phew...

I finished my last ICU clinical last week and it felt so AMAZING to be done. I will no longer have to go up to the hospital the day before and do a preassessment on my patient. I will no longer have to worry about whether my nurse will be cranky and not want a student (hopefully). I now only have my spring term clinical which is with an Asian Refugee Group in Salt Lake and I will be with a partner and then CAPSTONE! After clinical, after all the stress was off my shoulders, I was able to pause and reflect on my clinical experience and I have to say that I had an overwhelming feeling of being blessed. Every semester so far I have had great clinical instructors and amazing experiences. I'm not going to lie, this semester was pretty rough for me, I think it's because I'm just burnt out of school in general. 5 1/2 years to graduate is just too long, BUT I wouldn't change anything because I am going to a great University and in an amazing program. I love that mostly all 60ish of us in the program know each other so well and that we truly care for each other. I love how my clinical instructors have all been so great and give their all to make our experiences meaningful. After our last clinical my instructor had all of us over to his house and his wife made us a delicious meal in celebration of being done. Before we ate, he gave one of the most heartfelt and touching prayers that I have been apart of. On the way home each of us talked about how we all slightly teared up during the prayer. I love the gospel and how it is linked into my education every single day. I know I complain a lot about how BYU likes to make things harder than it should be but I am so grateful for all that the nursing program has taught me. It is always amazing to me how much I learn in one semesters time, this semester I especially feel that I made a huge leap in progress, not only in technical nursing skills but in love and empathy for those that are suffering. I also need to thank my sweet husband for putting up with me this semester. He is always so patient with my meltdowns and always has a shoulder for me to cry on when I get frustrated or overwhelmed. I think he is just as excited as I am that my semester is almost over! :)

Finals start on Saturday for me and I'm not too worried about them so I should be done by early next week, have a week or so off, and then Spring Term starts on the 26th. Scott won't be done till around the 30th or so but we are both excited to be almost done with one more semester! There is light at the end of the tunnel...

p.s. I found this talk one night in the middle of this semester when I was having one of my "meltdowns" that has stuck with me since...it is from the October General Conference Ensign...

Faith-the Choice is Yours, By Richard C Edgley

My favorite quote out of it is:

"Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism."