currently researching and writing about......

Shared decision making and true informed consent. How exciting, right?

Power point for the postpartum class that I will be leading next week - done.

Study guides for both classes - caught up to date. Still have more to do.

Reflection paper to write - started.

Two finals to study for and to take - to be continued.

Weeks 9 & 10

Here we are - the end of week 9, moving quickly into week 10 of the term. Just 3 weeks left til break!

Week 9:

Women's Health: studying benign women's health issues (a.k.a. many things GYN that are not cancerous). I really enjoyed this section! I learned so much about menstrual disorders, PCOS, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, and the diagnostic/physical exam/management of those disorders. I didn't think I would enjoy WH this much, but I do. A lot.

Postpartum/newborn: breastfeeding. Still working on catching up on all of the reading. WHEW! Completed my sections for the huge group project (postpartum/newborn/breastfeeding patient education teaching handout/mini book).

Upcoming:

Week 10:

PP/NB: complete the breastfeeding readings and study guide. Attend as many of the postpartum "lectures" this week. These are student-led classes. We design and present a powerpoint on a specific postpartum topic. Since my partner and I already did our presentations early in the term, all I need to do is attend the lectures, and do the readings associated with those topics.

WH: last section of readings, this time on a variety of vaginal/cervical infections. Not sure what else, haven't really read the info yet. So, 'to be announced'. Also, I hope to start working on one of the extra credit projects that we can do. (Review an article, write a summation of the article, or complete some CDC modules online.)

Week 11:

PP/NB: Study for final exam, write a reflection for the pp/nb booklet.

WH: Study for final exam, complete extra credit material, write a reflection for the course.

Week 12:

PP/NB: final exam

WH: final exam

DONE!!

Where have I been??

Forgive me, for I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth! I somehow picked up extra shifts at work recently (what the heck was I thinking?!?) and between work and my studies, this blog has been put on the back burner.

I will be planning on a post about acidemia and why the pH of a fetus is different than neonatal "normal" pH values.

However - I have an exam coming up very soon, so I am working diligently in studying for that. I also have a case study due that same day as the exam, and I have typed up zippo for it.

On another note, I have been looking for survey takers for my market research course. If you live in the southeast portion of Pennsylvania, would you be able to read a short ditty on midwifery and fill out a brief survey?

Go here to view the document. (You MUST live in the southeast portion of Pennsylvania [Lancaster, Dauphin, Cumberland, Perry, and surrounding counties]. This is crucial to the survey data collection. I apologize if you want to fill out the survey, but don't live in that area. This is for a very specific local needs paper for birthing women in my nearby community areas.)

Updates on work and school

Have I really not written a post since last Thursday? Oh my goodness - no, I haven't! I've been so crazy busy with being back at work plus working on finishing up my assignments for this term.

L&D: super duper busy! We have been seeing a whole lot of preterm labor and premature rupture of membranes. I recently had a pre-viable birth, where the baby was not expected to survive the birth. Little one held on and on for almost two hours after she was born. So sad.

I'm pursuing further training at work to become a grief counselor for women who have any type of infant death (IUFD, stillborn, pre-viable babes who die after birth, neonatal deaths). It's going to be two full days of education next month, and then I'll be an official grief counselor. There are several nurses on L&D with this distinction already. I am actually looking forward to learning more about the grief process, and how I can support women and families in their time of need.

School: also super duper busy! I finished up my pharmacology course. WHEW! It was a lot of reading, studying and testing for this course. I learned so, so, so much! As for my midwifery community assessment course ~~ I worked for 10 hours yesterday on writing up my final paper for that class. This paper goes in depth into the Healthy People 2010 maternal child health indicators, and all of the statistics and data analysis of the results. Plus, we had to come up with a plan of how midwifery could help with one of the MCH indicators. I chose reduction of preterm births for my topic. Eh. I have to edit the paper a bit, and fine tune the conclusion before I submit it. 29 pages, including title page and four pages of references. Talk about a big headache.

Next term starts in about 4 weeks. I'm only taking one course, but it's a biggie: Antepartum Care. YEAH!!! Just got my Varney's Midwifery book in the mail yesterday too. I am so ready to dive into the meat and potatoes of my education: the midwifery content.

Bring it on!!!

Countdown to the end of the term

Here we are, winding down the last 3 weeks of the school term. This is what I have left to do:

Pharmacology: Study for and take 2 tests (one is on neurologic drugs, the other is on pain medications). Do my forum posts this week on neurologic drugs. One last self-reflection essay due at the end of the term.

Community Assessment: Talk to the maternal/child health person in the county. Write up the "big paper" due by the end of the term (150 points!!!). I already have a very rough outline of info I need to put in the paper. Plus, I have all of the county, state and U.S. statistics that I need to refer to and include.

The term is over on December 17th. WOOHOO!!

Power Point OVERLOAD!

For one of my classes this term, I need to create a Power Point about my community. I seriously think I'm going into overload with Power Point. Am I overthinking this assignment? Putting too much into it? Not enough??? It seems to be eating up so much of my time to create it.

I'm up to slide #27 right now.

Must-take-a-break!

Not much rest for the weary though ---- tons of reading for this week's pharmacology module.

I know. Don't complain. This is what I wanted (to become a midwife). This is the hard work that goes along with my goal.