Becoming a Nurse

Well, my 8 weeks of orientation are officially over and I am on my own. It is scary and exciting at the same time. I am conflicted on how to feel about this new independence. There are some patients that I know exactly what I am doing and why I am doing it, and then there are some patients that ask a lot of questions that I cannot necessarily answer or they have a complication that needs attention and I feel like I still need help.

Two nights ago, I experienced my first code-blue on the floor. My hands were shaking, my heart was beating about 140 beats/minute, and my fear was clouding my thoughts. I handled everything the best that I could. We called the code blue, got the crash cart, and starting working on the patient. This is a perfect example of a situation in which I am not ready to face on my own. The patient ended up not making it, and so we also had to console the spouse and make arrangements with the body. This was a new experience for me, and one I was not necessarily ready for.

On the other hand, I am looking forward to having the independence to take care of my patient when and how I want to (according to all ethical and legal rules). I have gone through 2 years of nursing school looking forward to this moment. I know nursing can be very tough and draining, and stressful, but there are also many rewarding experiences to being a nurse.

I have a long ways to go before I am a confident and competent nurse. However through time and experience I will become a great nurse, one shift at a time.

New Apartment

So, I am officially moving....about one block. I am moving into a two-bedroom apartment in the same apartment complex. I am pretty excited for the move, the new apartment has a bath and a half, a nice big living room and kitchen, and a door going to the backyard for a grill. The rent is very affordable and it comes with a garage. And best of all, my fiance will move in after we are married, which I am very excited about.

However, I have forgotten how much work moving is. I think about calling my electric and internet companies to tell them my new address and have to have new installations and expenses. And then there is the work of moving all of my belongings, which can be exhausting. However, the weather is beautiful this time of year and I have two full weeks to get my belongings moved, meaning that I can take my time and move slowly. Hopefully this prevents me from getting stressed out over the move.

All in all, I am very excited to move into this new apartment and begin the next chapter in my life. Hello bigger apartment!

Wedding Plans

So, I have gotten a lot of wedding planning done in the past week. My sister came to visit me and we went and ordered her bridesmaid dress. Then we did some heavy duty shopping in Sioux Falls and I got my bridesmaids' gifts, paid for and picked up my invitations, and picked out the jewlery for my bridesmaids.

Today I had my dress fitting for the wedding. You can basically spend as much or as little as you want on these fittings. Luckily my dress fits me pretty well, so all I needed done was to have my halter straps tightened and of course I needed my dress hemmed since I am a whopping 5'5". Then we worked on the bussle of the dress, and I just went with a basic up and over bussle. So $180 later we were all finished up. I have a final fitting at the end of May, and then me and my dress are officially ready for the wedding.

I also talked to a person who bakes wedding cakes today and I am meeting with her in May to discuss cake options and what we want to have done. It is four months until my wedding and everything is falling into place nicely. Don't get me wrong though, there is still a lot left to do.

We still have to work on getting tuxes picked out, work on our wedding program, pick out my fiance's ring, get our marriage license, and work on our marriage counseling packet before our next counseling session. So, there is still plenty left to do. And of course, plan the rehersal dinner, decorations, etc, etc. I don't know if one is ever done planning a wedding to be honest. However, slowly and surely I am getting both the big and small things done. I am very excited for August 14, 2010, but I think I will breathe a little sigh of relief when that day is over as well.

Once again, Thanks for reading!

Wedding Shower

So, I just had my very first wedding shower on Saturday morning. Some of the ladies from my fiance's church wanted to put a wedding shower on for me, which was very nice of them. So, I got all dolled up and prepared myself for a shower.

I was a little bit nervous for this shower because I did not know many of the ladies there. My mother, two aunts, grandma, and cousin made the three hour drive from Minnesota, and I was very grateful to them for that. Including these members of my family I probably knew 15 of the 30 people at the shower. However, everyone was very nice and very welcoming.

We started the shower at 10:00am and began by talking a little bit about where I grew up, my hobbies, my current job, to let people get to know me a little bit better. We then ate some coffee cake and fruit that was delicious. Then, I got to open my presents.


I don't really like having everyone watch me open presents, I am not a fan of fake enthusiasm. But it went very well. I opened presents, mom wrote what the person gave me in the card, and then we passed the presents around in a big circle for everyone to look at. People were so busy looking at all the gifts that it took the pressure off of me.

After the gifts were opened I stood up and told everyone thank you for the shower and for the gifts. I received a lot of very nice items that are currently stored in my garage. I only had to take 3 items back, all because they were doubled up on. And I have no problem taking items back and getting store credit and Target, I can definetly put those gift cards to good use.

I have even written all my thank-yous already. Last night, while watching the third season of lost, I wrote 40 thank-you cards. I wrote and wrote until my hand was ready to fall off. One thing that was a very good idea, is I brought the thank you envelopes to the shower and had the guest self-address the thank yous to themselves so I would not have to look up all those addresses. That saved me a lot of time and hassle!!!!

So, the shower was a blast! And I am lucky enough to have a second shower coming up in May. Not every bride can say that she got two showers for her wedding. I am looking forward to this shower a little more just because I will know everyone there and it is taking place at my church back home. It will be with familiar people in a familiar setting. This wedding shower was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to my shower in May.


Thanks for reading!