focus on the heart

I have spent a good chunk of this week learning about the heart how it works and what happens to cause it to stop working what we can see when it isn't working and what we can do to help it stay healthy or recover when it has been sick. There is a lot to learn. It is pretty interesting once you start to piece it all together. I am still working on that but I find pictures help me allot. I wish I had taken my anatomy and physiology classes more recently, I took them over 5 years ago and so I really have to review to get a grasp on some of the basics.

Electrocardiogram


we are learning what a normal EKG looks like and what to suspect in the case of an abnormal one. The ST segment for instance should be isometric (neither elevated or depressed) if it is raised it indicates an infarction (the heart is not getting enough blood and cells are dying)
a tall pointy T wave indicates hyperkalemia (to much potasium). Learning these things makes me feel like I really am on the road to becoming a nurse.

One semester down

I finished the first semester of My Accelerated BSN at the MGH IHP! I made a little collage to commemorate the crazy summer of meeting new people making new friends and learning a lot of new and interesting (sometimes slightly disgusting stuff)

From the looks of it Nursing school is a lot of fun! I think that that is the truth of it. Its hard work but the people I work with are good to be around and that makes it all a lot better. I am looking forward to the coming semesters. Somebody remind me that I said this in 2 weeks when it all gets going again.

introduction

I thought I would keep a blog related to My adventures In the ABSN at the MGH IHP (accelerated bachelor of science in nursing at Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health professions)
I don't know what this will actually look like once the program starts up again. It might just be me reporting at Christmas that I am still alive. I completed the summer semester. It was hard but also good. I learned allot in a short amount of time more than I thought was possible when we started the program in May. In May I was sure that it was impossible. Now its the end of August and I have a semester under my belt and a little more confidence that by this time next year I will be an RN.
I guess all I have left to say right now is I will keep you posted (if time allows)