Things are slowly, slowly falling into a more natural rhythm for me at work. Have you ever seen Sliding Doors the movie? It's about a woman and follows her life in two stories, one if she made a train she was trying to catch and one if she missed that train. If I hadn't decided to move back West and was still on the East coast I probably would have quit nursing and taken up pole dancing and who knows? I could have started this post in that life the exact same way, with the exact same sentence. It applies to nursing AND stripping apparently. Ha ha ha! Anyway, things are slowly coming together, more than last week anyways, but they went and switched up the IV catheters on me again so I (and everyone else thank goodness) are making huge messes when starting IV's with these new little (much safer) devices.
Already I am seeing some pretty unusual medical conditions, some that I have definitely not seen before, including microcephaly and arthrogryposis. Google those if you are bored. If I could only remember every one's name and their position, and where everything is kept I would feel better. Maybe I will make flashcards.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Radio Gaga
My stuff is here!! I have my bed with my 4 inch-thick memory foam magic mattress topper! I never want to get out of it again. Work is going ok, it is so awful to suddenly feel so inadequate and lost again after starting to feel comfortable and like I kind of knew what I was doing. I can completely understand why people only work at one job at one place their entire life, it is definitely the easy, safe thing to do. I am liking work, but the feeling that I am running in circles for the entire 12-hours and not really being efficient makes for long shifts. I know this time will pass, but man is it frustrating. New charting, new policies and procedures, new nurses and doctors, new pass codes, new medicine and equipment machines...I am glad my family is close this time. Talk about humbling.
Already there is vast difference between the patients and the doctors and generally everything compared to the other hospital in the South. Of course there are the single moms that come in and tell us we are their primary care for their entire families, and all the other stupid things, but not in the never-ending, painful quantity that I am used to. I think I probably saw 10 stupid complaints yesterday, as opposed to 28. It makes a big difference. I have been working odd, mid-day shifts and getting home at late, weird hours so today I slept until noon, got up and ate something, then went back to sleep until 5pm and unpacked a little. I am going to go home and make some pasta and watch a movie on my giant tv. I am pretty excited.
Already there is vast difference between the patients and the doctors and generally everything compared to the other hospital in the South. Of course there are the single moms that come in and tell us we are their primary care for their entire families, and all the other stupid things, but not in the never-ending, painful quantity that I am used to. I think I probably saw 10 stupid complaints yesterday, as opposed to 28. It makes a big difference. I have been working odd, mid-day shifts and getting home at late, weird hours so today I slept until noon, got up and ate something, then went back to sleep until 5pm and unpacked a little. I am going to go home and make some pasta and watch a movie on my giant tv. I am pretty excited.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Radio Ga Ga
Yesterday I was at the hospital doing some more orientation work but today I DO NOT have to go by the hospital AT ALL. Thank goodness. Yesterday I was fitted for my HazMat mask...I looked awesome, duh. I hope I never have to utilize one. I felt awesome in a tiny room with a stranger wearing the mask doing all kinds of calisthenics and deep breathing exercises to make sure there were no air leaks. Fabulous. The only neat part about the mask was that part of the filter was hot pink.
Good news, the movers should be delivering my stuff in the next few days!! Furniture, dishes, a BED with SHEETS and BLANKETS, my tv and dvd player...I cannot wait!
Good news, the movers should be delivering my stuff in the next few days!! Furniture, dishes, a BED with SHEETS and BLANKETS, my tv and dvd player...I cannot wait!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
my feet hurt
First shift in the ER is complete. I am sitting in my car in the freezing parking lot picking up the hospital wi-fi to write this. I haven't spent 12 hours on my feet in awhile and am definitely feeling it. A few notes about nurse practice here compared to my other hospital:
Nurses have a larger scope of practice here, from drawing arterial blood, injecting local anesthetic, etc.
There are more nurses here and more doctors per shift for the same amount of patients to be seen as in the other hospital
Triage moves much quicker when there are 3 triages vs. 1 room
There is a much larger population of psychiatric patients here than in the South, approximately 25% of the patient load at any time
I like the Southern hospital's blunt tips better for drawing up meds
Parents pre-medicate their children here
Drug seekers are everywhere
Well that is all my exhausted brain can think of right now. I am going home and getting into that sleeping bag and sleeping.
Nurses have a larger scope of practice here, from drawing arterial blood, injecting local anesthetic, etc.
There are more nurses here and more doctors per shift for the same amount of patients to be seen as in the other hospital
Triage moves much quicker when there are 3 triages vs. 1 room
There is a much larger population of psychiatric patients here than in the South, approximately 25% of the patient load at any time
I like the Southern hospital's blunt tips better for drawing up meds
Parents pre-medicate their children here
Drug seekers are everywhere
Well that is all my exhausted brain can think of right now. I am going home and getting into that sleeping bag and sleeping.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Webcams are unflattering
Tomorrow is my first day back in the ER...looking forward to what the day brings. Today I went to get a manicure and who knew but the little Vietnamese lady who did my nails last put on some heavy-duty military-grade nail polish...I am not even exaggerating, the little man this time had to use a Dremel to get it off...scared me half to death.
Today was a big day at the Bachelorette Pad, aka my condo (I came up with the name myself and am pretty proud). I put a shower rod up in the guest bathroom AND got a new bedside lamp (the other one I had used liberal amounts of Scotch tape on the cord and it smoked occasionally). Pretty fancy. Still no furniture and no ETA....
The pet store is having a sale on birds here.
Today was a big day at the Bachelorette Pad, aka my condo (I came up with the name myself and am pretty proud). I put a shower rod up in the guest bathroom AND got a new bedside lamp (the other one I had used liberal amounts of Scotch tape on the cord and it smoked occasionally). Pretty fancy. Still no furniture and no ETA....
The pet store is having a sale on birds here.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Regression
I think I am regressing. This weekend when I went home my mom and I sat outside on a blanket with pillows and magazines and after a little while I got bored so made her pretend she was on a life raft with me and there were sharks circling. Then we collected a bunch of the apples that had fallen from the apple tree and I got a baseball bat and we went out into the pasture and had batting practice. The pony out there loved eating the remainders of the apples. Today at work all I wanted to do was crawl back in my sleeping bag and read Matilda by Roald Dahl. I wish my sister was here for a slumber party. I think I am regressing back to childhood.
Today was my 6th day of orientation at the hospital, I have been having to learn the new computer charting/order system and today was 7 more hours of computer class. Phew. I am anxious to get in the ER again and make sure I haven't lost all of my skillz. I went and toured the department last week and unsurprisingly the patient majority looks like the exact same kind of clientele that we had in the South, down to the house slippers, missing teeth and dirty clothes and hair. People are the same everywhere.
Today was my 6th day of orientation at the hospital, I have been having to learn the new computer charting/order system and today was 7 more hours of computer class. Phew. I am anxious to get in the ER again and make sure I haven't lost all of my skillz. I went and toured the department last week and unsurprisingly the patient majority looks like the exact same kind of clientele that we had in the South, down to the house slippers, missing teeth and dirty clothes and hair. People are the same everywhere.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)