New BSN Curriculum Suggestions

Last week, I submitted a list of my thoughts to the Assistant Dean who was asking for feedback regarding the new  Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) curriculum which was mandated by the CHED Memorandum Order No.5. I may not be the best person to talk about curriculum development as my qualifications would present, although I think that thoughts from a humble product of the said curriculum might just help in its implementation. 


My thoughts might deviate a little from the prescribed curriculum but rest assured I try to line them up with the same goal of producing globally competitive nurses. Since the University of Santo Tomas (UST) is an autonomous institution, meaning it can design its own curricula, implementing some modifications to the prescribed BSN curriculum isn't impossible.

Here are my thoughts:

NURSING RESEARCH

Expanding the subject into two semesters allows the students to be more immersed in the field of research. Since the subject ends on the 1^st sem of the senior year, I think the decreased load is very welcome for the  students since they can concentrate on their graduation requirements on the 2nd semester.

RESEARCH APPLICATION

As part of the role of the nurse as a research consumer, I have this idea of adopting a more substantial  method of doing Nursing Care Plans (NCPs).  I suggest that we adopt a more evidence-based NCP by having the interventions supported by academic articles, internationally published journals, DOH/WHO recommendations, books, and other evidences aside from the NANDA. 

This practice does not only promote evidence based practice but it may also help the students in identifying the grey areas of nursing practice. Once they identify these areas, these can stand as the basis of their researches in their senior year. The findings of research can then be directly applied to the clinical area by using the best practice methods to date.

SKILLS FAIR

The skills fair really gave us the opportunity to practice our skills in the clinical area although I think the time isn’t enough for us to practice all of the skills included in the manual so I think additional time taken from the RLE is needed. To further stimulate the students to become better in the skills fair, I suggest that we have a Skills Fair Competition which will be open to all RLE groups. The RLE group who will get the highest score after performing all the skills will be then given an award or recognition. 


PRC ORIENTATION
There must be a formal orientation regarding the PRC and the different forms to be submitted for graduation at the sophomore level. This is to avoid confusion among the students regarding the requirements. The redundancies in the forms must also be addressed (see Intensive Nursing Practicum checklist and Green Book Checklist) so that the students would not be hassled by the different forms that I think are not really necessary.

COMPETENCY APPRAISAL

The Competency Appraisal (CA) is one of the new subjects offered by the new BSN curriculum. It serves two purposes: to measure and develop our competence and to review the basic concepts in all the areas of nursing practice. In UST, we had several case scenarios which were discussed in class, adopting a participative type of student directed learning. The CA teaching style really developed our critical thinking skills although it did not become very effective in reviewing us in all the aspects of nursing subjects. Neither did it compensate for the lecture classes similar to the review. With this issue, I suggest that the case discussion method in CA be reverted back to lecture classes. I have two ideas on how we will proceed without removing the much needed case discussions:

(1) CA will be integrated in the respective subjects in the lower years. For example, after we take our CHN subject in 2^nd year, we would be given a case scenario similar to the one in CA and the case would be discussed in class. By then we would have had the needed exposure in the case scenario, giving us more time to review basic concepts in the 4th year.

(2) Another suggestion is to integrate CA in the RLE during their exposure to the respective related area. For example, after we have our OR exposure, we will be given the case scenario which shall serve as the case presentation to assess our competence. This may lessen the burden in finding extra time in the classroom.

MEDICAL SURGICAL NURSING

I feel that the case scenario per system is quite a heavy load for the 3^rd year students. As they are already busy with other requirements form different subject, it does very little to encourage the student to immerse themselves into the core of the subject as the students focus more on “finishing the requirement” rather than reviewing for the subject. Well, this was my observation when I was in third year. Also, there isn’t ample time allotted for feedback in the classroom so the students do not really know if they get the correct answer.

The expansion of Medical Surgical Nursing up to the 4^th year 1^st semester is one of the good provisions of the new curriculum. However, I think that it does very little to decongest the load of the MS in the first two semesters as it discuss solely  both Emergency and Gerontologic Nursing. I think that some systems should be moved to MS3 so that the students can focus more on these systems as well as to lighten the load of the two semesters of MS.

I think that the gerontologic nursing can be downgraded into an elective course since it has a limited content while the elective Critical Care can be included in MS3 to allow more time for discussion as it has a broader scope.

ELECTIVES

Mother and Child – some topics overlap with OB and Pedia, probably we can have a well defined scope so that the discussions would not be repeated.

TQM –good to have as a subject so that we become oriented with the concepts of quality care. Although I think that the concepts in the subject can already be easily comprehended and can already be included in Nursing Leadership and Management.

Spiritual Care – a good way to increase awareness among the students. Adding a cultural care component to the subject would make it more interesting. 

Critical Care – a very useful and practical subject; I think it can be integrated in MS3

Suggested Electives:

Cultural Care Nursing – This is in line with Madeline Leininger’s theory. This may help in developing  culturally sensitive nurses, making them more globally competitive.

