How I learned to mind my own business

A Day in the Life of Me

0545- Woke up at. have to be at work between 6:38-6:45

0546- Went back to sleep

0615- Woke up, forgot I was supposed to go to work. went back to sleep.

0625- Woke up. confused, thinking "why is my alarm going off?? Oh crap!"

0645- Clocked in!!

0730- Discovered a new eczema spot behind my left ear...

0731- Convinced myself that I either

a) have leprosy or

b) contracted some sort of rash causing disease

0740- Convince Batman [my nickname for one of the doctors at our hospital] to look at my leprosy and tell me what it is

0745- GOOD NEWS: its just eczema!!! BAD NEWS: it still itches like the dickens!!

0900- The pharmacy finally opens so I can buy cortizone cream

1040- We (me+the nurse I'm orienting) get 4 discharges and 2 admissions all at the same time

1100- It's hot, I feel nauseated

1300- LUNCH

1500- It's 110 degrees outside...so hot that the air feels like its not working. I start to get Nauseated again because it's so hot... I'm now itching everywhere...99% positive I have a heat rash

1900- Night shift!!! Yay!

2000-I found a potato in my kitchen cabinet ...only, I don't remember buying a potato...but unfortunately it remembers when I bought it...feeling nauseated for like the 10th time today

2100- I'm eating pasta, but its too hot and I drop it and somehow it burns my chest...still not sure how that happened

Sally & Romeo

So I went back to work this weekend (which probably wasn't the best idea cause I don't think I was quite ready yet...), anywho, we had these lovely patients this weekend who were straight up confused, disoriented, you name it. Well one of my co-workers got the idea to make them some dolls out of towels to give them something to do...so I grabbed some towels and rubber bands and went to work...and then we started adding onto them and well this is the result:

I think we did pretty well considering that we basically only had office supplies to make these!

Well after we made them I held them up to show our little friends and one of them got so excited! She was absolutely precious! I seriously felt like Santa Claus and I was giving Ralphie the Red Ryder BB gun that he so desperately wanted (catch that movie reference??). I WISH that I could have videoed her getting those dolls!!! (If it wasn't like against the law, then I might have called her family and asked for permission) She was SO stinkin' cute!!!! She would have won America's Funniest Home Videos, like no competition.

Well we had to keep a close eye on our little friends, so they were chillin' with me at the nurses' station while I charted and this little lady started talking about her children and how she "left them in bed." I asked her what her children's names were (to see if she was remembering her actual family or making up something) and she said "Oh I named our boy Romeo, after my husband." ....wrong. So I kinda expected her "daughter's" name to be Juliet, so I asked and she said "oh no, her name is Sally, after me" ....wrong again. I have absolutely no idea where that name came from, but the look she gave me when she said that just about made me pee my pants with laughter. Now, I don't want you to think that I was laughing AT my patient, cause I wouldn't do that. She was TRYING to make me laugh. She even told her family members that she was a comedian (which was even funnier). So I went and got her "babies" out of her room and brought them to her cause she was "so worried about them" and when I gave them to her she threw them on the table next to her. I told her "now are you taking good care of them?" and reached towards them, then she grabbed my hands and said "oh don't touch them, they're behaving!" Then I smiled and winked at her (which is something that I've only recently learned how to do...sad I know) and she thought that was hilarious (cause I kind of have to over-exaggerate my facial expression to make it turn out as an actual wink...so it actually does look rather comical), so for the rest of the weekend I'd wink at her from across the nurses' station or as I was walking by and she'd just get to laughing...it was so cute! Not gonna lie, this little lady made my weekend bearable. My jaw hurts. like seriously. but I was still able to smile! Thanks to "Sally & Romeo's" mother. If I ever get Dementia or lose my mind in any fashion then I hope to be as sweet and funny as this little lady is....patients like her are why I love being a nurse!!

Attitude

Today I discovered the one thing that someone can say to me that will truly insult me. Today I was basically called racist, granted it was by a drug addict with multiple cancerous brain tumors, but it made me so mad that I was literally shaking. But before I could say anything, my co-workers were right there to defend me and it made me feel SO much better that they had my back!

It's amazing how insults, even from someone who probably doesn't really mean them, can completely ruin your day and completely change your attitude. Which brings me to one of my favorite quotes:

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

~ Charles R. Swindoll (pastor)

After today, I really did need some chocolate cake...

really I needed alcohol but I have to work tomorrow.

GCSU nursing graduates top national licensing board exam in 2010

There's an article about how the nursing graduates of 2010 basically rocked the NCLEX!

"Georgia College nursing graduates who took the national licensing exam for the first time in 2010 earned the highest overall pass rate among public colleges and universities across Georgia.

With a first-take pass rate of 98.81 percent, 83 of the 84 Georgia College graduates who took the exam during 2010 made the grade."

Just another indicator that I attended one of the best Nursing schools in the country.

Day 338: Work: High/Low

Low: I got fussed at by a doctor for the 1st time today...it was not fun


High: another doctor complimented me and told me I was a life saver

Lesson of the day: you win some, you lose some...

Day 257: Walk Like a Duck

I have found the answers to all of my problems....well at least I've learned how to not fall as much. I just have to walk like a duck. That's right, a duck.

At work I have to take all of these annual safety modules that are supposed to teach you about the most up to date way to be safe and review the things that you should already know. Today's module was about decreasing your risk of falls...I think they singled me out on this one.

I personally enjoy the picture of the duck.

(I thought this was a joke when I first read it...but they're actually serious)