Tests and exam

I wrote a Patient Evaluation midterm exam yesterday and a Patient Care Procedures test on Monday. Yesterday, while writing my exam, I felt like I was writing a test that I didn't care about. Now I'm studying for a Pathophysiology test that I'll be writing at 8AM.

I'm still sick. I have things to do, so too bad.

Someone told me yesterday to go see a doctor. What's he going to do for my cold? Wave his magic stethoscope?

Crappy afternoon

I spent most of this afternoon in bed, sleeping and waiting for a sinus headache to go away. I'm sick again and not happy about it. It would have been nice if I could have studied for tomorrow's exam, this afternoon.

Panic not required

Today I realized that I have a History midterm exam, next week. The exam will cover class lectures and chapters 1, 2, 7, 9, 10 & 12 of the textbook. Holy crap I have to study 6 chapters of History! I was a bit freaked out, until I looked at the History textbook.

The textbook has a bookmark in it, a bookmark from when I was reading it during the Holidays. Oh yeah. I was reading that text during the Christmas break. I read chapters 1 through 12 over the holidays! I didn't realize that I read half of that damn book.

Panic not required. I have to do some studying, but nothing crazy.

2 tests and a midterm exam

I have 2 tests and a midterm exam next week. I'll be spending most of today studying.

Being sick during Reading Week, was a big waste of time. I was only able to do a bit of studying. I didn't work on any of my projects or assignments. I was mostly healthy by Wednesday of last week, then I went drinking on Friday. Now I'm sick again.

This semester's almost half over and I feel like it's just getting started.

Last needle stick

Today I get my last needle stick. I received the last dose of the Hepatitis B Vaccine, about 5 weeks ago. Today I'm going for blood work, that I can use to prove immunity to Hepatitis B. After I get the blood work back, I'm finished with my school immunization requirements.

Maybe I'm onto something here

My new way of studying might be working better than I thought. I got perfect on my last Ventilators test.

Happy Family Day!

If you're not from around here. I'm not kidding. In my part of the land of ice and snow, it's a statutory holiday and everything. I think a weasel politician came up with the holiday in 2007 and that's OK. A holiday is a holiday and an extra holiday every year is a good thing.

February sucks, because it's cold. February sucks a bit less because of Family Day. I kind of wish I had a job, so that I could appreciate the holiday a bit more.

Last day before reading week

I have a cold that's sucking the life out of me. All I have to do is make it through 4 hours of lab today. After lab, I can go home and sleep for days if I want to. Next week is reading week, which means no classes, no labs and some time to get some assignments and homework out of the way.

Midterm exams happen in the two weeks after reading week.

Sick and tired

I'm sick and tired, literally. I've got a fairly respectable cold and it's making me tired and cranky. I'm treating my self with Actifed and way too much coffee.

You know you're a Student RT when: You cough up some nasty looking stuff, in the shower, and think, "Cool. It's red. It must have some blood in it. I wonder if that's actually sputum or just mucous."

Distracted studying

Last semester, I spent very little time studying in the Library at school. I found it too noisy and distracting in the Library common area. I would mostly study at home, where it was mostly quiet. If I did study in the Library, I would go to one of the "quiet rooms".

I recently started spending a lot of time studying in the school's Library, in the common area. I am shocked by how much studying I get done. If I study in the library, I usually end up sitting with people in my class or some "second years". All of the distractions, and periodic conversations, seem to be good for my studying. When I study at home, I usually study until my brain rebels and then I watch TV or something. If I study in the Library, for several hours, my brain doesn't really feel the need to rebel because it's being periodically entertained by conversation and other distractions that are going on in the Library.

I have another Ventilators test tomorrow. I stopped studying for that test at about 3PM, when I left the Library and went home. I might get up a bit early tomorrow, to do a quick review, but I'm pretty much ready for the test. I decided to go home because I had to get some laundry done. I had to resort to getting clothes out of the laundry hamper this morning because I've been spending too much time in the Library.

Mark for Vital Signs Competency

I have the mark for my vital signs competency. I was given a mark of 100%.

A better answer for "What is a Respiratory Therapist?"

In a previous post, I mentioned how I was planning to respond to the "What is a Respiratory Therapist?" question in the future. I've tried my "A Respiratory Therapist assesses and treats cardio-respiratory and associated disorders to maintain or restore breathing." explanation out a few times and things didn't go very well. It doesn't exactly roll off of the tongue and it sounds a bit too legalistic.

I was at the CRTO web site and ran across the following statement, that I'll try using from now on when I get the, "What is a Respiratory Therapist?" question.

"RTs are health care professionals who monitor, evaluate and treat individuals with respiratory and cardio-respiratory disorders." I could even dumb that one down to "RTs treat people with respiratory and cardio-respiratory disorders"

Vital signs competency (update)

The Vital Signs Competency seemed to go well. I was actually able to conduct a patient interview, and take vital signs, without looking like a fool.

I also had to pretend to be a patient for someone else, who was doing their competency. Pretending to be a patient, was actually harder than interviewing a patient and taking vital signs.

This competency was actually kind of fun. It wasn't super stressful, like the last one.

Vital Signs Competency

I have to do a competency today. I have to do a patient interview and then take vital signs. I have 10 minutes to complete the exercise. I find it difficult to see people breathing, when they're breathing normally, so I might have fun assessing my patients Respiratory Rate during the Competency.

If I fail the competency I get a second chance. If I fail during the second attempt, I put all of my textbooks in a pile and light a match.

Misuse may result in sickness or death

I really didn't feel like shaving yesterday. Then I remembered that I was supposed to be "mask fit tested" and had to be clean shaven. I've been fit tested for a 3M N95 8210 mask.

I find a lot of warning labels amusing. The 3M N95 8210 mask has a warning label which states, "Misuse may result in sickness or death". Maybe it's not that amusing. They think that some Health Care Professionals in Canada got SARS because they weren't using N95 masks properly. One of the students in my class had a relative who worked in a Toronto hospital. He was in the wrong waiting room, at the wrong time, and was infected with SARS.

Oops. Sorry.

Apparently, I talk too much in my Professional Responsibilities class. The class ends up taking longer because I ask too many questions and get a bit carried away with some discussions. "...Seriously, I felt like slitting my wrists today." was how it was explained to me.

Oops. Sorry. I'll try to be a bit more passive.

If I was really smart

If I was really smart I would:

1. Post a long list of really smart things to do.