SPOTS Tests.... The Suspense

Okay, I’m back! I could not leave everyone for a whole week to wonder how I did on my SPOTs test. I am not that cruel. So, I will get right to the point, I FAILED. However, it was only the pulse, and thank goodness I passed taking the blood pressure. Additionally, it was my first try, and I was sidetracked because I had a midterm the exact same day. My nerves were shot!

“What happened?”

As I was taking the radial pulse (counting the number of times I felt the pulse beat on the thumb side of wrist),I totally lost track of the time. So instead of counting the pulse for 30 seconds, and then multiplying the number of beats by two (to obtain the beats per minute), I counted the pulse for 35 seconds. Needless to say, my result was way off the professor's observation.
However, the silliest part about the whole scenario was that I knew I had counted too long. Therefore, I tried subtracting a few beats from my total, just to see whether I would be able to obtain the same result as my professor. Wishful thinking I guess, because that defiantly DID NOT work.

The moral of my story is to take your time, relax, breath, and NEVER guess. Oh,something else I realized was that I defiantly need to practice. Otherwise, my future patients could end up on unnecessary heart medications... and I highly doubt that would go over well!

How to take the radial pulse. Properly!

Vitals...and Midterms....and Interviews....Oh My!

Now, that you know quite a bit about my personal life, I think it is time for me to begin to address the nursing aspect of my life! Firstly, I would like to share my experiences in the nursing degree program with all of the future nursing students out there. Okay, within the last two weeks I have had two midterms, Simulated Practicum Observation Tests (SPOTs), a mask fitting test, and a huge nurse to patient mock home interview.

I am going to take a wild guess that many of you are wondering what SPOTs are. I am going to tell you, this way you will have an idea of what to expect when entering the nursing program. First, you are randomly matched with a peer in your Practicum course (hands-on nursing lab). Next, the professor assigns a date and time that your partner and yourself perform the actual simulated lab part of the test.

You ask, "What is the "simulated lab part of the test?" Well, it is the most terrifying test I have taken so far this year! Upon arriving at the lab, you are assigned to a professor who will evaluate your ability to assess your partners vital signs. These include their radial pulse, temperature, blood pressure, respiration rate (number of breaths per minute),and a random pulse located on your partners body (I had the temporal pulse, which is on the face to each side of the forehead).

You may be thinking that it sounds simple, but here’s the catch, your results must match your professor's. Oh, and by the way, using an electric blood pressure machine is totally out of the question!

In the end, If you don’t pass certain parts of the assessment, then you repeat those parts the following week... Now, the scariest part is that you only have TWO tries. If you fail on the second attempt you cannot go to your clinical practice next semester. Talk about pressure!

I bet you would all like to know how I did... Hmmm...I am going to make you wait a little longer, this way you can feel just as anxious as I was feeling when I had to wait and see if I passed… Stay tuned!

Take care everyone, and I will write again soon. : )

Hello again...Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

So it has been nearly a week since I last wrote a blog, and it was a very busy week too. I feel I did well on my anatomy and physiology mid-term, I was aiming for the 80% or higher grade range, but I'll let you know my mark when I get it. I also had a group tutorial presentation on scoliosis (improper curvature of the spine)last Friday, which went very well. Honestly, I was so focused on ensuring we covered all the criteria that I probably looked like a nervous robot in front of the class. :)

So now that I will be sharing my journey towards becoming a nurse with you i should also share a little more personal background about myself. Currently I have a health issue, which is a rare tumour in my abdominal cavity, that I am being treated for. Just yesterday when I was receiving my chemotherapy at a hospital in Toronto, I met a nice lady who has a very extensive nursing background. She began her career as a nurse back in the 60's, then pursued teaching nursing at both the diploma and degree levels, including clinical practice teaching. She later realized she had an interest in politics, and ultimately decided to focus on the politics of health care in Canada. She and I spoke as we both received chemotherapy treatment and she shared with me some very valuable experiences she has had within nursing.

Since I had expressed a keen interest in biological sciences, she said that i should look into all options for working within the medical field, for example, possibly check out the prerequisites for getting into medical school, in case one day I decide to become a doctor. I am very grateful to have opportunities to speak with experienced nurses, and I urge everyone pursuing nursing or any career within the medical field to talk with medical professionals also.

Well, I must return to studying for my Health and Healing mid-term, which is tomorrow. I will write again soon.

Welcome to my blog!

Nice to see you visited my blog. I am Colleen, and I have just enrolled in the nursing program at UOIT, However, I feel as though I have already done a whole years worth of projects. Nevertheless, it seems like an excellent program, and all of my professors are great! The network of friends I have made is nice too. The program is unique because the classes are relatively small, so you get to know your peers. The workload is very busy, but I am up for the challenge.
Since I am not familiar with the blog scene, feel free to give me some advice. I will try to keep everyone posted as I "journey to becoming a nurse." The midterm for Anatomy is tonight, so I must go study…
Wish me luck!