Mini-mental assessment = bad idea

We learned how to do a neurological exam in Nursing Assessment today and one of the questions you're supposed to ask to judge the person's cognitive function/general awareness is, "Can you tell me what day it is?" Wrong question to ask. I have no idea. I had to remind myself it's Wednesday, and I had NO idea what the date was - that's why Word automatically finishes that stuff for you. I've been so engrossed in following the APNN calendar that I don't look at the date, just what I have to do and when. It's a little better now that I synced my Google calendar with my iTouch since that has the date right at the top of the column, but other than that I just go from house to class to lobby to lab to class to lobby to class to house (or some variation).

In lab yesterday we got to draw all over our partner's face with markers to help us remember where nerves, lymph nodes, sinuses and muscles were. Luckily "washable" really means "washable" for the markers we had. The coolest thing I got to see so far was probably the tympanic membrane. You never really wonder about how the inside of your ear looks until you have to carefully stick something into someone else's ear to look at it. Usually it looks nice and flesh colored and the membrane is shiny and pearly gray. You can even see one of the smallest bones in the body. Super cool, even if it was a little stressful and awkward at first.

There is a path that goes along the Erie Canal that I explored yesterday in the drizzle and a little more today. It's pretty nice and I've heard it's really really long. You don't miss green plants and trees until you don't have them anymore. I am more than happy to be back in the northeast and to jump in/avoid the puddles on my way to and from class.

Our study break tonight is a trip to Abbott's for some (apparently amazing) custard. Reward time! Our first assignment, dosage calculations, is due tomorrow and our first tests are on Monday. The stress level hasn't increased too much, but it's probably because I'm still in the honeymoon phase - I'm not bored in class! My roommates are great! Maybe by our first clinical I will feel differently. But for now, I love nursing school! :)