It is such a beautiful morning here in central Kentucky.  I love fall and this is one of those really nice fall days.  The air is cool and crisp, we had a frost last night and the sun is shining. I am up before everyone in the house and so I’m going to get some studying done before everyone gets up.  My plan is to fix breakfast and then Alison and I will go to the university.

Like I said earlier, I finally am out of my old job.  It is such a relief.  I have a few things I need to finish up for one of the units, but I after that I am done.  Today Alison and I are going to move my things out of the old office and into the new one.  In a few minutes I am going to outline a schedule now that I can finally have one.  With the moving out of the storage buildings I had stuff in and the move to my new office and Keith doing really well from surgery, I can FINALLY get settled.  I think this will help my stress level immensely.

This is a crazy week with school.  Tuesday we have a Health Promotion Project due for our clinicals.  We have been teaching elementary children different subjects and trying to help them know what is a healthy way to live.  We had a test run with the education itself last week, but by Tuesday we have to have our lesson plan written, references cited, and evaluation techniques documented.  Wednesday we have a major exam, Thursday we have to do our head to toe physical assessments.  This last scares me the most, as we have to pass it to move on.  Alison is going to be my patient today for a couple of run throughs while we are up at school.  And of course there is Spanish woven in there.  More on that class at another time.

I’m feeling better this morning about everything.  I’m sure I will feel even better when I have my things moved.  Keith is putting up tomato sauce today from the last of the tomatoes we had.  Next year we hope to have a big garden again as I won’t be taking summer classes and I can put up all kinds of food for the following year.  Money is tight while I do this and eating healthy is something else that we need to start doing again.

Ok – off to finish my physical assessment script.  Have a great day everybody!

Am I too old for this??

WARNING:  Vent – but I figure the good, the bad and the ugly should all be included.

I am struggling with school right now.  There have been so many life things getting in the way that I have lost the last three weekends to family things that I haven’t been able to get the studying in I need to do, thus I am always in major stress mode and am just getting burnt out.  My job is finally about to end, which has been a major stressor.  I will be working for a professor who is giving me total freedom with my schedule so that I can do what I need to do for school, but I still have to work.  I’ve come down with a cold or sinus thing that is just kicking my butt because of lack of sleep.

I have left my fiber, art side behind to do this and it is wearing on me.  When going through a storage building’s contents that we were moving so I didn’t have to pay the fee anymore, my kids brought two of the bears I made in and Keith asked why I ever quit designing them.  Part of that is because of my hands, but it started my love of my bears, my wool, my art burning again.  I don’t like the trade off.

I know that this is not the uplifting message that maybe I “should” be posting, but this is one of the things that anyone will deal with going to school – especially as an adult.  There are just so many more responsibilities that are not ones you can walk away from when you are an adult.  I know I need to take time for myself, but it never seems to be enough.  I’m an artist – that’s what I love doing, but I can’t make a living at it.  I love farming – but again, very hard to make a living at it unless you can do it full time and have something else to back you up.  We just do not have the means for me to just do the farm and my art while I build up a business.

Please do not get me wrong, I do love the nursing classes and I have met some WONDERFUL students.  I’m just really torn right now.  I know that nursing will keep me employed and not stressing over money for the rest of my life, but it is a long road it seems right now and hard to not be burnt out and want to go back to my creative side.  I WILL find a way to balance, or live with this – I just needed to vent today.

I’m Pooped!

Classes are going well, but there never seems to be enough time to do everything for school, let alone add in family, work and all the other things that need to be done.

I’m taking a break from studying Spanish (exam tomorrow) and have had a hard time focusing this weekend.  One thing everyone has talked about is making a schedule so that you know what you are doing when.  This is something I need to do.  I have done it to some degree, but since my job situation has been so weird in not knowing where I will be working and then having Keith’s surgery stuck into the beginning of school, I have had a very hard time finding a routine.  I feel like I am flying by the seat of my pants most of the time.  If you go to nursing school – please don’t follow my path in that regard   Get a schedule made and stick to it as best you can.

