This week we have just started Health Records.  We are at Surrey Memorial two days a week to work in the computer lab there.  This also ties in with our admitting section we worked on.  Health Records is a bit more involved than I thought, though I am not sure what I thought it involved (laugh). 

I am starting to get a little nervous about my typing.  Our typing tests are at the end of this month.  I just hope and pray for 50WPM, for me and my classmates.  I just hope that I don’t get nervous during the test; it is sort of scary to know that my typing skills affect my job prospects.

We have also just wrapped up Stenberg’s Biggest Loser Contest. Twelve weeks of free fitness was great, plus so much fun.  I am so proud of everyone, the transformations were amazing.  I know everyone worked so hard to even fit in the workouts between school, home life, homework and any other demands.  I am happy to say that all three winners were in my class, and I was one of them, yippee!

Completion of bootcamp!

Walking into the classroom every morning has a whole new feeling to it.  It’s a little more electric. We have all become so close – really and truly like a big, crazy, lovable, slightly dysfunctional group of sisters.  We have laughed together, cried together, worried together and even argued together, but one thing has stood strong and true throughout;  our constant commitment to each other to bring our whole selves to the classroom and  to honour and respect each other as unique individuals with unique thoughts and beliefs.

In sixty days our little cocoon that has nurtured us and fed our hungry minds with the knowledge we will need to know for our future careers will open.  We will emerge as fully educated and informed SEAs ready to spread our wings and explore our new career opportunities.  Unfortunately with this new independence also comes the knowledge that the warmth and safety of our cocoon will be gone.  It will soon belong to some fresh eager minds – minds that have yet experienced the positive life altering and emotionally awakening lessons that the SEA course will teach them.

Over the next sixty days we will be experiencing many more new and exciting concepts, strategies, facts and statistics  - America Sign Language, Food Safety, Alternative and Augmentative Communications and so many others.  During this time you can be rest assured that the 13 of us will just become even stronger and more supportive of each other.  The electricity in the classroom will become even more noticeable as we work to ensure the success of each and every one of us.

We came up with a Coat of Arms the other day in class that we believe represents what our class stands for.  In medieval times the Coat of Arms was used not only as a form of protection for the knight charging into battle, but it also pronounced to the world who his family was and their beliefs.  Our “SEA0410 family” motto is “Educate & Advocate”  – this is what we do for each other and this is what we will do for the students in the classroom once we leave our cocoon.

Currently as a Hospital Support Specialist student, we are  working with an online course for Release of Information.  I have never done online studies before, and I know for myself I wasn’t sure how I was going to manage my time, especially with the summer in full swing.  We are on our last week of the three week course and it has been interesting.  I have been a bit overwhelmed at times because there is so much information to cover and it is mainly done in legal language which can be a bit tedious to read.  I just try to focus each day to what the online course suggests for focus.

Currently, I am also participating in Stenberg’s Biggest Loser Contest.  I participated in one through the Peace Arch News two years ago, so I was excited to see that Stenberg offered it as well.  It is a free twelve week program with a boot camp instructor which takes place Monday, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  I love the variety of the workouts and the spirit and encouragement of all of the girls who participate in this event as well. This is the final week so I am so excited to see how everyone did and how they have changed their lives.  I know for many it has been hard to make the one hour commitment with school, family, homework and just life in general.  The winner will receive a gift certificate for the mall, and I am sure after this twelve weeks they will need to buy some new clothes with all the inches lost.

Next for me is to really focus on my typing accuracy and speed since we have our typing tests arriving soon, September to be exact.  I know I am not the only nervous one, but we are a class of worry at the best of times lol. I know we are all going to do well because we have practiced so hard and for so long, but it is always that what if. So next month I will know with my typing speed, what area, or capacity my practicum will be. 50wpm means a hospital which we all want; 40wpm to 49wpm could mean a clinic or lower position within the hospital and anything less than 40wpm means a medical clinic. Only a short time will tell, so I will let you know how it goes.

