Tuesday, January 10, 2012
shocked to see my blog!
I was named in the top 50 blogs for student nurses to read at onlinelpntorn.org back in April 2011. Wow! I wish I'd have know back then. Thanks!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
needed inspiration
"I have had crippling despair at times about my job, too. Sometimes the difference between what I expected and what actually occurred blinded me from my original passion and filled me with dread and desolation as if the bright sun in my heart had extinguished. Make changes until you find yourself in the place where your passion for nursing is allowed to be expressed to the fullness of your original design. Life is too short for misery when we work so hard. Remember the organic motivation you once felt and let that guide your choices as you seek to find yourself in a place of professional fulfillment."
~anonymous
~anonymous
Sunday, January 1, 2012
for the love of the written word
Now that I've been out of nursing school for oh, about a year and a half I've finally delved back into books. This time around I'm reading strictly for pleasure. So far I've read (click on the titles for links to Amazon with reviews):
Remember Me? About Lexi, who wakes up with amnesia. Loved it!
Sounds Like Crazy This one's about a woman with DID. If you like psychology based novels, you'll like this one!
The Help Excellent and enlightening story!
Playing Dirty If you like smut novels...this one's for YOU!
Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back This story was special. It took me forever to read it. A co-worker had let me borrow the hard copy book and after delving into the world of ebooks via Kindle, via my ASUS EeePad, I decided to upload it. Then I read it, in one day. I'd love to read a version from Colton, if he were to ever write it.
In my queue:
The Lovely Bones
Oxygen
Water for Elephants
Moon Shell Beach
The Watson Brothers
I have a bunch of other books I've collected over time from clearance racks, or those that just sounded good to me. I think this is a good start to getting back into the written word.
In my queue:
The Lovely Bones
Oxygen
Water for Elephants
Moon Shell Beach
The Watson Brothers
I have a bunch of other books I've collected over time from clearance racks, or those that just sounded good to me. I think this is a good start to getting back into the written word.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
meet Pippa
The newest member of my family is a little tiger-striped gray tabby. My youngest son's GF somehow talked my husband into adopting a third cat! Well, she's the second indoor cat now!
She is a mess and a half!
She is a mess and a half!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
debacle
That's the perfect one word way to sum up my first night back at work. Hellacious comes to mind as well. Shitty even.
It doesn't help that within minutes of getting settled into listening to report that my lower GI system starts to act up, putting a really big dent into any hopes of getting things off to a good start. Any delays in getting your shift off right can cause your whole shift to be one huge massive time crunch...as if they're not that way already!
Having a patient with respiratory issues and needing to call a rapid response was just the icing on the cake! Then it only took, what, five hours to get him down to the ICU!?!
Oh what a night!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It doesn't help that within minutes of getting settled into listening to report that my lower GI system starts to act up, putting a really big dent into any hopes of getting things off to a good start. Any delays in getting your shift off right can cause your whole shift to be one huge massive time crunch...as if they're not that way already!
Having a patient with respiratory issues and needing to call a rapid response was just the icing on the cake! Then it only took, what, five hours to get him down to the ICU!?!
Oh what a night!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, November 3, 2011
thoughts o' pondering
I'm thinking....have been thinking...about returning to school for my master's. That being said I'm not quite sure I want to get my MSN or go another route, but still in health care. I've thought about public health with a focus in epidemiology, healthcare administration, and then as far as MSN: admin, public health, and I've even considered education. Its all very confusing, as I'm not solid on one particular track thus far. That, and, different schools offer different programs. I'm pretty sure I don't want to choose a program that is all face-to-face classes, as I'd like to have the option of taking some courses online. Ugh. Decisions...
Back to reality...
Tonight I return to work after being out for my surgery for nearly a month. I'm excited to go and get back into the swing of things. I've missed caring for patients and some of the people I work with, as I am a social creature. Staying at home is no longer something I can do fulltime!
I've healed up quite nicely. My only problem has been the lingering pain in my right side, which has gotten better, but at times - especially after twisting just so - its more uncomfortable. I do have a peek-a-boo suture. It's most likely an internal suture that decided to surface from one of my five abdominal incisions. Every so often I give it a gentle tug to see if it has loosened enough from it's internal resting spot and so far, nope. I look like I have a shopping tag sticking out of me. You know how you get a stuffed animal and when you clip the tag it remains sticking out until you pioke it back in? Yep, mine doesn't budge either way! I go back at the end of the month fo rmy next post opfollow-up and will point it out to my surgeon. That's if it's still there by then.
