Military Monday!

Happy Military Monday :) Be sure to go to Life With My Littles to link up!

Military Monday!

Be sure to link up at Semper Wifey's blog! :)

I hate coworkers who will say to you, "that's not patient" and therefore they won't help you. Nursing is a team effort. I try to pitch in and help those who are "not my patients" when I have the time. Not only will your fellow coworkers be thankful, it also earns you brownie points with your team and management. Not that I'm in for it for just brownie points. I truly enjoy helping others. Obviously, because I'm a nurse.

Work has been hell lately. We have one side where ALL of our totals as well as patients with sitters/in restraints are. I typically do my shifts in threes and of course I got stuck on that side for all 3 nights. I didn't really say anything except on my last night, telling the charge that side really needs to be split up. I mean, 3 out of my 4 patients were totals. It was awful. One night one kept climbing out of bed and became very agitated (and even a happy dose of Haldol only worked for about 30 minutes) and that went on until around 0500 when my "special bed" finally arrived (the other nights were fine thanks to my special bed :D)...my other patient down the hall was confused and kept pulling all of their wires off (thank goodness they didn't pull out my IV!)...and then of course my other patient was a 150kg bed-bound patient who can transfer from bed to chair (including a bedside commode) but decided they just wanted to lay in bed, oh, and they were going through a bowel prep...with a bleed. -_-

Speaking of bowel preps, I can't help but laugh at the names of those prep solutions. Especially "GoLytely." Seriously? haha.

Yesterday I took my ACLS course. For 10 hours. Normally they split the course up over 2 days - videos/teaching/practice and then the second day you do your skills test and written test. In this class we did the whole thing in one day. It was a very long day, but I passed my megacode and everything else and now I am ACLS-certified! Just don't go and expect me to run a code haha. Docs typically run them, anyway. By the time we find a patient and initiate CPR and get them hooked up to the crash cart, the ER doc is already in the room leading everything.

And I wish I didn't have to get recertified in BLS every 2 years now. They test you on BLS in ACLS, so having a BLS certification in addition to ACLS is kind of redundant, IMO. Oh well...

Next up is NRP (neonatal resucitation program) and PALS (pediatric advanced live support), even though I refuse to take kiddos on my unit.

Happy Military Monday!

A little bit about me:

* I'm 24 and new(ish) to the Army life. My husband & I got married on May 14th of this year and two days later we journeyed over 1,000 miles south to hubs' first duty station at Fort Hood, TX. So far I really like it.

* I'm a registered nurse who works night shift on a cardiac step-down. It's tough being a new grad, but I still love every moment of it!

* I love The Walking Dead (tho it's been kind of lame lately, where are all of the walkers?!), House & Grey's Anatomy...and Mercy, but I was so sad to see that show end!

* I drive a 2011 Volkswagen GTI and I love it very much :) Hubs drives a 2010 Subaru WRX and he loves it very much (we like cars!) :)

* I have a serious coffee addiction.

* I also have a serious Pinterest addiction.

* We have no kiddos or fur-babies yet. I want to get a Russian Blue kitty. Not ready for actual kiddos yet...probably won't be for at least another couple of years!

Military Monday blog hop!

:)

Because I work night shift, my sleeping schedule is constantly messed up.
Especially when my manager happened to split up my shifts this past week. I'd rather just do my three in a row and be done with it.
I woke up at 0300...I was wide awake! So I lazed around, added about another 230967203690276 pins (at least it feels that way!) then at 0730 I prepped the ribs for the crock pot.
...Though they aren't really ribs because only like 3 of them actually have the bone lol. They're more just like chunks of meat.
I trimmed some fat, seasoned with salt and pepper and threw them in the crock pot with a whole bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's honey BBQ sauce. Put the pot on low. The ribs have been braising for about 9 hours and I took a little taste and they are AMAZING. So tender they literally fall apart and melt in your mouth. Mmmm.
Now to wait for hubs to get home. It's so hard resisting the urge to eat a bunch of ribs now!

blog hop!

