Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Cozy ground

At a turn of fate I suddenly am granted entry into this cozy little ground...thank you for the acceptance. Look like you all have some really charming preceding mentors, lucky fellows! Let's see if we will have more sparks together soon. Please note that I am a very lazy person who never seem to have enough time to sleep, let alone TYPE! So, don't hold your breath for regular postings from me...you will faint from hypoxia first. Catch up again. Ciao.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Hi again !

I haven't opened this blog for a long time as I went back to my country. I saw a lot of comments and I'm very pleased.
Now we are attending school for revision. I like having this revision class as I can study again, learn more, research and get a lot of knowledge what I haven't known before.
I wish all of the students also liked having this revision class.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

The New Group 2

Welcome to the new Group 2's blog.
There are several updates to be made, so I am going to split it in to sections:

New Semester, new Grouping and new Mentor
As everyone knew by now, all the different groups had been rearranged.
Most of the members of our original are still in the same group with additional group members added.
Welcome to the new Group 2, Rebecca, Qiuyue, Yulin, Yingxi, Lisi, Mary, Rubing, Jia Min
I hope that everyone will get along with each other despite all our various individual idiosyncrasies.
Our mentor is now changed to Ms Liping who took over from Ms Emma.
Please give her our fullest support as our new mentor.

The Purpose of this group blog
For the benefit of those students who just joined, I am going to fill in a few details on what is the purpose of this blog. This blog was set up to allow everyone in the group to post their thoughts, comments and their reflections on school/clinical/life. This is inclusive of all the students in our class and also ex-mentors, current mentors and also invited guests.

Lets take it as an opportunity to further improve our writing skills too!I do hope that there will be more people who will post. So far we have a few posts, and I think that we can do better!

A few administration matters
Our current leader is Nge Mon and handing over to Wenxiu on the 2nd April. This group leader rotation schedule may change as there are new members in addition to our group so to be fair, we are going to have to re-elect a new leader or change the rotation to fit everyone.

The class funds will be readjusted. The treasurer is still Zhan Jian and we are still collecting the funds from the previous members of this group. This may change with the initiation of the new members. We are going to have to decide together whether it will continue to be the same. To be fair to everyone, we are going to have a group meeting and decide as a group whether to contribute, change the amount or any other issues. Please do not take it that you are pressured to contribute to the class fund or have no say in this matter. We are all part of this decision-making process as a group.

To all
This is our group 2.
It does not matter which group were you originally from, what matters most now is that you are now part of us.
Please feel free to participate in the group's decision-making and activities.

As Zhan Jian once said, our time here studying together is a short one and it will be really sad if we do not bring any nice memories from it when we eventually passed out as staff nurses.

My intention is to keep this blog going as treasure box of our memories as a group together, even after graduation. It will not be possible without any of your contributions here.

I wish everyone all the best in your studies and any endeavours that you may take. If you have any computer problems, you can approach me. I will try my best to help.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Updates

It had been some time since the last update for this blog.

I trust that everyone is still fine with their lives and businesses.
It is sad that a fellow student is still suffering from the consequences of an accident. I pray that she will recover soon.

Now on to the updates:

Our group is undergoing reshuffling of position. Group leader is handed over from Yijun to Nge Mon. Yijun will carry on as Secretary.

Jiangwen has left the group. Let's wish her all the best in whatever future endeavors that she may undertake. It is sad and inevitable but overall it may be for the best for her.

Most of the group members had left for home. Flew back to their respective countries for the long holidays.

And there are the rumours that the groups may be split up and reshuffled.
Although I felt that this is really an unnecessary move, it may be a blessing too. Our group have gone through so much together. Our mentors had changed several times. There were and still are conflicts between members.
But I felt that while we are still so united and cordial with each other, it may be better to leave it at that stage. Reshuffling will allow each of us to bring a part of Group 2's team spirit to the divided masses also.

Hopefully with the hard-forged team-spirit and attitudes that we have in each of us, we will become the 'glue' that binds the rest together.
Remember my dear group mates, our unity did not come about due to anybody's great leadership or good organizational skills. We are united because each of us believe in and trust each other. Each of us is a great leader. Each of us is more than capable to be greater. Group 2's unity is possible because of each and everyone of us.

If the next semester brings about changes to the grouping, then so be it.
I will like to say that it has been my privilege to have met all of you and formed this group. All of you will have a place in my heart, no matter where I go. I may have some difficult differences with some of us but... it does not matter anymore. I wish all of you all the best wherever you may go.

Bring what we have learnt together as a group and create more 'Group 2s'. Our school will need more unity to become greater.
We will be great!
Never let anyone put us down whether in work or school.
Don't go out without a fight!

Always caring, Always United.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Unconfused Learning

Now on my way back after a really long and hard day at work. There were so many things to do! Change this, take that, measure this and etc etc...

The things we had to do today were mostly part of the daily routine. There wasn't time for any assessment or instructions from the instructors. As I did my assigned routine and answered call-bells, I decided to put some observational skills into the tasks at hand. Assessing the patients that I have contact with, for any physical abnormalities or conditions.

I can say that this little 'practise' of mine opened my eyes to interesting little details that seem to tell a great deal about the patient's conditions. I'm still slow in 'linking' them into a coherent overall picture but I believe I will improve with more practise.

It is gratifying that I can put theories to practical, bit by bit. Of course, as the senior batch of students now, this would already had been a long-term expectations of us. Let's face it: a majority will still not 'get' it if they only worried about who's gonna sign their books and how much marks they can get. I myself only understood it slowly now. It's interesting that through reflection, learning finally occurs. And these reflective lessons occurs without the need for signing any logbooks or fulfilling some specific criterias.

As a student, I love my learning. As a nurse, I love my patients and my calling. But I can't help feeling that structural training have muddled up and confused the purpose of our learning these skills. By now if anybody cares to read my earlier posts, will know that 'grumblings' about students who are primarily concerned about their MARKS is my pet topic.

If I ever become an educator one day, and a student showed me that he or she is only concerned about how much marks they are getting and neglecting the most basic goal which is patient's wellbeing, I will fail them outright based on their attitudes alone.

Nobody's perfect, including me. But to show care for another human being is something so primal that any human being can do it. Let's not lose sight of what it means to be a professional nurse AND be human.