Today was my practical assessment, the only one this year - turn up in uniform with kit (stethoscope, sphymanometer (Blood Pressure thing), pen light and thermometer.....which was finally working having replaced the battery it came with which must have been defective as it died instantly and everyone elses are still working). Of course the battery is held in by a tiny screw, thankfully part of the multitool-on-loan-from-a-friend happens to fit it. Anyway, you and your lab partner, meet one of the assessors (all lecturers, some we know a lot better than others) and be asked to do either a neurological, abdomenal or thorax and lungs. All of these were slightly abreviated versions. You had 20 minutes to do your assessment and answer the examiners questions, then swap with your buddy abd become their patient.

We spent a couple of hours last week practicing on each other and chatting about it, and chatting generally and I'd made little cards with everything I needed to cover, and a couple of things I had dicovered I didn't need to cover.
We had agreed to be there half an hour early which was good to talk about it and talk to people waiting for their turn or coming out of their assessments. We heard that some of the people the previous day had failed. We figured out who our assessor was - one of our first semester lecturers, lovely but I imagine very scary when she wants to be!
She came out to get us 5-10 minutes early so we had to go via the locker room to drop bags off - this is why most of the bathrooms in block 7 have lockers in them. We went in and she asked me to start with neurological - my buddy and I had agreed she would go first. I was happy with neuro as I've studied it reasonably hard and pretty much memorised GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale) before it was taught. Its used to evaluate where someone's neurological status is - normal is 15, comatose is 3, anything under 9 and in an ambulance warrants lights and sirens.

It was all good, it tried to talk may way through what I was doing and why and she asked me a couple of questions, let me come back to the one term I couldn't remember. She was impressed that I could remember some of the bones (One of the questions involved the medial and lateral malleolus - the inside and outside bony bits of your ankle) and pronounce all the names for the tests (Stereognosis and grapasthesia)! I like words.....and latin is handy in the way different bits of terms link body systems with can do/can't do or outer/inner/middle....

I passed! My buddy them got to do thorax and lungs on me. She was congratulated on her percussion (lightly hitting one finger against the skin with the fingers of the other hand to get an auditiory response that tells you about the tissue below - flat over bones, dull over dense organs like a liver and resonant over hollow things like lungs). I was congratulated on my nice lungs - the precussion was done so well both the assessor and I could hear the resonance, meaning they are nice and clear! (labs can get a bit strange...earlier this semester a member of the teaching staff congratulated me on my lovely (normal) tympanic membrane!)
We both passed and finished early (after a slight glitch - having to be reminded to date something and not remembering the date!) so chatted with the lecturer for a moment - she asked us what we were palnning for the afternoon (studying Maori health, LJ won't let me add the macron) and she had some timetabling questions about moving her classes around next year. Fantastic we passed (and the lecturer pretty much said she knew we would pass and expected good things from us!)
Last time in uniform for the year! Good, somethings had become habits that I didn't like to break - I think the assessor was a bit miffed when I went fishing in a pocket for a pen and came out with a latex glove! (we discovered that it was always a good idea to carry a pair on placement as you could be called to a bathroom at any time!)
Definately getting new shoes for next year - no more school shoes for placement and chucks (cotton ones, against the rules as they aren't body fluid proof) at labs (on campus).

So, bring on exams! Only three this time (for the first time in three years!) and then a week and a half till my summer paper starts (looking forward to it, its semialigned with one of my last Vic Papers). And my two jobs - more about those at another point, I still don't have much information about the new one.

Hope everyones exams are going well - our semester don't quite align, I'm still on study break. Last exam is on the 9th :)
And LJ spellcheck doesn't like me :)

Had a good day yesterday,
Went to give blood( On giving blood )The lab involved drawing the organs on each others abdomens showing where they are under the skin.....fun times. One of the girls had a doctors appointment after and says her Dr laughed pretty hard. Unfortunately my camera has been busted for nearly a year so any photos have been taken with my phone...yes, I'm a geek.

Off to go ice skating today.....first time since summer 96-97...Singapore

Finally managed to put something under the cut!

I am still alive! Despite due dates, placements and the lovely 7am starts that require getting up at 0545 (as I like to start my day with a shower and my ride comes at 0630).
Placement is still in J'ville but thankfully this semester I have a ride sorted - as one of the girls commutes from Kilbernie (her Mum does the driving) and her family happens to have an 11 seater van, she picks up all those that don't have transport from the war memorial. As she has to come over Constable st anyway, I meet them opposite my flat....really handy!
As seen on Facebook, I've been bussing back into town. One of the days, one of the girls was short on cash ($4.50 without a smartcard) so I clipped her on, the bus driver asked 'student?' yes I am, even if its not quite the kind of student she means, so she gave the two of us child fares, two days in a row! I've got a frind who had this happen without them even asking....she is kinda(quite) petite and carries quite a big backpack for uni. Still figuring out why this is working for me as I've had to use ID for child fares since I was about 16.
Talking about it with the other students in the break room at lunch time (yes, although we're not paid we have set breaks totalling 1hr - more than I get for work) and it turns out one of them thought I was first year whilst another thought I was 25ish!

