One of my coworkers was telling me about a little old demented granny she took care of the other day. This LOL kept trying to climb out of bed, and even though we set the bed to the lowest ortho height possible it still wouldn't be a desirable outcome to fall and break a hip. My coworker tried everything she could think of to keep this lady in bed - but that granny was DETERMINED to get out of bed so she could make it to the salon for her manicure.
I'm not even lying. That was the reason for the great escape attempts.
After many failed attempts at redirection, my coworker finally decided to go get a bowl of warm water, a surgical scrub brush, and some soap. She sat there for ten minutes and scrubbed this lady's fingernails, put a bit of lotion on her hands, and then towel dried them.
It was like there was a new patient in the bed. She was calm, cooperative, and decided to take a nap after the manicure. I am a big fan of this coworker of mine, and it's for reasons like this. Also if I ever need a manicure, I know who to go to.
Monday, February 24, 2020
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Restless
It's a little bit nuts that I've now been at my current hospital for as long as my original Home Hospital. I started my nursing career in January 2009, and left that job to go traveling in July 2012. I remember getting the itch to travel somewhere around winter 2011.
A couple months ago, I was feeling burnt out, sick of work, and actively looking for a job in a different department. I've gotten past that low point now, but when reflecting back on those rough few weeks I realized that was the exact same amount of time it took me to become restless in my first job. I decided to go traveling, but now that I'm a married homeowner in Texas I don't have the same solution available.
I suppose I'll have to find another way to push through the restlessness. Perhaps getting cross trained in a different unit? Maybe picking up an extra committee or class? Maybe I'll take a leave of absence and do a legit travel assignment somewhere! Wouldn't that be interesting...
A couple months ago, I was feeling burnt out, sick of work, and actively looking for a job in a different department. I've gotten past that low point now, but when reflecting back on those rough few weeks I realized that was the exact same amount of time it took me to become restless in my first job. I decided to go traveling, but now that I'm a married homeowner in Texas I don't have the same solution available.
I suppose I'll have to find another way to push through the restlessness. Perhaps getting cross trained in a different unit? Maybe picking up an extra committee or class? Maybe I'll take a leave of absence and do a legit travel assignment somewhere! Wouldn't that be interesting...
Sunday, February 9, 2020
Continuing Education
I recently joked that I would die as a crusty old beside ER nurse, and that whatever hospital is dumb enough to keep me hired on would be stuck with my cranky ass forever.
All joking aside, I really do think that's true. I don't have any desire to go back to school for my NP, as I don't want to spend time sitting through BS nursing theory classes and I definitely don't want to be a prescriber. The NP market where I live is especially saturated, so I'd end up in a minute clinic or doctor's office anyway, which is about as far from ER as I can imagine.
I abhor the thought of becoming management - or at least upper management. I could possibly see myself becoming a charge nurse, or maybe even something like a clinical supervisor where I get to do low level stuff like scheduling, yearly evaluations, and conflict resolution between coworkers while at the same time being able to do some bedside nursing. But upper management? Fuck that noise. All these positions of chief people officer, chief nursing assistance big shot person officer, chief resource person...all of those may as well be titled Chief Bullshit Person. They're unnecessary, and a huge part of the reason why hospital costs are ballooning out of control while the ones actually providing care are wrung out until theres nothing left to do but quit.
I don't want to be a full time professor, as that requires a Master's Degree and thusly a big NOPE. Perhaps I could be a clinical instructor and help educate the brand new nursing students, but that would only be part time.
No, I think I just want to be the best goddamn clinical nurse you've ever seen. I want to be the nurse with a zillion certifications, not so I can list them but so that I can gain that knowledge. I want to be the nurse that everyone comes to for advice, or to run a question by, or to double check a skill against. I want to be the nurse who knows every single staff member in the hospital, who to call to find something, and all the door codes to all the secret supply rooms. I want every patient of mine to be able to subconsciously recognize that I can take excellent care of them. I want to be able to train new graduates and make them into good nurses. I want every staff member to think "she's really good at this." I want to be the best I can be, for the benefit of my patients.
Yes, I think I'm alright with being "just" a staff nurse forever.
