Well the last week of school has finally approached us. I’m pretty sure everyone feeling anxious, nervous, angry, sad and overwhelmed to say the least. Only 5 more days till these emotions can subside and we can officially be done with Stenberg’s exams forever! Prioritizing what is important, what tests come in what order, and what homework/notes to write first is very important. Every second day this week we have a final exam which includes one written, one emergency lab scenario test and one final case study. After we pass all of these then we are off to our practicums. The weekend before finals week I made sure I had all my notes written for the final exam Monday, and the scenarios typed out and ready to go for Wednesday and Friday. This way I can study them and go back and froth from final exam notes to Lab test notes to help me study better and retain information. After one final comes and I write it, another one is to come so I have to continue studying for the next one. There is literally no time to sleep as they are all approaching so fast, its crunch time.
I survived my tests by drinking lots of Iced coffee, tea and energy drinks (yes I know they are bad for you), but a girls got to do what a girls got to do to pass. Lots of almost all nighters, endless studying whether it be at the gym, mall or even driving to school, I found myself constantly talking out loud and trying to remember everything we were taught. On the day of the final lab tests I got really nervous and anxious as I awaited getting my name called. The trick is to remain calm. This can be hard sometimes but it is very important to remember, because nurses must always remain calm to be able to figure out the problems etc.
Finally, I have passed all my final exams! I could not be more happy or proud of myself. Everything I have worked for has payed off and now its time to go to clinical and put all this work to the actual tests, in a real hospital environment with real patients. I am super excited as my practicum is on the Nephrology/ Medicine unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital and is 6 weeks long. There are 6 of us there and our 1 instructor who will help us and guide us as needed. Its time to practice all my skills and things learned in school and improve with collaborating with the health care team. Learning things in school can be very different from the actual hospital environment so learning to adapt to it can take some time to adjust, which is good that we have 6 weeks to learn and get settled. Its nice that at the end of every semester we have practicums to look forward too and a reward for doing so well in school.
Check out this video of our Practical Nursing Program.
