Nursing

There is a bird building a nest in the birdhouse outside. I know this because I have watched him single handedly destroy two hanging baskets and borrow several silk flowers from the wreath on the door. With all of this to watch, who has time for study?  Spring does this to me every year. I find myself so enthralled with the arrival of sunshine and life that my coursework begins to feel like those winter … Read More

As our class moves into Spring term we have gotten a unique opportunity to involve ourselves in the community. Klamath County has received funds to do research to better understand what the largest health disparities in the county are. There are several stakeholders in this effort to better our community and it has been put on our class to go out to many of the smaller surrounding towns around Klamath Falls and collect data. This … Read More

Participating in the OHSU iCHEE program this term has been a real eye-opener. I learned a lot of little things that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise thought about. I really enjoyed meeting other students, OHSU faculty, and clients. I found that the multi disciplinary approach worked really well—and I loved working with my team. Everyone drew on their field of knowledge, and together we were able to answer the questions of the clients pretty well. … Read More

This quarter, I am embracing Population-Based Nursing 410.  This term requires us nursing students to step out into the community and take a look around at health disparities and the like.  As I think about this course, and as I anticipate it greatly (especially because of  my prior community health education degree), I have to share a unique opportunity female nursing students and nurses have to participate in something greater than themselves.  The Nurses’ Health … Read More

I have always said if nursing doesn’t work out for me I am going to be a long haul trucker. Ok, go ahead and laugh, but know that I am only partially kidding about this. The idea of experiencing the country via the open highway and meeting all kinds of people from all walks of life excites me. As I traveled from Oregon to Arizona with my family over spring break, my love of the … Read More

In the middle of this Winter Term my junior class hit the halfway point of our program. I think half of us were thinking, ‘Ah, we’re almost done.’ The other half of the class thought, ‘Ugh, we still have another year and a half.” And the other half (mathematics is super important in nursing) thought, ‘Perhaps I can convince the Oregon State Board of Nursing that I don’t need to take the NCLEX. Hey, yeah! … Read More

Sometimes, I feel as if I’m on a teeter-totter.  Nursing school, and all of its glorious details, is on one side, and on the other side of the fulcrum, life. I often tell my friends and family, “if you don’t hear from me for the next 10 weeks, it’s because I’m on a school/homework hiatus”.  In the pursuit of following my dreams, I often fear that I miss out on life’s little niceties. One of … Read More

It’s always been sort of fun for me to find out what ends up at the bottom of a washing machine. The treasure trove of lost coins, pen caps, and various papers and gadgets over the years has evolved and evidenced the tales of my week. As my interests and career paths have developed , so has the range of random findings. To date, I think the worst one was a Sharpie pen and a … Read More

This has been a HUGE aspect of my Chronic II class.  Throughout this quarter, my instructors reiterate the importance of being an advocate for our patients.  Part of advocacy involves knowing our resources in the community that we work in. During lecture, for instance, we discuss case studies of real life scenarios of chronically ill patients.  The majority of our questions on these lengthy assignments include: what are the available resources to this particular client … Read More

One aspect of this winter term of our junior year is spent learning more about mental illness.  We have a few different modalities to help us think about what we already view mental illness to be; how other people in the community might view it; and what the medical community has to teach us about the area of study.  When it comes to learning new subjects about groups of people, it is always important to … Read More