Hey Folks If You Have An Android Phone: Google Shadow Installed Malware.

Congratulations for getting into nursing school! I put together a list of supplies you may need. There are also a few tips for surviving that no one else will really tell you until you’ve been through it. Keep in mind that every one’s experience is different. What applies to me may not apply to you.

MUST HAVES:

Blood pressure cuff (was provided to me through school via lab fees)

Compression stockings/socks

Bandage/dressing scissors

Drug handbook (pocket size)

Lab coat (ordered through the school)

NCLEX-RN Study guide (Saunders or Kaplan)

Tote bag for clinical/hospital/lab (separate from your lecture backpack!)

Nursing shoes

Watch - simple, waterproof, inexpensive!

Penlight (was provided to me through school via lab fees, but I purchased extra)

Scrubs (ordered through the school)

Stethoscope

Retractable badge holder

Nursing care plan book (we were given a specific one to order)

Clipboard and BLACK pens

Extra hair clips/bobby pins, hair ties

Medical dictionary

Lecture Supplies:

Binders

Looseleaf notebook paper

Black pens (or colored if you are the type to color-code notes)

Highlighters

Drug guide (App available if lecturer allows electronic devices)

Textbook (IF you need it)

Tips for Surviving LECTURE:

Read the assigned text BEFORE class. I don’t mean skim. Understand it. Make this mandatory in your homework routine.

Come to class with questions. Mark down the answers as the lecture goes on. If there are unanswered ones, get them answered before class ends. If you don’t understand something, don’t be afraid to raise your hand and ask. Chances are that there is someone else with the same question.

Star, highlight, underline, circle, etc. any topic that the professor repeats. I usually put a star down for each time it is said. I can’t tell you how many times they put this information on exams.

Avoid using electronic devices. I always use pen and paper. I have e-textbooks, but I only pull my tablet out when I absolutely need to. Silence your cellphone and only use it during breaks or emergencies.

Keep your energy up. Eat a high-protein breakfast and drink plenty of water. Snack on nuts or other nutrient dense food. I usually eat almonds and/or apples with peanut butter.

Be courteous to your neighbors. Avoid opening loud snack packaging, using your phone, talking, or doing another classes’ work during lecture. Anything abnormal that you do during lecture is a distraction to others around you. Don’t be afraid to move seats during break if you can’t concentrate.

Wear comfortable clothes. Nursing school is not a fashion show. I wear sweats most days because I am sitting for 6+ hours at a time. I usually have a jacket because I get cold very easily.

If you are given a break, USE IT! Go walk around, go outside, walk up and down some stairs, etc. Just get your blood flowing.

Tips for Surviving LAB:

Lab is for PRACTICING skills, not learning. Usually you will be assigned a video or reading assignment that explains how to perform the skill. The professor will demonstrate the skill, but you are more than likely expected to already know the steps. Don’t make a fool out of yourself by not preparing. We were given step by step instructions for most skills. If your school doesn’t provide these, then make your own.

Come to lab in uniform and with all of your supplies. Make sure you wash your hands before beginning.

Try performing the skill on your own before asking too many questions. You will learn more by making mistakes than by avoiding them.

Don’t overthink anything. You are practicing skills to perform them on a human being. Put yourself in their shoes. Practice compassion. Talk to your mannequin as if it were a real person. It will feel silly at first, but it will help you in clinical.

Explain every step out loud in lab. This will not only help you, but it will help your lab partner and others around you. It is also easier to catch mistakes this way.

Take advantage of open lab hours if your school provides it. Get together with a study buddy and spend an extra hour or so each week practicing.

Tips for Surviving CLINICAL:

Congrats, you’ve made it to clinical! You will probably be nervous, but that’s okay. I was nervous AND excited. That is normal. Take some deep breaths and go with it!

Eat a high-protein breakfast. You will probably have to wake up at an hour you’ve never been awake for. If you’re like me, I can barely eat in the mornings to begin with. Force yourself to eat. Don’t go for a high-carb breakfast. You will crash before 9am. Bring snacks for the commute. I usually eat egg/bacon/potato breakfast burritos and I bring an apple to eat on the way.

Be prepared. Your school will have different requirements for pre-clinical. If you are assigned a patient the day before, make sure you know which drugs they are getting and WHY.

Stay busy. If there is a lull in the day, ask your nurse if there is anything you can do. If he/she says no, then that’s the perfect time to go talk to your patients.

Ask to perform skills you have already learned. Already learned how to put in a Foley? Ask your nurse if you can do the next one. Injections? IV starts? ASK!!! You will never learn if you don’t ask. The worst they can say is no.

Talk to your patients. You will learn more about them through conversation than by reading a chart.

Don’t think of yourself as a shadow. You are a student nurse who is there to help, not follow. Although you will be “shadowing” a nurse, your confidence will give your nurse more confidence in letting you take the reign!