Monday, October 17, 2011
to blog or not to blog
It has been a while...no it's been forever since I last typed anything here on the ole bloggity blog blog blogger.
Time flies when you're having fun?
It certainly does! The past few months have been all-that-makes contentment. Sure there have been plenty of struggles, but the good has far outweighed the bad and I hope to be around more often. I've toyed with letting the blog die off, leaving it for others to read through, especially those nursing students out there who might need something to help with the insanity, but not keeping it up any further. In the past it's sometimes been a burden to keep up.
So much goes on in my head, hence "order & chaos", so I figure I'll share, if only sparingly.
It seems some come and read and have left comments along the way, so I figure why not use this to let it all out!
Where to start?
The j.o.b.
Three years ago when I first started this blog, if you'd told me I'd end up in med/surg nursing I'd have laughed straight into your face. Weeellll, currently you'd be able to throw back the laughs. It's been great. Sure, there are times it's frustrating and challenges beyond what I want, but it's fulfilling and it's great for experience. Will I stick with it long-term? Doubtful.
Alas, I don't really know what I really want to do in nursing right now, so I'll ride it out until June and then reevaluate. Well, knowing me that'll start mid-March.
So, I've been burning the midnight oil, caring for patients from a 21 yo with cancer to a 90-something with exacerbation-o-everything. I've had a couple of peds patients, several knees, hips, backs, pneumonias, copd'ers, type 2 diabetes, and some with more than one problem.
One thing I've gained is a certain essence, a sort of finesse. I no longer feel like a bumbling student. <<<---priceless.
We are family
The boys are men. LB is off to his freshman year of college and is having the time of his life. AW is a sophomore in high school. He's loving being the only SMan to rule the school, no longer living directly in his brother's shadow. Big B started a new job a few months ago and is loving it.
Latest big deal
After months (years) of dealing with problematic periods (endometriosis, fibroids, abnormal paps, etc) I took the plunge and had a total hysterectomy with both tubes and ovaries yanked as well. That was just this past Wednesday. It was done by daVinci robot. I highly recommend this surgical option. My recovery has been great. I was on Dilaudid for about two full days, and took it for the first three nights at home. Advil/Tylenol PMs have been doing the trick since. I'm having a bit of a problem with what I'm guessing is an adhesion from a previous surgery that was disrupted intraoperatively, and is now angry. It's a pain deep in my right side, that doesn't coincide with one of the incisions directly. It's about 2 inches off from one of the incisions, about where an instrument may have grazed.
It's been driving me crazy to keep up "taking it easy". You never realize how much you do until you can't do it!
Mi casa
I've pretty much resolved to the fact that we aren't getting out of our current home, all thanks to the totally upside down mortgage, without renting it and the difficulties that go along with that. Instead of wallowing in self-pity we've been working on some improvements. We finally put in new carpet up our stairs and on the whole second floor. It's plush and gorgeous. We bought a new king-sized bedroom set and squeezed into the 12x17 space. Again, may I proclaim the gorgeousness of our choice!? Its been fun redecorating. We also redecorated LB's room some, but have left it to primarily being his room. He'll just have to deal with my craft table and the treadmill I plan on purchasing for my butt improvement project. We're going to redecorate the computer room/man cave. And along with other downstairs tasks we plan to put in hardwoods or laminate on the entire first floor and ditch all the carpet. We've talked about adding on to our bedroom out the back, to extend and make a larger bathroom. Our upstairs bathrooms are, I kid you not, probably 7x7 feet total...including the space the single vanity, toilet and small tub take up. So, while I've made an oasis into our his/her boudoir, the bathroom just got a few minor cosmetic improvements, but needs some major ones....STAT.
I've also toyed with the idea of buying a beach house down in NC. On that note, I'm off to scope out what's available!
Time flies when you're having fun?
It certainly does! The past few months have been all-that-makes contentment. Sure there have been plenty of struggles, but the good has far outweighed the bad and I hope to be around more often. I've toyed with letting the blog die off, leaving it for others to read through, especially those nursing students out there who might need something to help with the insanity, but not keeping it up any further. In the past it's sometimes been a burden to keep up.
So much goes on in my head, hence "order & chaos", so I figure I'll share, if only sparingly.
It seems some come and read and have left comments along the way, so I figure why not use this to let it all out!
Where to start?
The j.o.b.
