A Day in the Life....

You may feel, as I do, that I have dropped off the face of the earth. It is not because school is amazingly hard and I am holing myself up in a library. It is because I have incredibly long hours committed to school, clinicals, and work. Tuesday through Friday I don't typically get home until 7-9 at night. I am discovering the art of packing two meals instead of one as I head out for the day. On a side note, I have been worried about my blog being too boring lately, but you know, I do this mostly for me so too freaking bad. I used to not care as much what people thought, and I think I want to go back to being that way a little more. In my nursing research class late on Tuesday night we had a couple of students raise their hand and basically tell the teachers that we weren't learning anything in the class and their teaching methods were not effective. As an undergraduate I would have been that person. What happened? Do I just not care enough anymore? I don't know, but I have been frustrated with the level of my shyness lately and am making a concerted effort to change that. So watch out world, the outspoken Karen is coming back! To end the thought, I don't care if it is boring, I am going to detail my day yesterday....
5:45 Woke up
6:00 Finally got out of bed with much groaning
6:30 Took some time for Scripture study
6:45 Ran to catch my first bus. I have to wait in the cold, and boy was it cold! This bus comes early which I love now that I can count on it. It enables me to catch my next bus instead of waiting for the later one. And the bus driver always says good morning. I like the friendly people in Seattle.
7:00 Made it on my second bus, and favorite bus, the 74. See later note for why it is my favorite
7:20 Am Downtown, have to walk several blocks to the ferry terminal in the cold. This is usually the coldest part of my day.
7:35 Buy my ferry ticket, wait for the Ferry to come
7:55 Catch the ferry. I have time to sit and read on the ferry and warm up!
8:30 Arrive and start the walk to the clinic.
8:45 Start my day at the clinic.
11:00 Finally see my first patient of the day, it was a long morning because a lot of patients cancelled. And I had the nervous anticipation because my preceptor informed me I would be taking the histories all by myself today. What a way to get thrown right in. She basically handed me the chart, shoved me in the room and shut the door. I stumbled through okay, then went out and gave report to her where she pointed out what I had missed before we went in together to talk to the patient about the plan and do the physical. The time alone with the patients tested my small reservoir of knowledge. I had to counsel patients about skin problems, anxiety, work stressors, death in family, and decreased libido. Funny thing for me to be counseling people about their sex lives. And yes I did just say sex on this blog. Get over it, I will probably be more explicit at some point! Overall it was a pretty good day and I passed the hurdle of seeing my first patient. Yeah for me!
5:00 Done at the clinic, walk back to the Ferry
5:30 Get on the Ferry, spend the time talking to a friend on the phone
6:05 Walk to Bus terminal downtown
6:30 Catch 74. This bus enables me to only catch one bus back to my house. This is why it is my favorite bus.
7:10 Walk in the door, ahhhh....
7:45 Finished eating dinner, must start homework
9:00 Finished typing up chart notes from clinical, turned in assignment, going to take the rest of the evening off. LOST is also starting, so watch it with a friend
11:00 LOST is over, must get ready for tomorrow and go to bed
11:45 in bed, need to get up at 6:45 and start another long day....

So there you a have it, a day in the life of Karen.