When it’s time for lunch, eat something healthy. You already know how high-carb/high-fat meals make you feel. Plan accordingly. Take the full break. If you get 30 minutes, try to sit and rest for that full amount of time. Make sure you wash your hands before and after, and use the restroom before going back.

Enjoy yourself! This is what you’ve been working hard towards, right??

We always had a debrief with our instructor after clinical. It was an open “round-table” discussion about our day. Be honest about how your day went. Not every clinical day is unicorns and rainbows. Other students will appreciate your honesty.

Tips for READING your textbooks (BEFORE lecture):

Turn off your phone, TV, etc. I have a classical music station that I listen to when I study.

Skim the chapter and pay attention to titles/subtitles. Count how many pages you have to read and allow yourself enough time accordingly.

Start reading from the beginning. Look up any words that you don’t know. Read slowly and carefully.

Take breaks every 30-50 minutes.

Write down any questions or unclear topics.

Tips for STUDYING material (after lecture):

Review the lecture notes from each class when you get home that day. Make sure everything is organized to make studying easier.

Go through the assigned reading again and highlight or underline the main topic/sentence of each section. This will make it easier to find information.

If you have a homework assignment for this chapter, do it now.

The next day, review your notes and skim through the book again. Look for different sources of information for main topics. I like to find YouTube videos that explain topics.

Rewrite important information on notecards or in a notebook.

If you can, on a different day, get together with a study buddy or group to discuss the information. Don’t do the homework together unless there’s a question that you couldn’t answer on your own. Study groups are not for learning, they are for discussing and solidifying concepts.

Notice that now you have reviewed/heard the material 5 times.

Tips for studying for an EXAM:

Although I study every day, I usually start my “exam” studying a week before the test.

Practice NCLEX-style questions.

Answer the questions at the back of the chapter.

Get any unclear topic resolved at least 48 hours before an exam.

Top 10 Study Tips!

1. Make a study schedule and stick to it. 2. Pace yourself. Study every day, even if it’s just for 30 minutes. 3. If you don’t understand something, find a different resource (ask a friend, find a YouTube video, email the instructor, etc.). 4. Study for 50 minutes at a time and take a 10-15 minute break in between. 5. During those breaks, don’t just be on your phone or computer. Get up. Move around. Get your blood flowing! 6. Make time for yourself. If you like to read leisurely, do it. If you work out, do it. 7. SLEEP. for the love of God. Get 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Here is an article explaining why this is so so so important. 8. Find a method that works for you. Flashcards, outlines, Quizlet, recording yourself, drawing pictures, etc. It’s all trial and error. 9. DON’T CRAM. If you don’t know the material the night before the test, chances are you won’t know it for the test. 10. Studies show that you need to review material 7 times to retain 90% of the information.

I hope that this information is useful! Feel free to reblog and add anything I may have missed. Also excuse any grammar/spelling errors. I am not an English major. Also feel free to message me with any questions!

Small, but not forgotten!

Is the Tolkien fandom dead?

Reblog if you are a fan!

Walk in Their Nursing Shoes

Before criticizing the nurse you’re receiving report from; listen to the whole report - consider they may have had a rough shift. Consider how many times you’ve been there.

Before criticizing the way another nurse practices; consider you have your way and they have theirs.

Before you become irritated at the nurse you’re trying to transfer a patient to - for taking too long to come to the phone; consider what’s happening on their floor. Consider how many times you have been in with a patient and the phone is for you. Consider how many times you’ve had two or three admissions at once and just can’t take another one right now. Consider that there are some tricksters, but not every nurse is trying to pull a fast one.

Before you argue with the nurse who’s actually trying to send you a patient; consider what’s happening on their end. Consider they’re probably receiving an emergent patient, and need to get this one moving fast. Consider their charge nurse is pushing them to move fast, consider admin is pushing them, consider they are going back to a shit show of their own, since no one was really free to watch their patients while they were transferring one to you. Consider they know what it feels like to be you, but too stressed to say it just now. Consider they’re just trying to do their job as best they know how, just like you.

Before you try to palm off the worst patients to the float nurse, per diem, or traveler - think about how it felt when you floated etc. Think about how you had no idea where anything was on that unit, think about how it felt to be frustrated.

Before gossiping about a fellow nursing student’s failure, consider how devastating this may feel.

Before blasting another nurse for not handling a code well, think about how frightened you’ve been when it was your patient, think about how it affects you differently each time, think about how it takes time to build resilience.

Before passing along personal information another nurse had shared with you; consider the level of trust he/she had to confide in you in the first place.

Before mocking another nurse’s mistake, before you tell the world about his/her error; remember you aren’t perfect. Remember you have made mistakes, and will again. Remember how it felt when you did.

Before you exclude someone, consider how it feels to be on the outside.

Before criticizing the doctors for making stupid mistakes, remember they are human too. Remember all the times you felt like an idiot, or embarrassed for making “stupid” mistakes.

