You know you are doing your Pediatric Clinical Rotations when...

...you feel like you are coming down with a cold the next day.

...you have three different suspected meningitis infants 3 weeks in a row.

...your first IV insertion is on a calm 3 year old who handles it better than the average adult.

...your first assignment of the day involves waking up sleepy kids to take their temperatures.

... you have never felt so frustrated with the lack of parenting and TLC.

...you want to gather them all up and take them home.

...you encounter the best and the worst of pediatric nursing in the same day.

...you look into those big brown eyes that seem to hold no secrets and just about melt.

...you come home exhausted with the hopes that you made a suffering, hurting child feel loved and cared for.

Math

I used to hate math with a passion. When I started elementary Mom had to hold off teaching me math for 2 years because I had such a mind block towards it. I would not learn it. It was hard. It didnt make sense. It was beyond frustrating. I remember evenings when my dad, exhausted from working 12 hour shifts, would take time to sit down and work with me. Trying to teach me through my stubbornness addition, subtraction and the concept of fractions etc. Those evenings were so very very frustrating. Looking back it seems I did more crying than learning. My dear Father was so patient with me.

By the time I got to highschool I had progressed to tolerating math. Until I met Algebra. Oh how trying that subject was for me. When summer came along and I was not even a third done with freshman math my parents took pity on me and got me a math tutor - Mr. W and then later on Ms. P. These two wonderful people were so very patient with me and slowly, v-e-r-y slowly, it all started to click. I began to dislike math less and less and actually began to enjoy it.

That was 4 years ago. Today I found my self spending several hours practicing pediatric dosage calculations (above picture) for a quiz tomorrow and to my surprise found that I was actually enjoying it very much. Granted, it isnt algebra but it is still a challenge for me.

Math in nursing isnt complicated but it does take practice. Precision is the most important aspect because one simple mistake in calculations can cause serious consequences. Pressure? No, not really. God is faithful :)

Blogging

I am not a writer. You wont find elaborate posts with fancy words here. I do my best but more times than not my best is found wanting. Here you will find snippets of my life - pictures, quotes, musings and whatnot ;) Enjoy!