What would Freud say about that? Probably something sexually related.
Speaking of Frued, I never read his Interpretation of dreams book. Can you imagine? Well, I was in the library and I wrote this in my half-conscious, sleep deprived state so don't kill me about it, eh?
If according to Freud, humans act only to seek pleasure (usually sexually based), then
why can pain apparently take over your life? Would not then every person actively seek
to avoid ALL pain? For instance, my tooth hurts and I don't want to be in pain so now I will do
almost anything to get that tooth out. Im not seeking sexual gratification, in fact I would
actively avoid sex if it meant I couldn't have my tooth removed. Not only that, I would put
myself through MORE pain if it meant the pain would be over later on (a balance between
"Is it worth it" > If I endure x amount of pain for y amount of hours/days, is it better than r
amount of pain forever?) Also, what happens with the depressed person? They cannot/ will
not "snap out of it" and seek pleasure. According to Freud, would this mean that this new
state of mind tells the id that pain is pleasure? Did the ego get more "powerful"? Did the id
shrink? Did the superego develop a mind of its own? This tells me that the depressed
person is actively turning off the drive for pleasure because the id is losing to the
arguments of the ego.
Blah blah... Can't I talk about anything else? NO. As I further read the "fundamentals" book, I have been getting a better understanding of what nursing is. At least, in my eyes. I won't write any of my thoughts on here yet but in due time. I think I need to get better aquainted and comfortable with the, dare I say, profession. However, Im going to save all this nursing mumbo jumbo for somewhere else.
Currently I am still waiting to take my state board for the CNA license.... c'mon, c'mon! what is taking so long sheesh! I knew I should have taken it in Albany. Crap.
I also haven't recieved my package from the Bike NY tour in May. I have to remember to train a little!
On a different note, I sometimes, I look back on things that have happened and wonder about them. For example, I can recall the time I would go to barnes and Noble and hang out in the Astronomy book section and look at all the pretty books. Sometimes I would buy one if I liked it enough. I would also go to the (then new) Science NYPL on Madison Ave in Manhattan to take out all the books. When they first opened, I systematically took out every book. I even tried my hand at CCD imaging. It was too much work but it was cool to have knowledge about it because when I went to New Mexico Skies I looked smarter than some of the seasoned amateurs. Hee haw. After a short while, I had read or been aquainted with every astronomy book they had. By the time they started getting new books, I was on to other things. My how things change. Or have they? I mean, according to my textbook, nursing is related to the history of the universe... :P
Well, I guess I better stop slacking off. I have to sift through all these notes....
Week one of Nurse school is over and I must say that it wasn't the most exhilarating experience. I am taking a nursing fundamentals course and the theories of nursing are not very good. I was actually quite upset at the lack of a good theory. I don't want to sound mean or anything, but I can see why nursing doesn't get the respect it should. Who wants to call something a profession when the entry level is varied? Who wants to say it's a science when they don't even have a clear definition or theory that grounds nursing so that everyone can know what it is and what it does? I was shocked to find that nursing was so unorganized this whole time and only started getting the act together (and I use that term lightly) after WWII. What good is an RN if she can have an assortment of backgrounds that, unfortunately, creates this heirarchy between nurses ("oh, she is no good she may be an RN, but she only has an associates" or "Well, Im better, I am an NP. She is only an anesthetist. At least I can prescribe meds." or "Psychiatric nurse? Can we get a nurse that knows what she is doing?"). I think a good paper would be the sociology of nurses. I mean, there are so many hidden "levels" of nurses thatits ridiculous. I can't even keep them all straight: ADN, BSN, RN, MPH, CCN, NP, NA, etc etc... it just goes on and on. How is anyone supposed to know who does what? Not only that, like that woman who supervised me for the CNA training was such a bitch... all she would say is how educated she is and how great she is and how much she studied for her pharmacology class and how she put an ADN in her place one time.... ughhh. Is this rivalry really necessary? Just get rid of the differnt levels already and make it less, sheesh!
Well, I still plan on joing the Nurse's Club so I can use the microwave. I'm sure they have one because most clubs do. The prof I have for fundamentals now is the one who runs it. That's good because she seems cool... for now. Another good thing is that my drug calculation class only meets for 6 weeks! That is really cool because then I can sleep a bit later on Mondays, yay!
I am still waiting for my CNA state test. It's not this week so I hope it will be next week. I really need a job. I saw ads for live in assistants that can make up to $700 a week or so. Yeah maybe. I wouldn't mind being a live-in. Think about it. I work and live at the same place. I don't have to put up with any supervisors and I get to work closely with one or two people. Not to mention I get to leave my house and get paid more than I would if I worked somewhere part time. Neat eh? Let's keep our fingers crossed...
Wow, this is one boring entry... sorry folks, I'll try to be more exciting next time. Goodnight.
