Nursing « anyways…

Saco Bay Criterium

August 19, 2008 at 1:52 pm | In Extra! Extra!, Health, Nursing | No Comments

Nursing has its privileges. For instance, Steve asked me to be the nurse for the Saco Bay Criterium. It’s a bicycle race. See you there!

Wishes

August 18, 2008 at 10:27 pm | In Glad Tidings, Lundi, Nursing | No Comments

It’s been a while since I’ve written. Lots has happened since I’ve been away. Work and Savannah’s death to name a few. I have had a lot to do and so little time to do it. It seems like whenever I had time off, I was off to somewhere else to do something. Sheesh.
Lundi went to camp at Camp Natarswi, a Girl Scout Camp at Baxter State Park. She had a wonderful experience! You see, what happened is that she went to LL Bean with the family one day. There was a kid’s adventure day there and there were contests to enter. One of the contests, she had to fill out a form and her name was drawn later. The prize was summer camp at one of 5 locations up to $500. Then in addition to that, she received a $200 gift certificate to LL Bean so she could get stocked up to go. She had a wonderful time! The camp was 3.5 hours away and when we went to pick her up and she saw us, she turned the other way and said, “Bye!” She didn’t want to come home, she had so much fun. Lundi got her wish to go to a summer camp.
The olympic story of Michael Phelps is amazing! I was inspired by a recent quote by him that I saw in a newspaper…it goes like this - “With so many people saying it couldn’t be done, all it takes is an imagination,” Michael Phelps. I felt that truth because a lot of people told me of the impossibility of becoming a nurse. He’s right. It takes imagination. Nursing has been absolutely wonderful! I’ve had a few of my own patients. There have been overwhelming moments, rewarding moments and learning moments. Emergency nursing is something I never thought possible right out of nursing school. I got my wish, though…and I think I fit right in. I had to work on Sunday. I looked over my training materials and found a few things to focus on for the day. One of the things was blood transfusions. So I told them…“please let me know if you have a patient who needs blood, because I need to get the experience.” I got my wish, but it was with my own patient. I gave a blood transfusion on my own real sick patient. He had many problems in the past that seemed to be culminating on this one episode. He was a busy patient.
Yesterday afternoon, I was listening to music, and one of the songs that came up was Savannah’s song. She had a song made for her. It’s so cute! I have it because I made a DVD of her life that included that song. You see, she died this month before her 8th birthday. I had the honor of making 2 DVD’s with about 1,000 pictures in a slideshow set to music. One of the DVD’s was of her 2 visits to Disney - one of which was on the tab of the Make A Wish Foundation. She wished to go to Disney and she got her wish. Then the cancer came back and she wanted to go back again. This time, the WHOLE family went - grandparents and all. These DVD’s were filled with her smiles and fun times. It was a tribute to her life. I had a hard time containing my emotions while putting it together. Savannah is such a gift. The wonderful stories of her life were amazing. Here’s one more - it happened after her funeral. I shared her story with so many of the nurses at the hospital. One of the nurses, my preceptor, recently lost her husband a year ago yesterday. I showed her the program from Savannah’s funeral and it had a poem with author unknown. She loved it so much that she photocopied it and published it yesterday in a local paper to memorialize his passing. Savannah has given in so many ways - intentional and intentional - known and unknown. I wish that I will never forget - and that I can witness many more of her gifts - even after she’s gone.

Day 4 Nursing

July 4, 2008 at 10:27 pm | In Emergency Nursing, Nursing | No Comments

This was my fourth day on the job. I spent from 7a until 3p with Rescue 1. Brian was my preceptor. We talked about what EMS does with the patient before they come into the ED. They don’t use squat for aseptic technique and there are certain protocols that each kind of patient would get (e.g. a cardiac patient will get nitro paste, BP, aspirin, maybe fentenyl, then EKG, etc.). I got a tour of the back of the rig and even went on 2 calls. I would have gone on more if there were morHe, but it was a really slow day. There were no calls. I did get to know the culture of the fire department and rescue. They are potty mouths and I felt uncomfortable being around them. The two calls I went on included a transfer from a nursing home to the hospital for blood in urine. The other one was a syncopal woman with new antihypertensive meds. I am amazed that the fire and rescue staff are so not used and rather unrespected.

I went to work at the ED after that. EKG’s were my deal. Except that I didn’t actually do any until the end of the night, where I did one. I felt like I was fumbling over myself. It was kind of like I was in clinical all over again. Oh well, I will get used to it. The ED was really slow too. Barely anybody getting hurt. That’s good, but bad for me. I was however able to get into meeting people in the ED and feel out the culture a bit. One nurse, Naomi who has been a nurse for 10 years is very opinionated. She said that emergency nurses should be in med-surg first. However, she does have faith in Nancy in that Nancy says they can train a new grad. Any new grad. I feel fortunate to be in the ED. It’s an honor. I also get it that they take a lot of patients who shouldn’t be there. Sore throats, dental pain, bruises. I am nervous. Can I do it? Yes. I can…but, it’s hard.

