Helloooo North Carolina

FRIENDS. It has been forever since I posted anything.

Right now, I'm sitting at a hotel in Durham eating a chicken bowl from Chipotle and watching the Holiday Baking Special on Food Network (yes, I'm one of those people). I finally have a few hours of a guilt-free break so I figured I'd catch up here! I had planned on doing more touristy things in NC this time around but I didn't take into account daylight savings. It got really dark really early, so maybe another time! There's still about a hundred trips left to come to campus.

In honor of being in the South, how about a little country song...love this lady. And this song.

Anyway, an update.

I am almost one semester closer to becoming a nurse practitioner. Let me tell you what, my advanced physical assessment class has made that feel real.

For example, today we practiced acute and chronic cases all day. We haven't learned how to diagnose yet, but we're supposed to start practicing what questions to ask and what body systems to examine based on the patient's complaint. This is how my first case went:

(Also, this case is made up and not a real patient...my classmates and I just made up stuff for each other to practice)

Me: Hi, I'm Sarah. I'm the nurse practitioner student working with you today, what brings you to the office?

Patient: I've been having some really bad nose bleeds.

Me: Oh really? How long has this been going on?

Patient: Well, I've had 4 nosebleeds in the last 12 hours.

Hold up. WHa???????

Sit and think for a few seconds before asking more questions.

How do I find the cause of this? I mean, I'm thinking this could be hypertension or allergies but this also could be something totally different. WHAT IF SHE HAS CANCER. (Don't worry, I didn't even consider that the patient might have stuck something up their nose, which is a very likely explanation. Tunnel vision at its finest).

And then I continued to ask several questions and did a physical exam and felt suuuuper overwhelmed about the responsibility of this job. This was only a nose bleed but it could've been diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, meningitis...you never know what's going to walk in the door.

I looked up the top ten reasons people visit their doctor, and I found things like fatigue, lower back pain, abdominal pain, headache...there are so many things that could cause any of them. I realized the magnitude of my responsibility as a nurse practitioner before starting the program, but truly...you can't afford to miss stuff. There is so much to know. And I'm actually really excited to learn it all.

One of the main points of this campus visit was to pass off our comprehensive physical exam we practiced last month and I passed, so at least there's that. I will actually learn to diagnose and come up with treatment plans in future classes.

Also, North Carolina is beautiful. Specifically, Duke is beautiful. It's not anything like I'm used to...I still think Idaho is my favorite place ever...but North Carolina probably has more than it's fair share of the beauty ticket.

The gardens on the Duke campus are breathtaking. It's literally 50 acres of the garden of Eden, and it smells sweeter than candy. Not to mention the school buildings are old and charming and have a gothic feel to them.

that little cottage is for the caretakers...how cute is that??

And guys, THE CHAPEL. The first time I accidentally drove down the wrong road on campus, the chapel was right at the end of the road...what a spectacular sight.

Not to mention that their new nursing building is phenomenal. State of the art equipment. I got to peek inside the OR simulation lab and that was the coolest thing ever...I mean who has a simulation room that looks and functions like an operating room??? Another wing of the building is like a hospital wing, complete with a nursing station and everything. This is seriously an amazing school with a great program. I feel so blessed.

Anyway, school and work is pretty much all that's going on in my life. If you've been trying to get a hold of me and I haven't answered or gotten back to you it's because Duke owns my soul.

Love to you all!