nursing – Imaginary Sunshine

All the things I love Android Apps

Michelle — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 03:39:20 +0000

So now that I’ve had my phone for about a month, lets talk about it. For starters, I love it. (If you don’t remember, I got the Samsung Galaxy S3.)

I’m primarily a texter, I always have been. I just don’t talk on the phone very much and it’s a lot easier for me to text. Maybe it’s convenience, maybe it’s because I never know when the other person is available to talk. I find texting a lot easier. I’ve read online that people recommend varies apps for texting (primarily to do with the keyboard), but I haven’t downloaded any apps for that yet.

I love the screen, how fast it is (especially compared to my old phone, the Samsung Corby Pro, that only went on the 3G network) on the 4G or LTE networkers, depending on what I can get. It acts as my alarm clock on all days of the week, which is great. I actually got two cases off of eBay for it. One is a simple silicone case that cost me all of $0.01 USD with free shipping. The other is a silicone case with a hard plastic case that goes over it, but that one is currently spending the mornings and afternoons in the sun as the plastic still smells a bit (ew) – that one was $0.50. I also picked up a spare charger (with a US/Canada plug) to keep in my backpack from eBay, for $3 shipped.

All of the apps below should be super easy to find via the Play Store; they’re also all free or have free versions (which I use). I don’t know if they all have Apple/Itunes alternatives, but I’m sure if you can’t find a direct Apple alternative, there will be similar ones (especially for the nursing ones).

Social Networking

My primary social networking apps are Twitter, Flickr and Instagram. Sadly, most of the photos I take now are via Instagram and uploaded to Flickr, but that’s just the way it goes. I also have the Facebook app, but I don’t use it very much. I do like Instagram though, it has some decent filters and I like that I don’t have to grab a cable, download the photos to my computer, and then upload to Flickr.

For School

For general school use, I’ve downloaded StudyDroid 2.0 (free version) and I love it. I can write up my flashcards online and then sync them to my phone and I’ve been using that to study while I’m on the bus going to school. I also downloaded the Merriam-Webster free app for a quick dictionary reference, along with Wikipedia. The Wikipedia app has the same content as the online website, but it’s nice to have a quick short-link to it. I also downloaded Evernote, it’s a quirky little app that I’m still learning how to use. So far I’ve just been using it to make quick memos to myself.

For Nursing School

Yes, I’m the nerd that downloaded a whole bunch of apps – all of which are helpful for my studies!

A lot of people in my program use the Nursing Central app, the only problem with that is that it costs $130 via the bookstore at school (a little bit cheaper than online). It has a lot of different features – a drug guide, medical dictionary and so much more. I already purchased a hard copy of a medical dictionary (Taber’s) and I wasn’t about to get another medical dictionary just for kicks and giggles. I also purchased a hard copy of the Delmar’s Drug Guide for Nurses 2013 and I really didn’t want to go and spend another $130 for an app that I only get free updates for a year. As it is, the drug guide (if I choose to purchase the 2014 copy next year) will only be another $30-35 while the app subscription renewal will be another $130. So I went searching for free alternatives. I figured I wouldn’t really need a medical dictionary while I’m in clinical, but I really did want a drug guide on my phone (we’re allowed to use our phones in clinical, provided it’s for clinical purposes).

For a drug guide, I downloaded Medscape. It’s free, has thousands of drug references (brand names, generic names, dosages, usages, pregnancy categories, etc.). There’s also information on conditions, procedures, drug interactions and drug dosage calculators. There’s also a whole directory of medical/nursing related journal articles. It took a while to load onto my phone as it can be completely downloaded to the phone for use without data or internet. Medscape is produced by WebMD; all of the information put out in the Medscape app contain references to the sources of information so you can always double-check the information first.

I’ve also downloaded Mini Nurse Lite, which has medical terminology, prefixes and suffixes, lab values, some review information for skills and assessment. Another great app I downloaded was Speed Anatomy. It’s a game, but it’s great for anatomy review and I’ve been using it whenever I have some downtime to just refresh my memory on placement of body parts – always important as a healthcare worker!

For Fun

I’ve downloaded a few games: Angry Birds, Flood-It! and Sodoku Free.

For pleasure reading, I’ve got BBC News, The Province, Pulse, Garfield Daily and Marvel Comics.

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If you have any suggestions of (free, hopefully) apps for me, let me know! There’s some other apps that I’ve also downloaded that I didn’t mention – mostly because they’re not as interesting or because they’re not quite as fun.

