Time Flies!

Time is flying!  It seems like yesterday that I had just started Nursing School, and I already have found myself making it through the first finals week.  It has been hard to concentrate on school with all that has happened in the past few weeks in Washington.  I would find myself worrying about Veterans that were being placed in the position of possibly losing benefits, from disability to education.  But, I guess were safe for another few months until politicians go through this all over again.  I digress...

Getting back to what's going on in my world.  In case if anyone reading this didn't know, I am currently attending Marian University's Accelerated Nursing program.  When I say accelerated, I mean smashing four years of education into sixteen months of time.  I find myself studying about 30-40 hours a week, working 24-32 a week, and being a full time dad.  Needless to say, I am constantly tweaked out on coffee and Red Bull (and thinking about starting to use Copenhagen since it is the Ranger thing to do, haha).  But it is moving by quickly.  Last week I finished the courses of Human Nutrition, Nursing Concepts and Human Growth and Development with two B+'s and an A-.  Not too shabby for the first half of the semester.  Since being an accelerated program, a majority of the classes are eight weeks, which sounds nice but is really just half the time to complete the course load.  For the second half of the semester I am taking Nursing Fundamentals, Dosage Calculations, and continuing full semester courses of Pharmacology and Pathophysiology. 

This past week, I started my first clinical course. We are going over basics of bed baths, range of motion, mechanics, taking vitals, and making a bed.  I'm gonna say this, it is a lot harder making crisp hospital corners when someone is actually lying in the bed.  I was the best bed maker in Basic Training, but I have failed my DS this time around.  Moving forward, I am looking forward to getting into the hospital and working with patients.  As much as I like learning new things, I am looking forward to when I get pinned in December 2014 and all this madness ends!   

This program constantly reminds me of life at Benning and being in the 75th Ranger Regiment.  The curriculum moves fast and is very stressful, much like a JORT cycle.  Talking with students in other cohorts, they told me that the main keys to success is to "stay ahead of the game, and to be able to adapt to changes."  The first thing that I thought of was RLTW!  Although I do not have the tan beret, I do have a uniform that I take pride in wearing. There is a dress code in our nursing handbook, or I refer to as AR 670-1.  Much like a couple years ago, I still notice individuals for being "out of uniform."  I have to quickly remember that I am no longer in the military, and not getting paid to do that.  But what reminds me most of being in the military is that I have peers, nursing buddies, that I share a mission with.  And much like my friend Boone Cutler always says, "All a Warfighter needs is a mission and a battle buddy."  I am very thankful to be here today.  It is a great feeling to have a mission in life and putting in the work to get there!     

If anyone in the Indianapolis and surrounding area is looking for information on the Marian University Accelerated Nursing Program, contact Kris at kris.shallenberger@mariannursing.com or call (888) 370-4837