Orientation

OK, so I thought I would take a break from reading my textbooks to write a little about how my orientation went. And for those thinking, I am only reading ahead because I am nerdy, its not true. I have 9, count them,9 full chapters to read plus handouts before next Thursday. And while most people would be glad that they have the whole weekend to study, weekends for me mean work. My kids are home, my husband is traveling, so there isn't going to be much reading going on unless there is a Spongebob marathon on. Anyway, first let me try to describe how I feel about nursing school after leaving orientation today. It's similar to standing on the top of a skyscraper and feeling alive, and powerful, and strong, until you look down... and then you are terrified.



My feeling can best be summed up by a file folder I just bought. On one side it says
"I'm living the dream"
on the other side it says
"I'm crying on the inside"
Now before you go and call me defeatist, let me just say that I have never seen this volume of work ever! It's never ending, never lets up, only gets more intense. With that said, I absolutely think I can do this!
Ok, on to orientation. I got there about 20 min early and sat down in a reasonable middle seat. Scoped the room and noticed name cards with pictures on it. People started moving when they recognized their face and so I did the same thing. ANd guess where I was placed. Smack dab in the front and in the center. Thanks husband for giving me a last name that is in the front of the alphabet. We sat in alphabetical order. As soon as class started we were handed a math test covering the first 6 chapters.I felt like I was drunk on summer and that test sobered me up and took away my buzz. This is it. Summer is over.
What else? Oh! I ordered my uniforms,all white. Ugly but at least I was able to choose male pants because they are so much less granny than the womens. Ugh, front pleats.
Also got a nurse pack with all kinds of goodies:
Tracheostomy care kit
catheter
iv solution and syringe
bandage scissors
enema
gloves
suction kit
etc...
All in all it was a good day, Still don't know how to make the sign of the cross at the appropriate time, but I did make some connections and feel like I'm going to school with a great group of people. So if I can pick my head up out of my books, I'll post again once my classes get going.