Gerontologic Nursing – as suggested to be separated from MS3

Complementary and Alternative Therapy Nursing - a lot of people are already welcoming new forms of therapy, nurses might as well be more familiar with these.

Musings of a College Senior

I come from a university with our course accredited by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a “Center of Excellence”, whose passing rates in the board exams are consistently above average, and whose alumni had established high performance standards in the local and international field of health care – thus the pressure on us, fourth year students, to exceptionally be at par or even raise the standards set forth by the past graduates in terms of passing rates and clinical performance.

Let us not forget the pressure to meet the expectations that one may intrinsically be imbibed with as he graduated from the University when he starts to go into employment. There goes the expectation that one must know the whats, hows, and whys of everything in the hospital. I figure that personally, I still have a lot that I do not know and understand by heart  as manifested by several educated guesses (No matter how rationally supported it may be, it is still a guess.) during exams, selective aphasia as the clinical instructor asks questions, and episodes of less than two previous semesters’ lessons un-recall. So as early as now, I really try to force onto my neurons to absorb every skill during our clinical exposure, jot down the different lessons in my notebook, and review previous concepts from all the Nursing subjects in preparation for independent future practice and board exams. 

In relation to the board exams, let me just say that flunking the board exam may probably be the most terrible thing that could happen after four years of stay in college. With only one or two people failing the licensure exam from our school every year, finding out who they are is far easier than locating the tad too obvious clue in Blue’s Clues. I dread that.

And don’t get me wrong by thinking that simply passing the board exam may be enough because finishing as one top ten scorers is always more highly preferred. For even during as early as our freshmen years, we have been told that aside from being the most compassionate, committed, and competent professionals, we shall also dominate the board exams post graduation – and through unending grace, we always do. There must be a psyche stimulating effect by just saying “I will top the board exams” which works like a mantra you repeatedly recite every day.

Unrequited Laborer

She still had two years from being a woman yet she lay on the white delivery room table in one random morning. Her cries of pain from the contractions in her tummy was all that could be heard in the suites. Her hair drenched in her own sweat, dampening the hospital gown she wore. The contractions from her womb are getting stronger and stronger, more forceful and lengthier as minutes pass by. One can see from her innocent eyes, the pain she is currently facing but not yet ready to face. 

I am a new nurse in the public hospital where I  currently work. Since I was just starting, I was tasked most of the time to prepare the records and fill up the admission forms prior to the delivery. As a routine I asked the patient's name, age, address and her other demographics. Although I think asking those questions at that point in time seemed to be inappropriate as women in labor as they tend to face humongous stress.

I was assigned that day to Chelsea Martirez, a 16 year old primigravida who was the latest admission. I immediately saw her in the labor room, her legs spread apart while practicing to bear down. Every now and then, the medical intern would come and insert her two fingers into her private part and measure the cervix’ dilatation and station of the baby. She would gasp in pain every time the intern would do that. “8cm na tayo”, the intern announced. 

As the contractions came in greater frequency and intensity, she started yelling “Di ko kaya to… Di ko na kaya…” then squirmed in pain to the rhythm of the spasms. It was like a cycle of stress followed by relaxation, stress then relaxation again. “Di ko na kaya to…”, the young woman blurted out again. One of the nearby resident doctors wasn’t very happy about this and then snapped in the coldest tone, “Ginusto mo yan, ikaw may gawa niyan sa sarili mo, ba’t di mo kayang pangatawanan…” I cringed at what I heard but still kept my silence, pretending those words never did fall onto my ears. 

She continued crying but this time tried not to make any sound. She bit her lips so that no words can escape. The crying turned into sobs like the ones coming from a child who got cut by running without slippers into a field of grass. The only difference is, there was no one who would tend the throbbing wounds incurred. No one to promise her that everything would be okay. No one to reassure her of the worthiness of the pains she is currently experiencing. Then she started to cry. It was a quiet cry, a painful one where tears drop and the lips rattle yet no noise came to be heard. 

“Hoy Chelsea, bawal dito ang maingay at iiyak-iyak, di nakakatuwa yun, pinahihirapan mo lang kami…”, another medical staff cried out as she saw her crying while she was preparing the anesthesia. Once again, a couple of tears ran on her cheeks. It was like resisting her own urges, denying herself the feeling to perceive pain. She lay there, almost in an absence of emotion, like a carcass waiting to be fed upon by vultures.

“Ilang taong ka na, ineng?”, asked a senior nurse. “Dise sais po”, she said. “Ikaw ah, kala mo laro laro lang siguro… kala mo naglalaro lang kayo ng bahay bahayan no?”, she replied with a grin. Another staff nosed and quipped, “Naku! Baka next year nandito ka nanaman ulit ah? Gagawa na talaga ako ng listahan ng mga 18 year old and below na nagbuntis tapos titignan ko kung babalik next year.”

I tried to divert the patient’s attention from the unhelpful words by asking, “Sinong nagdala sayo dito?”

“Ah.. yung asawa ko po…”, she replied

“Sixteen ka pa lang ah, panu ka magkakaasawa?”