But hearing isn’t everything.  Hearing is just the physical job that our ears are there to do, like a paint brush that applies the paint.  It is the job of the artist to take the brush and create and interpret, producing a unique and individual masterpiece that expresses the feelings of the artist at the time of the creation.

Listening is the art of hearing.  Listening is taking what you hear and truly absorbing the words, thinking about what has been said, empathising with the speaker and, if needed, giving feedback that is both thoughtful and applicable to the situation.

This week in the Special Education Assistant class we have been focusing on the art of listening in class.  Being an effective listener for your students, patients or clients is one of the greatest gifts you can bestow upon them.

Take the time to face the speaker.  Make eye contact.  Be open minded and remember this is about them and this is their moment to speak, yours will come in time.  Be empathetic, if the need is there, and offer appropriate support.  Just remember how it feels when someone listens to you, and then it will make it much easier to listen to someone else.

Every little  thing we can do to make someone else’s life a little better is the biggest gift we bring to them.  So keep on Listening!!

In this situation, the Filipino driver escaped just before the shooting, claiming that all passengers had been shot. It was incorrect. Police action was then initiated only because they thought all the hostages were “dead”. Why was the bus driver not questioned properly, so that the exact facts could be determined before initiating armed action?

The negotiators could have managed the situation better. After all, what was the dismissed policeman demanding? Reinstatement and settlement of some duty! Why the negotiators didn’t simply agree to this, free the hostages and then deal with the kidnapper and his requests later?

Next time when you read about crisis, critical thinking, and human relationships, do not think these things are unrelated to you…because as a nurse your patients may be dealing with crisis (psychologically and physiologically). These skills will be your tools!

Lastly, I wanted to say no amount of condolences can make up for the loss of those who have lost their relatives and friends in this senseless, meaningless killing. However, I hope no such tragedy will happen again in the future.

May all the hijacked victims rest in peace and may time heal the pain of the families who had just lost their loved ones.

In order to do well in case scenario testing, I believe you have to prioritize your care for the patient, and always rationalize why you are doing the specific tasks for a patient. Even though most students (including myself) tend to find this kind of testing to be the toughest type of exam, it really prepares us well when we go on our practicum. At practicum, we wouldn’t be performing our practical skills on a manequin anymore, but instead, we will be taking care of “real patients”. To put it another way, other people’s lives are in our hands, so it is important that we are well-prepared and have a “patient’s first and safety’s first” mindset. The case scenario testing itself is a big challenge, but it is only to prepare us for bigger challenges ahead. I know it’s the toughest time of the year, but it’s also the time of the year when positive thinking really kicks in for us to move forward.

He came to our class on Monday to teach us about communication. Learning more effective ways to both listen and communicate with the people around us.  There were so many amazing things that we discovered, and today in class when we had our debrief, each of us had something different that we had gained from his presentation to us.

What I enjoyed learning the most was something I truly believe in, but am glad he was able to confirm – that in all reality we really don’t know how much we don’t know, and that we will never actually know how much there is that we don’t know!  The most important thing is to understand what we do know, and then work to expand on what we do know by exploring what we don’t know.  Eventually we reach the stage where we won’t even know what we do know…..(Phew…try saying that three times quickly). These are the Four Stages of Learning.

But how does all of that help us learn??  Simple – Stage 1. We start out looking at a task knowing nothing about it.  Stage 2. We start to then realise how much we don’t know about it and what we will need to learn.  This is where a lot of self doubt comes into the picture. Stage 3. We start to learn and understand the skill, but accept that we know most, but not all of the information necessary to master the skill.  There is still awareness of the potential for mistakes.  Stage 4. We have mastered the skill.  It has now become a natural part of our life (like driving).

Once we as learners can accept the fact that we do not know everything, and that part of learning is about making mistakes and errors we will then be able to focus on the subject of learning rather than focusing on not making mistakes in the process.  If every time we were getting in the car during a driving lesson we only thought about all the mistakes we might make we would never make it out of the driveway.

So, remember that on a universal scale we know such a minute amount compared to the infinite potential there is to know…that the next time someone makes you feel stupid for making  a mistake or an error ask them how much they don’t know??