Before you complain and demand to know why another nurse called out; consider they have a right to do so, without having to provide an explanation to anyone.

Before you get impatient with a graduate nurse, or nursing student, remember your own beginning.

Before you say something mean, and chase it with “don’t take it personal” or “you won’t survive if you’re weak” consider this; do you want to be remembered as the person who taught lessons by cruelty? Consider we all learn under the toughest of circumstances, but retreat under bullying. Consider a tough person can still have weak moments, consider you’re not the person who decides if they’re going to survive or not, consider tough love is correcting errors, correcting mistakes, tough guidance in emergent situations, tough love is being able to say what you mean without resorting to jibes - and it isn’t an opportunity to tell them they don’t belong in this arena. Consider the wealth of your experience as a positive guide to their learning, consider they may be weak now, but with support they will go on to be an extraordinary caregiver.

Before you criticize a younger inexperienced nurse for no other reason than being new, before you cut them down for asking questions, consider the impact your words will have on their career. Domino effect.

Source

"All white people are racist--"

No group is all bad.

In any group you have a range of horrible assholes and blessedly wonderful people.

To say of any group that they're all racist, evil, oppressive is racism.

And yes, black and brown people can be racist. I've experienced it both because they thought I was white or because they saw I'm Hapa.

I'm sick and fucking tired of racist black folk getting away with saying ALL whites are racist and not looking to their own community.

My late mother was white. She was a wonderful, loving woman, to everyone. But people claim that because she was white she HAD to be racist. Even though she married an Southeast Asian man back when it was illegal in half of the American states.

And I am sick of white Liberals, especially self-hating white women, kissing ass and bowing to racist blacks in order to Signal Boost what Allies they are, so they can say "Other whites are racist, but not me." Girls, I guarantee when your back is turned they're saying nasty things about you, too. Racists think it's hilarious that you think they respect you.

And white Liberals:

Because you never do. Even with all the security videos and TikToks showing black folk beating up elder Asians, you haven't spoken out that those are Hate Crimes.

And I'm appalled by black folks who've gone all anti-Semitic. If you want white folks to remember Jim Crow and feel guilty (even if they didn't live then), how about you feel guilty about your willful ignorance about the Jews who marched for civil rights? Who were attacked. And those who were killed by the KKK. Who didn't have to put their lives at risk at all. They could have ignored the marches. But they didn't. They left safety and put themselves in danger.

And your thanks is to call Jews every horrible slur and tear down posters of Jewish people, including children, who are currently being held hostage.

Do you have mirrors? How about you go look in them. Ask yourself what Dr. King, who marched side-by-side with rabbis, would think of you?

Oh. Wait. I forgot. Y'all canceled Dr. King because he was "too nice." Talk about ingratitude.

I'm tired of being polite. If you say "all whites are" or "all Jews are" or "all asians are" you are racists as bad as any white person. You have no right to feel holier than thou, to feel superior, or more moral.

I remember the black folks I grew up with -- my mother was the only white in our neighborhood, and my dad and I the only asians, but there were a lot of mixed black kids, as there always are -- those folks who grew up with serious oppression. They became doctors, lawyers, educators, scientists, even in the worst of times, because they and their community believed in achievement, not victimhood.

Instead of moaning about racism, which is less legally than it was when I was a kid, why don't you tell children to concentrate on achievement? Because if black folks in the 1920s and 30s became professionals, you sure as hell can.

And stop being mad if we asians -- even half-Asians like me -- and Jews choose achievement instead of pointing fingers at others and crying that you can't get anywhere because Racism.

It's been a little while since I've made a poll, so I'm going to shake off the dust with a simpler question (although choosing an answer to this one is probably anything but simple for mystery fans.)

This is mostly oriented towards live action mystery/crime TV series, I'll probably do a later poll for animated shows or anime.

I can't possibly fit every series worth a shoutout in the 12 options Tumblr allows per poll, so please let me know your favorites in the tags and comments if it's not listed here. :)

Please reblog for a larger sample size, thank you!

when you find an academic source that’s perfect for your paper but it’s behind a pay wall

Credit: Ashley McMinn

Fanfiction Authors: HEADS UP

(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)

An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:

(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)

I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:

IF YOU ARE A FANFIC AUTHOR WITH LONG AND/OR POPULAR WORKS, PLEASE CHECK AMAZON TO SEE IF YOUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PIRATED.

You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:

HOW TO FILE A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT FOR STOLEN WORK ON AMAZON.COM:

First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.

Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.

Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.

In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.

In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That's all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:

I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.

In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy's URL. You'll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word "product," as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it's correct.

Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the "I have read and accept the statements" box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.

Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!

NOTE: All of the above also applies to Amazon products featuring stolen artwork, etc., so fan artists should check too!

Social experiment: if you know what this is don’t say anything just reblog