“Alam ko po kasi pag may nakabuntis sayo, mag-asawa na kayo nun, parang si tatay at nanay”

I was set aback by the answer of the child, depressed by the erroneous perception of a “husband” of which age I believe to be near the girl’s. I tried to concentrate again with the questioning, but still quite hesitant to use the term “asawa”. 

“Ahh ganun ba? Nasaan yung boyfriend mo? Ilang taon na ba yan?”

“Nasa labas po, nagihhintay...”

"Nasaan ba nanay mo?"

"Ah... di po niya alam na buntis ako eh... Nagtanan lang po kami ng asawa ko"

Her womb contracted again making it difficult to answer more questions. 

“Osige ah, puntahan ko muna siya, kunin ko ung diaper at bonnet ng anak mo. Anu pangalan niya?”

“Julius po…”

I left her, still struggling how to deliver the baby, still in pain, still in tears running across her cheeks and expressionless face. With the records clipped in my arm, I wore my smock gown and went to the visitor’s area where the relatives of the patients in the DR would have to wait. 

The room was occupied predominantly with anxiety filled men of different age groups in a similar sense of anticipation to their newborn child, most of them accompanied by the mother of their wives while some waiting alone patiently. 

I arrived at the lounge and directly I called out the name of Chelsea’s boyfriend.

“Julius Castro?”, I said in the clearest voice I could muster. Shortly afterwards, a man, obviously in his early forties, good enough to be the patient’s father, wearily approached me and handed a plastic with a diaper and a bonnet, a paycheck, and his picture with a note at the back which says, “Dear _____ Ako tatay mo .”

 
Then, he left.


Photo from http://acelebrationofwomen.org

Solitude

"Allan...", she called me five minutes after just stating my name.

I sheepishly replied, "Maam, it’s Drei..." with a voice full of warmth and a reassuring face just like any nurse would give. I hurriedly changed her soiled linens and proceeded to bath my patient and dress her afterward to give her the comfort she needs most right now.

The room was empty with only me and my patient. It smelled of alcohol and dried blood like any hospital would. There was stillness in the room, the kind of stillness that you would not aspire. For the room was silent, broke only by the sound of the television and the buzzing of the air condition. And it has always been like that. No calls and messages from relatives, no notifications nor visits whatsoever. A deafening silence hit the room once more that kept me uneasy. “Say something!”, I said to myself.

"It’s time for your morphine… feel any pain?"
“A little…”, she said
“Where?”
“No, it’s okay… I can tolerate it…”
“Okay maam, I’ll just get back to you later…”
“Ok, Archie…”

Archie.. Archie.. Now where did she get that name? Surely, my nameplate doesn’t say Archie or anything close to that. I replied with the same affect the first time she got my name wrong by replying, “It’s Drei…”I proceeded with my work, hiding my uneasiness.

I checked the flow rate and the patency of the IV fluid line, and got fixed on its drops that seemed like particles of sand trickling in an hourglass on a countdown to my patients expiration. She is suffering from leukemia, the kind that spreads to the bones causing pain that can only be alleviated by drug therapy. 

The doctors said she won’t live long, maximum of three months say without the complications. All the while, she had been in this ward for about two weeks, she has been deteriorating day by day with  his solitude while her life being sucked slowly out of his flesh, coming closer and closer to playing with death.

That night, while giving her  a pain killer, she asked me if she could call me “Archie”. I gave in to her request if she wants me to be called that way. She wont live long, I thought.

The next day, she went to a state of comatose. She was brain dead with only the machine supporting her heart beat and breathing. It was a moment of useless strife and of efforts wasted. We all know where it ends. It was a moment I still wasn’t prepared to face. Feelings of melancholy and of urge of pursuit to let one man live pervaded the room. But still, the kind of silence that once pervaded the room never seemed to disappear. It was a silence of peace.

A creaking sound came from the door, two figures of guys, dressed in white came in through the door.“Who are they?”, I asked the doctor who was on the sala of the room while I’m busy preparing the lifeless body for the morgue.

The doctor replied, “Her children, Archie and Allan are here…”

And it all came to me in an instant…they came back.




Photo from here

1st International Research Conference for Nursing Students (IRCoNS)

It was indeed a momentous day for the advancement Nursing research in the Philippines last March 9-10, 2011 as researchers from the local and foreign research arena gathered at the University of Santo Tomas for the 1st International Research Conference for Nursing Students (IRCoNS) with the theme of “Stimulating Creative Minds towards New Frontiers in Nursing Research” was held at the St. Martin de Porres building of UST. The two-day conference composed of talks from highly-esteemed researchers, oral and poster presentations from local and international based nursing students. 

The activity started with the Opening Remarks of Fr. Pablo Tiong, the Vice-Rector of the university, whose talk focused on his appreciation for the nursing profession with slight delineation on the issues on the widely-discussed Reproductive health bill.

