Well, I find myself constantly studying for these nursing tests, only to find out that I must have not studied correctly. Yesterday was my first competency test for nursing. It was AWFUL! Allow me to explain....So I go in, not sure exactly what to expect because this is our first competency test ever. I try and ask questions before I start but apparently they can't answer any questions directly. They put us in this room with the doctors orders and tell us we have 10 minutes. I think to myself, 10 minutes to do what? It doesn't take me 10 minutes to read the doctors orders. They didn't give us any instruction on what we are supposed to do with that 10 minutes. I copy down the doctors orders so I have them with me. That way I wouldn't have to leave the "patient" every time I needed to look at it. I open the door and walk out ready to meet the instructor who is going to be grading me. I ended up getting an instructor who has never instructed us in our labs nor in our classes. So I begin, proceeding with my orientation with the patient (which is really a mannequin, while the instructor speaks for it). I have done assessments over 30 times by now. I wasn't feeling nervous until he started drilling me. I was taking the temperature orally, which only takes like 10 seconds. While I was waiting for it he started asking me questions like "What should you do while you wait for the temperature?"....uhhhh thinking to myself "it only takes 10 seconds so I was just getting all my other gear ready." Well the correct answer was take the respiration at the same time. Which doesn't make sense because we have to take respirations for 60 seconds but whatever. I told him that I was planning on doing the respirations while I took pulse. He told me that you have to be really good to be able to do that and that he can't even do that. Well too bad that I can actually do that and that is how my lab instructor taught us to do it. But, I comply and do it his way so that he stops talking and I can proceed with my assessment. He some how finds things that I am doing wrong with all my vital signs...which aren't wrong it just wasn't "his way." I start to get flustered and then he stops and says to me, like I am dumb, "did you forget step 3?" I start to panic in my mind thinking, "STEP 3?!?! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS STEP 3?!?!?! WE HAVE NEVER TALKED ABOUT ANY STEPS?!?!" He starts to chuckle and says again, "Haven't you ever heard of step three?" (Oh, I forgot to mention that this competency test is timed, I only have 30 minutes to complete the assessment and 60 minutes to document everything and write a nursing care plan) Ok, back to the story. So he begins to tell me this story of this girl who did really well on a competency test and when he asked her how she felt after she started bawling and said she forgot step 3. He asked her what step 3 was she she said, "to relax." At this point I start to cry, partially because I had almost had a freak out session because of my "ignorance" of step 3 and partially because he actually stopped my assessment to tell me that story when I only have a limited amount of time to complete my duties. So, I try and shake it off and begin again. He keeps interrupting me all through the assessment to explain how he would do things or drilling me on questions. Long story short he has my assessment go over 10 minutes and then tells me that I have 50 minutes to complete my documentation and nursing care plan. I start documenting and the documentation alone takes me 45 minutes because of the details required and the lengthy explanations. When I get to my nursing care plan I have 5 minutes! It also didn't help that we had never done nursing care plans before. We had talked about them in class but the first time we actually wrote one was the previous day in class and we did it as a group. I frantically try to write one but unfortunately don't complete it before the beeper goes off. I'll be honest, I was a bit, a lot a bit upset after that. I felt justified in feeling upset because other people had instructors who didn't even have them perform the skill, they just had them tell about it and perform it on a very basic level. I was upset that he went over 10 minutes so my documentation time was cut short when everyone else had an entire hour to do it. So I went and talked to him and he let me add a few things to my nursing care plan. The day ended up ok and I wasn't upset after talking to several of the nursing students in the upper semesters. They assured me that it wouldn't affect my grade very much and that they had all failed at least one competency test. I guess I know what to expect for next time! :) Now I have to study for another two test this week. I also have clinicals on Saturday and we don't find out what we are doing until we get there. I usually like surprises, but i don't think I like these kind of surprises.
Then I come home to find out Kitrick came home from work with a migraine and so we just slept away our troubles and had a lazy Wednesday evening together. :) Oh the wonderful days of Nursing at BYU-Idaho
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