Feeling the Burn... - Johns Hopkins Nursing Magazine

Feeling the Burn…

Ok. Honesty time, here folks. Because it's the middle of the semester and we're all exhausted.

There is something you should know about the accelerated program... it's accelerated.

I know this is the right program for me- I wanted to hit the ground running and high tail it for the light at the end of the tunnel (enough metaphors for you? My mom's an English teacher...). And that's exactly what this program has been.

10/29/10 AT 10:10 AM

Ok. Honesty time, here folks. Because it’s the middle of the semester and we’re all exhausted.

There is something you should know about the accelerated program… it’s accelerated.

I know this is the right program for me- I wanted to hit the ground running and high tail it for the light at the end of the tunnel (enough metaphors for you? My mom’s an English teacher…). And that’s exactly what this program has been.

Last semester (the summer) we only had 9 weeks of exams, papers, and care plans every week. But now we’ve got 14, and we’re all starting to feel the flame of the inevitable burnout. Getting a great grade on a test doesn’t even feel that great any more because you just have to move on to the next one which is probably just a few days away.

But this, everyone, is the accelerated program. And I don’t want anyone to be surprised when things get tough. To be honest I’m not surprised – this is absolutely what I expected. But it doesn’t make is any more or less true or exhausting.

HOWEVER. We’ve got 6 weeks left until finals, about 3 and 1/2 weeks to Thanksgiving. And I’m going to do my best to shake the tired off and continue on. There are patients to care for, drugs to learn, and care plans to be written. The show must go on.

Things I’ve been doing to keep my sanity otherwise:

– being obsessed with the show Dexter. I do not recommend watching it before bed because for some odd reason I keep having dreams a serial killer is stalking me.

– running the Team Baltimore Marathon with my amazing team : the Lady Nightingales. We finished in 4:04!!

– getting a job (through Community Outreach at JHUSON) at the American Cancer Society. I’ll be counseling cancer patients about how the American Cancer Society can help them- I’m really excited to be able to work on my patient education skills

– being on student council! I am vice president of our class, and we are just getting started on planning some fun events for the next year- maybe even a few surprises!

– celebrating my 25th birthday with a fellow SONer! Kyle and I discovered we were born 6 hours apart on opposite coasts, and since this discovery we planned an awesome get together.