Now working on a 25% Bioscience assignment due 4pm tomorrow, just got 2 questions to do, one of which is rather big and I really don't want to do...so will try and get it done tonight. Seeing a dentist tomorrow, something I've been putting off forever (only beacuse the one I was registered with has a 4 week wait and I have never known my work hours more than 2 weeks in advance). Also giving blood this week (first time as they put me on a 6 month standdown when I registered as I was on prescription iron tablets). They obviously want me as they've called me twice in the last 2 weeks. Also going ice skating with friends and interviewing my grandmother for the next assignment....that reminds me, I need to call her tonight......

And yes, I'm still working 8hrs a week, liking riding my bike (although a bit of a headwind today, glad to be home before the rain started) and got to see two of the navy ships today :) (after queuing for 30 mins). And my bike still has non matching handgrips (the new ones take 5-10 mins to out on and the old right one isn't as dangerous as the old left one (which once came off as I was about to turn a corner)).

Went home for a couple of days to do stuff I haven't done for a while - sleep under the same roof as my parents for more than one night (eight weeks). Have a haircut (first since last August...my hair is so light now!). Made bread by hand...unfortunately my parents don't have a warming drawer and the sunlight was already  disappearing. Went to my Grandmother's Zumba class (Where someone tells me I move like a ballet dancer, another person asks where I live, I say Newtown as my grandmother says Whitby) and played my clarinet. I was worried I would remeber enough - I haven't played it since February at the latest. It was great and reminded me why I played - it made me happy. I guess that dissappeared sometimes with competitions and assessments. But then, everything is more enjoyable when its optional.

So 'm sitting in my jammies, its going on 10 and I have a essay to write. Apparently somewhere in the study guide is a word that lests you submit a week late if you put it on your cover sheet. I'd quite like to find it...might ask a classmate. Back into clinical this week - 0700-1530 weds, thurs, Friday next week (week 8 for Vic) and repeating weeks 10 and 12. Working on transport - with rather not have a need to borrow my sisters car. And going back to my aunt's (in Jville) is a little akward when she hasn't extended an invitation and I have to get Dad to 'negotiate it'. Looking forward to next year - placements in community, mental health and MED/SURG - yup, just a little exited about medical surgical! Still working weekends at BP - currently Sundays, 7am shifts...at times like these, I love my bike (halves travel time). It looks like I'm getting a bit attatched to said bike....on Tuesday felt like I missed riding and realised I'd only been off it for two days!

( Read more... )
Better be off, and lets see if I can put some of this under the cut.

Over the last weeks (months), procrastination has mainly consisted of reading blogs...especially nurse and paramedic ones....its really hard to find good firefighting ones. (I get about as exited about fire trucks as the average 6 year old :) Yes, this is what my friends told me last time I saw a fire truck go up Kelburn parade whilst on the overbridge). At work this has extended to asking why some pull into pump 1 and others pump 2 (turns out they have a mix of european and Japanese engines, tanks are on different sides), and commenting that one of the general rescue engines was missing its basket stretchers. The FF replied that why would they need them, ambulance had plenty. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to point out that you probably wouldn't want an ambulance stretcher if doing a vehicle extrication off the road in scrub (and transporting the patient back to the road).

(and then I looked for images of stretchers and ended up finding and downloading a copy of Wellington Free's treatment protocols...and spending ay too long oggling their website)

anyway, the point of the previous paragraph is that I would like to bring my LJ back to life. Motivatio is challenging as I only know of one person that actually reads it!

The last five days have been pretty crazy. The biggest news is that I have a bike and have managed to ride it daily for each of the six days I've had it,,,anywhere from the 1.6km from my sisters place(yes, she lives five times closer to my uni than I do) to 4.6 km from the railway station. I;m feeling pretty proud and hoping to keep it up (but know I won't be going out daily when on clinical, starting week 7). Oh, and Massey is a week out from Vic.

My bike is so old that its retro, complete with the really long mud guards. This makes it a theft target as these bikes are really pricey new (imported) and popular at the moment. Its light blue and has a litttle bit of rust, I'm wondering how to clean it (which of course would have to be done at my parents place). Of course, it can't be transported in Mum's or older sister's car, as they have little hatchbacks. Dad's is the only one big enough to put it in, and the only one with a tpw bar for a bike rack. My parents got into biking about 4 years ago and went from 1 bike to now having 4 - one road, one mountain each (Mum already had a mountain bike from when we were kids and she would come on rides with us). Dad got rid of his old bike at some point in the 90s. The last family ride I remeber was when I was five. We rode the railway maitenance track to Ngati Toa domain/Mana station. I tried to ride through a puddle that was deeper than it looked. I fell off and got soaked. So my parents put me in the child carrier that was still on Mum's bike from taking me to kindy....lucky I still fitted it as a five year old, and managed to put my bike on the back of Dad's (and keep it there using a spring thing).