So even though I bought a car, it still isn't here yet. It was supposed to be here last Monday, but I guess it didn't get on the truck until the middle of the week. The car is coming from a port in Houston, but then VW told me there is no way to determine the route the truck will make. Even though Houston is only about 3 hours away, the truck could go to Dallas, then SA, to El Paso (which is like freaking' 7 hours away) and all of these other places until it comes to Killeen. Hubby called on Friday and was told the car would either be in on Saturday (which it wasn't) or today. I'm hoping today.

I had my nursing orientation last week, too! Some of the nurses have been in the profession for 15+ years, others have been in for a year or so, and then there was me, the new grad lol. Everyone was very nice and five of us (including myself) will be working together. Sort of. There are three of us on PGCU - one is on nights with me and the other girl (whom I love and is a fellow Army wife!) is working days. Another girl is on days in the ICU and a guy is on nights in the TCU. The TCU and PGCU are virtually the same thing and we are also cross-trained to work in the ICU, as well. My first night will be on the 29th - I'm excited but I'm also scared shitless lol. This will be my first time on the floor as an RN. I'm not quite sure what to expect that night. I just hope my preceptor is patient with me, because apparently real-world nursing is totally different from nursing school.

And it makes me feel good that my fellow night-shifters said they will help me out whenever I need it. They said I will be fine and I will get it eventually, it will just take time. No one will leave me to fend for myself lol!

Last night hubby and I were making chili. We wanted to throw a whole habanero in - seeds, vein and all! So I started to mince it, gently. And then of course, the knife some how flicks a seed that hits me straight in the eye! I screamed some profanities and stumbled around, and hubby rushed over to see what happened. I was about to rub my eyes when he stopped me, then he guided me over to the tub and instructed me to flush my eye out in the cool running water. I was there for about 20 minutes. It was agonizing. I have even more respect for soldiers/civilian police who have to get OC sprayed for training. Hubby's BOLC class all got OC'ed the second time I went to FLW. I felt really bad for them there. Mind you, habanero peppers range from 150,000 - 350,000 SHU, or Scoville Heat Units. OC spray is much more potent, starting out at 1,000,000+ SHUs. Although the burn from the habanero was agonizing, I can only imagine what the OC spray is like. I don't wish that feeling on anyone.

But now I have to just look back and laugh, because this would only happen to me haha.

Military Monday!

Go link up!

all I can say is that I am very excited for today :)

5/1/2011

I was 14 years old, sitting in my 8th grade math class when there was an announcement on the school intercom - "there have been terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon." The school did not give any further details nor did they show the news broadcasts on TV. We were sent home early that day, and then I saw what had really happened on the news. I was in shock & disbelief.

A year later I went to NYC and went to Ground Zero. They were still clearing out the rubble and outside of a church there was a huge memorial, filled with flowers, signs, cards, balloons and stuffed animals. It really moved me emotionally. Nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost because of this attack.

Last night I got a text from E asking if I was watching the news. Since the cable is kind of funky in my room, I did some Google searching instead and saw the Breaking News headline: Osama bin Laden is dead. Twitter was blowing up with the news. I went to msnbc.msn.com and watched the live video feed about the issue and also anxiously awaited Perez Obama's address to the nation. Honestly, never once in my life have I been so interested to hear what the president would say, except for this time. I don't really care for Obama, but he made a wonderful speech in my opinion.

I'm glad Osama is dead. I know it's not right to "rejoice in someone's death" but don't forget, we lost nearly 4,500 American soldiers trying to hunt this man down. It took 9 years. Then finally a team of very badass Navy Seals got the job done.

In a perfect world, this would mean that the war would be over and that all of our soldiers can finally come home; but in reality, that isn't the case. Killing Osama was a key point in the war no doubt, but that does not mean that all terrorist attacks will cease. To all of my friends currently serving, my husband, and to all U.S. Military personnel serving overseas, please stay safe and stay vigilant. I have a feeling this isn't over yet, and there may be some backlash.

God Bless the U.S.A., our citizens, and all of our Military personnel who keep us safe.

Until they all come home...

happy military monday!

:)

E's MPBOLC graduation was also today, how fitting for Military Monday! I couldn't be more proud of him :)

Military Monday bloghop & Something About ME!

Head over to Marine Parents to link up!

Go to Keely's blog to participate! This week's questions:

1. Do you watch/read the news?

I try to stay updated.. I get my breaking news updates from Twitter and I'm an avid USAToday reader.

