First week done

so I am just going to dig right in...

School -  Should be able to see the schedule starting tomorrow to see what classes are going to be available for the summer.  I can not register until April, so its going to be a challenge to get the ones I want.  But I will keep my fingers cross.   I also don't know if I will be able to get financial aid.  That's going to suck if I cant... :(

Work - So I had my first 4 training shifts last week, and it was a roller coaster. Each shift was with a different doctor, and a different trainer, who all liked things a little bit different.  My feet were killing me, and I was just thinking to myself.  OMG I cant fail at this...
By my last day, I felt a lot better about what I was doing, and it was kind of slow in the ER. So that really helped.  I was off Fri - Sat and return tomorrow.  I hope I can continue the upward trend and have a good shift. :)

"The Plan"  - so far on track.  I decided not to keep working on the online pre-cal class, I was just too far behind and last week really drained everything out of me and I could not catch up.  The good thing is it was free and I didn't loose any money or damage any grades.  It was more or less to freshen up on Pre-cal before taking the actual class.

I still have not found a place to volunteer. I have a few days off during the week next month, I am going to work on that.

My Rug rat  - she is well, her second competition went very well, and she won another scholarship at the last dance convention she went to.  School is a bit of a challenge.  She has a bit to much mouth and character for the strict structure.  She recently auditioned for a performing arts school, which she felt went really well.  If she gets accepted there she will probably start 6th grade there. There is also a bit of a shift in her evening life now that I work in the evenings.  Grandma is taking her to dance, and bringing her home for homework, baths, dinner, etc.  And of course GM has "looser" standards than I do. So that stresses me out , and I start to get concerned about going after my goal, instead of just staying at my "steady" "predictable" job, where I could make sure I was the one doing homework, baths, dance, cleaning.. etc...

Life -  not much interesting to say here. I feel like I have lost a bit of structure due to the changing of my job.  Previously with the M - F 8 to 5. I did certain things at certain times. Laundry on Saturday, groceries on Sunday, cleaning on Friday... etc.  Now that my schedule has changed, I have not gotten on a good "taking care of home" schedule and I feel like my house is turning into a hot mess.   I really need to take the time to find my groove, to take better control of my health, my house, my child, and my progress...

