!Fail
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agk's diary
21 April 2022 @ 17:06 UTC
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written on GPD Win 1 via puTTY
in garage while Evy and the baby
drive home from Indiana
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I failed a nursing school exam. Against my 85% exam
average in Med-Surg II, I scored 68%. Final exam's
in two weeks.
I didn't remember enough musculoskeletal care. I
stared blankly---is Buck's traction a boot or pinn-
ed to bone? What's priority to teach a predischarge
patient whose fractured jaw's wired shut?
We worked last month on the trauma surgery floor
caring for people who wrecked motorcycles and cars,
got crushed by mowers and tractors. Amputated or
rebuilt with external fixation and open reduction/
internal fixation, my patients were in all kinds of
traction, needed blood after each surgery, in cerv-
ical collars. They left us for laminectomies and
spinal fusion surgeries, then came back.
I changed dressings and positions, helped them amb-
ulate, passed meds (acetaminophen, oxycodone, meth-
ocarbamol, gabapentin, enoxaparin, vancomycin,
stool softeners). I looked at CT scans. I watched
white cell counts rise and hemoglobin/hematocrit
drop. I taught pts to pivot and stand w/ a walker,
what to expect in ortho rehab.
The week we covered musculoskeletal and acute coro-
nary syndrome in class I was apathetic, bored, un-
interested. I didn't take notes. I worried about
grandpa's post-stroke aphasia and depression, if
Cassie'd get fired and lose health coverage or die
of her bad covid reinfection.
I wanted to sleep, play monsters with my monkey
daughter, read about Ukraine and Anatolian history.
I read a book about unionizing commercial laundries
one worried, exhausted night instead of studying.
Through worry and exhaustion, Shirre and I wowed an
instructor with care of a simulated patient. He had
heart failure post-surgical debridement of a diab-
etic foot wound. A solid team, our assessment, dec-
isions, and care were great. When an emergency was
simulated, our anxiety didn't show.
I worked at the psych hospital and pulled a 12-hour
shift in the Level I trauma center at the Emergency
Department. You're guaranteed to see someone you
know in the ED where rural hospitals send patients
---just like adolescent psych.
Two of my classmates failed out of this class. I
still have a chance. Because I failed the exam, I
drove to the city for a review. Evy's sister
watched the baby so Evy could tutor, then tested
covid+. Got it from her boyfriend, maybe gave it
to baby and us. We test this afternoon.
Back to the grind.
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UPDATE: We tested negatron. God bless open windows,
fans a-blowing in every room.