My job situation has been very weird.  I worked for a long time as an Executive Assistant at the university.  I gave my notice in June that I would be leaving in August.  I asked if I could go part time on the project in a different area that needed help.  They agreed.  But the job didn’t get posted until very late and I was trying to stay in that office and go to school at the same time.  I had told them I wouldn’t miss class anymore for the job as I gave them 8 weeks notice.  I have kept my word on that.  My replacement came last week.  I have now moved to the other office, but have realized for the last several weeks that this project is probably too much for me to handle and go to school.  I have the opportunity to work for in a different area where I can work my hours when I can around school and has much less responsibility.  I am waiting now to see if they can work out my pay rate.  I will be taking a big cut in pay and, even with that, equity issues may come into play and I may not be able to take that much of a demotion.  I hope to know something this week.  I really need to know what I am doing so that I can form a routine.  I wish I had the ability to not work and concentrate on school, but for now that isn’t an option.  Next semester, when we start classes like pathopharmacology and other difficult courses, I will have to re-evaluate work hours.  I am working 30 hours now, but I know that there is no way that will be able to happen next semester.

Even with all the stress of finding time to study and trying desperately not to stay up too late, I am happy to be in school and on the path to nursing.  Make no mistake, though, this road is stressful already and I’m just at the beginning.  We are only doing health promotion this semester.  Next semester we start “real” nursing classes when life will get very interesting.

And Now the Fun Begins!

Warning – Several of these posts did not get up on the site, so it may be flooded as I put them up now.

August 27 & 28

The first two days of classes are like they always are in college – full of information.  Go over the syllabi, meet professors, find out what is expected of you.  I am still a bit nervous about how classes are going to go.  I don’t totally understand what they want from us as nursing students as it is distinctly different than what a “normal” college student faces.  We have one class that is an 8 credit class and encompasses lecture, lab and clinical.  Our main focus in this first semester is health promotion.  Their belief is that you cannot know sick if you don’t know what well is to try and get your client (I’m not sure what happened to the word patient) back to optimum health.

All our exams will be based on the NCLEX type questions.  The NCLEX, for those who don’t know, is the national board test that must be taken after graduation.  The NCLEX questions are not your typical read and regurgitate questions.  They are all about application and a good part of the time the question may have 4 answers that could all be right, but one is the *best* answer for what you would do for your client.  I understand the concept and there are many books that the recommend out there, but I’m not totally sure how they are going to give exams like this in our first semester from what I am seeing.  I’m sure that will become clear more as the semester goes forward.

My first nursing class, one of the instructors came over to introduce herself to me.  I knew this instructor because her mother had been at the nursing home where I took my CNA class a year ago.  Her mother passed away while we were there.  When she introduced herself, I told her that I remembered her from being there.  She went on to tell me about her mother’s death.  I said, “I remember.  It was while we were there.  I wanted to send you a sympathy card, but was having a hard time doing it because I had just lost my Mom.”  She and I went on to laugh about her mother.  Her mother would tell anyone who would listen about her daughter who was a nursing professor at UK.  She said that she had come across some of her mother’s things last week and how hard that was.  I told her I understood and told her that I had a part of my  mom with me that day.  I had taken the pin that Mom received when she graduated nursing school.  I had it in my pocket.  I wanted to take Mom with me for my first day of nursing school.  I so wish she could see what I’m doing now and I wish I could talk to her about it.  Anyway, the professor got very excited and wanted to see it.  I showed her and the next thing I knew I had the Dean of the College of Nursing there asking me about my mom, the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Nursing looking at the pin and everyone understanding how I was feeling.  It was a wonderful few moments that I will take through nursing school.  And it made me feel like Mom was there with me.

I’m now ready to “get on with it”.  I’m still excited.  My classmates seem to be smart and mature and I’m excited to get to know them.  I had some serious concerns after orientation that I might have issues being so much older than the other students.  I was also worried that the maturity level wouldn’t be there and that would frustrate me.  This doesn’t look like it will be the case.  I feel that I finally found where I am supposed to be.

Orientation Day

Warning – Several of these posts did not get up on the site, so it may be flooded as I put them up now.

August 26

It’s my birthday.  The day I have waited for now for over a year.  It’s the start of the rest of my life.  It is Orientation Day for nursing school!  How appropriate that it should be on my birthday.

I was up before the alarm clock today.  I was nervous, not knowing what to expect, but ready to go.  I had picked up a license plate holder with the College of Nursing sign on it.  Keith laughed as I made sure it got on the car this morning.

It was a long day and a lot of information.  I was kind of bummed that I was not only the oldest student at 43 (I kind of figured that would happen), but that there were only a couple of other students that were not in their early 20′s and they were in the 2nd degree program so I wouldn’t see them.   But that’s ok, I’m ready to go.

