May 7, 2010
School’s Almost Out…

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we’re approaching the end of the school year!

We’re right in the middle of finals week at Saint Mary, but I’m really looking forward to summer. No big plans for summer as of yet. I will more than likely go down to the Lake of the Ozarks with my family and spend a week there at our lake cabin. I always enjoy going down there and spending time in the water and riding the jet skis!

I will also be working during the summer. I work at Best Buy and just recently got a job at Children’s Mercy Hospital as a student nurse for a nurse tech position. I will start that position sometime in June.

I will also be going for my second-degree black belt in karate the first week of June. So even though I will be out of school I will have plenty of activities to keep me occupied.

I will also still leave the books open so I don’t forget any of the material I obtained this past school year to keep my mind fresh and active and ready for my senior year of nursing school.

This past week, the nursing department had their annual research poster presentation down on the first floor in the Mead Hall faculty lounge. The event involves nursing students creating posters on the research topic they have been investigating this whole semester. We had a great turnout from both the faculty and students. We had a great audience, and a lot of questions were asked.

Research topics covered a variety of subjects, from Honey in Wound Care, Reflexology, Music Therapy, Pain in Terminally Ill Patients, Medication Errors, and much more. Everybody did a fantastic job presenting their information and explaining their topic to the faculty and students.

That’s all I have for this post hope everybody has a great rest of finals week and a great summer!

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April 30, 2010
End of the Year on the Horizon

It is getting close to the end of the year, and we’re all getting ready for the last couple of weeks in the nursing department.

With tests, finals, papers, poster presentations, and HESI exams, it can all seem so overwhelming. As a nursing student you can’t look at it all at once but you simply have to make due and take it one day at time. If all you do is focus on how much is on your plate, you will just overwhelm yourself and end up causing unneeded stress in your life.

When in nursing school, everybody gets to take part in our simulation lab where we role-play as a nurse and where we take care of a patient. Of course the patient isn’t real it is just one of our mannequins in the nursing lab. Other students play roles as a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant), doctors, and family members.

When you are the head nurse you are the one leading everything and it can be real nervous because everybody is looking at you to make the right decision. I got the opportunity to be the head nurse during my last simulation lab, and boy can I tell you I was nervous! I felt all eyes were on me and I was hoping I didn’t make a wrong decision… which I did.

I did a lot of things wrong. But that’s the point. To learn by doing. You learn all of this information as a student nurse but when you are put on the spot and being tested you simply forget the information that was presented to you. Once the scenario is over there is a debriefing where we discuss what we thought went well and what went wrong.

This eases the tension because the instructors give us feedback and tell us the purpose of simulation lab—that we may not know what to do in a situation because we still have more education to complete. It is also designed for us to work as a team together. Even though it can be very nerve-wracking to be the head nurse and take part in simulation lab, it is a nice and safe environment to learn in.

Meanwhile, in the healthcare careers club we recently finished a coloring book drive and collected about a hundred coloring books. We donated them to local pediatric offices and hospitals in the Leavenworth area. We plan to do some volunteer work at a local hospital or a health care facility sometime in the near future.

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April 15, 2010
Introductions All Around

Hi everybody! This is my first blog post.

My name is David Merchant and I’m a junior nursing student from Olathe, Kan. I’m also a member of the health care careers club and NSNA (National Students Nursing Association) at USM. I grew up in Olathe, and lived there all my life.

I recently got back from vacation in South Carolina. Me and my family were at Hilton Head Island. It was a blast!

Went with my family and had a place right on the beach, saw alligators, a dead stingray, and much more. I attached some pictures.

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