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Sun 13 Jan, 2008 09:25 pm
Yikes. I'm half-way through my two week Level 3 First Aid course and I feel really overwhelmed.
I'm the only one in my class (of 4) who even opened the book and, of course, I read the entire 51 chapters before I got there (as instructed - sometimes I do follow the rules) and am I glad I did. Plus, I've been re-reading the homework chapters (up to 12) every night, which is a LOT. It's amazing how much you don't take in the first one, two, three times.
We are learning about the entire body (skeletal, nerves, muscles, ligaments, all the different systems, etc), plus all the major ER diseases (heart, resp, brain injuries, etc), plus all the signs, symptoms and management, fractures, protruding foreign objects, internal hemhorraging, how to splint, what to do in this case, that case, etc... I can barely put two words together at this point.
Plus, we've been learning protocols, procedures, how to package a person on a spine board, CPR, the various ventilations, when to call ER, which forms to use, medications, sterilization, rules of the various authorities... blah...blah...blah...
My head is just whirling like a dervish and I cannot wait until this is over, whatever the outcome.
I am worried I won't pass (you need 70% and my brain is overloaded).
Anybody else ever feel like this?
I could use some stories to prop me up.
Hang in there Mame, all of a sudden it will all settle down. At first all the information will be overwhelming but it will all fall in to place.
Good for you for reading the book first. I'm always bad at that.
I feel that way whenever I start a new job and there is a big learning curve to get up to speed.
Best remedy I've found is to take a night off from studying and treat yourself to a hot bubble bath with candlelight, your favorite mood music and some herb tea or your favorite wine.
Take your mind off of the studying and give your brain a chance to sift through all the data and file it away in the synapses for later retrieval.
Then, for kicks watch a movie like "Patch Adams" with Robin Williams for laughs and alternative ways to view medicine and the body.
By the way, are you training for an EMS job? Sounds like you'd be a great candidate for one.
Overwhelmed is my middle name Mame!
At the moment I'm starting a business and since I'm going into a government program, I have to jump through hoops and get through all kinds of red tape before they give me the go ahead.
I am one of those overkill people and overwhelming myself is something I can't seem to stop doing.
Deep breath! I take lots of deep breaths!
Oh, and who mentioned the bubble baths? Bubble baths are great at relaxing the brain, at least my brain. I can't speak for yours.
Best of luck to you Mame :-D You go girl!
Yes, I've been overwhelmed. The first time I took my national land arch boards, there was a 9% first time pass rate. Not ninety, nine. I didn't, got 4 parts out of 5. Took the fifth part (oddly, the parts I passed were the hard ones) again, sailed. I think the first time I must've planted trees in the surf, or some damn thing.
Many year later, that seems easy to me, but it was a hell of a lot all at once.
I was also a board certified lab tech a long time ago. That was a shorter test, but I was dumb as a doorknob on a couple of subjects. Made it. (Would fail it now).
Hang in there, and get some sleep.
I am handing in my 8 months notice tomorrow. Have been overwhelmed at my current job with no management to speak of (if, then only for the worse), so I'm quitting in August (when my lease expires) and moving back to Europe. Meanwhile, I have a dissertation to finish, submit, and defend before I move.
Yes, definitely overwhelmed.
Thank you guys
B: I'm training for a job that requires Level 3 - just below EMS (I think). You're the "go to" person in the field... so lotsa stress. And I took Friday and Sat. nights off... agh. I'll write again when I've done my exam. Jan 20 or 21. sigh.
We like you however it goes, Mame...
hurls dominion over the desert (dessert? no, no dessert) to Mame..
Hurling dominions, Osso, and not nodding?
Thank you, and big hugs to you... just stressed right now (a very uncommon event) and am learning to deal with that, along with everything else. sigh.sigh.sigh.
I don't expect to be on here much in the next 8 days, but will let you know how it goes. Regardless, I'm taking my friends (who I'm staying with, yes, I'm aware that's ungrammatical, but sue JTT) out for dinner and will enjoy - just to be happy this **** stress will be over. I hate stress and don't usually put myself in this situation and this wouldn't be so bad if it weren't all about saving bloody lives.
Enough whining and complaining! Next time I come here, it's going to be good new is one form or another.
Thanks for the support.
Hang in there Mame!
Cheering and throwing more dominion your way :-D
End of this month will be extra stressful for this gal as well, but I always keep some spare good vibes aside for occations like these.
I'll be sending good thoughts your way :-D
Mame, I have confidence in you. Why? Dunno. Just do. I'm not gonna tell you to relax because you won't. Not gonna tell you that you'll breeze through. Maybe you will, and maybe you won't. But I have confidence that you'll do okay.
I understand that you're feeling overwhelmed. I think you have good reason to be. That's heavy-duty stuff you're learning. A lot to absorb. A lot to remember.
The good part is that the stress you're under will be short-lived. You'll do what you have to do. And it will be over in, what, ten days? Hang in, kid.
I believe in you.
Thank you, Roberta, Montana. Osso and Ming (I think - don't know what you said there).
Really, thank you.
Will keep you posted.
Mame--
You're probably getting some delayed stress from your lifestyle changes on top of the Mysteries of the Human Body and Medical Bureaucracy
The Little Engine that Could has recovered from the Christmas rush and is parked in a roundhouse right next to the bubble bath.
You can do it. You thrive on stress, present, past and future.
Nursing school was a pain in the rear.
I only remembered because we had to do clinicals IN the er.
Hands on worked for me. Nothing else did.
Im embarrassed to admit but I barely passed three and a half years.
You're gonna pass. No doubt in my mind. Stress and adrenaline notwithstanding, you'll see your way through it. Something tells me that the overwhelmed feelings will become focused and put to good use. You can do it - you know you can.
Re: Can you say "Overwhelmed"?
Mame wrote:
My head is just whirling like a dervish and I cannot wait until this is over, whatever the outcome.
I am worried I won't pass (you need 70% and my brain is overloaded).
So, missy, what were doing posting over on Reference after 2:00 am (my time)? Huh? Sleep, dahling. You need sleep. We'll be watching!
Mame,
I proud of you for doing this! Whatever happens, it's cool that you pushed yourself to do something out of your comfort zone. I'll bet you've already been surprised by how much you can handle.
It's like that saying, "I can do something for one day that would appall me if I thought I had to do it everyday." The next week or two will go by fast, and it'll be over!
I'm sending my best kitty vibes your way! Hang in there!
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