Past Midway

As of now I have finished two and a half quarters of the MEPN year. Probably a good time to provide an update on how things have been going.

In short, school and my induction into the nursing profession has been fantastic. The first quarter was the most stressful, the second quarter was the most difficult and most rewarding, and the third quarter has been somewhat chaotic. But all phases have been extremely valuable and I can barely comprehend how much I have already learned.

Learning happens at a fast rate with the combination of focused classwork and rich, intense hands-on experience in the hospital with patients and other professionals. Nearly every one of my precepting nurses has been extremely willing to teach and happy to work with me. They have given me great latitude and trusted me to do sensitive, complex work with vulnerable patients.

The classroom experience has been mostly good, but frustrating at times. Usually over issues of disorganization, including schedule/curriculum/experience changes. Guest lecturers have been very high caliber professionals, and have given extremely valuable information on all sorts of topics. Lisa Day, as our Pathophysiology and Pharmacology instructor, was fantastic and a steadying influence on us all.

My classmates are good people. Collectively we have a tremendous amount of talent, energy, and drive. I feel we have something to offer to the nursing profession. We take this very seriously, and I have faith we will all be competent, diligent professionals.

Currently, I am in Psychiatric Nursing. My clinical rotation is in the Forensic Psych unit at SF General Hospital, my old stomping ground as a volunteer. I really love that place, there is just something special about it. Forensic Psych is absolutely fascinating. Our patients are jail inmates, or otherwise facing new charges. It is difficult for me to describe these people now because A) I have little understanding of mental illness and treatment thereof, and B) their symptoms are extremely varied. But the observation and interaction with these patients, sometimes one-on-one when the deputies and other nurses and docs aren't around, has been mind-blowing. More on this later as I gain understanding and experience.

After another 3 weeks Psych is finished and Spring Break begins. Q4 begins in late May, with Labor and Delivery and Issues in Nursing. In June I graduate, then study for and write my NCLEX in June, to become licensed as a Registered Nurse. And HOPEFULLY I will get a job which starts in July.

My goal is to work in the Emergency Department at SF General Hospital, Highland Hospital in Oakland, or Stanford Hospital, in that order of preference. I will work full time for one, maybe two years before scaling back to part time work and returning to UCSF to begin work on my Masters. After two years of school and work I will complete my Masters and seek licensure as an ACNP (Acute Care Nurse Practitioner). Hard telling what will happen at that point. Depends on job opportunities in San Francisco and elsewhere, as well as personal life factors.

My First Published Photo

Check it out, my first published photo! The photo is of the neon sign inside the Pizza Orgasmica on Clement St. Somehow an online review guide called Schmap found the photo on my Flickr site, and offered me a chance to have the picture featured in this guide.

Don't be too impressed, though. The only way to find it is to search for San Francisco Pizzerias using this Schmap online guide widget. Then wade through 55 photos to find mine.

Anyway, if you would like to see the picture, click below on 'Photos' near the bottom of the widget, then scroll using the left arrow button until you see the picture (number 54 of 55).

Enjoy!

In!

Good news arrived in the mailbox last Thursday night--UCSF accepted me for the 2007-2008 MEPN class! It's a great feeling, a mixture of excitement over what's to come and relief after such a long wait. After meeting so many qualified, capable and motivated people at Interview Day and knowing that only half of us were accepted, I feel EXTREMELY fortunate to be in.

School starts in June, which isn't much time at all. So now I'm starting to make plans and get everything in order for the big transition coming up. In the next couple months I will be moving to a new apartment, quitting my job, and (hopefully) taking a trip. Oh and i have to finish Human Physiology and apply for scholarships, too.

