August 2012 Update

Dear family and friends,

My apologies for the extremely long silence.  The second and third semesters of nursing school sucked me into specialty rotations, tests, papers, presentations, and the unfolding journey of becoming a nurse.  It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and a challenge I was ready to meet.  I truly love being a nurse: the honor and privilege of caring for other people at their most vulnerable is something that gets me out of bed in the morning and keeps me awake at night, pondering the possibilities of and the meaning behind different illnesses.   Specific days and tests are foggy, but every patient I cared for will remain with me, both as people and as opportunities to learn.

I moved from southwest of downtown Nashville to East Nashville at the beginning of July.  It was time to make the move—I am now in a smaller two bedroom, one bath apartment that is much more comfortable and feels much more like home than my first apartment in town ever did.  I have spent some time this weekend making new art projects and hanging pictures, and I feel a lot of ownership and a sense of home!  Let me know if you’d like my new address.

My first year of nursing school ended on July 26^th, and I left for a whirlwind two-week tour of the Pacific Northwest.  I saw my parents, brother, my mom’s sisters and their families, as well as friends from college.  I also had some time to relax and enjoy the brief break from school. 

During my break I also received authorization to take the NCLEX, the RN licensing exam.  I will be taking it September 8^th.  Please think happy thoughts!

I am now back in Nashville, preparing for the start of orientation for Divinity School in the morning.  Classes start next Monday.  I am very excited to shift gears into a more academic setting and ask the hard questions about faith with others on the journey.  I also feel that I am more prepared for Divinity School than I have ever been.  After a year’s worth of work in nursing I feel that I have begun one part of my professional preparation, and now I am open and ready for whatever the next part of my academic and professional journey will be. 

While I cannot promise any kind of timeliness in terms of future updates, please be reassured that no news is good news on this front.  I think of all of you, my support system, frequently, and know that I love you and miss those of you I don’t see regularly!

Love,

Caroline

New Year's Reflection (Reflexion del Ano Nuevo)

Happy New Year!  I hope that your holiday seasons were full of joy and peace.

Semester one of nursing school was a wonderful experience.  Towards the end of the semester, I started to feel confident in my competencies as a bedside nurse, although I know that I still have a lot to learn.  That is what excites me for semester two—the challenge of learning new information, integrating it with what I know, and applying my knowledge in the hospital setting.

I will have four classes for Spring 2012, instead of the five I had in the fall.  One is an introduction to nursing research, one is the continuation of the pathophysiology sequence I started in the fall, the third is the second component of the pharmacology course, and the last is the clinical experience course.  As part of my clinicals this semester, I will be doing specialty rotations.  I start in obstetrics, where I might be in Labor and Delivery or the newborn nursery, and after five weeks I will rotate to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for my pediatrics clinical.  I will then do five weeks at a psychiatric hospital in the area, and I will be back at Vanderbilt for an adult medical rotation for the first five weeks of the summer semester.   All of these experiences excite me and I am looking forward to the different learning opportunities I will have.

I am full of nothing but gratitude for the life I am living.  The constant reinforcement that I am in the right place at the right time keeps me going when I am tired, stressed, or wondering why I signed up for this crazy program.  My mom’s favorite thing to tell people is that, when I call her, she can hear the smile in my voice.  Hopefully you can see the smile I convey in my words.

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¡Feliz Año Nuevo!  Espero que sus fiestas fueran llenadas de paz y alegría.

Mi primer semestre de la escuela de enfermería fue una experiencia maravillosa.  Al fin del semestre, empecé a sentir confianza en mis habilidades como enfermera, aunque yo se que hay mucho que aprender todavía.  Por esa razón estoy muy emocionada empezar mi segundo semestre—tendré el desafío de aprender información nueva, incorporarla con lo que sabia, y aplicar mi conocimiento en el hospital.

Tendré cuatro clases durante el semestre primaveral del 2012, en vez de las cinco que tuve en el otono.  Una seria una introducción a los métodos de hacer la investigación en enfermería, una es la continuación de mi clase de la fisiología humana que empecé en el otono, la tercera es la parte segunda de mi clases de farmacología, y la ultima seria la clase de mis experiencias clínicas.  Yo tendre rotaciones de especialidades medicas durante este semestre—mi primera seria obstétricias, en que es posible que estaré en cuartos del trabajo de parto o el vivero de los recién nacidos.  Después de cinco semanas, iré al hospital pediátrico de Vanderbilt para mi experiencia clínica de pediátricos.  Entonces tendré cinco semanas en un hospital psiquiátrico cerca de Nashville, y regresare a Vanderbilt para una rotación en el hospital con pacientes adultos durante las primeras cinco semanas del semestre del verano.  Todas de estas experiencias me emocionan y estoy alegre de encontrar las oportunidades de aprender cosas nuevas en estos varios ajustes.

Soy llena de nada mas de gratitud para la vida que estoy viviendo.  Tengo el refuerzo constante de que estoy pisando la vía correcta al tiempo correcto, y este sentido me motiva cuando estoy cansada, estresada, o preguntándome el porque de empezar este programa.  A mi mama le gusta mucho decir a otra gente que, cuando la llamo por teléfono, ella puede oír la sonrisa en mi voz.  Espero que ustedes puedan ver mi sonrisa en estas palabras.