Take the Stairs Instead of the Elevator

It's quite frustrating when the elevator doors are locked. Like my class is on the 6th floor and it's so tiring to climb those stairs especially when you're carrying my big and heavy Medical-Surgical Nursing book.

What's even more frustrating is when you find the first floor elevator closed, the second floor elevator closed, the third floor elevator closed, the fourth floor elevator closed, the fifth floor elevator open! What?! Like I'm going to the sixth floor! Might as well take the stairs...

But despite all of my frustrations I finally got over them and realized that it's actually really better to take the stairs because it's a form of exercise which I really need since I have a sedentary lifestyle.

I just have to make sure though that I won't be late for my class. So I got to go now, I still have to take the stairs to my room...

I signed up for PayPerPost!

I am so happy that I signed up for PayPerPost! As said by the name I get to post about anything that I want but still get paid for it. How cool is that? It was quite easy to get approved as long as your blog is legitimate and doesn't have pornography and such.

What I like about PayPerPost is it's very user-friendly website where you can easily select sposored topics and then post. You can also download a Firefox toolbar that you can use to easily keep tract of your earnings and so that you can easily log-in to your account.

I wonder what I will do with my earnings? Buy more nursing books or a new stethoscope perhaps? Or I could donate my money to some charitable institutions. With PayPerPost you can actually do both. You can easily donate through PayPerPost by simply selecting which institution you would like to donate to as shown below:

(Click the Image to Enlarge)

Isn't PayPerPost great? Why don't you sign up and let's blog together about things that we love but still get the chance to earn money or donate for a good cause!

On Memory Enhancers

Tomorrow is our semi-finals exams and I bet I'm going to be really busy again cramming (hahaha)... but I bet cramming would only work if I had photographic memory but fortunately I don't. For years now I have been searching for a way to improve my memory because as a nursing students I have a lot of stuff that I need to memorize like normal level of hemoglobin or different drugs used to treat a disease and all of that stuff.

I have tried using memory enhancers like glutaphos but it doesn't seem to have worked for me. Well I did pass pharmacology with all those drugs and their classifications (thank God!) but I don't think that taking glutaphos has helped me pass pharma. In fact, whenever I take glutaphos I just sleep and I don't even get to study.

Anyway, glutaphos is just a vitamin supplement that contains vitamin B12 (as they call brain-food) and such. So why waste on money and risk damaging my liver when I could take Vitamin B12 from normal sources like meat, dairy products, and eggs. And glucose is the best brain energy provider and I can't agree less. I just love eating chocolates when I study!

So in the end, there is no short-cut to get a better memory without facing some consequences. Drugs may give temporary solutions but it will take something in return from our body because like any other drugs, there are bound to be adverse reactions.

So for me, eat healthy and sleep early... but where does studying go? Good question...
Nothing beats studying weeks before and reading ahead I guess.

Where's My Laptop?

Who would expect that I could be so super absent minded... Like I am so frustrated at myself. I was fixing my stuff: my papers, ballpens, etc and then I went outside the library to take my lunch with a friend. As I was going outside the library entrance I suddenly wondered why my bag was so light. It then struck me that I left my laptop in the library!

I then hurried back to the library thanking again all the heaven and saints that it was right where I stupidly left it...

Moral Lesson: Always look out for your belongings... especially your laptop... grrr...

Weekly Evaluation: Medical Rotation

This week was a full of firsts for me. It was my first time to have ever go on duty at Madonna & Child Hospital and it was my first time to have been under my current clinical instructor and practicing clinical instructors for this rotation.

Although everything was new to me, I was able to adapt and carry out my nursing responsibilities. I was also blessed to have been assigned such wonderful patients who were very cooperative and very welcoming. I really did not feel awkward as I stayed in their rooms for the whole day as their student nurse. I was also quite glad that I didn't have to chart any nurse's notes (because it takes so much time, not to mention effort ^_^) and all that was required of us was a sample nurse's notes.

For this week I had two patients. A 6 day old baby girl with septicemia neonatorum and a 51 year old woman with pneumonia. I am glad that they are not that toxic and that they are already getting well.

For both case, it is important to note the presence of a bacterial infection. So basically the medications that I have administered had a common factor, which of course is being an antibacterial medication.

The baby girl had to have continuous phototherapy because she had jaundice caused by hyperbilirubinemia. I of course had to protect the eyes by securing an eye shield. I'm glad that the baby's vital signs were all normal during my shift. I am very edgy when I am with babies (especially newborns) because they are so delicate and one false move from me like failing to regulate the IVF properly could cause serious complications like hypervolemia and cardiac overload.

For my patient with pneumonia, I made sure to position her in a moderate high back rest to promote proper lung expansion and I taught her deep breathing and did chest physiotherapy after nebulization to promote removal of secretions.

So all in all this week was a very productive week for me. To add to my enjoyment is the fact that I wasn't late for this week of duty! Yeay me! I made sure to have set my clock at least 1 hour before the pre-conference and I agreed to carpool with my dutymates so that I would have more reasons to wake up early. ^_^