Three years ago when I first started this blog, if you'd told me I'd end up in med/surg nursing I'd have laughed straight into your face. Weeellll, currently you'd be able to throw back the laughs. It's been great. Sure, there are times it's frustrating and challenges beyond what I want, but it's fulfilling and it's great for experience. Will I stick with it long-term? Doubtful.
Alas, I don't really know what I really want to do in nursing right now, so I'll ride it out until June and then reevaluate. Well, knowing me that'll start mid-March.
So, I've been burning the midnight oil, caring for patients from a 21 yo with cancer to a 90-something with exacerbation-o-everything. I've had a couple of peds patients, several knees, hips, backs, pneumonias, copd'ers, type 2 diabetes, and some with more than one problem.
One thing I've gained is a certain essence, a sort of finesse. I no longer feel like a bumbling student. <<<---priceless.
We are family
The boys are men. LB is off to his freshman year of college and is having the time of his life. AW is a sophomore in high school. He's loving being the only SMan to rule the school, no longer living directly in his brother's shadow. Big B started a new job a few months ago and is loving it.
Latest big deal
After months (years) of dealing with problematic periods (endometriosis, fibroids, abnormal paps, etc) I took the plunge and had a total hysterectomy with both tubes and ovaries yanked as well. That was just this past Wednesday. It was done by daVinci robot. I highly recommend this surgical option. My recovery has been great. I was on Dilaudid for about two full days, and took it for the first three nights at home. Advil/Tylenol PMs have been doing the trick since. I'm having a bit of a problem with what I'm guessing is an adhesion from a previous surgery that was disrupted intraoperatively, and is now angry. It's a pain deep in my right side, that doesn't coincide with one of the incisions directly. It's about 2 inches off from one of the incisions, about where an instrument may have grazed.
It's been driving me crazy to keep up "taking it easy". You never realize how much you do until you can't do it!
Mi casa
I've pretty much resolved to the fact that we aren't getting out of our current home, all thanks to the totally upside down mortgage, without renting it and the difficulties that go along with that. Instead of wallowing in self-pity we've been working on some improvements. We finally put in new carpet up our stairs and on the whole second floor. It's plush and gorgeous. We bought a new king-sized bedroom set and squeezed into the 12x17 space. Again, may I proclaim the gorgeousness of our choice!? Its been fun redecorating. We also redecorated LB's room some, but have left it to primarily being his room. He'll just have to deal with my craft table and the treadmill I plan on purchasing for my butt improvement project. We're going to redecorate the computer room/man cave. And along with other downstairs tasks we plan to put in hardwoods or laminate on the entire first floor and ditch all the carpet. We've talked about adding on to our bedroom out the back, to extend and make a larger bathroom. Our upstairs bathrooms are, I kid you not, probably 7x7 feet total...including the space the single vanity, toilet and small tub take up. So, while I've made an oasis into our his/her boudoir, the bathroom just got a few minor cosmetic improvements, but needs some major ones....STAT.
I've also toyed with the idea of buying a beach house down in NC. On that note, I'm off to scope out what's available!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
oh, what a relief it is!
Monday morning, around 0930 my phone rang. I looked at it and recognized the name attached to the number. It was her.
Within the past few weeks there have been many ups and downs in my professional world. I even went so far as to interviewing for a central scheduling position at The Hospital, that I was willingly going to take if it had been offered. Heck, the schedule would have been perfect. M-F, 10-1, with the possibility of going full-time, maybe. I'd been told my nursing background created interest in me for the position. I was excited.
Prior to that I'd applied for a FT RN position for the skilled unit at the nursing facility attached to The Hospital. I received a call, then, informing me that I had to choose between that or going forward with applying for the new grad program to start in July, that at that point wasn't a solid possibility. So, after thinking on it over that weekend I chose to move forward with the application for the skilled unit. At least then I'd have my foot in the door. Last week I received an email informing me the position had been filled. One of my friends, who works there, informed me that the night nurse had spoken up and taken it.
Of course, all of this came after applying and interviewing for the RN position on the ortho/peds unit in late-March/early-April.
This Monday morning my phone rang, it was her, the HR rep, and she had good news. I thought she was calling to offer me the scheduling position. Wrong!! She offered me the RN position on the ortho/peds unit! FT nights, start date June 6th! I've been on cloud 9 ever since!
Now that's a way to start a Monday! Mountain moved.
