Well the Capitol Health School of Nursing chapter of my book is now complete. One year and done. Great kids, great hospital, could be a great nursing school, and it will be one day. But for now I'm done. From labs, to lecture, to clinical rotations in long-term care, med/surg, the emergency room/trauma center, to inpatient psych, and the Trenton State Psychiatric Hospital, it's all been a hoot.
Yesterday was our last day in the class room and the kids sent me off with a bang. One thing is for sure, it's really nice to be appreciated and remembered. It was a little over a year ago when kids from Essex County College sent me off with a similar gathering. What's funny is,
both groups hung banners that said, "Congratulations Quitter". I don't know how that happened. I'd like to think I didn't quit on any of them and I know I worked hard in helping them help themselves navigate through nursing school and into practice.
When I told the kids yesterday I had been wearing the same t-shirt for two days, because stuff is either packed up or in the laundry, they quickly said, "No worries, we can fix that". One student has a $20 a month subscription to ChatGpt and below is what she came up with.
While the above is funny, it's also scary where all this technology, like AI, is taking us. AI is like ADHD. The brain is moving faster then the body can keep up with it. So while we are enjoying things like the above, the machines are running 24/7 and will one day control, or short circuit everything. The next collapse of society will be one big AI computer related meltdown.
We are using AI and ChatGpt for everything these days. From patient notes in healthcare, to quick questions and answers, to algorithms for commerce, to tracking and forecasting everyones every move everywhere everyday- it's scary to say the least. But the people who master it will succeed, and will be rich, at least financially, in the process.
One day positions like nursing instructors may be a thing of the past, or at least as I know it. Currently, we have moved from bedside instruction to classroom "simulation". It's like having sex with a rubber doll practicing for the big day when you go "live". Not the same by any means. We've replaced textbooks and paper with on-line books and V-Sims. And, we've replaced true nursing educators, like ones with tons of experience, with any Master's prepared nurse who's done with bedside or wants to do the last years before they retire in the classroom. And I won't even get into all of the on-line, virtual, and hybrid nursing programs out there. That's from entry into practice, to bachelors, to Masters, to Doctorate level. Calling someone a "Doctor" who spent a year answering threaded discussions and writing papers....C'mon man, or woman. I'll call you by your first name thank you.
By the time I left the kids yesterday my blood sugar was about 800. In addition to a few bagels, some Munchkins, Ronah's cake, I chased it with some chicken and rice and ribs, and then topped it off with some candy. Today I'll try and let my pancreas rest a bit.
And after today's final exam it's go time. We might have a little situation with the well water system that needs to be addressed. While we haven't been ingesting E-coli out here for years there's some other stuff we've been brewing our coffee in that we shouldn't have. But unless you get your water tested regularly you're probably drinking the same shit I am. We'll see where this goes starting tomorrow.