no clinicals last week

OK, so last week we didn't have clinicals!  It was strange but nice to have a break.  I'm looking forward to clinicals this Thursday since we should be doing assessments.  I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed about the final.  We have tons to read and absorb.  I definitely need to work on my stress...I know, join the club right?  I started running again (after I broke my toe the first week of classes) so that should help.  If anyone has any stress buster tips feel free to let me know!!!!

glad midterms are over

OK, so made it past midterm in Fundamentals. It was as hard as I thought it would be but so glad we've had the experience and can move on.  Not knowing what to expect always makes me so anxious.
We also had our 2nd clinical on Thursday.  It was a really laid back place when we were there.  The staff was really helpful.  Unfortunately my group didn't get to experience baths because our side of the floor was really high functioning but I did hang out in the P/T room quite a bit and saw some really interesting stuff.  Having never experienced Physical Therapy myself I learned a lot from the therapists.  They talked about several new surgeries being performed and the pt work associated with them.
I look forward to our next clinical and to the medications unit that we will tackle next!

survived first clinical

Westminster Oaks was a beautiful facility.  I have lived here my entire life (although not for the past 15 years).  I remember the original facility and man has it come a long, long way.  I really enjoyed my time with my client.  She was so relaxed when I performed vital signs that I even got her BP right!!!
My client suffers from Alzheimer's and that made for a challenging day; however, she was so sweet and truly excited to have someone spend the day with her that every 30min or so it was like Christmas to her (each time I reintroduced myself and my purpose).
I look forward to our next clinical and hope that I walk away feeling as good as I did Wednesday!!

2nd week and counting

OK, so today was really my first day of "freaking out".  I'm in the vital signs chapter and how scary is it to not only try and retain this information but we don't know how we will be tested on it for the midterm!  Ok, with that said I'm excited for lab tomorrow: I am anxious to learn how to do blood pressure and I think that all the different sites to take pulse rate is so interesting.
Good grief, will this stuff truly become as familiar as breathing...hard to imagine!