Rabbit Rabbit

This morning was the first morning in my life that I said "Rabbit Rabbit" when I woke up. You are supposed to say that as the first thing that you say on the first day of a month, but I have never remembered. It's supposed to bring good luck, so this November is off too a positive start already.

You can read about the superstition here. Wikipedia says that "Some have also believed [the superstition] is representing a jumping into the future and moving ahead with life and happiness." Things are starting to look up for me and my nursing career, so I think that this is a good sign.

I had my first clinical on Tuesday, and it went really well. This was for my Certified Assistant Nursing course. This is just a 75-hour certification course that I am taking to work as a Nurses Aide in the hospital and get some nursing experience while I take courses. The class is almost done-- I aced the theory section, and now we get six “clincials” or classes in a practical setting-- in my case, a nursing home.

Even after just a few hours I have already learned so much. I as assigned to a gentleman who needed help eating. He did not speak, and I didn't know why. At first I was actually a little jealous of the other students who were assisting with the more vocal residents who gave animated feedback-- the only feedback that I got from “my guy” was to see if he opened his mouth when I brought food to his lips. If he didn't open his mouth, he didn't want it.

Eventually I started to talk to him. I told him about why I came to Sioux City, what I thought of nursing, what I thought of the town, what I thought about the food that he was eating. I blabbled on about how I was trying to drink more milk after reading about the benefits of calcium in my Anatomy and nutrition courses. I talked about the different food groups and told him what he was getting. Eventually I asked a rhetorical question and was shocked when he grunted in agreement. Up until that moment, I had assumed that since he didn't talk, he didn't listen and he didn't understand. Although as a student I had vowed that I wouldn't make that mistake (I was one of the few in the class that talked to the CPR dummies, or “Annies”) I had just made it. That was one of the best lessons that I learned in the class, and it came from a teacher with no degree.