Sad January 27, 2006
Posted by danucube in chaplaincy, Providence.add a comment
Today I was in a chaplaincy “retreat” for about 1/2 day. We met at a beautiful place up in the mountains. We could see the fog gently rolled in. Lots of tress and the crystal clear water drops hanging of tree branches reflecting the sun was very beautiful.
However, I also found out one of the patient died. I only visited her twice a while back last year. She was on a floor where people are usually paralyze in one way or another. I’ve heard she left the hospital and was doing well… and then all of a sudden she died. I felt sad as I remembered praying for her and her faithful family many times. She was one of those patients you don’t forget easily. I only visited her briefly but to this day I still remember her joyful smile. The smile is a huge contrast to the physical conditio she was in. It was a very uplifting and infectious smile. A smile I’ve brought with me to other patients I visited later. A smile that was a blessing to me and to the patients I visited. I was privileged to meet her and her family for a brief moment, a brief moment in a very difficult situation. Guess I’ll get to know her and her family more in eternity and I will see Christ’s joy and smile in her face again.
First day of school Spring 2006 January 25, 2006
Posted by danucube in Nursing, Prenursing.add a comment
Today was a very long day. I went from about 7:15 to 20:30. So far, all the profs seemed to be very good. But tons and tons of readings and papers.
The first class is Death, Dying, and Religion. I actually know someone in the class, that was nice. Let’s see, we have to do whole bunch of things like visit the cementary, interview someone who is dying, interview a death professional and I don’t know what else. Books for starter are Patterns of Transcendence by Chidester (on all faith tradition and how deal with death), Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy, The Grace in Dying by Kathleen Singh (hospice), Man’s Search for Meaning by Frankl Viktor, and Advice on Dying by Dali Lama.
The second class is Magic, Science, and Religion. This one we have 4 lists of books and we get to pick one from each list. There are some real interesting one but they are way too many pages for me (I got too many things going on). So I ended up picking the shortest books that I find interesting and it might indirectly help me in nursing.
The books I picked are The Way of the Shaman (shaman “light”) by Harner, Abundant Peace (Aikido spiritual philosophy) by Stevens, The Secret Life of Germs by Tierno, and Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix by Rowling.
In the magic/socery list, I was going to read the classic The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James, but it is like 500 pages and he seemed to go on for quit a bit before he makes his point. So I decided on a shorter, easy read book on that list which is The Way of the Shaman. This would be a good book also as it was very popular and it does deal with health. This gives me some background if I run into patients who are influence by this world view.
In the religion section, I picked Abundant peace because I took aikido before and I know it is tied to certain Japanese religious world view quick a bit. But also it is part of the Eastern religious world view. This will help me again when I am a nurse when I deal with patients who has a Eastern world view. I am not picking anyting with a Western religious bend because I am a lot more familiar with that already.
In the Science section, I was going to pick The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Kuhn which is classic. But the prof warned that it is slow going and even people in science can find it hard. So I decided to pick The Secret Life of Germs instead which is short, easy to read, and very interesting especially after I took microbiology last year. Also it is a good book for me because I can use stuff in there for patient teaching about germs (the stuff I learned in microbiology might be a bit too technical for some patients).
In the “fun” reading section, Harry Potter of course as I am a Potter fan. It definitely has magic and science in the book. In some way, it could argue that it has some semi-quasi-religious elements also.
My 3rd class in Physical Fitness and Nutrient. Glad I took nutrition already. Whole bunch of papers (4) and an oral presentation and whole bunch of tests. Good class for me as I can use it for nursing teaching also when I am working with a patient.
Next Monday will be my other two classes – Aging and Society and Health Science Writing.
Set up wireless account at school January 20, 2006
Posted by danucube in Nursing, Prenursing.add a comment
I brought my labtop computer to the school library today and set up my wireless account. It was really easy. The wireless is nice as I can go anywhere in the library and search all the catelogs and databases (my university has tons and tons of databases and I felt like a kid in a candy store). I think the whole campus is wireless also but I have not tested it out yet.
I really like this library (8 stories high and have a huge collections of items). Not only that, I can access these expensive databases from home since I am now a student in the university. This make doing nursing research comfortable.
Turned in my official nursing school application January 17, 2006
Posted by danucube in Nursing, Prenursing, Providence.add a comment
Finally opened an official nursing folder with my local university. I am officially applying to nursing school. Am applying for the accelerated program (1 1/2 years of nursing school instead of 3 years). The advisor said I have a good chance of getting in after she examined all my qualifications (but no gurantee of course as there are something like 20 seats or less left).
Part of the accelerated program involve a hospital who will sponsor me and pay for my fees (the whole accelerated nursing program costs something like around $24000) and I will work for the hospital for 2 years in return. They of course could put me anywhere… I just they don’t put me in ER or ICU… or worst… maternaty!
If I am accepted, I probably will get interviews with hospitals around Feb… coming up fast.
It is interesting how I found out about this program by “accident”. I was in the same class with a former engineer coworker of mine in microbiology. We talked a little as we did not see each other for many years and found out we were both interested in nursing. Then we “happened” to be in the same lab section also. During one of the lab test, I finished early and walked outside to take a break. Then this former coworker of mine also finished and she walked outside also ane we talked again about nursing. She all of a sudden mentioned this accelerated program and said I should take a look at it. Well I took a look at it and I got interested in it.
Transcript grades are all in! January 5, 2006
Posted by danucube in Nursing, Prenursing.1 comment so far
Ok, my psych grade is finally in!
I’ll wait till next Monday to get the official transcripts and hand deliver them to my university that I am transfering to.
Cough better January 5, 2006
Posted by danucube in health.2 comments
Ok, it has been 3 weeks and 1 day… amazing… it is a lot better… I actually got like a 10 hour sleep last night which is the first time I’ve slept through the night in 3 weeks without waking up due to coughing. I still cough a little once in a while… at least it is not one of though 10 seconds non-stop cough.
Transcript January 4, 2006
Posted by danucube in Nursing, Prenursing.add a comment
I still have one class where I don’t have my grades (I know what grade I have, but it is not officially in the records yet). Found out the college is behind. I need these grades enter before the 15th so I can deliver the transcript to the university I am transfering to. I just know it is going to be down to the wire again.
Cough status January 4, 2006
Posted by danucube in health.add a comment
Ok, it is 3 weeks now since I had this horrible cough. I am still coughing. The frequency has gone done quite a bit. Also when I cough, I don’t cough like 10 seconds straight. My right upper rib also stopped hurting from coughing.
My voice is still mostly gone. I can talk a bit but it goes out fairly fast.
I just hope it is not developing into something else.
Cough January 3, 2006
Posted by danucube in health.add a comment
I am still coughing… although the frequency went down quite a bit… tomorrow is 3 weeks and this cough is suppose to stop (people kept saying it lasts 3 weeks). Just hope this cough is not turning into something else.
Jury duty January 2, 2006
Posted by danucube in Personal, Providence.4 comments
Well, this week is it… on call for jury duty. We’ll see if I survive this week without being picked.
Call to Nursing, Mostly... 