Oh, it's on!

Well, my fourth (and last) semester of nursing school is in full swing! It’s very surreal. It feels like only yesterday that I was at the nursing orientation two weeks before first semester. As I sat there I could not help but think “what the crap am I doing here? I can’t do this!” And now here I am starting IVs like an old pro, giving meds without a nurse over my shoulder, picking out a preceptorship, and planning our pinning ceremony with my classmates. I am so excited to be almost done and at the same time scared out of my mind. It will be a long time after I get my first nursing job that I will really feel comfortable, but I am looking forward to it.

For those of you who do not know much about nursing preceptorships I will explain. Most of the time it is referring to a 2 to 3 month period of working with a seasoned nurse at the beginning of your first job (a probation period). Here we have preceptor ships during school as well. Our finals will be mid October and then we will have about 96 hours one on one with a nurse (hopefully in the unit of our choice). My teacher will not know for sure what slots will be available to us till October. So I got on her “wish list” to be assigned to the ER. I have never really considered the ER before, but after spending this past Friday there during a 12 hour clinical, I have had a bit of a revelation. The ER would be a great place to get some more practical experience other than just giving meds (most of the time we are on the Med/Surg floor and that is all you really do…that and bed baths). Most people show up there with IVs, Foley’s, etc… already in place…boring! So if all goes well I will get in the ER and if after 96 hours I decide it’s not for me, fine. At least I will know for sure and I would have gotten some great technical skills.

I am very excited for the future and looking forward to seeing where my nursing career will take me!

(the chart above is of the 12 cranial nerves. I have to know then by number, name, and function for my next test. yuk!)

My favorites...

Third Semester

This past May marked the end of my third semester in nursing school. I was told before hand that it would be the hardest because we would have so much more to juggle with more classes and a lot more clinicals. Fortunately, I did not have to drive to another city this year for my Med/Surg clinicals, but I still felt all over the place.
This semester included Med/Surg II, Women's Health, and Pediatrics. Med/Surg was a lot of fun and I am starting to see and feel that I might actually be able to be a decent nurse. During women's health clincals I was in labor and delivery and got to witness a c-section...and yes I almost passed out. I have observed longer and bloodier procedures, but when I smelt the burnt flesh and saw so much blood quickly rise out of this woman's stomach that was it. Good thing there was a stool in the corner. It was embarrassing at the time, but now I look back and can't help but laugh.
I have been trying to narrow down what kind of nurse I want to be and this semester really shook things up for me. I got to experience a day in the life of a nurse in a clinic. I must say that a 9 to 5 job with an hour lunch break and weekends/holidays off seems really nice. Alas, I really think I need to step it up and get my hands dirty in a hospital setting.
I also got to spend some time in a dialysis center. For a long time I have thought of working at one and doing community education classes as well. After spending a year and a half at the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii there is a special place in my heart for people on dialysis.
Crossing the boarder into Arizona for clinicals was another treat. I got to spend the day at a special education school up by Window Rock. It was an amazing facility with modern hogans, a green house, art studio, etc.... it was nice to see people come together for these special kids.

So as I mentioned before this was a hard semester. I don't ever remember crying on the phone to my parents before...and I did it a lot. I spent the entire semester wondering if I was going to pass. My teacher decided to not give us study guides and we all suffered for it. I know she meant well, but when you are tested every week (sometimes twice a week) over so much information old and new, you are going to need a little help. Fortunately, I made it through!!! Unfortunately, some of my friends and classmates did not. They will be held back to repeat Med/Surg II and it is scary to think how close I came to not passing.
My fourth and final semester starts at the end of August. I am both excited and scared. There are six students who did not pass forth semester and will be in my class now. I am trying not to compare myself to them, but it's hard not to. Things will go fast and finals will come about a month and a half before the end of the semester. This gives us time for our preceptorships were we will be working one on one with a nurse. Ahhhhhh!! Breath! It's going to be a bumpy ride ,but I am looking forward to it.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Westhoff Family Reunion 2011

This past weekend the Westhoffs got together in Utah for a family photo. Westhoffs came in from Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Missouri, and Germany. It was a three day whirlwind of fun!

Day 1: Swimming, pizza, and Krispy Kreme!

Day 2: The day started off with family photos at Smoot Park in Centerville, then off to Freedom Park for a picnic, and the day was topped off with more food and fun at the hotel.

Day 3: Sunday was Addyson's 8th birthday which means a baptism!
Good job Addyson!

It was a great weekend and so much fun to see everyone. Thanks to everyone that helped put it together by picking up and ordering food and such!!! I can't wait to see how our family photos came out!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Cathedral Music, Nuremberg

This is the concert mentioned in the previous post.

Nuremburg, Germany

Holy cow, it's already March and I am waaayyy behind.
So, for my first full day in Germany Stephanie, Jacob, Bryan, and I went to Nuremberg. It is a beautiful city with lots of great cathedrals and other cool structures to see. Unfortunately, I can't remember the names of half the things we saw. Guess that's what happens when you wait forever to blog.


It was fun to ride on trains again!




Even though the Christmas market was closed the city was still hoppn'.






This is the top of one of the first cathedrals we ran into. It was closed, but the outside was still pretty cool to look at.


View on the way to the next one.


It amazes me that they look newer then they really are. Most were build between 1200-1500 a.d. I think.






The door into the cathedral. Kind of creepy if you ask me.


This is a view from inside the walls of Nuremberg Castle. We did not go into the castle itself, but it was still fun to walk around the grounds.






View of the city on the way back from Nuremberg Castle.






After a long day we decided to come into this cathedral to try and get warm. Big mistake, it was colder in here then it was outside. But as luck would have it, they were having a mini concert up on the loft. It was so neat to be in a huge cathedral listening to an organ and brass instruments being played. So beautiful!


The man behind my first Nutella Crepe.


YUM!