Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Not the most stellar start to a new semester...

Yesterday was my first day back to school. My day started about 1 am when I got up, looked at my watch which read 4:30, so I stumbled into the bathroom and took my shower, got dressed and when I went to kiss my sleeping husband goodbye, I glanced at the clock at the bedside to see it was only 1:30 am.....UGGGG


I crawled back in bed, wet hair and all, slept for a couple more hours. I got up at the real 4:30, looked in the mirror, gasped at my now dry and all over the place hair, wet it down (no luck), shrugged my shoulders in resignation and drove to the Starbucks near my school. This is a 40 minute drive. Got there, only to realized I PULLED MY MATH BOOK OUT OF MY BOOK BAG and could not study my math calculations for the upcoming test...the reason I got up so early...the reason I drove my rear to Starbucks by the school....the math book was STILL AT HOME, FORTY FREAKIN' MINUTES AWAY....


damn it damn it damn it


So, I read a chapter out of my pharm book....and hoped and prayed that I remembered some of my math from the previous semester. By the way, math is NOT MY STRONG SUIT....I was an English major with a History minor...I worked as a paralegal...lots of writing, NO MATH.


Got to class, got the math test...


damn it damn it damn it


I'm the kind of person who runs her hands through her hair while taking a test...keep in mind I had serious bed head of the wet to dry kind already...then keep in mind I had an hour and a half to do 30 some calculations....with lots of steps...like changing grams to mg and lbs to kg before even figuring out dosages...or calculating the drips p/ minute in an IV with a certain amount of meds in a percentage of solution blah blah blah...so my hair, looked, well a lot like:


Any how, when the teacher announced we only had 9 more minutes for the test, I wrote on the front of the paper....'guess I'll be taking THIS test again' ...then I went down the list of problems and thought...'hmm, probably killed that patient, this patient's a gonner' and seriously questioned my ability to care for the sick and injured.

Thankfully, we have 2 more times to take the test. We have to pass the test with a 90% in order to get through the class.....I think they think it's very important that as nurses we're really good at dosage calculations and IV drip rates....I'm pretty sure all you out there are thankful about that.

Besides studying for pharm, psych and a killer third semester med/surg class, I'll be reviewing my math.....

Other then that, my day was peachy!

12 comments:

Dodi said...

Oh, I know what I'm thankful for!! I'm thankful that you have a pretty enough face to carry off the Kramer hair!

Rock Chef said...

"Damn it"?

I bet it was more like the openning scene of Four Weddings and a Funeral! :-)

tz said...

dodi...i love you!
CRC...oh yeah...I LOVE that scene, it so aptly reflects how I live my life at times...I really try to be organized...

but hey, thankfully my pink dress wasn't stuffed in my underwear...so there's something to be thankful for...

Laura said...

Oh well, we all have those days now and again. At least you can write the test again!

Ali said...

Awww, I'm sorry it just wasn't your day honey. But it's true, we really do all have days like that.

When I was working three jobs, I once drove to the WRONG job, opened up, and sat there for a good hour (silently questioning where the heck everyone was) before my cell rang and my other boss asked me if I was planning on gracing them with my presence that day.

Math isn't my strong suit either, but when husband was in nursing school I was delighted that he studied so much for that area!

You'll do stellar next time - good luck!

tz said...

thanks laura and ali!

ohn said...

I can't believe you were able to go back to sleep after a shower and everything! Someday when you are in the middle of caring for a patient you will remember today and be able to laugh....tonight, not so much--lol.

Sitting In Silence said...

Oh Crap...not the calculations test...

I just had to do another last week with my new position. We get 1 attempt and have to get 100%....

Let me know if you need any help...or hints or anything...pity I dong live closer as I have a really good CD all based on calculations that you could of had...

Good luck and remember..it's What you want over what you got !
sing it in your head...I promise it will help...

Anonymous said...

Oh, you poor thing! Waking up way early like that was the last thing you needed. Glad you could at least go back to sleep for a while.

Ken said...

So sorry about your bad day. Next time, don't get up at 1am. I hope you ace it next time.

ganelle said...

That just totally sucks. I am NOT a morning person, and if I had woken up that early and NOT been able to do what needed doing, I would be SOOOO bitter.

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of something Gunny says, "The worst experiences make the best stories later." A great story about a reallllly bad day. :)