2. How would you describe your "look"?

Comfortable and relaxed :)

3. Did you play sports in high school or college?

I think marching band should count as a sport...seriously! We were a competitive marching band and a lot of our shows were hard...it takes a lot of stamina to be marching at literally running speed while playing all of these ridiculous melodies on your instrument. Don't hate it unless you've tried it! I played mellophone in marching band, btw. I was also in Taekwondo, even though that wasn't school-related. Mostly through middle school and some of high school, but I quit because of school...and moving around was also another issue. I started TKD when I lived in Florida (WTF, that stands for World TKD Federation, not "what the eff" haha) and got to the lowly rank of orange belt, then I moved to Wisconsin (ITF, that stands for International TKD Federation) and got all the way up to a 1st degree blackbelt...then moved to Ohio which was another WTF school and I didn't like the school very much, so I quit (also because of school as I mentioned before). I really miss it, though. I'm thinking about getting back into it. Especially since I kicked some serious ass at it (literally!) haha.

4. Would you rather give up lipstick or high heels?

Seeing since I NEVER wear lipstick and I rarely wear heels, it wouldn't matter to me...but honestly I would rather give up lipstick, only because I wear high heels sometimes.

5. What's your favorite show to watch on TV?

Grey's Anatomy, even though I am waaaaay behind...I also like those wedding shows like Say Yes To The Dress...South Park/Futurama, and practically anything on the history or military channels.

6. Would you rather bake or cook?

Bake.

7. Shorts or skirts?

I hate my legs, but I would rather wear skirts than shorts.

8. What's your favorite scary movie?

I love scary movies, but I do not really have a "favorite."

I also got my outfit for E's MPBOLC graduation! I was originally going to wear this shirt dress from Target, but I saw this dress from American Eagle and I fell in love:

Paired with a short black cardigan if I get cold and I was going to just wear some jeweled black flip flops (they look a lot nicer than those $5 ones from Old Navy). I'm praying for NICE, WARM weather that day. According to the forecast, it is supposed to be rainy :( and graduation will be outside :(

Military Monday! and Getting to Know Me!

Here are this week's questions:

1. What inspires you?

My hubby, my mom, my fellow nurses...though I'll admit, there are some nurses out there who shouldn't even be in this profession... -_-

2. What is the last thing you bought yourself?

I bought this dress from Target. I don't know why I like it so much. But I decided to get it, because I always find something that I like, I don't buy it, and then I regret it later. I *might* wear this to E's MPBOLC graduation in April depending on the weather unless I find another dress that I like...or maybe I'll just wear jeans lol.

3. Would you rather watch a movie in a theater or from the comfort of your own home?

I like doing both :)

4. Household chore you don't mind doing?

Lol I hate them all!

5. Coffee or tea?

Coffee!!! I cannot physiologically survive without it. I drink about 4-6 cups/day. I love tea too, but coffee is definitely my favorite.

6. What could you eat every day and not get sick of?

Bananas. I absolutely love them. Sometimes I'll eat 3/day!

7. What's the last book you read?

My ginormous NCLEX binder, which I consider a book in itself! (it's 600 pages!) Right now I'm reading Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen and I really like it so far. I'm also looking for some more book recommendations! ;)

8. Do you think you "look" your age?

Absolutely not. I am 23 and I get mistaken for being 18 a lot...sometimes 16 at work, but I notice that I look a lot younger with hair up (and I HATE wearing it up!) There is at least one patient or family member who tells me:

"you look a little too young to be working here! just how old are you?"

"I'm 23."

"ohhh well you'll be thankful for it later, hunny!"

everytime.

Military Monday!

@ Marine Parents :D

True love is forever...even if it's in military time :)

Military Monday Bloghop! and Miscellaneous Monday

1. I finally caved in and took the Texas Nursing Jurisprudence Exam. It's a requirement for licensure in Texas. I could have taken it any time but I will not receive my license until I do. It seemed very intimidating because there was a "study guide" page with lotsssss of information. You have 2 hours to take it, there are 50 questions, and you're allowed to have other windows open and use the BON to look up answers. If you fail, you can take it again but have to wait 7 days.

