Week in Review February 28
Well, the results are in from Kim's gallbladder tests. According to the HIDA scan he has absolutely zero gallbladder function. Kim told everyone that he was about to have a "2-pound gall-baby" that Mont named "Gall-Bob". Dr. Dave recommended that Kim have surgery to remove the gallbladder so he has an appointment next Monday to meet with the surgeon and to schedule the surgery. Thankfully his pain has subsided for now and he is feeling pretty good, so he is good to wait a bit.
One of the disadvantages of buying a car from a Salt Lake dealership is that it may require driving to Salt Lake when something is needed. I purchased a clear covering to be adhered to the hood of my car to help prevent chips since I am on the freeway so much. In order to do that I had to drive down on Monday evening to drop it off. Luckily they gave me a rental car to use. It was a Subaru Crosstek. I was so glad to have the opportunity to drive the Crosstek because I had been thinking about getting one before I bought mine and I found that I did not like driving it much.
It wasn't nearly as comfortable as my Outback, so now I know that I made the best choice! I drove back down to the dealership on Wednesday afternoon to drop off the Crosstek and pick up my car. Friday I had to drive back down to Salt Lake for an NCLEX training for work so that made three trips to Salt Lake this week. I'm very tired of driving!
I have really been focusing on helping my students develop their clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills by using the Nursing Process. I try to implement the process in every class and during clinicals. This week I had each of the clinical students report on a patient using the correct Nursing Process during our post conference. It is a tough concept to master and each student was encouraged to work through the process in the meeting until they conquered the entire concept. Unfortunately I made one student cry! I feel horrible! We were able to talk things out and we are okay now, but I totally understand how frustrating the concept is to master. I gave an analogy to the students (thanks to Kim's great advice) that helped with their frustration a little, I think. I told them about the time when we were teaching BJ how to wake board. He was about 13 or 14. We took the boat out, gave him good instruction, and he got into position. However, he didn't get up, he couldn't get up for some reason. He tried time and time again and just couldn't seem to figure out what he was doing wrong. We gave him encouragement as well as more instruction, but still he could not seem to connect the dots to make it work. To add insult to injury Shandra decided to give it a try and popped right up the first time without any difficulty. Poor BJ. He got back into the water and tried, again and again. Still no luck. After what seemed like an eternity with BJ giving everything he had all of the sudden HE DID IT! He got up and stayed up. It was amazing! And, for some reason he never had trouble getting up again.
I told my students that mastering the Nursing Process was a lot like getting up on the wake board. Some students will try and try and try but for some reason they just are not able to connect all of the dots. And then there are some students that seem to put forth no effort at all, they just "get" it. It doesn't seem fair! However, if they will just keep trying one day it will just "click" and they will get it, and then never have problem with it again. Hopefully my story helped.
Friday I spent the day in Salt Lake at an conference designed to help nursing faculty prepare students to write tests and prepare them to take their state board exams after graduation. It was a great seminar, and I think it will be very helpful as I write tests (because I need all of the help I can get!)
That night Tammy, Kinsey, Ash and Cyn came for a night of game playing. I can't even describe how much I needed to laugh and play with those guys. Tammy usually doesn't like to play games much, she just enjoys watching, but we got both her and Kim to join us in a game of Telestrations. It was so funny! After Telestrations we moved to the table and got "serious" playing Nertz. Oh my goodness it was so great to laugh!
Cyn stayed the night so she could attend a fireside with me the next morning. Sheri Dew spoke and it was wonderful! She spoke on the grace of Jesus Christ and how He wants to bless us. “Grace is divine power that enables us to handle things we can’t figure out, can’t do, can’t overcome or can’t manage on our own." She shared several stories about hardships she has had to deal with in her life and you could just feel the strength of her testimony as she told how she is able to overcome trials by God's grace. It was a powerful talk.
Marilyn, Karen, Julie Elegante, April Bays, and Jodi Shelley and I were part of the choir for the fireside. The choir was lead by Tammy VanDuesen, and it was incredible. Tammy is very accomplished and demanded much from us as singers. She worked us so hard on breath control that sometimes I felt faint! But we learned so much! It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful good music is. One of the songs, "Prayer of Grattidue" was not my favorite the first day we started working on it, but by the end it definitely became a favorite! We also sang an arrangement of "Amazing Grace" that was beautiful. What a great experience!
After the fireside Cyn and I took off for Ogden. We picked up Shandra for a yummy lunch at Dylans and then headed back to the salon for Cyn's hair appointment.
I got a trim too! And then Shandra styled my hair. I LOVE it when she styles my hair because I can never do it as well. I always get compliments when she styles my hair.
