Monday, August 27, 2007

Deja Vu

“They say when you die your whole life flashes before your eyes. If let's say for some reason I get to kick the bucket during the boards [e.g. choke on my #2 pencil], will all the stuff I reviewed flash before me?

“Yep. It flashed. But the answer ain't nowhere to be found.”


*


June 10-11, 2007. Nurses Licensure Examinations. Last year I took it somewhere at the outskirts of Manila, almost near Pasay City where public transport no longer could reach. This time, I took it somewhere in the University Belt. At the lair of the Red Warriors. A place too hostile, and polluted, for a tame tiger like me.


Initially shocked with the questions. Some are lifted from a 2,304-page book, while some, from the testmaker’s personal and private experiences. Results pending, everything is in a halt. The verdict, on the other hand, was promised by mid-July.


Mid-June 2007. Went to Boracay with family, most of them from the States. Wallowed under the sun praying to Ra for a good, even tan. End result: pallor-be-gone, welcome my glorious tan (imagine Addison’s disease, or Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome)
.


Mid-July 2007.
PRC made a statement. Too many examinees, so few optical checking machines. 36% of the total examinees, however, passed. Guessing whose papers they were, er, matching the papers from the serial number I mean, will take an eternity. PRC promised to release the results by August 15.


July to August 2007. Prayed to God that the results will be favorable. Wholeheartedly accepted the possibility of failing. Failing because of low grades, okay; but failing because of simple erasures, incorrect shading or clerical errors, not okay.


August 14, 2007. Received rumors, er, messages that the results will be out by midnight. Darn, has to be awake by midnight. Resting heart rate accelerated at 133 bpm, a few beats more and I might have a heart attack. Had to do something to divert too much adrenaline. Updated my blog, concocted Colors of the Wind and Vanessa Williams post.


August 15, 2007. 12 midnight. Checked PRC.gov, Inquirer, Manila Bulletin. Shoot no results. Had that sinking feeling that everybody knew except me and that no one had the courage to tell me. Message received in the morning that the testmakers are still finalizing the checking of the papers until the 20th.


August 20, 2007. Testmakers must be finished checking by now. Read from an Internet site that an insider from PRC said that results will be released by the 27th. On the other hand, a professor said, it will be on the 29th. A blogmate said, on September. I said why not December?


August 25, 2007. The rest of my plans are still in a gray area. For the past couple of days, I have waited. Waited and prayed that
I may accept whatever the results may be.


We wait. We pray. I blog.


"I should’ve choked on my #2 pencil. At least if not for lead poisoning, I would have had a perforated esophagus. And the healing time will be not this painful."


August 26, 2007. Received an SMS that results have been finally released. And I guess,
all the waiting is worth it. Yup, I passed. Just like a Déjà vu.

"A
nd this time, it flashed. And the answer is exactly the one that I want.
"


Nursing license, here I come. Again.


*

Once again, I would like to thank every one of you for your prayers and well-wishes. Thank you for sticking with me through these trying times. Filled with eternal gratitude, I offer back my sincerest appreciations to everyone who have held my hand as I travel this tortuous and thorny path. For that, I will be forever indebted. Again, CONGRATULATIONS to all of us and GOODLUCK.

48 comments:

Nk. said...

congratulations!!! =)

KC said...

congrats ruff! oo nga we have the same entry.

..and we took the exams at the same venue. i took it at the lair of the red warriors. =)

Cory said...

hey ruff! congrats! way to go! oh yeah kitakits dito! see you very soon..

saisho said...

that's great. congrats!!!

a reason why i sticked with journalism, kahit ayaw ng parents ko, kasi i know di ko kakayanin ang ganyang waiting-hoping-whatever feeling.

congrats uli and good luck sa iyong future-endeavor-whatever. hehe

aja!

engz said...

ay ang galing...

congratz po..welcome to the real nurse's world..

please stay. let us serve the Filipinos.

Anonymous said...

congrats!!!

worth the wait diba...

he he...

arnie said...

ruff, congrats sa yo.:D
ang galing-galing!
thank you nga pala sa pagbati mo.:D
soon will be REAL RNs. (after 2 months)
See yah on the oath taking!;)

leeflailmarch said...

Congratulations! Praise God! :D Weee!

Napansin ko lang, ganda ng ngiti mo sa license photo mo ah. :D Love yer smile. :)

Anonymous said...

congrats to u Nurse rufruf! and to all ur friend who passed d exams! yes ur long angst of waiting finally punctuationed with a Gloria (not PGMA) in d highest heavens! (bet dats how u feel now!) =)

Drake said...

Ei Ruff! Kudos to you!

"...for a tame tiger like me."

Didn't know you're a fellow Thomasian. Congrats again Ruff! God bless you!

[chocoley] said...

Yehey, yew passed the exam, now you are certified nurse and ready to work ;)

Anonymous said...

congratulations on passing the boards and getting your license. wow, you had a long wait! i don't know if i could have kept my sanity.
here in california, after graduation from nursing school (here in the us), we send a licensure application to the california state board of nursing and within a month i got a letter from them stating that i'm eligible to test and then i just need to schedule to take the licensing exam using computer through pearson and voila within 10 days, you can check on line to see if you passed.
but your license from the philippines looks so much nicer than the plain grey ones they give from the california state boards. we don't even have our picture on the pocket license.
best of luck in your nursing career!