It was all about nursing law, the NPA, board rules, etc.

Some of it was blatantly obvious. Like for example:

As a nurse, which of the following should you NOT do?

A. feed your patient lunch

B. dispense medications

C. kill your patient.

...okay not QUITE but you get the idea. Others were tricky. It took me nearly 2 hours, but I passed! One more thing I can cross off the list. Now I just need to take and pass that damn NCLEX! :)

2. We had some crazy thunderstorms last night. I love storms, but not when they rob me of my sleep. I'm working 12 hours today, which I haven't done in awhile (11a-11p)...either it won't be too bad or it's going to suck. Either way, I'm really tired.

The past 2 times I worked wasn't bad at all. I got floated to the overflow med-surg unit (which is located on the ICU stepdown but of course the overflow and stepdown don't "mix" with each other...unless you walk by and see a patient climbing out of bed or something lol). The overflow has 8 beds and usually 2 licenses (at least one RN, obviously) and usually a support. A majority of the patients were ambulatory. By the end of the evening, we had 5 patients. There was only one patient who was kind of a problem (he was climbing out of bed *AND* at the very end of the hall...I suggested moving him closer to the makeshift "nurses station" that way they could keep a closer watch on him instead of making him a sitter. It was such a long walk down to that room lol). Overall, I did some vitals...helped someone to the bathroom...pulled out some heplocks...ran some 24hr pee to the lab...and that's it. Most of it was sitting and BS'ing with the nurses lol.

Saturday I only worked 4 hours and got floated to sit with a patient, who fell, broke her hip, had it repaired, and is confused. She was a handful. Her family was very nice. The last hour was the worst, though. Very confused. Kept saying she had to go home and tend to her kids and dogs and if I called her neighbors, they can bring her keys so that she could go home and drive, etc etc. Kept trying to get out of that chair to leave. I kept advising her not to bend over because of her hip (and she was very well approaching that over 90-degree mark!) but like that did anything. She is also borderline. I kept reorienting her and trying to empathize with her her frustration for wanting to go home but can't and at one point she said to me, "you can either do one of two things. you can either SHUT UP or help me get out of here." She then apologized, but still asked me to help her get home.

Finally she decided she wanted to go on the "couch" (her bed) so I had the RN and the aide who was replacing me help her back. It took us about 20 minutes (all she had to do was take a few steps) but we finally did it, and then she started to settle down...except for screaming at the other aide telling her to "stop making so much damn noise and turn those damn lights off because I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" and then telling her she had a pretty outfit. lol. Never worked with a borderline patient before. They can be quite a challenge.

3. I'm almost hoping I can sit again with a patient (I don't care if I'm sitting for 12 hours!) so I can get some studying done. It's crunch time! I need to pass my NCLEX on the 1st try! Everyone else I talked to passed. And I keep reading about people on allnurses.com failing 2, 3, 4, 5 and even *6* times. That makes me nervous.

4. My enhancer for my engagement ring still hasn't come in yet. Jared's told me early February. I'm getting nervous that it won't be here on time for the formal wedding!

5. I finally decided to change my earrings yesterday. I bought some cute black/silver/grey dangly ones for $4.99 at Target lol...so I went home and wanted to try them on. The earrings I had on were very comfortable, but the back isn't like your standard earring back (with that funny looking stopper to go on the post). I was able to get the right one off pretty easily but the left one was jammed in there - I thought I was going to tear my ear lobe! I definitely hurt my ear a bit trying to get that one off. I decided to not put those back in for fear of having a hard time getting them back off so I just stick in some princess cut cubic zirconia posts instead :)

Military Monday Bloghop!

It's Military Monday!

I started my NCLEX class today :) I decided to go to the Starbucks on the corner before heading in but daaaaamn were they busy! The drive-thru had a long wait and they were packed inside. Instead of opting for my usual grande soy 1 pump vanilla latte (for the sake of time, because I only had 10minutes before the class started) I opted for a grande Pikes Place instead, because I could that instantly lol. Unfortunately that didn't do the job, because I'm still ridiculously tired.

I enjoy this class, though. The main instructor is hilariously vulgar, and that makes it even more fun. As tired as I am, I'm even more motivated now :)