Cardiac Cycle Animation

Learning the cardiac cycle is essential to preforming well in nursing school and in working as a professional nurse.  Below are a few links to help learn the cardiac cycle.  There are some animations on the cardiac cycle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGlFBzaTuoI&feature=related                           

Below is a link to the best series of videos that I have found.  It is by a professor named Dr. Najeeb and he uses them in his USMLE prep course.  Search through his youtube page to find many other helpful videos.  This series of 8 videos on the cardiac cycle should leave you with a very complete understanding.  He provides his own animations of the cardiac cycle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbivIaFPoQI

Grade Inflation

Nursing School Grade Inflation

I have had grade inflation on my mind a lot lately for a couple reasons.  I fear the MCON is the king of grade inflation in some ways, and it concerns me that students are not fully prepared to practice in the role of RN.  Despite being able to memorize basic information I am not confident in some students abilities to act as competent members of health care teams.  Is it the students fault?  I am not entirely sure, if we are not challenged to learn concepts and only required to memorize a few simple facts to pass a test basic human nature will take over and students will become lazy and only memorize those simple facts.  I have been fighting to continue to dive into material truly learn concepts despite being spoon fed answers from instructors.

Click Below to Continue

Psychotropic Drugs

Here is a simple list of the major psychotropic drug classifications, their method of action, and major side effcts.  This is not complete, of course, but it gives a basic idea for study purposes.

Click below to see guide:

Stressed Nursing Student

Okay, I was a bit upset last night.

Time to move on.  We have our first mental health exam tomorrow.  I have really enjoyed the mental health rotation at the hospital.  In this rotation we really just talk with the patients, but you meet some of the most fascinating individuals and have a chance to learn much more in depth about various mental disorders.  I do not think that I will ever work in a mental health capacity, but I am sure that the experiences gained working with these individuals will create life long memories.  How many people do you know have been locked in a room with 30 bipolar and schizophrenic patients?  It really has helped me to see the thin line that separates sane from insane or mental health from mental disorder.  I will always be grateful for the appropriate balance of chemicals in my brain.

DON"T GO TO MCON

Granted I currently hold a 4.0 GPA at MCON, but I will tell you. . . go anywhere else!

Fall Semester

This semester we are only taking three classes; Complex Med Surg, Mental Health, and Quantitative Research.  We now have two clinical days so we get to be in the hospital much more which is good.  Now that I am beginning to acquire some skills nursing is starting to become much more enjoyable.  On Saturday mornings I am on the lock down mental health unit (which is a lot of fun)  then on Sundays I am on the Oncology floor.
This Saturday we have a big Cardiac test in Complex, it will be our first grade for the semester and actually accounts for a total of 13% of our total course grade.  I have been working really hard (my wife tells me to cut back on my study time) and it has paid off, I was able to squeak by the first two semesters with a 4.0 GPA.  The program is front loaded so if I can pull off another decent GPA this semester I will really be in the clear.
I need to add some study tips on here eventually because I have found several things that really seem to help out a lot with learning the material.