A self-made rainbow & full acceptance

Michelle — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 03:40:54 +0000

I went shopping on the weekend for school supplies. I love getting new supplies, mostly because there’s something satisfying about having all new things. And as far as school supplies goes, it can be a cheap thrill sometimes. I got a whole bunch of duo-tangs in a full rainbow of colours for a dime a piece.

Next up was pens (so many pens! not shown is a box of clicky blue ones), one subject notebooks ($0.15/ea!). I also had to get a combination lock for a locker, I haven’t had a locker since high school! I also bought pencil lead, lined paper ($0.16 for 150 sheets), printer paper (a case of 5000 sheets for $28/case). I felt like it was good worthwhile time with the school supplies shopping. A lot of things were fairly inexpensive this year, and it was nice to replenish the supplies.

While I’m on the topic of school, I got some official news:

I was originally offered provisional acceptance, provided I met a list of conditions. I had to submit my immunization records, pass a criminal check, pay a commitment fee and first term tuition on time. I did all of it, I have no criminal record (not that I was worried, haha) and then I’ve been finally told that I’m fully accepted. Was informed of this with less than two weeks to go before the start of the program.

And with that note, this is what I’m looking at for this lovely Tuesday evening. I have 18 chapters to read prior to starting the program. I read through everything once and now I’m going through and writing notes for everything. I’ve finished 16 chapters worth of notes so far with two more to go before Monday.

Getting in was just step #1

Michelle — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:20:12 +0000

There are a lot of things to do before right now and when I actually start the program. It’s still kind of a rush, I’m still coming to terms with the whole idea that I actually got in. You guys, I’m going to be a Student Nurse. But things I’m doing this month (May) include:

Getting a bunch of vaccines. My ‘big’ one is the varicella vaccine (chicken pox). I had chicken pox when I was 2 months old and that’s not old enough to actually develop an immunity. So I’m getting the adult dose #1 and I’ll get dose #2 through my school.
Getting blood work done to prove that I’m immune to some diseases that that I need the titre for. Yay?
Handing in all my immunization information.

Other things I’m doing this month include graduating, walking across a stage and getting my degree! I’m quite excited about that. I haven’t been back on campus since I went to pick up my graduation ceremony tickets for my family. There’s still loads of things to do – a respirator mask fit test, recertification of CPR, a criminal background check (later) and a WHMIS test (July, I think). But I have orientation next week (!) and I’ll be getting more information about everything then (including places to get assorted certifications). I’m really excited, I’ll be getting to meet my future instructors and future classmates.

It’s really exciting. My sisters are excited, my dad’s excited. Apparently I’m finally doing something right in his eyes! Granted, he did spend the last month of my undergraduate degree telling me that I shouldn’t have gone to university in the first place if I’m not using the degree for anything[1. My degree is one of the reasons why I got into the nursing program, just FYI.]. Oddly enough, it’s my mom who’s been the negative one about this whole acceptance thing. She’d rather I go out into the Real World and get a Real Job and become a self-sustaining human being. I get it, she’s tired of having grown adult children living at home and going to school[2. My sister went back to school in January and she’ll be there for another 1.5 years or so]. But at the same time… I’ve wanted to be a nurse for forever. Everyone knows this. She knew this. So while I “get” why she’s being negative, I don’t get it, all at the same time. A BSc (at least in what I got mine in) was useful about five years ago. Which is why I started it. But now? Most science-related job postings require a background in straight chemistry and I don’t have a BSc in Chemistry. In the grand scheme of things, another 3 years in school is not a lot at all. I’ll be 25 (closer to 26 though), have two finished Bachelors and finally have a foot into the door of a career that I want. And really, isn’t that what we all want?

New chapter starts now!

Michelle — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:54:35 +0000

After I had written yesterday’s entry, I went to volunteering. While I was there, I received two emails from that school that I wasn’t expecting to hear from until Monday.

I got in.

I start my first term of nursing school in late August. I have orientation very soon (early May). There’s so much to do.

I have to hand in my immunization records, apply for student loans (hopefully get student loans, which I should based on my income/need/number of years out of high school), buy stuff (books, stethoscope, scrubs, shoes), pay tuition and just… go to school again.

The end of a chapter; the beginning of the next.

