State Certification Exam for Nursing Assistants

On the last day of my nursing assistant course, we filled out the application for the state certification exam. I planned to get it in the mail as soon as possible to ensure that I didn't forget any of the skills before the test. However, due to babysitting the two days immediately after completing the course, finding money for the fees, and life happening, I didn't end up sending my application in until the Friday of the following week. I waited to hear about when my test date was, and after about a week I got a phone call saying that my test was Wednesday, July 13 in Altoona, Wisconsin at 8:00am.

Prior to finishing the nursing assistant course, I had been offered a job at in home health care. Wanting to have a job and get experience, I jumped at the opportunity, even before having taken the state certification exam. I had only worked 16 hours, so I didn't pick up any bad habits (luckily).

Then the day of the exam came, I had to wake up early and make the hour drive to Altoona, all by myself. The end of the drive was nerve-wracking as I hate driving in big cities, and driving in Altoona is practically like driving in Eau Claire. I arrived at the testing site about 15 minutes early, which gave me time for my nerves to settle. First we took the written test, which wasn't too bad. Most of the written test is common knowledge, and I passed with no problems. I had about an hour break between my written and skills test, so I talked with the others there taking the test and learned a little about them. Quite a few of the people taking the test were there to re-take the skills portion which made me a little nervous. I was partnered with a middle-aged woman who was a mother and a CPR instructor through the Red Cross. She was fun to talk to, and getting to know her for a little bit helped to settle my nerves before taking the test. I decided to test first, and she was my "patient." To test out on the skills portion, you perform FIVE different tasks within a thirty minute time period. Every person tests out on hand washing, one measuring skill, and three other skills. My measurement skill was counting and recording respirations, and my three other skills were performing a modified partial bed bath, assist with use of bedpan, and transfer from bed to wheelchair using a gait belt. I pretty much got the triple whammy, the three most time consuming tasks, almost dooming me to fail due to time constraints. Just as I started my final skill, my instructor announced that I had five minutes left. I stayed calm because I knew I could get a transfer from bed to wheelchair done within five minutes, and I think that may have been my saving grace. I successfully completed all five of my skills within the given thirty minutes. I had to wait around for a little over half an hour to hear the results of my skills test, and all that time I sat thinking over all that I did and the mistakes that I had made. I was thinking that I had passed, but I wasn't for sure. Finally, I was given my results: "PASS." I was relieved. I wouldn't have to re-take any portion of the test and I would be able to get a job as a CERTIFIED nursing assistant and not have to worry about getting certified later.

To those of you thinking about becoming a nursing assistant and becoming certified, do it! If you're unsure if the health care field is for you, think about becoming a PCA (personal care assistant) first. Losing yourself in the service of others is one of the greatest rewards.

An Eye-Opening Accident

"Life is precious." I never quite understood the power behind those words until Saturday, July 25, 2016. My boyfriend was driving me to a bridal shower because we were behind schedule from coming home from a family camping trip and stopping at the Tomah Tractor Pull. We were navigating a hilly, curvy road that we had traveled a couple times before and we were driving a little fast. My boyfriend recognized the corner that we were approaching as a sharp one, and said "Shit, sharp corner" and he slowed down. Just as we had made it into the corner, we saw the most terrifying scene of our lives. We were the second vehicle at an SUV versus dump truck accident. It did not look good at all, and I immediately jumped out of the car. I told my boyfriend to park the car along the side of the road. There was one man walking around, he was the first one on the scene and I yelled to see if anyone had called 9-1-1. He said that he had not and that I should. I immediately called and tried to explain what I was seeing with a shaky voice. The first man on the scene asked my boyfriend if anyone had CPR training as he had tried to find a pulse but wasn't sure if he had found one. My boyfriend proudly boasted that I was CPR certified and called me over. I handed my phone off to the first man on the scene and let him describe what he knew about the accident. I searched for a pulse, but was so full of adrenaline that I was unable to determine if what I was feeling was really a pulse, or just the feeling of my own heartbeat in my fingertips. After checking on that person, I moved on to the next who was alert, responsive, and in a lot of pain. A group of dump truck drivers that travel the road frequently gathered around the man and talked to him and did their best to make him feel better.

Being CPR certified makes accidents like this surreal. You've been trained for this, but you never expect to actually be thrown into a real-life situation. You do your best to stay calm, and you don't think. You just do. It's like in the videos that they show you where the people proudly boast, "I didn't think I would know what to do if I was ever put into this type of situation, but once it actually happened my training took over and I just knew." It's very true, you don't think about what you should do. You already know what to do, and while you think your brain has shut down in shock, your body takes over and follows your training.

I praise God every day that I think back to that accident and thank him for reminding us that the corner was sharp and that we needed to slow down for it. I don't want to think about what could have happened if we didn't slow down for that corner.

That day opened my eyes and scared me, but more importantly it made me excited to become a nurse. My deepest sympathy goes out to the family of the gentleman that passed in that accident. My heart broke for you, and I cried for you. My thoughts go out to the gentleman that survived as he will probably be haunted by that day for the rest of his life. I am thinking of you each and every day. I am training to be a nurse, to take care of you and your family. I will feel what you feel and I will think of you long after you have left my care. I look forward to becoming a nurse, and I appreciate being given this experience, as heart-wrenching as it was.

Fitness Mini Journeys

I would consider my fitness journey a series of mini journeys. While in high school, physical activity was built into the schedule, one semester of gym class freshman, sophomore, and junior or senior year; but as soon as you graduate and enter the "real world" there is no longer a requirement to be physically active. I have a Pinterest account and have many boards relating to fitness, and every now and then I'll go through and do a couple of the activities. But with only 24 hours in a day, it gets hard to fit everything in.

Throughout the summer of 2015 I worked at a Boys and Girls Club in town in the afternoons, so I had plenty of time to workout in the morning and on weekends. Many times I would go to Pinterest and find a workout to do, go for a run/walk, workout with one of the many workout videos that my family has, or do some Wii Dance Party.
As I entered college in the fall of 2015, working out became more of a struggle. The homework load was overwhelming and I was trying to stay ahead of the game with the Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) readings. Many times I would end up doing some sort of workout while studying notes in my dorm room while my roommate was away. A couple of times I went for walks around campus and sometimes a bit farther away. I did more physical activity than most freshman year, but it wasn't as much as I would have liked.
Fast-forward to this summer, the summer of 2016. Straight out of college I started the nursing assistant course which ate up most of my evenings and kept me very tired. Some days my mom would call me and ask for my help while she was at work, and other days my boyfriend would ask me to help him at his house. I kept busy, but finding time to workout was hard. After class was finished, I started babysitting two days a week and spent a lot of my free time at my boyfriend's. It's been pretty easy to get caught up in how much I have going on and run out of time for workouts. Some days I lose motivation, and others I have motivation that lasts for a couple days.

These mini fitness journeys keep me somewhat active and some day when my schedule gets more "normal" I hope I can set a routine for myself to combine all of these minis into one large journey.