Day one of Nursing

June 30, 2008 at 9:53 pm | In Health, Nursing | No Comments

Today was my first day of working at HAPPY Hospital. I was excited and it was nice to get paid for working. All I did today was tour, meet, read and take care of logistics. More of that is planned for tomorrow. They will be scheduling me for different departments in the hospital, including riding in a hospital ambulance to transfer patients. We will be building skills, learning procedures and getting socialized in the new culture of the emergency department. The other nurse is a recent graduate of my OTHER nursing school…Central Maine Medical Center School of Nursing. She and I were in the same ERI Pre-RN seminar together. Nice to see her. I look forward to tomorrow.

I will also start going to the gym again tomorrow morning. We’ll see how that turns out.

Back to Back

June 19, 2008 at 8:36 am | In Nursing | No Comments

NEWS from my home front. I just got a phone call from HAPPY Hospital. They have been batting around my health issues for the last week. As you may remember, my back isn’t in the best condition. In the pre-employment health screening, they found this information. They requested more information from my physician. Then, my physician’s office gave them what they had. HAPPY Hospital said that wasn’t enough. My Dr. said we have no more. HAPPY Hospital said there has to be more. My doc said, oh ya, there it is…that makes sense…but I have to dictate it first. Hold on. Then they finally did it and sent it to HAPPY Hospital. HAPPY Hospital can’t clear me for employment until this is over. So I get a call this morning. They said I have a 40 pound restriction, however, my manager is out of the country until the 25th, when he will make a decision if this is OK or not. In the meantime, the New Grad Nurses orientation at HAPPY Hospital is starting Monday and the next one is at the end of July. This means that I will not start (if approved) at HAPPY Hospital until the end of July. This is bad. I need work now, not in a month. So, I may have to take another job somewhere else (if I can find one before then). Ugh. To quote a friend recently: “I must say though, to cope with the rollercoaster ride of the nursing career process you have to be made of strong stuff to take the hits and still have one iota of self-confidence.”

NCLEX-PASSED!

June 11, 2008 at 8:39 am | In Nursing, Nursing School | 1 Comment

I found out this morning at 5:15 am that I passed the NCLEX-RN and that I am now a licensed Registered Nurse. I called and told my mother at 5:45. I am elated and ready to work!

NCLEX-DONE

June 9, 2008 at 11:20 am | In Nursing, Nursing School | No Comments

So I finished the NCLEX at about 80 questions. The waiting period is HELL. I remember last year when I took the NCLEX-PN. I knew I failed and the test shut off at 85 questions (the minimum). I did just fine and passed last time. THIS TIME, I either did just fine and passed or failed miserably. Ugh. Some questions were no-brainers. Some were bad. Oh well. I may have passed - I may have failed miserably. We’ll see.

NCLEX-RN

June 9, 2008 at 6:53 am | In Nursing, Nursing School | 1 Comment

I am at the Fairfield Inn, Bangor, Maine. I only spent $69 to stay the night here. WOW! I’m here because I am going to take the NCLEX-RN exam this morning at 0800. I am worth the exam and ready for it. I can pass and I will pass. Thank you Heavenly Father for helping me through this. I am looking forward to the exam and I CAN DO THIS! easy, hard, harder hardest, then 71 more hardest questions and I can go home! HEHE!

Saturday (a few days ago) started a hazy, hot & humid bout. It’s been hot here. Kim went to Amber’s baby shower that day and I was able to put the air conditioners in before she returned late. She loved it and the house is now cool! Kim is miserably pregnant. I was able to clean the kitchen and living room quite well. Caleb cleaned the yard and living room (with me on the living room).

I slept well last night and was scared awake by the alarm clock here. It was so loud. Breakfast was good (waffle, hard boiled egg, milk, english muffin, OJ). Now I am going to look over a few things before I brush and leave. Oh yes, prayers and scriptures.

Last night I watched X-Men - much against the advice of NCLEX seminar teachers. Oh well…I couldn’t resist. I had cable for a night.

National Nurses Week

April 9, 2008 at 12:17 am | In Nursing, Nursing School | No Comments

It is from May 6 through May 12. Visit the ANA here to learn more. Visit their media kit to really learn more. May 8 is Student Nurses Day. Visit the NSNA’s announcement page to learn more. Go here at www.nursesdirect.com to buy gifts for nurses (or the student nurse) in your life.

Creating Peace

April 3, 2008 at 10:04 pm | In Credo, Nursing | No Comments

I found this quote on my fridge. It is about creating peace. I am a nurse and realize that we as nurses must work within a framework and timeframe. But therapeutically speaking, patients need to empty their hearts. We can assess their needs, but for patients to be helped (truly) we can show caring and compassion by giving them this opportunity.

As a spiritual leader - one who is a home teacher, father and husband…this is also very important. For the spiritually well or sick…for the physically ill or fit…listen and really feel the emptying of one’s heart…