Michelle — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:30:35 +0000

So today I got all of my grades in for the term (the one I was waiting on was one of my harder classes this term – Animal Ethics where the last 45% of my grade was based on a term paper and web-based presentation). I ended off with:

Animal Ethics – A-
Health Psychology – B+
Human Sexuality – A+

I ended off my last term at this school with an A average. It was also my best year (September-April) of my undergrad yet with a B+ average overall.

When I started my undergrad back in 2007 (yes, it took me 5 years to complete a 4 year degree, shuddup), my average for my first year was 57%. I got put on academic probation, I failed a few (three) classes. And every term since then, I’ve gotten my average higher and higher. The only time my grades dipped again was when I retook first year calculus and when I took organic chem (but I passed it on the first go, unlike a lot of my classmates that had to take it twice or more). I actually aced the final of my calculus course (the second time around), but did poorly overall in the course but he passed me based on the fact that I got an A on the final. Me, calculus, an A final. Who would have thought?

That said, it’s kind of bittersweet that it’s all coming to an end. My graduation ceremony is in late May, which I’m pretty excited about. I won’t find out if there’s extra tickets for the ceremony until mid-May. I ordered the cap and gown (paid a deposit). The word “science” appears in the title of my degree four times. Yeah, they really want to emphasize my science prowess.

As for the future? I’ve applied to several schools for their nursing programs. I got rejected by one school (average wasn’t high enough, even though it was well above the minimum average), didn’t get enough “education points” from another school (it’s 0pts if you don’t have a completed degree, even though I was 9 credits away from finishing mine, that was disappointing and felt like a waste of money), I’ll find out about one school sometime in May (but it has 16 spots, so I’m not entirely sure about that one… Depends on my competition) and then there’s school #4. I’ll be finding out on Monday (30th) if I’m in or not. I hope I am… I have really strong references for it, decent grades, hopefully a good Letter of Intent that I agonized over before sending it in.

Keep your fingers crossed!

I can’t just filter out the stupid. :'(

Michelle — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 02:10:05 +0000

While I sit here sipping tea and making Excel do my bidding[1. I’m working on an assignment for my class regarding climate change through time.], tweets keep popping up on my screen (thanks, Tweetdeck) and generally it doesn’t bother me (because I ignore it unless I can actually recognize the avatar). Some people tweet the strangest things. Do I need to know about the existence of new Team Jacob shirts at Target?[2. For starters, we do not have Target yet in Canada so I really do not care.] or how someone told someone else that she’s a *ucktard? Then again, I realize I tweet ridiculous things too.

For instance, today I tweeted about a friend’s douchecanoe of a boyfriend. I’ve also complained about the stupid people in one of my classes (and lamented the inability to filter out the stupid from said class’s discussion boards). I tweeted about ball-jointed dolls [3. An online friend, who I’ve met in person before, just got a new one and we discussed the sizes – apparently mine seems larger in photos. :)]

And while I should really go back to my assignment (due online at 9am tomorrow, Pacific time), I’m nearly done anyways (one more question in which I need to write out why there was ice in the tropics at one point in the history of the Earth – the answer is that there was a sharp decrease in methane due to the rise of cyanobacteria, methane was the most important greenhouse gas at one point and carbon dioxide was much lower/less significant. Of course, that has now changed and carbon dioxide is much more abundant – methane is 10x more efficient than carbon dioxide in terms of warming the Earth). Now you know… And I guess now that I’ve written out my answer, I am done my homework! I just need to click submit on the website.

For an update on nursing school applications… I’ve received both my high school and current university transcripts in the mail (yay!). I’ve also gotten 2 sets of reference letters from people at work (more yay!). One of them was highly impressive, filled up an entire page about how much awesome I’m made of (I may have blushed while reading it too). So now all I’m really waiting for is my reference letters from volunteering (as most programs require some form of volunteering work, minimum 30 hours, in a health-care setting – I’d been volunteering there since September 2008 so I have more than the required amount of hours) before I start doing all my applications. I feel as though I should have most of my applications completed as of the beginning of November, aside from supplemental portions of applications (the essays about why I’m a great fit, what kind of leadership skills that I have, etc.).

I’m also working on a new theme for Imaginary Sunshine… It has been brought to my attention that this one has been up since May and apparently that just won’t do.

4th Year Rambles

Michelle — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 06:34:11 +0000

I’ve been sending a lot of time hitting the books since the term began.