Interview Day

Last Friday was a long day. I arrived at about 8, grabbed a cup of coffee and walked around campus for a bit, and went to the meeting room at 8:15. The program director welcomed us, talked to us for 20-30 minutes, then we dispersed for our assigned interviews from 9-noon. Unfortunately, i only had one interview on Friday, the last slot at 11AM...leaving me two full hours to stew over the interview. To kill time I went on another campus tour, then talked with some other interviewees who were all very cool. We had plenty to talk about since we were interested in each others' specialties & background, and of course were all in the same boat with a lot riding on these interviews.

Finally 11AM came for my faculty member interview. The professor was exceptionally gracious and nice, and we were engaged in what i felt to be a good, 2-way conversation throughout. The interview lasted 20 minutes past the allotted 45 minute interview, which i felt was a good sign.

After the interview, we broke into small groups for lunch, each group meeting with a couple of current MEPN students. They both seemed like good guys, and happy to answer questions about the program and what it's really like to be in the midst of the MEPN year. This was a helpful session, both for the much-needed nutrition and information from a different and very relevant perspective.

The afternoon consisted of sessions with the MEPN program director, housing and financial aid people, then a brief reception afterwards when we could all chat with each other and blow off a bit of steam. These sessions dragged on a bit, but were still interesting and useful IF I get in.

All in all it was a good day. Certainly a bit stressful for the first couple hours, but once the interview started things evened out. I was highly impressed all day by the people i met, starting with the faculty and program director, staff, MEPN students, and other interviewees. Clearly there is some stiff competition for this program. It is somewhat of an accomplishment to make it this far, and it would be a great honor to be accepted.

There's just one more interview tomorrow at 10AM in Berkeley with a nurse manager, and i can kick back and wait til early March to find out my fate

Pre-Interview

Well tomorrow is the big day. One of the big days, at least. The events actually start today with a reception for interviewees at 4PM. Tomorrow is the all-day Interview Day, then next Wednesday is my second interview in Berkeley.

At my Human Phys class on Monday, I talked to a potential UCSF MEPN classmate whose Interview Day was last week. She said that The Day is full of tension and conspiracy theories, and that my best bet is not to talk to too many people, since it can only exacerbate whatever nerves I already have.

Actually...I'm not too worried about it. Of course, there is a lot riding on these interviews and it's critical that my best foot is forward. But I feel like i've already had the conversations of "why am i doing this", "what do i bring to the profession", "do i know what i'm getting myself into", etc. a hundred times--first with myself when making the decision to apply, then through the arduous Personal Statement writing process, talking with my family, friends, reference letter writers, mentors, classmates, etc. Plus, i've never had a problem interviewing--talking to people is not scary. Who knows...this could all change and i'll be a train wreck tomorrow. But in any case being nervous can't help and can only hurt, so i choose to continue staying relaxed. I know who i am, what i've done with my life so far, why i want to go to UCSF and become a nurse practitioner, why i selected Acute Care, why i'm a good candidate, and what i plan to do with my life...so if that's not what they are looking for there is not much i can do about it.

Background

My reason for creating this blog is to provide thoughts, stories, anecdotes, cases, photos etc. on my change from a career in business to nursing. In October I applied to the UCSF MEPN (Masters Entry Program in Nursing) , and just this Tuesday I received an invitation in the mail from UCSF to interview for a spot in their program. My interview days are Jan 26 and 31, and I will probably know whether i'm accepted sometime in late February or early March.

Earlier this year, when i was doing research and soul searching on whether I really wanted to drop everything to pursue a career as a nurse practitioner, it was extremely helpful to read the blogs that current students and recent graduates had created--because they painted a realistic picture of what it's like to be in school, or in clinical settings as a new practitioner. As i was reading these blogs, i thought that if i get in to school it might be interesting to create one of my own, as my own personal multimedia archive and record of school, and also a resource for others considering going into this type of career. It also seems like a good way to share these experiences with my family and friends...since I imagine time will be at a serious premium, and i won't be able to tell everybody everything.

So, for now I get to have some fun in Colorado for Christmas with the family, and relax a bit before my interview and Human Physiology class starting in January.