Within the past few weeks there have been many ups and downs in my professional world. I even went so far as to interviewing for a central scheduling position at The Hospital, that I was willingly going to take if it had been offered. Heck, the schedule would have been perfect. M-F, 10-1, with the possibility of going full-time, maybe. I'd been told my nursing background created interest in me for the position. I was excited.
Prior to that I'd applied for a FT RN position for the skilled unit at the nursing facility attached to The Hospital. I received a call, then, informing me that I had to choose between that or going forward with applying for the new grad program to start in July, that at that point wasn't a solid possibility. So, after thinking on it over that weekend I chose to move forward with the application for the skilled unit. At least then I'd have my foot in the door. Last week I received an email informing me the position had been filled. One of my friends, who works there, informed me that the night nurse had spoken up and taken it.
Of course, all of this came after applying and interviewing for the RN position on the ortho/peds unit in late-March/early-April.
This Monday morning my phone rang, it was her, the HR rep, and she had good news. I thought she was calling to offer me the scheduling position. Wrong!! She offered me the RN position on the ortho/peds unit! FT nights, start date June 6th! I've been on cloud 9 ever since!
Now that's a way to start a Monday! Mountain moved.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
winsomelosesome
Yesterday I heard the "bad news" as well as the "good news". Evidently, the mountain I just recently tried moving has only budged a little bit. After, what, nearly three weeks I was put more into my misery than out of it.
The HR person called with the news. She informed me that the "bad news is we can't move forward at this time...unable to support new grad...."
The good news?
They've decided to open a new grad program in July.
Sure, that's stupendously great news...for a new grad.
I guess that's what I'm being labeled, thanks to still being a new nurse and even more thanks to my experience being from a rehab/nursing home setting. I get it. I get that although my experiences have been great technically speaking, that technically speaking they're not hospital quality. The long-term care world is a different world than that of the hospital. I can appreciate that I will basically need re(inforced)training on some things. There hasn't been a lot of top notch guidance or teaching, so a lot of what I've learned has been sheerly on-the-job and is only supported by the foundational training I was given in school.
That all being said, I am intelligent. I am a quick learner.
I will admit this past year and a few months, since the onset of my last semester of nursing school, has been extremely challenging and might even leave most leaving the profession.
I've never been one to quit, no matter how tempting it's been. There comes a point when, like Kenny says, "You've gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away and know when to run."
I'm 40-years old and it's extremely frustrating to me because I feel at this point in my life I should be beyond where I'm at, professionally speaking, than where I am. I know that I don't want to spend the next 20 years doing bedside nursing.
Right now it's like being at a professional crossroads. Do I stick it out and go for the new grad program at The Hospital or do I apply as a RN2 at other hospitals, which some are probably even better choices experience-wise, but not as close or whatever reasons I have to look at in deciding where to work hospital-wise. That's a whole other blog post.
Or at this point do I fold them, and run, looking elsewhere, possibly using my BS in psych somehow?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The HR person called with the news. She informed me that the "bad news is we can't move forward at this time...unable to support new grad...."
The good news?
They've decided to open a new grad program in July.
Sure, that's stupendously great news...for a new grad.
I guess that's what I'm being labeled, thanks to still being a new nurse and even more thanks to my experience being from a rehab/nursing home setting. I get it. I get that although my experiences have been great technically speaking, that technically speaking they're not hospital quality. The long-term care world is a different world than that of the hospital. I can appreciate that I will basically need re(inforced)training on some things. There hasn't been a lot of top notch guidance or teaching, so a lot of what I've learned has been sheerly on-the-job and is only supported by the foundational training I was given in school.
That all being said, I am intelligent. I am a quick learner.
I will admit this past year and a few months, since the onset of my last semester of nursing school, has been extremely challenging and might even leave most leaving the profession.
I've never been one to quit, no matter how tempting it's been. There comes a point when, like Kenny says, "You've gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away and know when to run."
I'm 40-years old and it's extremely frustrating to me because I feel at this point in my life I should be beyond where I'm at, professionally speaking, than where I am. I know that I don't want to spend the next 20 years doing bedside nursing.
Right now it's like being at a professional crossroads. Do I stick it out and go for the new grad program at The Hospital or do I apply as a RN2 at other hospitals, which some are probably even better choices experience-wise, but not as close or whatever reasons I have to look at in deciding where to work hospital-wise. That's a whole other blog post.
Or at this point do I fold them, and run, looking elsewhere, possibly using my BS in psych somehow?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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