It’s my last first term of this degree (fingers crossed). I have four classes. Four classes that I didn’t always like. I liked the idea of them. I liked the descriptions of them. I hated the amount of work that each professor made his class sound like (I only have male professors this term). But now I’ve found that I like my classes. Some that I even love. (It may also help that some of my profs are very funny. And that one of them has a Scottish accent – he’s not much to look at but the accent helps me to stay awake because I need to focus when he says words that are pronounced differently in the UK than it is in Canada.)

I had my first midterm exam on the last day of September. It was bad because I had to run across campus to get there on time. I normally walk and can get there on time. That Friday, I had gotten out of my previous class on time, had to briskly walk to the building. There were exams already being handed out, I had to find a seat, get my pencils, eraser and pens out. Oh, and my student card. I always forget that I need that out during an examination (especially when requested). I also hate that photo on my student card (but who doesn’t?). The results of that midterm came in just this past Friday. I did better than average (the average being 75%). I’ve developed better study habits since my first year of university – actually reading ahead, reviewing notes after classes, studying ahead of time, studying with like-minded people.

I’m working on getting together my documents for my applications for next year as I’m applying for even more schooling. I want to do another Bachelors degree (nursing). I’ve ordered high school and university transcripts. I’m waiting on those to arrive in the mail, I’m also waiting on reference letters from my volunteering place. The application process is stressful at times – needing to gathering all the documents and references and write letters of intent and essays. But this is something that I really want to do. For most of what I can remember back, I’ve wanted to become a nurse. So even though the application process is stressful and the waiting period will be stressful as well, I’ll need to suck it up and get through it.

In other news, I’ve recently acquired a vintage 1972 Blythe doll. I know a lot of people who read this blog aren’t doll people. But it’s a nice hobby to have, I’ve met some fantastic people through the hobby. I even attended a convention for Blythe in June 2011 (it was in Portland, OR – my first solo trip anywhere and my first vacation [it was for 4 days] in years). So despite what people might think about adults having dolls and collecting them – there’s nothing wrong with it. I figure as long as I’m not pretending that they’re my children (that would be my stick insects, thank you very much) or actually alive, it’s all good. I liked dolls as a child and I played make believe with them.

It’s an extension of my childhood that goes well with the fact that I still have a teddy bear that stays on my bed. But yes, I’ve acquired a vintage one (all the rest of my Blythe dolls are modern productions, all produced from the 2000s onward). And I’ve already been informed by my parents that I’ll be receiving another two this year (one for my birthday and one for Christmas).

So other than school, volunteering and doll(s), I haven’t been doing much lately. I haven’t had time for crafting, which I hope to change soon. But I did have time to bake recently (no photos as said baked goods were consumed rapidly by family members and myself). I weighed myself recently and after getting all wide-eyed at the number (thanks, Mister Scale), I’ve decided to go on a bit of a diet. Nothing too extreme, I’m going to try my best not to get completely obsessed with it (something I fell into the habit of when I was in middle and high school and essentially stopped eating, and I also dropped a lot of weight doing that). I do need to cut out fast food though (plus it’s expensive $) and to eat more fruits and vegetables (hello carrot sticks). We’ll see how it goes! I’m also planning on increasing my daily water intake as well and overall just increasing the amount of good, healthy foods. I suppose I should buy whole wheat bagels instead of plain white ones now then…

Zoology labs are love! (sort of)

Michelle — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:46:21 +0000

I had my first comparative invertebrate zoology lab today. My TA is awesome and super friendly and nice.

Oh, and I have to question where all the money that everyone pays to the school goes to when I had go to through three compound microscopes in order to get one that “works okay”.

My first microscope? The light would turn on, but one of the pieces were broken and when I looked through the eyepiece, there was nothing, no matter how bright the light was turned up.

My second microscope? Plug it in, no light. The area around where the lightbulb was would get hot (very quickly) but no light. My TA took this one away.

My third microscope? The light would turn on (yay!) and I could see things through the eyepiece (yay!). But… for some odd reason, the light wasn’t ‘even’. There were some incredibly bright batches that would always be lighter than the rest, no matter what magnification I would turn it to.

Which makes me glad that I get to use quality microscopes in my plant physiology lab (because they work?), but annoyed as heck because I had to play musical microscopes until I found one that would work well enough. The lab for that class normally occurs in another section of the building (with better microscopes!) but that wing is being renovated (which really sucks because you can hear construction sounds from everywhere in the building), so I’m in an older section of the building with shabby microscopes (obviously). The lab itself is good, but the microscope kinda sucks.

