Fuck it’s April.

I just want to take a moment to appreciate this…how the hell did we end up in April?!?! The weeks are flying by..and I have still not mastered the art of posting regularly. Oh well..here we are.

Where am I at ?

I am busy juggling uni and work, whilst trying to maintain somewhat of a social life. Classes for me this year started in February, marking my 4th semester into nursing. I am loving it… finally I am getting into the juicy stuff. And by juicy I mean injections…subcutaneous and intramuscular. Is it bad I’m just dying to stick a syringe into someone’s arm? I also learnt how to set up an IV drip… here’s how it went down;

Attempt #1 I forgot to close the roller clamp in the tube, and upon spiking the bag of fluid I was left with water spurting out of the end and watering the floor. Fuck.

Attempt # 2: Exasperated that my attempts to twist the protective cap off the bag of normal saline were too gentle to have any effect, I ended up violently ripping the whole plug out and once again, ended up with a mini shower of water raining down on the floor. Double fuck.

It’s comforting to know I will never run out of ways to embarrass myself in public.

So when I go out on placement in a few months time, I will actually be allowed to give injections, prime IV lines and administer medications (God help us all!). The other day the clinical office emailed me to let me know my placement is in June..and of course I landed the one rotation I prayed not to get, which falls in the winter holidays. I was a little annoyed initially because the email shattered my dream of booking a European Contiki during the holidays; but now that I’ve had a few days to think about it my wiser and more mature self has realised it’s a blessing in disguise. The real truth is

1.I am still shit at saving money in 2016 and my bank account is eternally stuck at around $1500 dollars

2. I wasn’t REALLY as a disappointed as I thought I should be, as it turns out I love my life enough to not need a break from it

This placement will be my first stint in a hospital and away from cleaning up shit and dishes at a nursing home (actually let’s be real I’ll still be cleaning up shit). I can’t wait to get my hands dirty and be able to put theory into practice with all of the skills I’m being taught at uni. It’ll be 40 hours a week x 3 weeks so there will be plenty of time to settle in and get a feel for the routine on the ward.

I’m enjoying a fleeting moment of relief at the moment- the last 2 weeks have been a marathon of assessments and group assignments and I’m carrying the victory of having successfully smashed them all!! The most nerve wrecking of which was a clinical skills exam in which the nursing tutors put 4 skills on bits of paper into a white vomit bag (is that a twisted sense of humour?!) and we then had to pull one out and perform the chosen skill under their watchful eye within a time limit. There were critical elements of the skill which we had to achieve, and if we forgot certain steps then we would fail the skill. We would be given one more shot, and then if you failed the 2nd time you would fail the whole unit and not be allowed to go out to a hospital.

Imagine my joy when I pulled out intramuscular injection…I thought I’ve got this sucker in the bag!

I can tell you I was fist pumping at not having pulled out IV therapy…I was haunted by visions of water spurting everywhere whilst a marker looked on in horror.

I confidently carried out the injection and was told by my marker that not only did I pass, but she didn’t have anything to critique me on 😀 I did a happy little jig for the rest of the day… relief practically seeped from my pores!

My last class for the week was on Wednesday, then next week is a study break so I have a bit of down time to catch up with friends and get a head start on assignments due later down the track. I plan to fit in some quality gym time which has been lacking lately, a night or two of wine and cocktails aaaaand I am going bridesmaid dress shopping with my Mum who is getting remarried later this year.

I better go to bed- I need to set an alarm for my breakfast date with my papa tomorrow. That’s all for now 🙂