My kit is pretty complete with good front and rear lights that unclip so I can take them with when I park my bike. A really strong lock, a helmet (My parents bought a spare when they got the third bike...its blue and silver), my $3.70 his-vis in yellow with reflectives. Big enough to go over anything I might wear. Usually worn over my backback, at which point it doesn't do up, and a peg for my pants as I mostly wear wide leg...yes, a clothes peg.
My christmas list might be slightly themed this year....(pump, repairs kit, hi vis tail so it doesn't matter if I lean low).
Pitty my bike doesn't have drop handlebars (the curly ones)...still bit hard to complain as it was free (Dad did the two trips to Newlands to get it and got a friend to replace a cable).
The seat is a little high - I can touch the ground with tippytoes but was higher when we got it and on Friday my parents had me get on it before them would lower it....they insisted....it was a good 5-10cm TOO high! I might pop into the free bike clinic sometime and see if I can get it down another 2-3 cm. Also would like to get the front wheel bolt loose enough so that if I have a spanner I can undo it on my own - would be handy in terms of transport (or storage if I had a desperate need to bring it inside)...a space to watch.

A bike would have been really handy living in Thorndon.....would have halved my commute to work! with 6 am starts and 10pm finishes.

Anyway, I should probably go start my worksheet for tomorrow...visiting a kindy. The strange things we do for course requirements, also trying to sort out visiting an under 6 month old......

Has anyone else been spammed on LJ?

13/4/2011 Vegetufa commented on a post about what was happening in  November with 'Great writing! I want you to follow up to this topic!?!'

So I updated my LJ to where I am now

on 16/4/2011 Nuxicowl commented 'Great post! I wish you could follow up on this topic!'

These aren't usernames I recognise, anyone know what they are?

Lol, Just saw my last entry and realised how much has changed since then :)

As I think you all know, I've switched to Massey. My last post was after months of submitting my job for countless research jobs, all out of wellington. I was thinking that that would clarify whether science research was for me. Instead, BP showed me that it wasn't for me - constantly dealing with people made me realise that I didn't want to end up in a lab with a limited number with people to interact with. To be honest, I'd been worried about this when I finalised my decision as Biomed.

I ended up making my decision just over 48 hours before my paperwork was due - 16 pages filled out, 2 referees reports (to be delivered to the referees to be filled out and sent in), verified copies of transcripts (VUW and NCEA, now out of date as I have more unit standards...probably a good thing as each is categorised separately, making my transcript look odd as they are so out of place with my school standards), verified copies of my birth certificate and my first aid certificate.....quite a mission. Of course the temp at the wellington office didn't date stamp my application, meaning they rejected it as being late, and a referees report hadn't turned up....after running around sorting it out...I got a call at 5:25 on a monday night (Murphy's law that I was in the basement AMB at VUW Kelburn so had almost no reception)....Just in time as the following day I was going to submit an application for a job at Wellington Hospital as the 'Radiology clerk' - dealing the patient enquiries and bookings and 'providing support to the emergency department'!

So where am I now? I live on constable street, with two guys and a girl (two professionals, one part time student).Took me quite a while to find out how much significantly older  than me they are! Its cool - warm, dry, relatively clean and 15-20 minutes from Uni...and I get to walk past the hospital on a daily basis :)

I'm up to week 7 of semester - So far, Massey has stuck to the same terms as Vic, although this may change next year. As of week 6, I spend every second week (even numbered weeks) on 'Clinical placement' at a rest home in Jville. Commuting is a challenge for 7am starts - stayed with my parents for the first week as it was on Dad's way, may end up borrowing Erin's care later as the only train is the 6:04 and there aren't any buses at that time. I knew that clinical would show me whether nursing was for me - whether I can handle ''personal cares'. I'm glad to be able to say that I got through my first week and am continuing.

I'm still at BP, down to 8 hours a week and very thankful for a sympathetic manager (his wife did the same degree a couple of years ago), now waiting to hear about my hours over midsemester break, although as per usual I'm away for easter with family (although camping could be very cold this year!) and I have plenty of study to do for a 25% test on the second day back!

Thats all for now.....Maybe I should try to make these posts more regular!

Seriously, every time I end up on Facebook, I turn into even more of a bio geek! It really helps when people write songs about biochemical pathways (The TCA/Krebs/Citric acid cycle in full).

I've also found my new revision tools: Whiteboards....Has anyone seen them anywhere on campus thats warmer than McLaurin?

*at which point the friends who gave me it in 2007 cringe*
This means that I'm finally listening to the CDs Jo made for me in 2005, and the CDs Nicole made for me in 2008!

Thank you guys! I'm sorry the appreciation has taken this long!