Other than that, went to a local college to hand in some stuff for my application (whoo, nursing programs!). And oh my goodness… My school’s Registrar department is an entire building. It’s a gorgeous building with three floors and high glass walls (that is obviously where my tuition money is going to!) and the local college? I could have fit their Registrar’s department into maybe half of a lecture hall of my school. The ‘front’ section where students are allowed to go is about a third of the size of my bedroom. It was teeny tiny, super crowded. And my goodness, the inside area of the building looked like the outside of my school’s campus (minus all the cars, gardens, etc.). It was a bit weird to me, I wasn’t expecting something that looked like the steps outside of one of the buildings I’m very familiar with on the inside of a school. But…. That application’s done!

Mixture of everything today

Michelle — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:20:37 +0000

Volunteering…
Volunteering went fabulous this morning. Yes, you read that right: in the morning. I was there from 9am to 11:30am. I helped set up for a new activity (balloon volleyball – everyone gets half a pool noodle for hitting balloons with and to try to get it over the net – there were like 15 balloons in play at any given time, so much fun). It was so funny watching them (the residents) play because some of them would get repeatedly hit in the back of the head with pool noodles or balloons and not even react to it. On the flip side, when I was handing out pool noodles, some of the residents would start hitting my butt in order to get my attention. And when I went to help someone stand up, he laughed and said I was looking for excuses to hold his hand (he thinks he’s charming). But overall, volunteering went really well! And I’m glad I went this week (missed last week because I wasn’t feeling well) and put in the time and also glad that I went at a different time than usual because it meant that I got to do new activities with everyone. So pleased with that.

Applications update!
I got mail today from one of the schools that I’ve applied to for their nursing program (technically, it’s the only completed application I’ve done – I still need to do the written portion of my application for the program at my current school and I still need to fill out the forms and hand in my supporting documents for two other schools – those are waiting for January, deadlines aren’t until the end of January/February) and I totally freaked out because the envelope was so damn thin. When I got accepted to the universities that I applied to when I was in grade 12, the envelopes were thicker than one sheet of paper folded up. This envelope only had one sheet of paper, so I was pretty crestfallen about it until I opened it out. Turns out it was just a letter to basically says:

Dear Michelle,

Thanks for applying to our school, your application will be processed in the next 4-6 weeks.

Cheers,
The school that you paid a $60 application fee to and sends out letters like these to scare you into thinking that you couldn’t get in.

Ahem. I may have taking a creative license with what I consider the letter to have ‘basically’ said. Just a little bit though.

Shopping for presents/craft supplies…
I made the mistake of going to the mall today, because I could… but gosh, there’s an absurd amount of people shopping at ~1pm at the mall on a Friday. Or was it just me? Do people just take extended lunch breaks…? Or not work…? Or work different shifts…? Or just bum around the mall all day…? Because I’m saw loads of people who looked high school aged walking around the mall at 1pm on a Friday afternoon. Then again, some people could argue that I look high school aged (it’s the short stature only, I swear).

Oh, and by the way, running for the train or bus in heels is not cool. As clumsy as I naturally am at times, I didn’t trip or fall once today. Yay.

Cute, but odd

Michelle — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:29:03 +0000

Just a few things to mention that occurred today:

Handed in my application for the nursing program at one of the schools that I’m applying to for August/September 2010
I’ve been on 8 buses today.
I got 8/10 on my cell biology term paper (the one on primary cilium and their importance) – whoot?
Today is World AIDS Day, not that it really ‘occurred’ or rather that it actually ‘was’. Did you wear a red ribbon today?

It was reported in the newspaper today that the majority of people in Canada with HIV or AIDS are in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. I’m not surprised. Why? Because of the majority of the country’s population are in those three provinces. That’s like saying the majority of fish live in oceans in comparison to seas and rivers and lakes.

Today’s been pretty relaxing. I managed to stay up during my biology lecture today, studied, made cookies.

And I had this awesome (MSN) conversation with my friend J:

J: You just reminded me how much i miss you
J: We don’t have anyone weird here…
J: It’s so sad
J: =(
M: … Are you calling me weird?
J: Well, we are
M: … LOL
J: But yes
J: I think people that roleplay dolls are counted as odd
J: Cute, but odd

At least my friend thought that it’s a cute habit?

I am currently on the lookout for a decently advertised (Canadian) price on a 2gb micro SD card. That’s not $20, because I feel like being cheap. If anyone notices one that’s at a decent price, feel free to drop me the link!