Nursing
My Boss is an Idiot
Since I stepped down from my management position and went back to working in the field, there have been many changes in the office. Some for the good – – some not so good. Not a big deal to me, actually, I do my best to stay away from the office as much as I possibly can. This totally suits me and I’m actually very amazed at how very easy it was for me to walk away from the office and let it all go. Yesterday, my new boss got a taste of what the dynamic is of the group […]
I can't shit!
What do you suppose I was thinking? I decided to put a fresh coat of polish on my nails before leaving for work – but I did it before putting my shoes and socks on. So, now I have to wait. Stupid girl. I’ve been female my whole life (gotta clarify that these days, ya know?) – – you’d think I’d have these manicure rules down by now? I have a patient to go see right away this morning. He hasn’t pooped in three days and is having anxiety attacks because of it. He called this morning. I answered the […]
Happy Day!
To all the nurses out there, and I know there a few you out there in blogland – Happy National Nurses Day! Did your employer remember you today? Mine didn’t. Which is no big deal, really – in the past decade, I can’t remember an employer who actually did. One of my employers said they wouldn’t recognize the nurses on that day because then they’d be ignoring the rest of the team who contribute just as much. Other employers just look at you with a blank stare and say, “Oh, is today Nurse’s Day?”. Ah well – – we know […]
Poppies! Poppies! Poppies!
Our Pharmacist alerted us that there is an ongoing shortage of the Morphine soltabs that we use so often with our patients. They are tiny little morphine pills that dissolve underneath the patients tongue. Makes for easy morphine delivery for patients who cannot swallow pills. He gave us many different alternatives that we can use instead. But, because we are creatures of habit and really really dislike change – – of course, we whined. Our Pharmacist assured us that it would be temporary. Morphine is from opium…which is from poppies….which grow in abundance in the Middle East and Asia. Damn […]
The On-Call Blues
It must be my Adult ADD – at least that’s what I’m blaming it on. Either that, or I’m just flat-out insane. Believe what you want — the rumors aren’t true! Today, I was (still am) on call for work. Being the only on-call nurse for Hospice when there are 80 patients that span 4 different counties is no small task, let me just say. I know, I know – – you’ve all heard me whine incessantly about this before. You must say to yourself, “Lisa…then why do it?” Well, I only have to do call about 4-6 times a […]
Home Early
Today is the first official day of my switch back to ‘field’ work. I happily took the management hat off . . . dropped it on the floor, and stepped on it (when no one was looking, of course.) I hopped into my car…cranked up my radio and gleefully sipped my coffee as I travelled to my patients all day long. It’s one of the things I’ve missed most about doing this job…well, really I miss two things. 1.) Seeing patients and 2.) Getting home by 3pm. Some days, the priority rating on those two things switch — but I’m […]
Quack Quack
Yes, that’s right. I’m on call again for work. I love my work – I do. I enjoy what I do quite a lot. But I absolutely despise being on call. We currently have 85 patients. Those patients span 4 counties. The farthest patient away from my front door is about an hour drive. Those 85 patients are spread out about an hour each way – north, south, east and west. When we are on call – we are ONE nurse on call for all those patients spanning that entire territory. So, I just sit and wait for the pager […]
Restful Duck
My 24 hour call is officially over – I am no longer a sitting duck! **collective applause** I didn’t have too bad of a day/night, overall. I had two deaths to attend and one new admission. The last death call I did was at 6am this morning. It was quite emotional for everyone involved – but odd. I mean, from time to time, I do come across some odd people in this line of work. I don’t ever judge them for their behaviors simply because I am generally coming into their lives at a very stressful and emotional time in […]
Sitting Duck Blurfings
Today – I’m on call. I hate being on call – but it’s one of those necessary evils of my job. I always feel like a sitting duck on the days I’m on call. My call lasts from 8:30 am today until 8:30 am tomorrow – – so I just sit around and wait for that pager to go off. Which means I can’t really do anything for that 24 hour period except anticipate the pager. Can’t start any projects, can’t really go shopping, can’t even take a nap…not really. Usually – it’s the minute that I start something that […]
One for the guys
I’m beginning my transition at work. Today I spent 1/2 the day out seeing patients, and 1/2 the day in the office. I’m getting there – – I can’t wait until the transition is complete and I’m spending 100% of my time out in the field with patients. It’ll get there. Thank god it’s the weekend, though. I inserted a coude catheter today. I’m blogging this one for the guys because I just love to make you guys cringe. What’s the difference between a coude and a regular catheter? Well, a coude is curved at the very tip (where a […]