All joking aside, I really do think that's true. I don't have any desire to go back to school for my NP, as I don't want to spend time sitting through BS nursing theory classes and I definitely don't want to be a prescriber. The NP market where I live is especially saturated, so I'd end up in a minute clinic or doctor's office anyway, which is about as far from ER as I can imagine.
I abhor the thought of becoming management - or at least upper management. I could possibly see myself becoming a charge nurse, or maybe even something like a clinical supervisor where I get to do low level stuff like scheduling, yearly evaluations, and conflict resolution between coworkers while at the same time being able to do some bedside nursing. But upper management? Fuck that noise. All these positions of chief people officer, chief nursing assistance big shot person officer, chief resource person...all of those may as well be titled Chief Bullshit Person. They're unnecessary, and a huge part of the reason why hospital costs are ballooning out of control while the ones actually providing care are wrung out until theres nothing left to do but quit.
I don't want to be a full time professor, as that requires a Master's Degree and thusly a big NOPE. Perhaps I could be a clinical instructor and help educate the brand new nursing students, but that would only be part time.
No, I think I just want to be the best goddamn clinical nurse you've ever seen. I want to be the nurse with a zillion certifications, not so I can list them but so that I can gain that knowledge. I want to be the nurse that everyone comes to for advice, or to run a question by, or to double check a skill against. I want to be the nurse who knows every single staff member in the hospital, who to call to find something, and all the door codes to all the secret supply rooms. I want every patient of mine to be able to subconsciously recognize that I can take excellent care of them. I want to be able to train new graduates and make them into good nurses. I want every staff member to think "she's really good at this." I want to be the best I can be, for the benefit of my patients.
Yes, I think I'm alright with being "just" a staff nurse forever.
Friday, February 7, 2020
Slow
While I love the chaotic intensity of the ER, I absolutely cherish the slow days. The ones where I get to hear the life story of a nonagenarian, ask their secrets to a long and happy marriage, and compare notes on interesting places to visit. The days where I get to spend an hour picking blood clots out of their hair without hurting their tender scalps. The days where the family and I hug each other when
I drop the patient off in their inpatient room. The days when the patient can't eat the turkey sandwich from the ER fridge, but tries to slip me a five dollar bill after I offer up the yogurt from my lunchbox. The days when I get to be cheerfully snarky to the sharp witted ones because they eat it up and love trading jokes. The days when, instead of struggling with unsafe work loads, I get to be a real nurse and actually take care of a patient instead of just their conditions.
I love those days.
I drop the patient off in their inpatient room. The days when the patient can't eat the turkey sandwich from the ER fridge, but tries to slip me a five dollar bill after I offer up the yogurt from my lunchbox. The days when I get to be cheerfully snarky to the sharp witted ones because they eat it up and love trading jokes. The days when, instead of struggling with unsafe work loads, I get to be a real nurse and actually take care of a patient instead of just their conditions.
I love those days.
Thursday, February 6, 2020
The Good Fight
Y'all, I'm still here fighting the good fight. We're standing strong against the dumb dumbs of the ER world, but the battle rages on without an end in sight.
Last night, a lady brings her very old grandpa with a very obviously broken tib fib up into the ER drive. She parks the car and walks in to ask for help with getting him out of the car. A few of us grab a wheelchair and head out, but she hesitated in the lobby instead of joining us back at the car. She nervously looked around, and then finally marches back up to the triage desk. "I'm going to take him somewhere else. There's so many people here wearing masks. I don't want him to get that coronavirus!"
She then comes out to the car, stops us from getting him out of the backseat, and tells him "okay grandpa, we're going somewhere else without any of these sick people!" Poor dude looked like he was about to cry, but there was no arguing with her as she sped away. People, man.
Last night, a lady brings her very old grandpa with a very obviously broken tib fib up into the ER drive. She parks the car and walks in to ask for help with getting him out of the car. A few of us grab a wheelchair and head out, but she hesitated in the lobby instead of joining us back at the car. She nervously looked around, and then finally marches back up to the triage desk. "I'm going to take him somewhere else. There's so many people here wearing masks. I don't want him to get that coronavirus!"
She then comes out to the car, stops us from getting him out of the backseat, and tells him "okay grandpa, we're going somewhere else without any of these sick people!" Poor dude looked like he was about to cry, but there was no arguing with her as she sped away. People, man.
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