YKYW - Nursing Student Blog

Whoa. Excuse me while I get my smelling salts! A veritable cornucopia of nursing caps! I love it! I see about ten I would wear, and some that are beyond the pale! One looks like a gas station attendant should have it on (circa 1950s) and one looks like a paper airplane. There is one in the middle, third [...]

Just prior to submitting an application for my first-choice job, I wrote (individual, customized letters) to the senior nurse recruiter, the education manager and the manager of the OR hoping to establish some name recognition … Is there a such thing as overkill? Maybe they’ll just read it for the excitement that it is? [...]

i didn’t get my annual raise. after the initial disappointment, the need to know increased. i looked over my evaluation and noticed that out of over 30 evaluation items, i got less than 10 items with a score of 4, and the rest were 3. i will be lying if i say i was happy with that. [...]

A few weeks ago we had an adorable patient who was having some gastrointestinal problems. Basically, she was almost constantly leaking diarrhea. Because of the diarrhea she had the worst diaper rash I have ever seen, and the doctors suspected she also had a UTI (urinary tract infection). They ordered that we collect a urine sample by inserting a small catheter into her urethra to draw the urine directly from her bladder. Normally this is not too difficult, but when there is constant leakage in the area, it adds new challenges. She would scream and kick when her diaper was changed because the rash was so painful- and the activity of her fighting would cause more diarrhea to come out forcefully. In other words, we were probably going to get squirt with some diarrhea. Her doctor, who is a quiet, no-nonsense kind of guy warned us to be careful. We went into the room wearing trash-bag looking gowns and bright yellow face masks and hoped for the best. Thankfully, I didn't notice any diarrhea flying through the air during the procedure, but my main focus was on getting the sample. Once we were done and the girl had calmed back down, I returned to the nursing station to send the sample to the lab. The doctor stopped the conversation he was in to stare at me. Was he going to congratulate me for successfully getting this difficult sample? "What is that brown stuff on your scrubs?!" he asked, eyes wide, pointing at my shoulder. I froze and all I could think was, "Crap." I slowly looked down at my scrubs but didn't see anything out of place. I looked back at the doctor and saw that the quiet, always professional man was hunched over laughing. Ha ha. Very funny, smart guy. Just wait until the night nurse calls you at 3:30 am to ask for a Tylenol order.   ;)

Hey, I have company to watch the game with today! Zippy posts about it!

Hey everyone! Zippy and I went to Starbucks! Zippy even treated! You can read about the adventure at Fun With Zippy! Let’s just say that salted, caramel hot chocolate is just about the most delicious drink I’ve ever had! Think of a chocolate, caramel pretzel. And get the sea salt on the whipped cream! Yum!

Change of Shift is now up over at NurseLinkUp, hosted by our old friend Keith of Digital Doorway! The autumn theme has made me want to go get a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Looks like Zippy and I will be making a trip this afternoon! Many thanks to Keith for hosting. The next CoS is back [...]

there were photos to prove it, but still, i shake my head. in the pictures, she was completely out. she was unarousable, holding a 10 ml syringe with about 2 ml of powdery, whitish fluid remaining, about 4 inches away from her IV access. the unknown fluid was sent to the lab for identification, and was found to [...]

Yeah, it’s finally up! The list of topics for BlogWorld09 is up! I voted already! Go ahead and vote now - choose eight topics you would like to see. *** How to vote: 1. Click on “Comment” at the bottom of the poll. 2. Click on the “Vote” tab. You should then be able to pick your eight topics. 3. If [...]

Hey! Zippy here! Kim finally came home! She was on a trip when I arrived, how rude but that’s okay! I’m here at an undisclosed location in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yeah, I was already in San Francisco, but Kim says we’re just going to hang out. I need some rest after my Hawaiian adventure. [...]

(Well, I thought I was homeward bound. Turns out they overbooked my flight from Phoenix to Oakland, and needed volunteers to take a later flight. What’s in it for me? A bigger jet, dinner and a free round-trip ticket to anywhere US Airways flies in the US. Hello? Heck yeah, I’ll volunteer! I’m exhausted but [...]

The lights are out, the stage is empty, the 2008 ENA Annual Conference and Scientific Assembly is over. The memories and stories remain. I’m heading home this morning, where I will be processing, and writing, blog posts about and inspired by my time at the ENA conference. Next stop: the 2009 Conference in Baltimore! If you have never [...]

if my mom didn’t die in 2001, she would have turned 74 today. it would have been expected that the memory of her birthday caused this bout of deep ugly thoughts, but hosnestly, it really doesn’t have anything to do with it. for the most part, i always focus on the the memories of her life [...]

Greetings from Minneapolis, where it is absolutely beautiful. I love this city. Here at the Convention Center, I have access to the Press Room! Okay, it’s a room with tables and internet connections, but it’s a Press Room! I, ladies and gentlemen, am “the press”. And I have the credentials to prove it! ***** It feels like an “All Access” [...]

I can’t believe I am actually here in beautiful Minneapolis (land of James Lileks, my blogfather!) for the ENA Annual Meeting and Scientific Assembly! I already have a ton of post ideas - six, to be exact, and that was just from the keynote address! I did want to mention, before going on, that I met Zippy’s [...]

so, displacement. i get it. sick people are usually sweet, nice people who only get to show their ugly side when they are in the hospital, because they can’t help it. when they are dependent on others, they lose control of themselves, their lives, and then they snap. i get it. i am one hundred percent sure [...]

My psych clinicals were pretty interesting. We spent some time observing at a state mental hospital, and I was assigned to the forensic unit. Patients on the forensic unit are there because they committed some type of crime, and the courts are trying to settle issues of competency to stand trial. I [...]

i really need to hear an explanation for this. i do not understand it and i’ve been racking my little brain thinking of reasons, but i can’t come up with anything logical. my burning question: why is it that SOME patients give nurses THE attitude? it doesn’t make sense. we are the ones who give patients everything that they need [...]

More Wedding Pictures

i looked away when she went out of the room, almost running, trying to get away from it all. her voice was tensed and i knew it took a lot to hold those tears. she told me to hold her mother’s right arm, and make sure she won’t reach her foley catheter. i have never seen a [...]

i was off from work since friday, and will only be back to work tonight. the past days were spent visiting my dad, who, by the way, has a picture of obama and clinton, kissing. it was posted on his kitchen door. i assumed he hasn’t found something new to amuse his visitors, thus the obviously late [...]

i’ve always talked about you being so unbelievably thoughtful, i am often touched. people would either smile or laugh, but thing is, i wasn’t even kidding. when we got those chocolate bars you brought back from your vacation in hawaii, and i said, “C is really something else. how can she remember all of us when she is [...]

My Knee