User blog comment:Acebatonfan/Inactivity Apologies/@comment-27609304-20161021115417/@comment-4196050-20161122145913

I know this is a month late, but...

My nursing classes this semester include medical-surgical nursing (pretty much discussion of the most common disease processes, treatments, and nursing implementations associated with it. I also had hands-on labs for oxygen therapy, chest tube management, and tracheotomy care, did a code blue simulation, and had a field experience at a local ER), pediatrics (like med-surg but geared to the unique needs of kids. This class also had labs like nasogastric tube management, simulations like a ruptured appendix and cystic fibrosis management, and a field experience working with a school nurse), psychiatric nursing (discussion of major mental health topic and therpeutic communication. Labs focused on implementing therapeutic communication in a variety of scenarios such as a depressed client or a client who needs to be restrained. I also had a field experience at a local outpatient mental health center), communities nursing (honestly a BS course that is a lot of review and integration from previous classes. It's stuff like knowing the differences between the different medicare parts and how health insurance works, how triage in a disaster setting is different from triage in an emergency room, and how the nurse really needs to assess the client's entire situation -including his community and resources available- to create the best plan of care), and a work expeirence class (I need to work a certain amount of hours prior to senior year clinicals).

So, for work I am doing basic nursing assistant stuff at a doctor's office (vital signs, height/weight, urinalysis, administering eye exams, administering injections/PPD tests, documenting, keeping track of patient education material, and cleaning patient rooms after they leave). I got all my required clinical hours, so once this semester is over I do not need to do any more work until senior year (I did a preceptorship at a local children's hospital to get the rest of my clinical hours).

In the US, colleges are typically schools that give you an associate's (2-year) degree, while universities are schools that give you a bachelor's (4-year) degree. I could get my RN license at a regular college (2-year degree), but most hospitals are shifting their requirements so that I'll eventually need to have a bachelor's degree (the only difference between a 2-year and a 4-year degree are some extra classes and a bigger emphasis on research-based practice). I really want to get my nurse practitioner license, which will require me to get at least my master's (though there's recently been a push for nurse practioners to have a doctorate degree, which would be an extra four years of school once I get my bachelor's. I'm scared to see how expensive graduate school is...).

Oh yeah -I am old enough to look in the mirror and see some *very premature* wrinkles. I swear I saw a gray hair a few days ago (I'm going gray, and I'm barely in my 20s...). :P