The opening remarks, which seemed like a sermon to me, was followed by the speech of the Keynote speaker, the Hon. Carmencita Abaquin, PhD, RN - the current Chairperson of the Board of Nursing (BON) of the Professional Regulation Commission and Chairperson of the ASEAN Joint Coordinating Committee for Nursing. In her talk, she thoroughly explained the functions of the PRC and BON, major nursing concerns such as the several nursing schools’ poor performance, and nurse migration.

w/ Prof. Watson

A plenary session was then called at the UST Medicine Cinematorium for the talk of Prof.Wendy Cross, PhD, RN from Monash University in Australia. In her lecture, entitled “Collaborative Investiagation: Research Beyond Borders”, she emphasized the role of the nurse in the research team and discussed about the basics of conducting collaborative researches.

The second plenary session came from a local professor at the UST College of Nursing, the dynamic and highly energetic, Prof. Allan de Guzman,PhD. His presentation, which I highly applaud for having very interactive rapport with the audience, talked about the importance of appraising a research study, emphasizing on the idea of the research’s implication as public domain, subject to constructive criticism to find the value and worth of a paper.

A talk from Prof.Teresita Irigo-Barcelo,PhD, RN entitled “Bridging the Gap, Building Links between Nursing Interventions, Research, and Practice” explored the importance of evidence-based practice and the thought of developing a culture of research in the Philippines

w/ Angee and Jay Jay

The fourth plenary session was from Prof. Roger Watson, PhD, RN, the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Nursing who talked about his forte, writing for publication. Here he discussed the use of international guidelines, legal issues on plagiarism, and the general process of publication. 

The second day of the conference was started again by a plenary session from Prof.Erlinda Castro-Palaganas, PhD, RN, president of the Philippine Nursing Research Society who talked about qualitative researches, exploring a person’s feelings and impressions and noting phenomena among the populations. Her speech actually convinced me in doing a qualitative research instead of the quanitative onethat I’m currently working on. Regrets really come at the end, too bad for me.

The 6th plenary session came from Prof. Lourdes Marie Tejero, PhD, RN, head of the UP Manila Research and Creative Writing Program. She emphasized thinking out of the box in terms of developing new practices and inventions helpful to nursing practice. Personally, I really would like to comment on her youthful vibe as she talked on the stage, the pleasant appearance, confidence, and poise I would not forget. 

After the plenary sessions, concurrent sessions on Nursing Therapeutics, Health Promotion, Maternal and Child Nursing, Administration in Nursing, Nursing Education, Oncologic and Gerontologic Nursing, and Caring for Special Population and Care for the Chronically Ill Patients were participated by student nurses from various institutions namely: University of St. Lasalle- Bacolod, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Holy Angel University, Far Eastern University, Aklan State University, Trinity University of Asia, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig, University of the Cordilleras, Arellano University, Bicol University, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Southern Luzon State University, Cavite State University, Monash University, Saint Louis University, Asian Social Institute, Our Lady of Fatima University, and Universidad de Santa Isabel. 

I know I may be accused of bias because of what I’m going to say but I would just like to give my praises to the following studies:

Samsara: The Lived Experiences of Patients with Osteoarthritis Undergoing Yoga Therapy by Cuadram Cuarda, Cuartero, Cucueco, Cuevas, Cunanan and Custodio from the University of Santo Tomas. I personally like the idea of the prism used to illustrate your study. It was ingenious.

Speaking the Unspeakable: The Lived Experience of Incest Victims by Ramirez, Ramos, Ranera, Rapisura, Raymundo, and Rayos del Sol from the University of Santo Tomas. Tackling a sensitive topic must have really been difficult, especially finding respondents for your study. Also, I would like to commend the guy presentor since he actually memorized the study. Man,it must’ve taken pure hard work.

Concurrent sessions by Prof. Roger Watson and Prof. Carol Huston talked about “Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing” and the “Leadership Journey”, respectively.

The last plenary session was once again called for the talk of Prof.Carol Huston, MSN, MPA, DPA who enjoined the audience in topics such as thinking on a global perspective, using technology to facilitate mobility and interactional process, exercising political will, ensuring leadership succession among nurses.

The conference ended with a candle lighting ceremony led by the organizers of the event, participated by the different institutions, schools, and universities. Of course, I would like to extend my congratulations to my co-organizers, staff, faculty, and to our student council, the Nursing Central Board of Students for having this highly-commendable feat. More power and I’m looking forward for the 2nd International Conference for Nursing Students!

* This post will not and shall not be published in the any publication and is not representative to the UST College of Nursing students. Opinions and comments expressed are the personal views of the author. 

A Night in the Operating Room

Boys night out at the OR :)

It’s 9:50 pm at the UST Hospital Operating Room. Me and three of my group mates are here for our night call. With no cases scheduled until the sun rises, armed with only laptops, books to be read for our lit theses, and drinks (No, not the alcoholic ones), we resort to doing the following: a) revise our thesis work about the effect of video presentation on post-circumcision anxiety, knowledge and pain on children b) play emulator games on one of the computer stations – we currently have three working, one currently being occupied by yours truly c) fatten ourselves with KFC fully loaded meals and other calorie rich food or d) just talk about anything under the sun.

