Getting down and dirty . . .

Well the 15month decline into nursing, nursing, and more nursing has begun as 43 of us showed up for duty on Monday at the UIC College of Nursing. This is an accelerated program of very distinguished scholars from all over . . . all eager to start their first day of meeting the manikins, bedpans, foley catheters and bathing techniques of everyday hospital hygiene. It was a grueling week, starting of with many technical glitches on Blackboard (for those of my friends unversed in modern education, Blackboard is the technological, communication hub of every class now . . . yet another cost to you to print out handouts that they post of the web -- I think I may have already worked through 3/4 of a ream of paper) and ending with two days of 7hours of lectures. Our class gathers after hours on a Google groups where the fine points of the days are worked out together, like did anyone understand what that syllabus said, or does anyone yet understand what we are supposed to be doing for this 8credit hour class? And some of the more mundane questions . . . which are the best all white shoes to buy for clinicals . . . and an all time favorite what bar should we hit after Friday class. But mostly this week it was about survival and the hope that if we get this far in we can go the distance. It was a week of much doubt and confusion, but also spotted with moments of how friends and family will develop out of this thrown together community of sorts and how we may one day not have to fake that we know what they talking about . . . we actually will feel more a part of the powerful heritage of nursing.