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@NIKI: Thanks! I always love the first comments.

@KC: Ooooh we should have met! Just kidding. I took the tests at their law building. Aside from the splinter-rich chairs and the polluted air (outside, that is), I think everything went well naman. =) No offense meant, by the way, to the red warriors.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@CORY: Thanks thanks. About the kitakits part, well, that’s still quite debatable. It’s complicated. Hehehe. But thanks cory for the invite. =)

@SAISHO: Thanks. My parents are more excited than I was. But yeah, I wouldn’t want my *future kids to take up a course requiring board exams too. Pero syempre aside yun from Medicine and Nursing. Hahaha. UST got a 98% (well 99% technically) passing rate by the way. They’re planning for a celebration to which I have resigned not to attend. Do you write for the Varsitarian if I may ask.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@ENGS: Thanks engz! Yup I will. I took nursing naman talaga for the passion of it eh; the financial rewards are not in my priorities as of the moment. I will stay, and yeah I will serve.

@KINGDADDYRICH: Actually, I almost lost all of my body’s adrenaline supply for the next 10 years by just waiting for my name to come out on the screen last Sunday. But yeah, it was worth the wait. The looong wait. Hehehe.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@ARNIE: Congrats to us for the job well done. Well, I used to be a real RN naman (hmmm technically) before the scandal blah blah, but I guess the passing is sweeter this time around hahaha. Though the initial anticipation was not that strong, it’s still enough a reason to celebrate. And by celebrate, I mean sleeping well each night, being hopeful for new opportunities, and of course, the proverbial eating.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@MYK: God, indeed, make miracles. Especially that my papers had lots and lots and lots of erasures. And thanks! I still have that picture by the way, though I’m planning to have a new pic in my new license. Red shirt perhaps?
-And thanks for the compliments myk, I guess that’s what 3 years of looking like Betty (the braces, you know) could do for a set of teeth that has more malocclusions and malpositions than upright ones. Hehehe. Congrats ulit!

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@JOSH: Yup josh. “I’m walking on sunshine hey hey hey…” The real problem now is reporting back to duty. Did you know that deaths in ICU and critical care areas in hospitals peak between the months of September and January? And guess when I’ll be back to my duty. Yup, September.

@DRAKE: Thanks! You’re a Thomasian too? =) You sure you haven’t seen me around? Naaah, I’m that forgettable naman eh. I guess this passing of mine was the karmic retribution of my past pains don’t you think? First comes the tears, then the joys.

Anonymous said...

hey ruff! its nice to know youve passed! welcome to the nurses world :D

^^ thanks for the vist even though im on hiatus. :d

will visit you still.

Anonymous said...

hey ruff! its nice to know youve passed! welcome to the nurses world :D

^^ thanks for the vist even though im on hiatus. :d

will visit you still.

Anonymous said...

and hey, reading the comments, i learned youre a thomasian.

^^ LOL. Fellow tomasino. How could i be so dumb for not knowing youre from UST as well.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@DAZED: Certified nurse? Yeah. Ready to work again? Naaah. Just kidding. I’ve got to go back on my readings again. Huhuhu.

@DOKD: Dokd thanks for always dropping by! But yeah that was a long wait. Last year when I took it, it just took 1 month for the results to be released. They blamed the bulk of examinees for this year’s boards, I blame their improper treatment of our papers. =) (its still isn't computerized if i may add)...
-Most of my friends who have plans of working there have already submitted an application too, ie BNE California, and have even passed their NCLEX exams. Before they have to take the tests either in Hong Kong or Saipan but now that pearson vue already had a testing center here in Manila, most of them have been taking their NCLEXs here even before the results of our local boards have been released. Though it is optional, some of them have to take the cgfns (some states require it for a foreign graduate nurse) and an English proficiency exam, which may either be IELTS or TOEFL/TOEIC. Then the visa screen, then off they go to your side of the planet. =)
-But yeah our licenses here are nicer... I think. My sister's nursing license (she works in texas) is much like yours I guess.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@NETHERCHILD: Thanks! I guess the real challenge has just begun. When will you be back by the way? I hope it'll be soon..
-And yeah, batch 2006 ako. Kaw? =) feel ko nagkakakitaan tayo sa college eh! Hehehe. Thanks nether ha! =) Are you aware of the luncheon ceremonies of UST for the board passers by the way? Have you attended in one? I'm planning on boycotting this year's. =)

saisho said...

The nursing program of UST is, as they say, one of the best, if not the best. Of course biased nanaman ako. 98%, what happened sa 2%, lol.

