Nurse Sean (dot) com

I forgot just how much I love days off. I forgot because for the last several months, my days off have been spent writing papers and studying urology. The last couple days I have instead been watching my second favorite all-time show on DVD. I recevied the first two seasons of Northern Exposure for Christmas, and yesterday I bought season three.

This second clip will give you a clue as to what I think is the all-time best television show EVER! What’s with the video quality though? I expect much better from youtube.com!

*laugh*

I have also been studying for the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam. I know, so much for that whole thing about not studying on days off that I just mentioned. For those that don’t know, this exam is the Canadian equivalent of the NCLEX that the United States has.

This test is nothing but a giant headache for me (And today, it has literally caused a headache). They changed the format a couple years ago from all multiple choice to half multiple choice and half short answer. This means several horrible things. First and foremost, the test is harder. Second is that the text now takes several months to mark and return, rather than days because they have to hire people to sit in a room and mark thes short answer questions (oh how I envy the fact that in the U.S. you get your results a couple days later and can call yourself an RN). Finally, because of all this extra time and expensive manpower, the test now costs approximately $500 rather than the previous $200 (ish).

I find the above to be wrong on so many levels. And the more I think about it, the more I feel that a bachelor’s degree from a university nursing program accredited by the Canadian Nurses Association (yes…they create the exam every year) should be proof enough that I am qualified to work as a nurse. Think of all the time and money it would save if they simply decided to stop administering the exam.

However, that is extremely unlikely to happen. You know….tradition…and stuff.

So, today I have been going through and answering question after question about nursing. Now, one HUGE difference between the Canadian test and the U.S. test is that the Canadian test is focused on psychosocial issues, rather than biological. The U.S. test may ask you what an appropriate hemoglobin result is, but the Canadian test will ask you how you should respond to the patients feelings regarding their low hemoglobin results.

Uhm…barf

The test is extremely focused on therapeutic communication. I think they assume that we will learn the science of nursing while practicing, but the “fluffy” aspects of nursing must be taught in school. I actually believe the opposite.

What can I say though. This enormous test is just one more obstacle, and I’m getting quite used to dealing with obstacles. I think I’m just a little jealous of the NCLEX and wish our test was a similar format and style. Those preparing for the NCLEX may disagree.

*shrug*

When I was deciding what I wanted to do with my life, I had to pick between two desires. The first desire was something medical. After awhile, this was narrowed down to nursing, which was ultimately chosen. The second option was journalism. I wanted to become a television critic. I wanted to watch television and write about my thoughts regarding old and new shows.

So, I have decided to use this forum to occasionally review television shows. Nursing has become my career, but television criticism can be my hobby! So, if you’re here to hear about my life as a nurse and couldn’t care less about television, just bear with me. My next post is never too far away.

Obviously, there are too many shows to review all at one time, so I will base my criticisms on one or two shows I have viewed recently. Today, I would like to review “America’s Next Top Model” and “Jericho.”

I have to admit that “America’s Next Top Model” (ANTM) becomes more and more addictive every season. This show, hosted by supermodel Tyra Banks, premiered in 2003 and is already on its seventh season!

Every year, it seems more competitive, and more dramatic. It is insanely, deliciously “bad.” The show is certainly about modeling and transforming pretty girls into beautiful centerfolds. However, the real show occurs between shoots in the giant mansion in which all 13 finalists are sent to live. There is fighting, backstabbing, yelling, crying, and drunken silliness.

Lasts night’s episode was my perennial favorite of every season. In this episode, every girl is given a dramatic makeover. Some girls are given extensions, others are dyed and bleached, and others have their hair cut down to almost nothing. Two things are certain to always come from this episode. There will be a lot of crying like babies, and the makeovers will leave each girl absolutely stunning!

The problem with ANTM is that it seems to be increasingly focused on the emotional dynamics of the household. Sure, it’s fun to see the girls fight and create drama, but this should first and foremost be a show about discovering the next great model. All too often it feels as though they keep the girls that create the most entertainment and drama, while getting rid of those who are boring–regardless of talent or potential.

I’m no modeling expert, but I’m under the impression that to be a super model, you need to be unique and refreshing. The other problem with the show is that they keep finding girls that in my opinion will just blend in with the other million girls trying to become a model. The ones they choose just don’t seem unique enough.

My favorite this season is Anchal (Bottom Right). She truly does represent that uniqueness and beauty that I feel embodies supermodels. At first look, you don’t instantly think “Wow, she’s beautiful,” but you soon realize that you can’t take your eyes off her. You become sucked into her exotic spell. And the more you look at her, the more you realize she really IS beautiful.