Well, thanks to Stenberg, my fifteen minutes has arrived – along with 5 other Special Education Assistant classmates.  Of course, you are all now frantically reading my blog, dying for the next line, waiting to find out what we crazy SEA’s have been up to this week, that will bring us great fame and fortune (??) (okay maybe not fortune – lol).

We were asked to be models for the print media that is going to be used for the new Early Childhood program that is going to be offered at Stenberg College in the near future.  Then the icing on the cake … those of us who had children between the ages of 3 and 5 could also bring them in for their 15 minutes of fame.  How much better could life be!!

Saturday morning arrived, my day of impending celebrity status!!  I jumped out of bed eager for the limo to arrive, and then to be able to sit for hours with hair and make-up professionals pampering me, and making me into the glamorous model  I always knew I could be. Ding dong, ding dong – was that the doorbell – my limo driver?  Aggghh, no, it was my alarm clock waking me up at 6am to rain.  I needed to iron the clothes I had chosen for the photo shoot (regular school clothes), wash and dry my own hair and do my make-up… where was Kevin Aucoin , the make-up guru extraordinaire from my dreams?? 

The Limo, or I guess in all reality, the Toyota Corolla was filled with gas and ready to go.  Off I zoomed, picking up my fellow divas along the way and soon we were off to the studio for our day of glory.  Upon arriving at the Community Church, we hopped across the puddles (the red carpet evidently hadn’t made it in the rush) trying to avoid the expected paparazzi, rumour has it though that they were told we were at the Baptist church around the corner.

We soon discovered that the shoot would consist of the five of us taking turns, or together, sitting on the floor playing Lego and dollies with the children.  We also had our pictures and video taken doing crafts, snack time and circle time!!  I was aghast – I thought we were doing a Toddlers and Tiara’s type shoot, not a Kate plus Eight remake!

Well there was my 15 minutes of fame – it was actually a lot of fun, and if you ever get the chance to be a “model” for Stenberg I recommend doing it, because who knows, maybe Kevin Aucoin might show up to do your make-up!!

By the way, as I mentioned, I know everyone is probably under a great deal of stress right now, but don’t forget to take some time off on the weekend to relax. This weekend is our Stenberg Friends and Family Movie Night, which will take place at the Hollywood 3 Cinema in Surrey. We can have a free movie for ourselves and three guests, plus we can get free popcorn and pop each! There are two movies to choose from – Grown Ups or the Karate Kid. I am really grateful that Stenberg provides us with this special event to take some time off the books and enjoy the time with our loved ones. Hopefully I will see you all there!

Of course the big buzz event that is coming up is STENBERG FRIENDS AND FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT!!  Stenberg has managed to form a partnership with the Hollywood 3 Cinemas to bring us a fabulous deal  – a free movie for ourselves and three guests with popcorn and pop included – when was the last time you got a deal like that!!  The movie choices are Grown Ups or the Karate Kid – so come on out and enjoy a great movie, and thanks to Stenberg for this great chance to spend some time away from the books and instead spend some quality time with our family.

Another exciting event on campus, which many of us are appreciating from the “bottom” of our hearts are the fancy new chairs that are in the classrooms.  I know that my first few days this week have been much more pleasant due to these modern, sleek ergonomically designed chairs – and let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a chair with wheels!!  I suspect the hours of class time will be much easier to sit through now that we have these wonderful chairs to sit in.

Finally, my last little “Stenberg Odds and Ends” note is that if you happen to see any people in the halls looking like they are observing you, or are watching you intently, they probably are.  The next two weeks is the “Observing and Recording” unit of the Special Education Assistant (SEA) program and a lot of the work involves going about and observing people very discreetly (??). 

So, if I were to try and wrap this blog up into a nice pretty package with a bow I would tell you that this week, while sitting in your nice new comfortable classroom chair you should gather a group of friends to go to Stenberg Family and Friends Movie Night.  While at the movie, beware of how you eat your popcorn, because an SEA student might be behind you observing and recording how many pieces of popcorn you put in your mouth at once….