I thought a CABG was a vegetable!

Well, I have officially finished patho! Actually, I still have the final, but I have finished sitting in the patho classroom taking notes. It's pretty surreal. And a little scary. Scary? Yes, indeed. It means that all the checks are in the box. Nothing now stands in the way between myself and nursing school. There's no hiding now. Nursing school is looming large. I'm terrified and SO excited!

So, when you're a nurse, there are a million different abbreviations you have to know. Wait for it... Since we have to know them, we have to test over them, naturally. Not so bad, right? Well, it wouldn't be...if you didn't have to make an 80% on the test or FAIL the class. And if you saw the list of abbreviations, you would find your knees trembling. Here are a few examples: ESRF=End Stage Renal Failure. HS= hour of sleep= bedtime. NPO= Nothing Per Os= Nothing by mouth. LOC=Level of consciousness OR Laxative of Choice. (Not to be used interchangeably.) VDRL= Venereal Disease Research Lab. I can now write whole sentences without actually using any words. Four short semesters, and you could too! Anyways, we took the test, and I did fine. But it was hard work, and I know I'm going to have to keep studying because I do NOT need to brain dump these! Do you want your nurse coming into your room and telling you your chart says "muscular dystrophy" when in reality, it just says "medical doctor"? I think not. So, next time you visit your friendly neighborhood doctor, make sure you take the time to thank your nurse for learning those abbreviations. I mean, if I need a VDRL (and I DON'T!), I don't want her wondering what in the world that is!

So, now we head into finals week. My gameplan is to finish studying for P-cubed this week so that next week can be devoted to patho. I'll, um, let you know how that goes. After finals, there's a cruise to Alaska in my future!, painting of my family room (so long blue!), and then summer skills class! I hope you find your summer blessed, and I'll talk to you again in a few days.