Bridget M

APA format

When I was an undergraduate in nursing school, our papers had to be written in APA format, much like in nursing school now.  The APA manual was a thin paperback-hardly a paperback, more like a pamphlet- that described how you would site different sources and list them in your bibliography.  At that time, citing Internet sources and pdf files was unheard of.  Research was done in a library.  Indenting was easy- you did it on your typewriter (now I do feel like a fossil)

Presently, the APA manual that I own is many times the size of my original (I wish I could find my original for kicks & giggles) and tells you how to cite sources I never would have thought of using in the 80's.  After returning to school, trying to make APA fit on a MS Word document and meet its criteria took almost as long as the writing assignment.  I would do my best, but ultimately, I would lose points for APA format.  Years ago, a friend of mine turned me on to APA assistance that would rock my world.

http://www.refpt.net/APA_features.htm

Reference point APA software- it works with your MS office word software, and like magic, transforms your ordinary document into APA- the running head, the title page are easy.  It makes your bibliography perfect, cites your resources like a dream.  It practically write your papers for you, It saves so much time, time better spent on writing the paper than figuring out how to double space your document without being a certified MS Office instructor.  After all, I’m a nurse, not Bill Gates!

It is the best spent $30 of your graduate school career, and I get no kickback from telling everyone how awesome it is.  I wish I had found it sooner, it surely would have meant a higher grade point average early on.  

Blown it!

 I blew it today, I had an online exam this week, and I took it this afternoon after work, mostly to get it out of the way, I had til Thursday to complete it.  I didn't do very well.  For that matter, I blew it.  I reviewed my answers and wondered where I went wrong.  Did I not study enough?  Some of the more obscure questions I got without a problem, I even had some A-ha moments at work related to the material I was studying and got to apply it in real life- that was pretty cool, but it didn't translate to my final score.

I did extremely well the first exam, so I suppose that will give me some balance.  I just get very impatient with myself when I don't succeed.  

I haven't picked up any school related stuff tonight.  I just don't feel like it, would rather put my pj's on & go to bed, without reviewing another chapter of something new.  

Sigh, papers due next week, I volunteered to write up some case studies on patient's we have had some success with at work, and I am in a group that is doing a retrospective study on "dead people" that is, patients who have died, who have developed pressure ulcers prior to dying- (are they avoidable??)  But my brains are tired.  (or my brain is tired?)  Enough already... 

Time for a new mobile phone??

Time for a new phone

It is time for a new phone but I am so conflicted about it.  Two years ago- when, again, it was time for a new phone I tried out a blackberry pearl- it was so cumbersome, the learning curve was too high, the bill that came back was disgusting- I traded it in for a regular plain old cell phone, defeated.  It isn't that I am afraid of technology, I consider myself pretty proficient at my computer at home and at work, but I didn't have the time to devote to learning how to do it and I still needed it for my work..

I like the new iPhone, and I am a Mac user.  I have played with it and it is very user friendly- I could live with that, but to switch my service from Verizon to AT&T, again is more time consuming than I need right now.

Ultimately, I think I will stick with the one I've got for now, I don't have time to learn something new right now- my plate is pretty full with my "have to" stuff, the phone may have to wait until the summer, though, I am open to suggestions...

Working woman's chicken

That's what I call those rotisserie chickens you find in the supermarket- they usually come as a meal with two sides & corn bread- instant dinner, kind of homemade tasting, but without the work.  It would be like having my own wife make dinner for me when I get home.

I was in McQuades Market in Mystic after a very long day- 7 yr old daughter in tow, she is also cranky & hungry, and I went to the cafe looking for my beloved chicken, and they were gone.  I asked the cafe manager where they were, they were sold out.  I felt this confused look on my face- like I couldn't figure out a solution other than the chicken at that moment when another woman came behind me.  She also had the same tired, hungry look on her face, she was also looking for the chicken.  She made the same confused face when he told her there were no more.

He saw the blank stares in our eyes, and helped us find comparable choices- we had pork roast (again, courtesy of McQuades) that night.  He seemed to recognize our dilemma, and it looked as though he had done this before.  For that night, McQuades fed into my fantasy that I would come home from work (not to mention readings for class to do during the night) and Mario Batali from Food Network would have dinner under control, pouring me a glass of wine and serving me a little appetizer to tide me over until dinner is served...okay, now I am just getting carried away..

Waiting for September 8th

yeah, I'm not going to do it.

Officially, school does not start until September 8th, but my class is up & running on Blackboard.  Classmates are introducing themselves and posting in the discussion board, I will not be sucked in. 

It's the principle of the thing.  I have 6 more days until class begins, and I will not start reading & posting & doing the homework until it is time.  My textbooks are still in the Amazon box- to go on my shelf, but not until after September 8th. 

Okay, maybe I did look at the first module, and print out my syllabus, and read it, but no more.  Maybe I will crack the binder on the textbooks over the weekend, but no more!

Fellow students, join me in not prematurely entering into the Fall semester until it is time! 

Back to school

My 7 yr old daughter started back to school-2nd grade- last Thursday, August 27th.  I picked her up from school and asked how her first day was.  “Awesome!” she replied.

If only I had as much enthusiasm for returning to school.  Actually, I had a fabulous summer, very well rested, rejuvenated, and ready for the fall semester.  The summer was never really hot- until the end.  We had enough rain to flood the entry way to our neighborhood and we considered gathering up animals two by two and building an arc. 

Summer is gone, fall is nearly here, and Fall semester begins again September 8th.  Last year at this time, I wrote a list of the top ten things I do to prepare for school at the beginning of the semester.  I reviewed it, and did none of them:  Well, I did vacuum under the furniture, but I didn’t freeze a month’s worth of dinners, start my Christmas shopping, and buy 3 months worth of Walmartables. (mouthwash, toothpaste, paper products, etc..)  We certainly aren’t going back to Disney World in December.  As much fun as it was, we are really watching our dollars and cents until I graduate in 2011- (in 4 more semesters, thankyouverymuch!)