ok, so I feel like this post is starting to get depressing... LOL so I am going to call it a night...

~~~~ I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade... And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.  ~ Ron White

I'm officially a Scribe

So I have completed my ScribeU training,  It was kind of a stressful ordeal, and  I am not complete yet,  I still have 8 more "residency" on the job training shifts with 6 more quizzes.  So the studying continues.   I don't have my first shift until the 18th so I do have some time to study and work on my speed skills.

Now on to regularly scheduled programing.


School -
UTA admission app is still in work, gave them a call today to validate my status.  She sates my  check list is complete but they are "running behind".   I need that updated to get my Fin-Aide squared away...  ( this was the one part I hated about school)

I also signed up for a free Pre-cal class online its a 10 week online program,.If I can do well on that, I may consider just testing out of it and going straight to Calculus.  But I don't know yet. The site has multiple free courses.  https://www.coursera.org/course/precalculus

Work -
I will be getting my last paycheck from my old job this weekend... If there is one thing that will be missed it is THAT...  :) 

As I said above, I finished my 5 day ScribeU intensive, and will actually start my ED training in a couple of weeks.  I am super excited to get in there.  That wage listed on my offer letter was a little scary to see but when I calculate in the "awesomeness" and exposure it goes up quite a bit :)

There are also some leadership opportunities after you have been there a while which I will definitely look into the longer I am there.  I would love to be one of there traveling trainers during my off your.


"The Plan" - Overall on track
BS in BIO - On track for Summer 2013 start
Strong Med Field Experience - Scribe job in progress
Volunteering - looking around this week

My Rug rat -
so far so good, I am a bit concerned about homework when I start working evenings.  God bless my mom, but she may not always understand the math and science concepts Jordyn is learning now.

Life
Speaking of my mom I am going to start depending on her more, (she offered)  to pick Jordyn up form school and get her to practice and so on.  This is a challenge, because my mother and I have a very sensitive relationship.  I LOVE her to death but we work better in moderation. :)  
The optimal design for her already low income, my new low income, and her helping me with Jordyn would be for us to live together.  But I think to myself the last time that was attempted it was not the best for anyone.  So we are going to try and make this work for right now in different places, to maintain as much sanity as possible.  Plus we both have leases way into the summer so no one can move anytime soon anyway :)

Okay that's about it, I need to get my little one dinner before its time for HH class. :)

~~ Lead Me Not Into Temptation; That Would Mean Backing Up  - T-shirt

Bad Day :(

So I had a bad day today....   and I wasn't sure if I should post , but the  purpose of me creating this blog  was to document my journey so I can appreciate it.   

update: while writing this I decided to throw in some solutions or alternatives instead of just complaints. ( in purple text) 

Disclaimer: for anyone that reads below I am basically just going to complain, also please ignore spelling and grammatical errors.  I don't have energy to look for them and update.


So on my way home from training today I cried a bit.  My feeling of despair had progressively gotten worse through out the day starting this morning.

Complaint 1

I cant say it was one particular thing, but a combinations of things.

So I am in scribe training, Thursday - Monday 8:30 to 5. We were provided with information to study a few days before class.  We were told to be ready for multiple quizzes and mock interviews to be tested on.  The first being noon on the second day and about 2 each day after that.

   So far I am 4 test in with 92/89/93.5/84.5.  With a minimum of 80 percent on all test to be considered "passing"  I am on track.   BUT I am disappointed in myself.  There were things on each test that I should have known but missed.  Also there was some conflicting information on the last graded HPI that I should not have missed.

Also I am not a super fan of our lead trainer, she is a bit of a smart A$$ and I kind of feel like she does not like me. ( I know I am not a child, and this should  not matter but it pisses me off, because I am usually a pretty likable person).  Also some of the trainers are a bit curt and  a lot of the students are young and are just in a different "way" than me. 

And I KNOW I KNOW,  that none of this stuff maters and that I am going to be around people who are that way at work and at school, but I guess right now I just want to complain about it.

ACTION: keep studying hard, and not care what anyone has to say or how they treat me because this is MY JOURNEY and I will make it regardless of those around me.  ITS DO OR DIE for me and I am definitely going to be the one to do the "Doing"

Complaint 2
Also my 1 free pair of scrubs is too big, and the lady gave me a chance to request another size, but they seemed ok at the time, because I was probably just excited to get them.  I was going to go buy a pair today ( with new matching tennis shoes, but I didn't want to leave my laptop in the car, and I let my depression get the best of me.

ACTION: Buy me a new pair tomorrow, also a girl at training told me about a site called www.allheart.com where you can get scrubs for super cheep.  Although it wont help me for the rest of the weekend, it will be beneficial for when my shifts start. Also may get me some new shoes that match so I can feel better about myself. :)

Complaint 3
Also on my way from training, I gave my mom a call to find out how Jordyn's Monologue practice went today, but Jordyn answered and was only giving me one word generic answers so that kind of pissed me off.. so I just got off the phone..

ACTION: Remember she is a child and it is not fair to her let my stress flow to her. A lesson to be reminded of on a daily bases no matter what "MY" current "problem" is.

Complaint 4
Also... I have already jacked up my 5K training, I have missed 3 days since I started this class I didn't get up early to go run, and I didn't go when I got out of training because I chose to study.  NOT blaming training, only myself!!!

ACTION: Since its so early in my 5K training, and I have been unsuccessful at this in the past by putting to much pressure on myself and giving up when I wasn't doing as well as I thought I should, I am just going to wait until after Scribe training is over. I will have two weeks of no work or school, that is an optimal time to get in the habit of making progress on my running goals having success to hang my hat on and give me a reason to continue pushing toward it. 

Complaint 5
Also I got cost and deposit information for next years tuition for Jordyn's school, and I have to turn that in by 2/15  and I am kind of stressed out about what to do there.  I want her to get into the performing arts school for convenience, cost, and her potential in that area.  But I am going to miss the rigor, standards, flexibility, opportunity, and private structure of her current school.  And I just feel like a HORRIBLE person for taking that away from her.  I AM NOT saying children can not get quality educations from public or charter schools. I  am only saying, she did well where she was, and I agree with their model and success rates, and I feel like in choosing this path I am taking that away from her.  And yes, I did consider that prior to leaving my job, but it wasn't enough to make me stay there.  

ACTION: Fill out the info, pay the deposit and make the final decision in writing before 3/31. I am told the performing arts school lets parents know before end of March so that will help me in my decision making (kind of). 

Complaint 6
also I will get my final check next week and wont start working at my other job for 2 more weeks, so that's stressful.

I admit I am very concerned about my budget, I wasn't really able to eliminate many things from the budget.  I am already living a bit modestly if I moved to anywhere cheaper I would have to bars on my windows.  I also fear expensive car troubles, or medical needs, passing away and not having life insurance or any financial thing that may come up.  Don't get me wrong I grew up poor and know all about it. I guess I just have not had to consider some things in a while. 

ACTION: Starting next week I am going to look into health coverage for Jordyn at least Private, or maybe a reduced state option, also I am going to start life insurance policy for myself incase something happens to me. I am also going to spend some time really looking at my budget and how I am going to make this work. I had some models in my mind before I sent in my resignation, now I need to look at implementing a plan.  

Complaint 7
also I think this is one of the times I hate being single.  I sometimes wish I just had someone to talk to or chill out with.  I just didn't want to be at home by myself tonight.

ACTION: not really a lot I can do here...  this is a complicated matter for me

I think OMG, you are only 1 month into your journey and you already have issues... YES I do, and that's ok...

Even with all these feeling of failure/stress I got going on. 
I DO NOT regret leaving my job
I DO NOT regret taking scribe training
I DO NOT regret going after medical school

I just wish I was better, stronger, smarter, more lovable, more consistent, more awesome.  A better mom, a better daughter, loved, active, committed, taller, smaller... all that STUFF.. 

I'm just feeling inadequate right now.

So after adding my "Actions" I feel a little bit better, but I think I am just going to spend a couple of hours watching some stuff on the DVR, have a drink, and then maybe study a bit later.
 
LIFE GOES ON.. and I have more than myself to consider when I think about it not...
 