I found out that our hospital does indeed have a program that will pay tuition in exchange for working after you graduate.  They pay one semester of tuition in exchange for four months of working.  This is something I am going to look into for next year if I cannot get a scholarship.  If I go on to nurse anesthetist school, I have to work for at least a year in a trauma unit.  Knowing this, I might as well take advantage of this program for at least 3 semesters.  While I will go somewhere else for the nurse anesthetist school, it is typically easier to get a job at the hospital where you trained rather than trying to get a job somewhere else.

We also have a nurse extern program that we can do the summer between our junior and senior year.  This program pairs us with a nurse who we shadow for 12 weeks as a mentee.  I’m very excited about this program.

I didn’t really get to talk with anyone today, but I am really anxious now to get to classes tomorrow.

Onward and upward!

The Joys of Paying for School

One of the things I knew that was going to be tough was to get through this financially.  Being a mother you always worry about how you will make sure that everyone has what they need.

I have been VERY blessed this year.  I have been awarded two scholarships – one from the UK Women’s Club and one by the UK College of Nursing that is funded by Dr. Elvis Donaldson in memory of his wife who was a nurse.  The UK Women’s Club scholarship is also very special as these women raise their money by doing bake sales, yard sales and any other booth they can set up to sell handmade wares.  I feel very special having been chosen by this group when they have worked so hard for the money they so selflessly give.

But even with the scholarships, there is still bills to pay.  Unfortunately for us, the scholarships basically nullify the loans.  This is fantastic for the future, but I still have to figure out how to make ends meet month to month.  I do not have this all figured out yet, but have a meeting with my financial aid advisor when she gets back from vacation to see what options I have there.  There is also a federal program, WIA, that I am going to check out.  Each state is different in how they distribute benefits:  some pay for tuition, some pay for books, some even help you with gas costs.  Here in central Kentucky we go through an orientation session which I will try to do in the next couple of weeks to get any questions answered.  My advice to anyone who is looking at school is to apply for as many scholarships as you can find.  There is a lot of money out there and it does take time to apply.  I have not applied for many this year because of my schedule (that is another topic all together), but there are places that offer tuition assistance and loan buy backs in exchange for a time committed to working for their hospital.  There are scholarships through different organizations.  I am going to keep looking and will post what I find.

My office at UK has worked out something that I can work part time and see how it goes.  I will be moving out of my current position to help another part of our project and will work.  The number of hours may end up being too much for the difficulty of classes, but we are going to try this anyway.  Every semester that I can get behind me without having to max my loans, the better.

I am also a seamstress, a fiber artist and we have a farm.  I am looking at options on how to make some side money there.  I will do whatever it takes and keep you posted!

Now back to my research paper that is due tomorrow…

And So It Begins…

I received my letter of acceptance into the College of Nursing, BSN program at the University of Kentucky two weeks ago.  What a ride this has been so far getting through pre-requisites while working a full-time, very stressful job and not only getting through, but being on the Dean’s List both semesters.  I wanted to share with others my journey over the next three years as a 42 year old mother who is finally doing what she wanted to do when she was 18.

I am so very excited to start this adventure and to have you join me.  I know that there will be full days ahead and there will be things I do not want to do along the way, but I know this is what I am supposed to be doing and the path I am to take.

I am taking two summer classes now.  These will end on July 31 and then I get 4 glorious weeks without classes   I chose to take Nutrition so that I could get it out of the way rather than take it through the school year.  I am still going to have to work, although not at my current job, and so anything I can do to make my schedule easier as I go through classes, the better.  I know that I will have a clinical/lecture class and a lecture class in the fall for Nursing.  I have signed up to take Spanish 102 (what a hoot it is to learn foreign languages as an adult – more on that another time) and I need to review Spanish 101 as I took it almost a year ago and have forgotten a lot of it.  If I take another class, it will probably be an Art History class.  You see, I was an Art History major first and since I have almost all of my General Education classes out of the way and ony have 7 more classes to go in Art History, I will try to finish that major as well.  It isn’t me trying to overachieve, I just really love the art classes and if I can manage it, they will be a nice “break” from the science type classes.  I may not be able to manage it and if not, I will go back and finish it later.

That’s my introduction.  Bathwater is calling as it is time to get ready to start another beautiful day.  I hope to share things with you that will be useful if you are an adult wanting to go back to school.  You really should jump in – the water is fine!

Sarah