If I crash & burn with making suppers & Christmas shopping, I will blog it here & seek out sympathy.

Little Spike

About 2 weeks ago, I received a call from the nurse of one of my former patients.  She was unable to care for her dog and was thinking of getting him euthanized, and would I take her dog. 

This isn’t the first time we had Little Spike in our home.  Last year my patient had a fall at home and was hospitalized with a broken leg.  Her boyfriend lived in the apartment next door and took care of the dog too, however the day after she broke her leg, he had a heart attack and also went to the hospital.  I was in their apartment building and asked the maintenance man who was taking care of the dog, he didn’t know.  I knocked on her door and heard the desperate yelps of her Chihuahua and knew I couldn’t leave him there.  The patient gave me permission to take him home, and the maintenance man gladly let me in her apartment to get him. 

That was last year Little Spike came to live with us.  We called him Little Spike because we already have an 11 year old Brittany/Springer Spaniel named Spike-which can be confusing when you only want one dog but both would come when called.   Little Spike stayed with us for three months, until his owner returned to her apartment, her boyfriend unfortunately did not survive the heart attack. 
But now Little Spike was sick.  He was an overweight Chihuahua living in a Sr Citizen apartment filled with thick clutter and a chain smoking owner.  He was fed lots of treats and junk food and didn’t get much exercise.  He had been listless, shaky, drinking lots of water.  The vet diagnosed him with diabetes and told the elderly woman to give him insulin twice a day.  She had been unable to give it due to a combination of arthritis in the hands and an unwilling clever dog who hid amongst the clutter when he saw the orange insulin syringe coming out in the open.  The vet office would call and tell her how important it was for her to give the insulin, they weren’t real sympathetic with why she couldn’t do so, or that she didn’t have the money or transportation to take him back & get bloodwork, she told them that maybe he needed to be put down.  Again, they weren’t real sympathetic, and she felt awful that she couldn’t help her companion of 10 years. 

So Little Spike is part of our family again.  Giving him insulin is a two man job- my husband picks him up-to keep him from running away-and I jab him while my husband scratches his ears to distract him from the injection.  (if anyone has any suggestions on how to best give insulin to a dog, let me know) He has settled in right away- like he never left. 

National Conference

Two weeks ago, I went to St Louis to attend a conference.  It was the national conference of Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses, an opportunity to meet with my peers from all over the country- some from out of the country, and to recharge my knowledge of my chosen specialty, one that I love.
One of the hot topics this year was avoidable vs. unavoidable pressure ulcers.  Anyone who works in an inpatient setting is aware that Medicare no longer pays for stage 3&4 pressure ulcers that occur while the patient is inpatient.  Although I work in home care, these are issues that will surely come our way as well. 
Networking means talking with other nurses, lecturers, professors- some are like rock stars in our scope of practice. 
National conferences- even regional conferences are important to stay fresh in your practice.  To continue to work & receive all your continuing education in the same setting only keeps you oriented to what is going on in your workplace.  Returning to school, networking with other colleagues who work in other settings makes you return to your workplace with a fresh perspective, and overall, makes you perform better.

What to do when you are only working full time?

It has been a month since I took my final and finished the semester.  After it was over- it really didn’t feel as though it was over until at least 3-4 weeks.  For several days after the final exam, at least once an hour- and in the middle of the night- I was on BB looking at my grades.  Did my class participation grade come in?  Was the final exam grade adjusted to account for ambiguous questions?  Would attending the extra credit lab make a difference?  I would do my own math- calculate what was needed for the final grade I was hoping for.  The period of time between the final exam and when grades were posted felt like a kind of Limbo- the class was over but it didn’t feel like it was over, my adrenaline was still flowing- it took a good 3 weeks to wind down.  Even when final grades were posted, and I was satisfied, I still felt the need to be on BB for some reason to see if something changed.    I now haven’t been on in a week, and that is okay.

Last weekend, I got some guilt-free gardening done.  My daughter & I weeded out my flower beds-I did not touch the garden when the semester was still active.  Tomato plants were planted, some annuals were put in, and we are building a new pumpkin patch bed too.  It feels good to be busy doing something non-academic for a change.  

The end of the semester

I finished my online final, I am tickled pink with the results, thus my semester is over.  For the rest of the day, I didn’t know what to do with myself, I got a pedicure, watched television, but had that restlessness within me- what do I do with my spare time???  How will I survive the summer without a 30lb patho book on my lap???

This semester was particularly challenging to me, Pathophysiology is not a light subject, and my enthusiasm was thin mid semester.  I had some serous doubts about whether or not I belong in grad school, sacrificing my other roles as mom, wife, housekeeper (cough, cough) not being able to chaperone my daughter’s field trips, missing important functions, not having her scheduled in multiple extra-curricular activities after school, not volunteering more… it is easy to focus on all the stuff I wasn’t doing in lieu of the big stuff I am.

There are many times I asked myself if it is worth it.  I ask God whether I am doing the right thing sacrificing my other roles to be a student, and to further my career.  Every time I asked that question, something wonderful happened, my paper got published, I would do well on a test, a colleague I respect would offer me praise & encouragement, or the Ostomy group I belong to would remind me that there are few health professionals in Southeast CT who are available to help them.  Every time I ask that question, the answer is a resounding YES, so I will continue to persevere. 

Somehow I will endure the summer without school, beach without a heavy book, I will know who gets voted off the island (is Survivor still on?) not that it matters when it is in reruns.

Have a great summer!