Monday, November 5, 2012

Looking At My Past Posts

The quote above generally describes the feeling that I have right now with regards to my blog and my past posts. Although I have to admit that I post things on the internet haphazardly without a grain of thought... in fact one might accuse me of blogging while under the influence of alcohol, and I don't even drink. Do I regret it? Not at all.

As I have repeated myself over and over again, blogging for me is a form of expression and is not to be used to publish scholarly-like journal articles. Although I have to apologize to the nursing profession for  including it in my blog description. I do not represent nurses out there as I can sometimes be a cruel, insensitive, person.

I should really start rebranding my blog and start to shroud it anonymously so that I don't become a target of hate or that people don't link me to the affiliations I belong to.

The internet has grown and has become a powerful tool to gain knowledge, gain support, and has even been used as a weapon against individuals.

I am rambling... incoherently at that. I shall end this post.

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Picture source: http://static.themetapicture.com/media/funny-look-back-past-quote.jpg

Goodbye Wisdom Teeth

Well so many things have happened in the past few months and I don't really think I'd like to condense my entire life into one small post. Not that anyone will be interested in my sad life story anyway, but I have decided to come back into the blogging world as I am slowly losing my mind.

I am currently on my fourth day of post-surgery. Although I only had three wisdom teeth removed, I feel like I've undergone a major surgery. My surgical wound is free of pain, swelling, or exudates which I wouldn't be surprised as my doctor has prescribed me antibiotics, narcotics, and an anti-inflammatory. Although my pain is under control, I hate how Tylenol 3's make me feel light-headed and just plain weird. I also dislike being unable to eat real food and am forced to eat pureed "no-chew" food as it hurts a lot when food particles get into my stitches.

Plain and simple, I am just whining and fussing over my sad condition. I sometimes ask myself, why on earth have I decided to put this upon myself? My wisdom teeth were growing under the gum line in an awkward fashion that it was pushing my other teeth out of place and it was a source of infection as food  particles would get stuck in the hard to reach crevices. Although this would help me in the long run, I kinda wished I decided to have the operation during the summer. Oh well, what's done is done.


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

10 Awesome Minimalist Posters for Pixar Movies



Who doesn’t love Pixar movies, right? They have brought us some of the best modern classic cartoons: Toy Story, Cars, Up and many more. Not only do Pixar movies include great story lines and voice talents, but they also have some of the most iconic and well-rounded cartoon characters ever. Kids and adults alike find the Pixar movies to be among the best cartoons ever made. To give you just a hint as to how powerful the images of the Pixar movies are, minimalist posters for the shows have been created. These posters tell so much with so little. Take a look and see if you can’t immediately identify which poster goes with which great Pixar movie!



About the Author:

This guest post is contributed by Debra Johnson, blogger and editor of nanny payroll.
She welcomes your comments at her email Id: - jdebra84 @ gmail.com.




Monday, July 9, 2012

Life as an Undergraduate Nursing Employee

Getting to work as a nurse even before finishing my degree is such a wonderful opportunity and experience. I was blessed to land three nursing jobs in the following fields: Geriatric psychiatry, adult stroke program, and long-term care (which I don't currently pick shifts for). I get to work as part of the interdisciplinary team and is able to participate fully in my patients' care. Although my scope of practice is limited, but it definitely exceeds the scope of practice I had as a nursing student (NS). Working as an Undergraduate Nursing Employee (UNE) has its pros and cons, but the pros exceeds the cons definitely.

PROS: I have gained a lot of experience with patient care in terms of medications, assessments, psychomotor skills, and most especially patient interaction. I am now comfortable in the clinical setting and am able to interact with colleagues more freely. I am able to offer suggestions and I am now not reluctant to ask help or delegate tasks to co-workers. Getting a big jump in my income is definitely a huge pro to me.

CONS: As I have said, having a limited scope of practice as compared to a full pledged Registered Nurse (RN) does have it's shortcomings. I always have to bother another nurse to finish some of my work as I do not have access to certain functions on the computer. But again, these cons are not a big deal breaker. Working as a nurse without a professional license could be discouraging at times especially when you're introducing yourself to a patient. I have always introduced myself as a nurse, but haven't identified that I am a UNE. In my defence, there are different kinds of nurses: an RN, a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), and a Registered Psychiatric Nurse (RPN). I guess the difference was that they had a license and I don't. I didn't want to make the patient worry and I didn't want them to think that I'm only a student, experimenting on them. I wanted them to know that I am a nurse hired by the hospital to give them safe, competent, and compassionate care. I never hid my ID badge from patients and if they asked if I was an RN, I always said that I am an undergraduate nurse.

This summer has been extremely busy for me. On top of working several hours, I have found my self dealing with an online course (Philosophy). I wanted to cut my load for the next school semester, but I kind of regret it now, as I don't have much time for myself to enjoy the summer.

I love being a nurse. I can definitely see myself in this profession until I retire, especially now that I get to work as a nurse.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

How to Prepare for the Canadian Registered Nurse Examination (CRNE)

When it comes to licensure examinations, sometimes enrolling for the test can be just as stressful as taking the test. There are a few steps you must take to correctly register and prepare for the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam (CRNE), the official nursing licensure exam in Canada, and one of the best ways to ensure you take all those steps is to gather all the information you can about the test before you enrol.

Listed below are a few important bits of information you need to know before you schedule your exam date.

  • As stated on the Canadian Nurses Association’s official website, “the CRNE tests 148 competencies that fall into four broad categories.” Those four categories are; Professional Practice, Nurse-Client Partnership, Health and Wellness and Changes in Health. 
  • There are two ways in which questions may be presented; independent questions and case-based questions. Independent questions give you all the information you will need to answer the question, and case-based questions give you a set of three to five questions associated with a short health care scenario. - There are approximately 200 multiple-choice questions on the test.
  • There are three times throughout the year that you may take the CRNE. Those times usually fall in the months of February, June and October. For this year (2012), the only remaining date to take the exam is October 3. 
  • If you will be graduating from a nursing program in Canada, your program will provide you with the specific directions you will need to register for the CRNE. Follow these directions and make sure that you meet all deadlines. 
  • If you will be graduating from a nursing program outside of Canada, visit the Canadian Nurses Association’s official website to learn more about what you need to do to enrol. 
  • There are several tools you can use to prepare for the exam. One such tool that many nursing students find useful is the official CNA prep guide and practice test. The prep guide is titled The Canadian Nurse Examination Prep Guide, 5th Edition. Available in both English and French, this prep guide features a section with 200 practice questions, and in the back of the guide is an interactive CD-ROM with 50 additional test questions. This particular test prep guide (and other test prep guides and tools) can be found at your school’s bookstore or on any online book retailer that sells college education materials. 
  • Another helpful study tool is the CRNE Readiness Test available online.
  • If you live in Quebec, you will be required to take a different nursing licensure examination. For information on that particular test, ask your nursing program’s administrator. 
To make sure you do your best on the exam, decide on the best environment for your particular study preferences. Some students prefer to study independently in a quiet spot like the library or at home, and some students prefer studying in groups. Lastly, when it gets closer to test time, try to limit the amount of practice tests you take to avoid test fatigue. For example, if your test is scheduled on a Saturday, take your last practice test the Thursday before that day.

Best of luck! Lauren Bailey is a freelance blogger who loves writing about education, new technology, lifestyle and health. As an education writer, she works to provide helpful information, pointers, and the most recent online college news for students looking into online degrees. Lauren welcomes comments and questions via email at blauren99@gmail.com.