~~~"If at first you don't succeed, try reading the instructions"

What is a Scribe?

 
So I have gotten this question a lot,  and have found it a bit hard to express the scope of the job.  I usually end up saying,  " They chart for doctors in the Emergency Departments"
 
Well, I started my scribe training on Thursday, and I tell you what.  There is a lot of information to learn.   I think we end up with like 6 quizzes in our 5 day training class that we have to pass to move on to, actually training in the ER.  
 
Once we are in the ER we have 6 - 10 more quizzes along with evaluations by trainer scribes and physicians. 
 
So far I have passed my first test.  We have one in the morning, which I should be studying for now.
 
anywho... my purpose for this post was to put the PhysAssist Inc. description of what a Scribe does.   There were about 3 long paragraphs and R&Rs.  I just went with R&Rs.  :)

         ---------------------- per PhysAssist website.  www.iamscribe.com --------------

The overall objective of the Scribe is to assist the physician with documentation, expedite patient flow through the emergency department and to decrease the duration of individual patient visits.
                                
                                             What do scribes do?

Scribes provide real-time charting for physicians by shadowing them throughout their shifts and performing a variety of tasks, including recording patients' histories and chief complaints, transcribing physical exams, ordering x-rays, recording diagnostic test results, and preparing plans for follow-up care. Each shift, you will be assigned to a doctor or physician assistant and work alongside with them as they see patients. This means you will be in the room during each evaluation, documenting directly from the conversation between the provider and patient.  

© Copyright 2009 PhysAssist Scribes, Inc.