My other favorites are the identical twins (second row from top, last two on the right). I dread the day one of them will have to be eliminated, leaving the other. I hope they can truly be happy for each other’s success.

Overall, this show continues to be an addiction of mine that will not go away soon!

Jericho premiered last week, with the second show of the season showing last night. In the first episode, we are introduced to the town of Jericho which is only a short distance from Denver, Colorado. Jake Green (Played by Skeet Ulrich) arrives mysteriously in town to get money from his Dad for mysterious reasons. Other peripheral characters are also introduced, including: Jake’s family, a visiting IRS agent, and a few cops here and there.

All of a sudden, in the distance, the town sees a mushroom cloud coming from Denver. Panic ensues and then increases when all power and communication is completely disabled.

The second episode takes this idea further as town folks hide underground to protect themselves from the radioactive fallout that is coming their way. More characters are introduced, and already introduced characters are explored further. On top of this, sub plots and mysteries are created. For example, there is a former cop from St. Louis that knows just a little too much about nuclear warfare. There’s also a subplot about two prisoners disguised as cops that take a women hostage.

The problem with this show is that they don’t realize the potential of their main story. A nuclear bomb was dropped on Denver, and radioactive fallout is on its way. This should be enough plot to keep us fascinated and glued to our TVs. The race to find out what happened and hide could be a fast paced and powerful storyline on its own.

So why then are they so focused on small little side stories that take away from what is truly interesting? I don’t need exciting hostage takings or mysterious characters to like this show! A nuclear bomb just destroyed Denver! And as we discover, more bombs have destroyed several other cities.

I would like this show better if it focused on the “here and now.” A real time, real emotion enactment of what this town would be going through in the event of a nuclear bomb over Denver

I have seen this problem a lot lately, which I am going to dub “The Lost Factor.” In the show “Lost,” A plane crashing, and several survivors having to live on an island, is enough plot to create many seasons of interesting story lines. Do they really need all the strange subplots and mysteries?

But what do I know? Lost is one of the most popular shows of all time. And to be honest, I really like Jericho. I am hooked and will be watching to find out what happens next.

I feel bored…

In reality, I have a lot of work to do but I would rather sit here agitated and restless than pick up a text book, or start writing a paper. There are so many projects I am supposed to be working on that I can barely wrap my mind around the amount of work involved. I just wish nursing school was easy.

*laugh*

I really need to buckle down though! I don’t have any clinical days until Tuesday, so I have no excuse not to work on the academic side of school. Our clinical days are matched up with our preceptor, so my schedule is completely dependent on her shifts. After working nights, she gets six days off, which she says she needs to “recover” from night shifts. So, right now, I am in the middle of those six shifts. You should have seen the look she gave me when I said I wouldn’t mind working a day shift two days after a nights shift. You would have thought she was looking through translucent skin and seeing wires and flashing lights underneath!

To be honest, I’m completely a night person. I had to flip my brain around to understand what she was thinking. I reminded myself of what I feel like after working two weeks of day shifts, and suddenly realized that I could really use six days to recover! I immediately understood.

I wish 100% night shift positions were available more often. If I see one, I think I will snatch it up! The reason they stopped offering them was because it’s rare for someone to like night shifts. Management found that if someone left that position, it was very difficult to find a replacement.

Anyway, here’s my agenda for today:

1.) Watch the View

2.) Play World of Warcraft

3.) Watch Beverly Hills 90210…increasingly aware of my procrastination

4.) Fiddle with my website–I’m in love with it! My thoughts will be similar to “Oh GOD why do I keep procrastinating?!?!?”

5.) More procrastinating.

6.) Accept that I need to get my ass in gear and start working on my learning contract. This includes learning and implementing a nursing framework (anyone know a good website on Parse’s “Human becoming theory?”), creating a library of journal articles on urology…among many other things.

7.) Rewrite my posts to our online seminar. Topics include interprofessional (non)cooperation, and patient independence. I spent hours doing this last night only to have what I wrote wiped off of cyberspace.

8.) Beg Richard to make me dinner while I watch TV from the new fall line up!

9.) Desperately create a topic and research it for my next clinical reflection. Perhaps this will be on the NG tube we inserted on a man who couldn’t speak english, but CLEARLY didn’t want the procedure. We inserted it anyway. The results were instant and drastic. The patient was overjoyed that he was feeling 100% better. But should we have inserted it when he kept shaking his head yelling “no, no, no, no!” I’m on the fence. Any thoughts?

10.) Play World of Warcraft and fiddle with my website before going to bed