On the early hours of the shift we did letter A. We got too stressed and burned out so we decided to amuse ourselves by doing choice B. Come dinner time, we feasted ourselves with our takeouts that seemed to follow the food pyramid, the inverse one.

Most of the time, we did letter D. It somehow surprised me on how these three people here with me come up with the wackiest of topics. The was a time when they talked on how Hayden Kho looked so hot, how cheeks were so blushed, how his skin so supple as they saw him enter the hospital one time. It was dumbfounded knowing that topic was being discussed by a college varsity football player, a 6 foot tall half-Swiss guy, and a female specie preoccupied guy. Of course, they also talked about girls, the girl who looked like a transvestite in our class. I’m not naming who. By the way, Nsync’s playing in the background.

So there, I’m just really bored right now. I’m just hoping that we will have cases soon, say right now. But until then, we must wait until 6am the next day.

P.S.: I’ll be attending the International Research Conference for Nursing Students (IRCoNS) tomorrow. I’m just so excited about it :)

On How I'll Manage to Complete my DR Cases

One year to go till I graduate college and I still don’t know what to do after. Oh wait, before we get on to that, I still have to complete my requirements for PRC, pass the local board exam, and struggle with all my remaining energy in claiming my license. 

Good thing I wrote this blog entry since it just came to me that I still have zero delivery room cases. (Thanks to my very timely chickenpox infection which made me miss our whole DR rotation in Tondo) If you’re a nursing student, which you are unlikely am, you have to experience three cases of childbirths within your 4-year stay in college, if not, well let’s just say PRC won’t allow you to go get the local boards.

Maybe I should already start dancing at a festival in Obando, hoping my dancing would please God and in turn, bless these faithful women with their longed for fertility. And if God would be generous enough, that fertility blessing could lead to an adequate or better yet, an oversupply of child birth cases to be shared by all nursing students in the Philippines. Whether He would consider me worthy of my wish or not, I seriously doubt He’d fall for it. First, because I believe he wouldn’t be pleased with my motives. Second, I just realized that I won’t do any help since lady common sense would tell us that they’ll probably give birth in one of those distant hospitals in Bulacan and not here in Manila. Poor me.

Maybe I could talk my friends into having pre-marital sex then asking them if I could be the “nurse-in-charge” during their deliveries! No. Bad idea.

Or maybe I could torture some nursing student into giving his case numbers and the clinical instructors’ signature. A hefty sum of money as additional compensation would also be nice. But no, I won’t do that.

Well, we’ll have completion duties this summer so let’s leave that hanging for now.

So prior to my emancipation to the real world, I still have to sum up everything that I learned and force my remaining neurons to suck up everything there is to know in nursing. From the disease processes, to clinical procedures to its legal implications, I must already know by heart. And I, a person who suffer from post-exam amnesia, if there is even such a diagnosis, find it very hard to remember all of our lessons after a span of one grading period. Maybe I’m just being too hard on myself, expecting myself to remember everything and put it to use in a snap as the situation require it. 

I still have a year to learn, and I’m keeping faith on it.

And when I happen to pass the boards and get my very own license , what happens next? I’d end up being one of those unemployed nurses who scratch their bellies while watching TV, hopelessly waiting for a job to sprout in the most unfavorable condition. Or I can probably join the call center bandwagon and be one of those twang clad yuppies, practicing therapeutic communication on irate callers. 

But before I think about that, I’d have to finish first my impending Bioethics paper to be passed tomorrow.

* Entry is based on the creative mind of the writer, some parts may be exaggerated and will not be done by the blog author in real life.

At May Completion Duty pala Bukas

And it all took us by surprise. Good thing I already left Pampanga yesterday to attend the Nursing Journal meeting and the Freshman Campus Tour briefing. I didn’t really attend the latter but I was really glad I went to school that day. We basically talked about the different projects and other things about of the publication. BTW, I just really have to emphasize the plunging neckline t-shirt of our Editor-in-Chief, Kuya Mervyn!
The meeting finished around 2pm.

Just as I arrived home, Martin called me up saying, “Uyyy.. punta ka dito!”

I was like, “WTF!? Kakakagaling ko lang dyan ah.. anu be meron? “

“May completion kayo bukas!” (not his exact wordings)
“Ah talagaaaa?!”
“Dali punta ka na dito, kausapin mo si Asst. Dean!”
“Whaaaatttt?! Anu sasabihin ko? Wait lang, text ko lang mga kagroupmates ko.”

Then, I checked my phone – 5messages received. My group mates were also contacting me all the while.
At 3:30pm, Martin texted saying, “Wala na si Asst.Dean!”

Then I realized, ang gulo talaga ng proseso. Plus, I just learned that our duty tomorrow will be from 2pm to 10pm! But we also have to be early by then since were having duty at Fabella and I really have no idea what to expect there.