And no, hindi ako writer ng varsi. Tuwing magaaply na ako, 1 week nagkakasakit at hindi nakakapasok, sakto sa deadline ng applications. Kaya hanggang society paper lng ako. Lol. Pero lagi naman akong nasa varsi, karamihan dun journ majors – malamang.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

I agree saisho! Hahaha. Siguro one of the best na lang, masyado namang braggy to say ...., you know what I mean . Hmmm, about the 2%, the admin is thinking on clerical errors (yung mga mali yung shading or hindi na-shade yung set of exams or maraming erasures), but of course, lagi namang merong mga fatalities, er, morbidities I mean. Yung mga hindi talaga nag-aral, or wala lang, feel lang nilang bumagsak (meron bang ganun?)..

One of my friends is a staffer i guess. Elaine? Familiar with that name? And the bald guy? Hehe. And Jaud? I joined pauts kc for the past 4 years (brag alert), kaya I know some of the staffers din. =) OMG my comment is becoming too airy. Sowie

Anonymous said...

Again, congratulations. =)

-marvin

Meg said...

congrats!

Anonymous said...

nurse ruffy, i had a share of those death thing in d hospital. Though am not a medical practitioner, was once asigned to d general govt hospital in cotabato city (layo bay), cleaning d windows and sweeping floors dat is part of our "exposure" from my studies in NDU cotabato. While doing my thing in d emergency room, a muslim bro, in his 40's i guess, was X rayed and found a bullet in his head. Then he collapsed and died... yikes, i really shy away from hospitals, being an asthmatic patient myself... wala lang, share share lang po. =(

saisho said...

si jaud yung sa photogs, naging classmate ko yun sa taxation. hmmm, bald guy 3 kalbo kilala ko dun eh.

ok lang magyabang, may ipagyayabang naman eh. lol. ok stop na.

Qtheconqueror said...

Yes! You're now officially nurse ruff! Heh. Go out and save stupid American lives and make tons of money in the process :)

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@MARVIN: Thanks! Hope to see you back. If I may ask, have we met before? Hehehe. Just curious.

@MEG: Echoes back from Marvin. Thank you so much.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@JOSH: How about the idea of having nasogastric tubes inserted into the brain? Hehe. Just kidding. Once had a patient who almost stabbed me using my own bandage scissors. And oh, his arms (both of them) are in restraints by the way.
-Good thing my colleague stopped him just in time. And when he was discharged, he even had the guts to visit us in the ward. Not to kill though, but to give us something (foods, some stuffs, etc).
-But yeah, hospitals can be *really scary sometimes.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@SAISHO: Hahaha. I couldn't agree more. =) Ok, stop na ulit.

@Q the CONQUEROR: Thanks!!! The saving of the American lives will have to wait... for now. =) Hirap muna (and by hirap, I mean the country) bago sarap. =)

KC said...

*lol* sana nga nagkita tayo sa home of the red warriors if we had known each other earlier.

maganda naman ang vibe dun sa room sa CAS building na pinag-examan ko.

ang galing natin. yehey! and dapat lang na ipagmalaki nyo ang UST. 98% is very impressive considering na 500+ examinees kayo. ako nga pinapaulit-ulit ko na 97% kami at top 3 ang school namin. haha!

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@KC. I'm just not in the mood for celebrating. Hehe. By the way, I just came from PRC. If you want to have your results verified (what grade you got, or if you have some friends who failed and wanted to see their grades, etc) you can go to the main office this sept 1 & 3 for examinees whose surnames begin with letter C. As for the others, D starts on Sept 4, and so on. I'm planning to go on Saturday. =) Might as well check my grades na. Hehehe. Are you going? Hehehe.

KC said...

yup. i'm going with my friends on saturday. i hope the lines aren't that long as that of the registration prior to the exams. i want to see my rating. kahit line of 7 pa yun, i don't care. whee!

chase / chubz said...

tame tiger??? you??
i find that very hard to believe.
heheheheh

congratz!
ako naman bar exams!!!
hahahahaha..
probably next
next
next
next
next
next
year. ahahahahah

Anonymous said...

uhm, don't have any idea, really. =) anyway, gusto ko yung silhoutte pic mo. =)

-marvin

aries said...

palakpakan... wala bang pakain dyan! ahihihi

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@KC: Ill be there too. Hiding in the crowd, that is.

@CHASE: Thanks chase! Tame naman talaga eh? Or am I? Goodluck sa bar exams in the future chase ha, alam ko naman na kayang-kaya mo yan, kaw pa, you're very diligent, studious and inspired. Oh diba? Kayang kaya yan! Baka nga topnotcher pa eh! =)

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@MARVIN: I see. Thanks by the way. Ewan ko nga kung bakit ako nagtatakip ng mukha eh? Hahaha. Aaaah, the hospital pala.. that is. =)

@ARIES: Thanks. Wala pa aries eh, next year perhaps? =) Blog reunion, you think? Hehe

drew said...

nice ruff you have made it. Most of my friend passed the exam and they told me the exam was really difficult..
congatulations... Nurse ruff.

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

Thanks for the visit drew, i appreciated you dropping by. Yeah it was hard, i almost gave up after the 1st day. Hahaha.

But it was all good. =) "I still have promises to keep... and miles to go before i sleep..."

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