One Chapter Completed

Well, of course it's nothing new that I haven't posted to my blog since.... December! I can't "go back," so I'll just get over it - right now! :~)

I had a FABULOUS final quarter in nursing school! I did a med-surg rotation in Orthopedics. I wasn't expecting to love it as much as I did - but I DID! I enjoyed the patient population, I enjoyed getting to know "orthopedic problems," but I also LOVED my clinical preceptor "E"! I also worked with another wonderful nurse, "L". She precepted me for 4 or 5 shifts because "E" works more as a Charge RN than a Staff RN. So it worked out really well. It was good, because they both are really great in different areas, so they both had lots to teach about different things, and I felt like I got a nicely "well rounded" view of what it's like to be a nurse, and what I can do to excel in a variety of ways.

On my last day of clinical, the spouse of a patient handed me this "little thing," which totally had me perplexed for awhile - wondering what it was... He said "take it home, and bake it at 275 for 15 minutes." I was like "Oh, ok! Cool!" - but I had no idea what it was.... There was some flakes of clay, surrounding an end of a large paperclip, which had been bent so that it no longer looked like one... Finally, he said "I've been making these little roses, and just love them" - or something like that. OH, OK! IT'S A ROSE!!! haha! Then, all of a sudden, it hit me. This person gave me a flower that I could keep (as long as I don't break it) forever - something that will remind me of this wonderful clinical experience and of my very last clinical during nursing school. I almost cried, it was very sweet! So anyway, I did indeed bake the flower. It sits on the window sill in the kitchen. Someday, I hope to find a better place for it - maybe in the curio cabinet... In fact, I'll go put it in there now... (it's now done!).

I graduated from Nursing School on March 18, 2009. I took the NCLEX on April 14th and found out at 7am on April 16th that I PASSED! Now THAT was great, because we left that very night for our trip to St. Lucia. And what a wonderful time we had!

Now I'm a Registered Nurse. Yes, RN who is trying to find a job. But I know I will, and I can't wait to finally WORK as a RN ~ something I've wanted to do since the 7th grade!

I am one happy HAPPY woman, and I thank all of my wonderful family and friends for the copious amounts of support and encouragement they doled out during the past 2+ years. I could not have done this without them!

:~)