Millie’s Blog

Happy early 4th of July! Watching fireworks has got to be one of my favorite things to do. So far, I’ve already attended one display which was at my church on Sunday– we had a time of food and games and wrapped it up wtih a pretty large fireworks show (well, large compared to the size of the church). Tonight is Clarskville’s annual 4th of July celebration at McGregor Park and I’m definitely not fighting the crowds to attend that one, although I’m sure it’ll be great. Instead, tomorrow I’m going to go to Ft. Campbell’s event that has a time where a band plays, followed by a huge fireworks session and several carnival rides are set up close to the field where its held. It’s always a lot of fun and something that everyone, no matter age, truly enjoys. (I’m looking forward to the funnel cakes….definitely my favorite part of the carnival!)

I hope whatever your plans are, big or small, that you will have a great time celebration our nation’s independence. Be safe and enjoy all that you do!

So this summer has been busy already and we still have over 2 months before Fall classes start back up. Right after the Spring semester ended I began my internship with a local medical group called Premier. Since I get to do clinical work throughout my Nursing semesters I chose to see the leadership side of the organization. I began working at the Imgaing Center and the OB/GYN clinics. I got to see all the work that has to be done in converting every single paper chart they have on file to and electronic medical record. Slowly, but surely they will have that done to all of the offices Premier includes. Seeing all the time and effort that goes into that really makes you appreciate all the behind the scenes details that go into running organizations. After two weeks of working I moved to the Family Practice center and began work with the clinical nurse supervisor. She definitely had a lot on her shouders and there wasn’t a moment, practically, that someone wasn’t interuppting her to ask her a question or that she wasn’t handling some important manner. It became obvious that she was an integral part of all the nurses and doctors working well together. Overall I got to see a lot of things that I never would have otherwise seen and everyone I met was very welcoming and generous with helping me in all the tasks I was assigned. ….Now all I have to do is write a paper analyzing the leadership and structure of the organization…Fun! I’d rather just chalk it up to a good learning experience, but hopefully writing the paper will make me think more about what I really learned while I was there.

And finally, on another note, I’m so anxious to get to go to Gatlinburg. I haven’t been in so long and it’s a place that I absolutely love to be! Anyway, whenever my husband gets to come home for leave from Iraq that’s where we’ll be headed. We plan to go to Dollywood, the Dixie Stampede. and take a helicopter ride over the mountains. If you’ve never been, it’s definitely a place that you need to visit!

I’ll write more later.

I have been doing clinical rotations in the local nursing home for 3 weeks now– this week will be my 4th and final week. It’s been a very interesting and rewarding experience. Going into a field like nursing you have so many options ahead of you and there are a variety of situations and people that you have the opportunity to work with. And although I have really enjoyed this set of clinical rotations, I do not believe that a nursing home is where I am intended to work. However, we did have quite an interesting day last Friday with a severe weather alert and a small fire in the mechanical room that set off the fire alarm. It was somewhat of a nerve racking experience for all of the student nurses– we had no clue what to do or what was going on. All the other nurses are grabbing fire extinguishers, closing doors and curtians, moving patients, etc. and we’re all just standing around like a deer caught in the headlights with no idea what we are actually suppose to be doing to help. Obviously, situations like this are not included when we get oriented to the facility and maybe it should be. In the end everything was ok, no one got hurt, and firefighters came in to check to make sure everything was safe.

On another note, it’s so hard to believe that this week is the last full week of classes?! It’s flown by faster than I ever could have imagined. I have a test to get through this week and plenty of homework, but after that I mainly just have to concentrate on studying for finals. After finals are finished I will begin my internship in May with Premier Medical group of Clarksville, assisting one of the supervisors. I’m really excited about it– I think it’s going to be a great learning experience especially to see a different side of the nursing world other than just the patient care.

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the week! (Oh, and come check out Rivers & Spires in downtown Clarksville this weekend– the Gov’s Ambassador’s will be there and there’s plenty of food and entertainment!!!)

Spring break came and went, but it was a nice week off. It didn’t feel much like Spring though, since we had a good bit of snow for most of the weekend. Over break, I just took time to relax from all the school work and I went to visit some of my friends in Evansville, Indiana. I was planning to stay a lot longer than I did, but they were suppose to get a lot of snow and ice and I didn’t want to drive back on the interstate in that. I hated leaving early, but wasn’t sorry that I missed driving in all the nasty weather. Oh, but while I was there I had ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery for the first time– Ahh–MAZING! I think that was the highlight of the trip. LOL. I also went to a children’s museum while I was there, kinda corny, I know, but it was actually a lot of fun. In one part of it, you stood under this huge brain structure and played some light memory game (a lot like Simon, (I think that’s what it was called) for anyone who remembers that). It was pretty fun, except for when it started talking, which creeped all of us out just a little bit. Oh, and I got a marriage proposal from a little kid while we were out to dinner **Haha** All in all, it was an eventful trip even though it was short.

On a different note, I can’t believe how fast the semester is flying. It’s already the middle of March and final exams start in a little over a month! It doesn’t seem possible. I’m really excited though because my clinical rotations begin March 28th for Nursing. We do them once a week from 6:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and have to make plans of care for the patients with whom we come in to contact. I’ll be doing these rotations at the Montgomery County Nursing Home, here in town. My first choice was the local hospital, because for some reason I was somewhat apprehensive about going to a nursing home. However, I think it is going to be a very rewarding experience and there is a good chance I will get to know my patients better than I would have if I had been with those that are in the hospital. Overall, I’m excited, but a little nervous, not knowing what to expect and being afraid I’ll mess up somehow, but I know it’ll all work out just fine. If anyone is thinking about attending APSU (or any other school for that matter) and wants to know more about the Nursing program, feel free to ask me.

Until later.

As most probably heard, we had some severe weather hit our area the first week of February. It was hard to watch the destruction and hear people’s stories, but there were some survival stories that amazed me and touched my heart. Like the small child who was found, alive, in the middle of a field, under some rubble. That, in itself, seemed like a miracle to me, but the crews also found a small photo album, with pictures of his mother, who had lost her life to the tornado, holding him in the hospital. In such an awful situation, it’s nice to know that when he grows up he’ll be able to have that memory to look at.
Although much of what I saw from the tornado destruction was on the news some it was on property that I grew up on and family members homes. Two of my family member’s lost their homes to the storms and my mother’s home was damaged as well, but liveable. In my mom’s yard we had two huge trees uprooted and one that demolished a large back deck. The room where I used to sleep had the side torn off and the roof caving in. Looking at the area it was hard to see the twisted metal, the appliances scattered, and personal belongings ruined. In the midst of it all, I had to realize how blessed we were that my family wasn’t in their home when it occured and that no one was killed or injured. I know that the Lord took care of all of them and it is because of Him that my mother’s house is still standing and that she can provide our family who lost their home with a place to live for a while. After all, all those material things lost in the tornado mean nothing compared to having life and a family to share it with.

– I also want to commend and thank the American Red Cross, FEMA, the military personnel, the Southern Baptist Men’s Group, and the MANY other volunteers who gave their time to aid in the clean up and help all the victim’s of the storms get back on their feet.