After our hair appointments it was back home for more games. This time with Bubba. We played a modified game of Linkety, a game where you have to match a category by playing a letter card and stating a word that starts with that letter. Bubba did a great job, I believe it was educational as well as fun.
They also talked me into playing Jenga. I usually don't like that game, I get filled with anxiety at the thought of crashing the tower! But we had a fun time.
It was so good to laugh and to be spiritually fed this week because my depression has been at an all time high. I hate how sad, unworthy, and disconnected I feel. Luckily I can still see glimpses of good in my life. Since it has been such a depressed week I totally fell off the diet wagon. Dr. Pepper and chocolate have been my lifeline.
THIS WEEK I AM GRATEFUL FOR:
Laughter, especially the loud belly laughs that are generated while playing games with people I love. Kinsey told her mom after playing with us, "I wish young adults would spend more time playing games and less time on social media". I have to agree . Playing games has generated more good time, more laughter, and more happiness in my life than just about anything else.
One of the disadvantages of buying a car from a Salt Lake dealership is that it may require driving to Salt Lake when something is needed. I purchased a clear covering to be adhered to the hood of my car to help prevent chips since I am on the freeway so much. In order to do that I had to drive down on Monday evening to drop it off. Luckily they gave me a rental car to use. It was a Subaru Crosstek. I was so glad to have the opportunity to drive the Crosstek because I had been thinking about getting one before I bought mine and I found that I did not like driving it much.
It wasn't nearly as comfortable as my Outback, so now I know that I made the best choice! I drove back down to the dealership on Wednesday afternoon to drop off the Crosstek and pick up my car. Friday I had to drive back down to Salt Lake for an NCLEX training for work so that made three trips to Salt Lake this week. I'm very tired of driving!I have really been focusing on helping my students develop their clinical reasoning and critical thinking skills by using the Nursing Process. I try to implement the process in every class and during clinicals. This week I had each of the clinical students report on a patient using the correct Nursing Process during our post conference. It is a tough concept to master and each student was encouraged to work through the process in the meeting until they conquered the entire concept. Unfortunately I made one student cry! I feel horrible! We were able to talk things out and we are okay now, but I totally understand how frustrating the concept is to master. I gave an analogy to the students (thanks to Kim's great advice) that helped with their frustration a little, I think. I told them about the time when we were teaching BJ how to wake board. He was about 13 or 14. We took the boat out, gave him good instruction, and he got into position. However, he didn't get up, he couldn't get up for some reason. He tried time and time again and just couldn't seem to figure out what he was doing wrong. We gave him encouragement as well as more instruction, but still he could not seem to connect the dots to make it work. To add insult to injury Shandra decided to give it a try and popped right up the first time without any difficulty. Poor BJ. He got back into the water and tried, again and again. Still no luck. After what seemed like an eternity with BJ giving everything he had all of the sudden HE DID IT! He got up and stayed up. It was amazing! And, for some reason he never had trouble getting up again.
I told my students that mastering the Nursing Process was a lot like getting up on the wake board. Some students will try and try and try but for some reason they just are not able to connect all of the dots. And then there are some students that seem to put forth no effort at all, they just "get" it. It doesn't seem fair! However, if they will just keep trying one day it will just "click" and they will get it, and then never have problem with it again. Hopefully my story helped.
Friday I spent the day in Salt Lake at an conference designed to help nursing faculty prepare students to write tests and prepare them to take their state board exams after graduation. It was a great seminar, and I think it will be very helpful as I write tests (because I need all of the help I can get!)
That night Tammy, Kinsey, Ash and Cyn came for a night of game playing. I can't even describe how much I needed to laugh and play with those guys. Tammy usually doesn't like to play games much, she just enjoys watching, but we got both her and Kim to join us in a game of Telestrations. It was so funny! After Telestrations we moved to the table and got "serious" playing Nertz. Oh my goodness it was so great to laugh!
Marilyn, Karen, Julie Elegante, April Bays, and Jodi Shelley and I were part of the choir for the fireside. The choir was lead by Tammy VanDuesen, and it was incredible. Tammy is very accomplished and demanded much from us as singers. She worked us so hard on breath control that sometimes I felt faint! But we learned so much! It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful good music is. One of the songs, "Prayer of Grattidue" was not my favorite the first day we started working on it, but by the end it definitely became a favorite! We also sang an arrangement of "Amazing Grace" that was beautiful. What a great experience!
THIS WEEK I AM GRATEFUL FOR:
Laughter, especially the loud belly laughs that are generated while playing games with people I love. Kinsey told her mom after playing with us, "I wish young adults would spend more time playing games and less time on social media". I have to agree . Playing games has generated more good time, more laughter, and more happiness in my life than just about anything else.
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