Jennifer Vitti

Yesterday was my last “hell” day of the semester!! I took my last Med-Surg exam before the final and handed in my last paper! I feel like I finally took a breath when I woke up this morning–rested and happy! Tomorrow and Friday are my last Med-Surg Clinicals. I also have two more psych clinicals, three more med-surg classes and one more psych class! Then I have two finals the week after next and I’m done with this semester! Can’t wait to start fresh with pediatrics and maternity mid-May.

My grades aren’t as good this semester :/ but what can you do? I’m still passing and that’s all I care about at this point! As long as I can hold on to that through finals (I should be able to!!!) I’ll be happy

I also now have a study buddy in school! We get along really well and usually I don’t like to study with other people, but when we study together it just works! We’ve only just started REALLY studying together (at first we’d sit together as we’d study on our own), so we’ll see how I did on this past test and then if it went well (I do think it went okay!) then hopefully we can continue studying for the next few semesters as we complete our bachelor’s.

STILL nothing new on the job hunt– making some more calls tomorrow to check on my application status and now that school is starting to lessen up a bit I’ll probably be sending out more applications. Really hope I hear something soon!

~love always~

Jen

p.s. this video really made me smile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPsmSPZDjLM

This semester is FINALLY coming to a close. I handed in a 24 page paper today…so relieved to get that out of my hands. It was a Care Study paper–lots of stuff went into it. I had my last psych exam this week (not including the final). Next week I have my last Acute Care exam before the final and a 9 page psych paper on OCD. Then I have my last week of classes and clinicals. I also have a pedi-math exam getting ready for the summer semester of pediatrics and maternity! Followed by a week of finals and then I’m done with this semester! I thought it would never end. I learned SO MUCH, but boy am I ready for a fresh start.

I was reading my psych textbook the other day and I forget what specific mental disorder they were discussing, but they said “you know that saying…what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger? Well that’s not true… what doesn’t kill you only makes you crazy”. They phrased it slightly differently than that (although honestly not too different haha) and I had a good chuckle about that because sometimes I definitely think that…especially about nursing school.

Called the hospital I’m applying to for the CNA job yesterday–the position is still open, but they haven’t “finished processing my application yet”. Looks like they’re not in desperate need for this position especially since it’s been open for a while. I still have hope, but they’re definitely not jumping for joy that I even applied haha. They were very nice about it though–apparently there is only one person who does the hiring for the whole hospital, so they said it can take a while to process the applications, but if I haven’t heard in a week I am ENCOURAGED to call back. If the position is still open and has been open for a while then I doubt that I’m really competing with anyone for the position, so if I call back in a week they at least will have to give me a straight answer! Still crossing my fingers…

The week is almost over everyone–take a deep breath!

~love always~

Jen

I believe I’ve mentioned about the preceptorship that my school requires for me to do in the fall. It is 160 hours with an RN (who also has to have a BSN). We get to pick the hospital and the department (with some restrictions-since it’s not just a general preceptorship, but it’s for Complex Care kind of as the clinical portion). I have my heart set on the PACU and the more I talk about it the more I want that. There are of course limited spots for the PACU and the hospital that I’d like to be placed. You can, however, request to be put with a specific nurse (as long as she has her BSN and is an RN in one of the departments that fits it’s fair game) at a specific hospital and then the coordinator will basically set that up as best they can.

Well, the other day in clinical one of the PACU nurses came up to the floor and one of my fellow clinical students told me she was also a student at my school (I’m currently at clinical at the hospital I’d like to be placed in for my preceptorship)! My clinical buddies know about my desires for my preceptorship, so they encouraged me to go talk with her. I was hesitant at first only because I didn’t know what to say and I also wasn’t sure of her pull/weight to set me up with a preceptor in the PACU there. My friends told me to never underestimate connections and that was the final shove I needed. My clinical instructor happened to be talking to her at the time (they know each other from working together and going to school together) and I walked over and introduced myself and became part of their conversation. The conversation then did shift toward the preceptorship and my instructor (who also knew what I wanted for the preceptorship) talked about the limited spaces in the PACU and my desire to be at this hospital and in the PACU. Well the RN offerred to be my preceptor in the fall! Even better than I could’ve hoped! So now I just have to let my school know and they will finish setting it up and it’s basically a done deal. I’m thrilled

Now if I could just get a job and finish/pass this semester I will be one happy nursing student!

~love always~

Jen

I hate when I feel like I’m just using the blog to vent. I hate being whiny. I’m having a really tough time this semester though, so that’s what comes out in my posts. Don’t worry-grade-wise I’m not doing as well as last semester, but that was kind of expected, but I’m not in danger of failing or anything like that. I just feel like I can’t get anything right and I can’t make anyone happy not even myself. I think many nursing students go through this, but I’ll just say it…IT SUCKS!  Thank God there is only four and half weeks left in the semester (ugh, but still so many grades to go). I’m really looking forward to pediatrics and maternity this summer-hopefully this will be where I shine. And just summer in general makes me happy.

No good news on the job news front. I’m applying for CNA and MA jobs in my area. It’s still VERY early into my hunt and I’ve only submitted a couple applications, but the first one I sent I was really REALLY hoping to hear something and I haven’t yet (I only submitted it this weekend, so I still have some time before I consider it a dud). I never know though–what’s the rule of thumb? Should I be “pesky” and call? I know it’s supposed to show interest, but at the same time I feel like that’s really annoying and turns people off. My cover letter should be what shows the interest no? I’m still young and although I do have work experience in other fields the jobs have basically been handed to me (exhibit A: currently I work for my mom haha), so this is somewhat new territory for me. I plan to ask my clinical instructor who works there for advice as to what this hospital likes to see in an applicant as far as that goes. *Crossing Fingers*

Heading to my alma mater for the weekend to visit some of my younger college friends who are still there. Hopefully I’ll be able to relax some… not guaranteed though.

~love always~

Jen

p.s. just in case the picture didn’t make sense haha… that is what my life feels like: label one of those cups school, one home, and one just life!