I love Red Bull...

So the completion of first semester is quickly approaching which means my consumption of Red Bull is also quickly increasing. As disgusting and unhealthy this may sound, during midterms, I estimated that I drank approximately 12 cans of Red Bull within a 3 day span. Hmmm...it makes me wonder how many cans I will be drinking within the next couple of days leading up to finals. So far my count is about 8 cans within the last 48 hours but the funny thing is, I've done no studying. For those that know me, I'm notorious for having some form of energy drink in my hand throughout the course of the day (especially for the 8am Development of Self class). I remember telling a fellow nursing student while we were studying for our Anatomy midterm how my stomach was bothering me and how it felt really hard (and that's not cause I have abs) and she told me it was from all the Red Bull that I've been drinking because it contains a lot of caffeine. After exams, I went to inquire with my family doctor in regards to the stomach problems I've been having and all he asked what my diet consisted of and then he followed by telling me to stop drinking the energy drinks. Clearly, I have not taken his advice to stop drinking them because as I'm writing this post, there is a can sitting right in front of me and another can in my backpack. Hopefully, I'll eventually kick the habit since as a nurse, I need to take care of myself in order for me to be able to take care of my patients.

Hand washing for Kids

Handwashing is the single most important way in preventing the spread of germs. So as a first year nursing student this was one of the first techniques we learned in practicum. I have always been known to my friends and families to be an avid hand washer as I worked in a receiving department for 5 years and then after having Emma, I washed my hands more frequently. So I was browsing through YouTube earlier on today, I saw this video that teaches children the basics of hand washing and why its necessary and found it to be handy to use as a tool to teach Emma on the proper way to wash her hands. Even though Emma is still very young, I believe that teaching her earlier on will be a benefit to her as she can possibly teach her fellow peers when she goes off to school. I am always trying to get Emma to wash her hands now but she doesn't understand the importance of it and thinks that its playtime when I turn the tap on for her, I'm going to show her this video later and hopefully she will enjoy it as much as I did.

Future career path...

After having given birth at Markham Stouffville Hospital, I grew a sense of attachment to the staff that helped me through my delivery. Ever since giving birth, I've visited the Emergency Room on numerous occasions with my daughter. We waited a very long time before we were greeted by a emergency room nurse then it was followed by a visit from the doctor. I was given a prescription and was given clear instructions on what steps I should take if her condition worsens and was assured that as long as she continues to drink fluids, she should not get any worse. After so many visits to the ER since her birth, I believe that I should pursue a career in that department.

Technology is on the rise

Due to recent advancements in technology, communication barriers in nursing are slowly disappearing. With the introduction of the use of PDA’s in the nursing profession, it has greatly decreased the amount of time nurses spend documenting and charting manually, thus nurses are able to spend more time with patient’s building a trusting and therapeutic relationship with them. In addition to the PDA assisting nurses in documenting and charting, it also allows nurses to send information to other health care providers in relation to a patient at any given time. As nursing students, we need to be open minded into accepting new technology into our studies in order to be able to provide timely and effective care for our patients.

Welcome to my "WORLD"!

Hello from my end of the computer to yours!
My name is Karen and I've completed 4 years of post-secondary education prior to entering into the Nursing program at UOIT. I have a daughter named Emma who will be turning 2 soon. She is my pride and the main reason why I decided to go back to school. My life is pretty chaotic at the present moment, juggling my family, school and a job does not seem to be working as well as I had imagined it to be. Previously, I've used Livejournal and enjoyed it really much so I will have fun blogging here. Well, enough about me! I hope you will come by again and see how my journey in becoming a nurse is going.