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. : )