Goodluck na lang talaga samin! :/

P.S. I have to go early at UST today to talk to Asst.Dean.

LAKAS Tomasino wins UST CSC Elections, again.

Election period ended even without me realizing it at UST. The reigning party, LAKAS TOMASINO candidates got all the spots in the Central Student Council again albeit the disbanding of their political party (courtesy of the Comelec) which means that they ran as Independent candidates.

What I find intriguing/weird about these set of candidates is that although they're running as Independents, their banners are still clustered into one area. Now, where can you find Independent candidates placing their banners together like one party sans their political party's name?

As for the Nursing local elections, Binuklod ng Isip Sipag at Galing (BISIG) - a member of the LAKAS Tomasino Coalition - managed to conquer all the eight Nursing Student Council positions, unopposed for the 2nd time.

I remember during the Miting de Avance, I was really looking forward in hearing the platforms of the candidates. Sadly, it didn't felt like one,  Sir JV's description better fit the event - a declamation contest. A Miting de Avance should be an event where platforms are discussed and debated, but what happened was otherwise.  The Nursing Comelec should really consider holding foras similar to ABS-CBN's Harapan for the benefit of the voters.

What I saw during the Miting was similar to our prepared speech activity in English, the only difference is that the whole college is watching. Plus, I found some of the projects mentioned in the platforms somewhat irrelevant to the college and some were even out of the scope of student leaders. Sure, some of the projects would be nice to have if pursued, but I believe that there could have been more purposeful and concrete projects that would benefit the nursing community.

In the end, being a student leader is not about what projects were done, but more so, the passion for authentic student service-ship.  

 

UST Nursing Incoming Sophomore FAQ's

Me featuring Christian Alipio as Rawr on UST Nursing Incoming Sophomore FAQ's. 

DISCLAIMER: All statements shown below are just the views of the aforementioned authors. It does not intend to replace the announcements of the UST College of Nursing.

ANO NGA BA TALAGA ANG CUTOFF? 2.00 BA TALAGA?

RJ: Most of the time hindi naman nasusunod yang 2.00 cutoff na yan. Kaso it also depends on the performance of you batchmates. Kung puro uno ang grades nila, possible na tumaas ang cutoff, inaaverage kasi yan. Nung time namin, may kakilala akong 2.40 na nakapasok.

RAWR: ay kakilala akong mas mababa at nakapasok. Saka I think for me, another theory is that the cut-off is dependent kung ilan ang natanggal sa inyo for the whole year. Diba ang sinabi sa inyo ang kukunin lang is 400, at kunyari  nawala si number 400, e di si 401, pasok sya tapos sya na kukuha ng slot mo. Ganun kasi kami, pinagdadasal namin na lahat kami sa class makakuha ng slot para masaya. So kung marami na sa inyong natanggal like ayaw magnursing, nagmigrate or namatay na sa exhaustion kaka-aral, Congrats! sure na kayo atleast may ilang percent nang makakapasok kayo for summer. 

KELAN LALABAS ANG CUT OFF?

RJ: Ha? Saan ba pupunta ang cutoff? Baka nman ang tanong ay kelan lalabas ang list ng mga nakapasa sa cutoff. Depende yan, but definitely bago mag enrollment ay ilalabas din ang results. Pinopost ito sa may 2nd Floor bulletin board, ung malapit sa may bridge papuntang hospital. Dun mo narin makikita ung possible na magiging classmates mo since alphabetical na ang sectioning nyo next year.

RAWR: Ito lang naman ang cause na hindi ka makatulog for like two to three excruciating weeks. Natatandaan nyo yung paper na binigay sating paper about the dates to remember? At nakita nyo bang walang nakalagay dun sa paper? Akala nyo makakalusot na kayo nu! Kahit kami, walang idea kung kailan lalabas, sobrang nagtatawagan at nag-yym pa kami kung pupunta na ba sa ust or hindi.Tapos ilang araw din kaming nagsisimba at nanalanggin nung holy week na ipasa kami. nasa diyos ang awa, nasa tao ang gawa kaya kung ginawa nyo naman ang best nyo. well then sure ako, bibigay sa inyo ni god kung ano ang dapat

RJ: Grabe ka naman! andame mo palang pinagdaanan para dyan. Pero advice ko sainyo, chumillax na muna kayo, get a diversional activity para mawala sa isip nyo yang cut off na yan. All the cards had been dealt, you just have to wait. 

PAG BAGSAK KA SA ISANG SUBJECT, PWEDE KA PA BANG MAKAPASOK?

Hindi, hindi na talaga. Hindi ka rin marereconsider. Mag-shift ka na lang, baka iba talaga kapalaran mo.

PAG WALA KA SA LIST, ANO GAGAWIN MO?

RJ: Iyak ka na! =) Joke lang. First iconfirm mo muna sa office, wag magpanic agad. Pero usually kung wala ka sa list, di ka na pumasa. Pero i-try mo narin baka kasali ka pala tapos umeeksena ka kung saan ipinost ung list.

RAWR: hmm, kung ako sayo, kung katulad ko ikaw, hindi ka iiyak at nakahanda na ang backup plan mo. Nung mga panahon naghahanda na ako kung go or no ang sagot sa nursing, nagreconsider na rin ako ng ilang courses na sigurado para naman hindi para sa wala ang isang taon ko. Well, i've considered pharma, medtech, or the wonderful college of rehabilatation sciences. Drawback is the added year your gonna spent pero on the positive note, i think it will be less stressful considering the pacing since tayo MINAMADALI para magkasya yung 5 years dun sa ilang years na si-net.

RJ: Ano naman ikina wonderful ng CRS?haha But yeah, mas maganda kung medical field parin pasukin po pag bumagsak na ng nursing.

GUSTO KO PARIN SA UST NURSING, KASO WALA AKO SA LIST.

RJ: Kung wala ka namang bagsak, I think the Dean's Office entertains reconsideration letters tapos tatawagan ka na lang nila kung may slots available pa. Pero kung may bagsak ka na, don't expect na.
 

RAWR: Most likely, marami parin naman for sure na namigrate, or nagpalit ng college, or yun nga namatay due to exhaustion. Pero KUNG may bagsak ka tulad nung classmate namin ng nagsayang lang siguro ng one year sa UST para lumipat sa mga asul ng ibon, well, yun. sana binigay mo na lang sakin yung tuition fee mo.

ANO ANG DADALIN PAGTITIGNAN ANG RESULTS?

RJ:Panyo, Pamaypay, PSP (optional), Ballpen, Tissue, at Anti-depressant drugs (in case of emergency), pwede ring bronchodilators kung may asthma ka.

RAWR: uhh, BRING YOUR FRIENDS. that's the best support system ever. at wag lalo ang parents, ayaw namin makakita ng hinihimatay na mommy. Saka maging alert lagi! Naloko kami nung secretary akala namin wala pa yun pala. NILALAGAY na! funniest day ever. And kung ako sa inyo, magdala ka na kayo ng pagkain since for me, kapag umalis kayo, at di nyo inantay, walang excitement.

RJ: Nakakatuwa nga maghintay! Para kaming mga squatter sa medicine building nun.haha

GANO KATAGAL ANG SUMMER CLASS?

RJ: Mga 6 weeks lang naman yan. Parang isang sem din yan, may Monthly's, Prelims at Finals din.

RAWR: Wrong. finals and prelims lang. two grading periods lang diba! walang monthly nun

RJ: Pwedeng magsorry? haha

PAANO YAN MAGBABAKASYON KAMI SA SUMMER? PWEDE BANG HIND MAG SUMMER CLASS?

RJ: Alam ko hindi, kasi pre-requisite ung mga summer subject sa 1st semester ng regular sem. Idelay mo na lang ang bakasyon mo next year. Ay mali, next next year na kasi may summer din pag second year. Or better yet next next next next year pagkatapos mo mag board exams. In short, wag ka na magbakasyon.hehe

RAWR: wag ka nang magnursing para maka-bakasyon ka.

ANO ANG MGA SUBJECT PAG SUMMER?

RJ: Health Assessment at Strategies in Health Education(SHE). Masaya ang Health Assessment, marami kang matutunan dyan, maraming sakit at kung anu anu pa. Syempre matututo kang mag-assess. Pustahan tayo, after ng class nyo dyan inaassess nyo na head-to-toe ung mga kasabay nyo sa jeep.HAHA.

Medyo boring ang SHE, para kayong teacher sa subject na to. Matututo kayong magturo at kung papaano kakausapin ang mga tao based on their age groups.Helpful to pag nag Community Health Nursing at Literacy Training Service kayo.

MAY DUTY NA BA PAG SUMMER?

Wala. Demo-demo lang yan, parang RLE nung 2nd Sem nyo. Magready ka na sa mga salitang, "Good morning po, Ako po si ____________, ako po ang magiging student nurse nyo po today. Ano po palang pangalan nila?" 

Magready ka na rin sa mga return demo na classmate mo yung patient. Get ready to palpate you classamtes!haha Pero syempre guys lang ang patients lagi.

RAWR:
THE MOST FUN EVER!! haha. sa sixth floor clinical laboratory kayo magbobonding ng bago mong RLEMATES!! haha. Syempre may group kayo composing of ten people which magiiba by third or fourth year magiging 12 people. NO SILLY you can't choose your groupmates, kung papano kayo alphabetically, ganun din sya aayusin unless na may madagdag or mabawas sa inyo by second year 1st sem. Kung magiging C.I. nyo si mam evangelista, magpakabait lang kayo ang you'll have the best summer class ever. Promise, Nami-miss na nga namin sya e:( Oo nga pala, tandaan nyo lahat kung papano iaapproach ang patient at lalo na yung mga tatanungin sa assessment dahil importante yan lalo na pag napunta kayo sa OPD or kahit saang area . dyosko. mamatay kayo sa kakahanap ng notes nyo. BTW. heart sounds means nosebleed.     

ANO ANG MGA KELANGAN BILIN FOR SUMMER?

RJ: Wala pa naman gaano. Stethoscope at mga pang-VS ay essentials. The rest, sa pasukan na ng regular sem gagamitin.

RAWR: grabe talaga. napabili ako ng white pants, akala ko magduduty na nung summer pera anyways, masyado akong naging prepared pero kung ok lang sa inyo na bumili na nung lahat ng hihingi nila for first sem, e di go, mayayaman naman ang nursing lalo na sa ust. sa mahal ba naman per sem di pa ba kayo pedeng tawaging mayaman? haha.

KELAN KAMI MAGWHI-WHITE PANTS?

RJ:Kung babae ka, never ka magwhi-white pants. Pero kung lalake ka, sa regular sem na kayo mag-gaganun. RAWR: wag masyadong excited. ang hirap ng nakawhitepants. hindi ka pwedeng umupo kahit saan

KELAN NAMIN MAKUKUHA NAMEPLATE NAMIN?

RJ: Matagal pa yun, usually weeks before kayo magcapping. So mga November pa, wag ka excited. RAWR: YUN!! isang malaking kakulangan sa mundo. Feeling mo hindi ka pa nagfifit-in sa ust community since para kang outcast dahil wala kang pangalan malapit sa iyong puso! haha. Pero kapag nakuha mo yun, worth it na naman. Siguraduhin mo lang umabot ka ng second sem second year para makuha mo yung minimithi mong namelate. Although pampadagdag sya sa mga dinadala atsaka hassle kapag nawala.   

PAANO ANG SCHED NG SUMMER CLASS?

RJ: Syempre everyday parin yan, kaso mas late ng onti. Mga 8 to 3 ata kami nun at pareparehs ang subject araw araw kayo medyo nakaka-umay. Di ko na masyado maalala. Pero hindi kayo matotoxic, masaya mag summer class!   RAWR: Yes, no summer fun dahil everyday at 8 to 3 parin, minsan nga nageextend kasi may ibang araw na hindi namin natatapos yung H.A. lab at kailangan bago exams matapos na yung mga return demo kaya mapipilitan magextend. Depende sa C.I. kung mabusisi or  mabilis lang magturo. Pero yun nga, kung ako sa inyo wala ding kayo time magmall after dahil ang problema kung pare-pareho ang subject nyo araw araw is kung discussion ngayon, the next day e magqu-quiz na kayo kaya kailangan umuwi na kagad kayo. at mag-aral Tapos the the fact na ang S.H.E. namin ay puro presentation kaya kailangan namin magprepare kagad for the next day. I-plan nyo na lang after the summer class ang lahat ng swimming, partying and bonding para walang problema.  

MERON BANG PE PAG SUMMER CLASS?

RJ: Oo, pero araw araw kayo may class. Usually 2 hours a day yan. Pero masaya naman daw. Naubusan kasi ako ng PE slot nun eh.   RAWR: oo. GAWD. korfball ang napili namin at yun yung time na sinisira na yung eng complex para ilipat na sa present day location nya. ANG INIT. Upside is puro nursing lang kayo kaya parang batch bonding narin yun. Malas nyo kapag di kayo nakakuha ng slot dahil mahirap magbalanca ng sched sa second year second sem kung dagdag pa yung pe subject nyo.

ANONG BOOKS ANG KAILANGANG BILIN?

RJ:Ung Health Assessment book lang. Ung SHE kasi di ko man nagamit eh.Sayang sa pera.

BUKAS BA ANG MED CAFE PAG SUMMER?

RJ: Oo. Same operation hours parin naman.

KAILAN ANG ENROLLMENT?

RJ: Mga two weeks before start of classes. Hindi ko pa sure ung schedule eh.

KAILAN ANG PHYSICAL EXAM?

RJ: Bago magstart and regular semester. Bibigyan naman kayo ng guide ng mga professors nyo regarding the schedules. Mahirap lang talaga pag Urinalysis at Fecalysis na, hirap kumuha ng specimen eh.haha

RAWR: Bago magstart, Ang pagkaalala ko mga first sem ata yung e. mga third or second week. Oo nga, ang hirap nga nung fecalysis at Urinalysis. Kailangan kasi minumum mga one-two hours viable yung specimen (alam ko mas less pa nga dun e) Kailangan kasi fresh so kung hindi kayo nakadorm or malapit dito sa ust. MALAS nyo dapat dito na kayo sa ust kumuha ng specimen. hahaha. goodluck sa maduming public bathrooms.

SAAN PWEDE MAGPATAHI NG UNIFORM?

RJ: Aling Ising forever! =) I suggest pagpatahi na kayo ng bagong set, as in pati ung base. Kasi baka hindi magpantay ang kulay ng naninilaw mong base at bagong pants mo. Panget tignan. Wag magpapagawa sa iba, trust me, mahahalata yan.

To all incoming sophomores, if you still have questions, just leave a comment and I'll include it in this post ASAP. Thank you! =)