Yesterday at work (for the mere 4 hours I was there lol) we just got a fresh post-op GSW to the face. He had a trach with a ballard suctioning system, which is basically an enclosed suctioning device. They're nice (and save time!) because since it is enclosed, it is sterile and non-sterile gloves aren't going to break the sterile field. This also means you don't have to bring in a new sterile suctioning kit every time you want to suction someone.

The seasoned RN, who works on an orthopedic floor, has never seen these before or worked with them. I got to do my teaching moment by showing her how to use it. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks, though it must have been embarrassing for her because the family members were in the room. Generally people look up to RN's as the "know-it-all" people - and my badge definitely does not say "RN" in big black bold letters.

8 more days until Christmas, and that means 8 more days until I get to see my fiance! That is seriously like the best Christmas present ever :)

I'm graduating!

After waiting an agonizing 10 days for my nursing research final exam grade (the ONE test that would determine if I graduate or not)...I received my fate this morning and ended up with a 94% on the final! The instructors must have done some SERIOUS curving because I was certain I failed that test. With that said, I am GRADUATING FROM NURSING SCHOOL WITH MY BSN ON SATURDAY!!!!

THANK YOU to everyone who believed in me and set me straight and proved me wrong by telling me to "shut up and stop worrying because you'll make it," and I did! I couldn't be happier! I'm so excited to conclude this chapter of my life. Now I have some time to RELAX, start studying for boards, take my NCLEX class starting at the end of January, work in between and plan my wedding!

Halle-freakin-lujah! :D

:)

Long overdue (like over 2 months lol) but I'm engaged! And I think he did a fabulous job on the ring :) The date and the church/reception hall and other details are already set!

And on another note, this upcoming nursing research final that I have on Monday might just be the death of me.

1 week down, 15 more to go...

I already made it through 1 week of my final semester and I am already really stressed out.

Peds doesn't seem bad, but we have to remember all of the growth & development stuff which can get really confusing and there is a ton of information. Other than that we talked about fluid & electrolyte problems as well as pain management in kids. I believe this week we're going over respiratory and cardiac disorders :)

We didn't do much in clinical aside from your "typical" first day - computer class, getting ID badges, touring the unit, etc. I am on 6100, which is the school-age floor (ages 6-12). They have telemetry monitoring, so occasionally they will get a toddler or infant on the floor if they need tele. The nurses seem very nice along with my clinical instructor. One of my good friends also works on that floor as a tech which will be really nice :) We also took tours on the PICU, NICU, burn unit & ER and saw their life flight helicopter, called the "Air Bear:"

No other helicopter out there has a giant teddy bear on it with stars. I have no idea how I am going to be with kids because I haven't been around kids much while growing up, but I love how this hospital is so "kid friendly." EVERYTHING is decorated - the portable x-ray machines, other equipment...even their helicopter! And who knows, maybe I will love this rotation by the time I finish it. Maybe I want to be a PICU nurse when I grow all the way up.

The one class that terrifies me is nursing research. Not only is it sooooooo boring, but they only gives us ONE shot to pass that stupid final - we need a 74% of higher. Every nursing class we have all have different rules to passing, and most of them say obtaining an average on all of the tests or on the tests and all coursework. For this class, it's just the final. The other grades will not be taken into consideration unless you pass. If you fail the final, you automatically fail the class - no ifs, ands, or buts. It's scary, because this could be the one class that will set me back another semester. I really need to finish this semester!!!

I am also taking an area studies and a humanities option - The Black Experience and Bach to Rock. The Black Experience seems pretty easy. We have to do a presentation (which I *HATE*!) but the class itself is only 8 weeks which is really nice. Bach to Rock is for the entire semester. I have that every saturday from 8-11am but our instructor already told us that we won't be there the whole time. I can already tell that this class will be RIDICULOUSLY easy. It's nice to have easy classes with my really hard ones. The building that it is in, however, is the most confusing and most poorly-designed building I have ever been in.

I also caved in and bought a pair of Dansko clogs the other day :) They're just plain black - the same ones I posted a picture of a few posts back. I work tomorrow on my floor from 3-7pm so I can't wait to wear them and start breaking them in :)

rant about my coworker...

Okay so the second to last time I was on my floor, it was pretty busy. I admit, the charge nurse didn't assign patients the way she should have. One of the RN's had 2 patients the entire day while the CN had 5. She was complaining that she was very stressed out and didn't have time for a break. In that case, you shouldn't have given yourself so many patients while the other RN's were waiting! That was an error on her part.

I do like working with this nurse, however. She always has "fun" things for me to do - blood draws, dressing changes, wound cultures, etc. That is the main reason why I wanted this job was to get EXPERIENCE in things like that. Half of the time I feel like I'm a "glorified" nursing assistant. The one nurse who had 2 patients kept telling me not to help the CN and that they needed help on the other hand. There was another aide on the other side and he immediately got talked to when he went down to my side to answer a call light, being told NOT to go down to my side and that they needed him on their side. You have *2* patients.

The CN came up to me and told me to do a dressing change (although simple - xenaderm then apply mesalt to the area), get wound cultures on her big toe and then wrap the toe. Right after she told me that, the RN with 2 patients got a new admit. She came up to me and said, "hey, can you get vitals on this patient?" I looked at her because I was on my way to the other pt with all of the dressing supplies and wound culture swabs in my hand, and without me saying a word the RN said, "by the way, that trumps what the CN said. go get vitals."

That pissed me off. What pissed me off even more is that my roommate is a new RN at the hospital I work at. She is currently going through her orientation and yesterday they were going through a list of what techs can and cannot do. One of the things we ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO is get vitals on a new admit, because vitals are part of an assessment and that is the RN's job. I get them anyway, but I just think it was really rude for that nurse to say that.

Ever since then she has rubbed me off the wrong way. I worked with her again yesterday but pretty much ignored her lol...because she is orienting a new grad and she is to the point where the new grad has taken over care and this nurse just sort of oversees it - so every time I had to report something, I went to the new grad.

Some nurses are appreciative of my work; others are like "go do this. go do that." I am *ONE* person - I cannot be in all of these places at once. I don't seem to get this from the nurses in the MSICU or ICU stepdown that I tend to float to a lot.

I have to go back to work today, but only for four hours. That's the nice thing about being a tech - we can come in for shifts like that or come in at odd times if we have class or something (one time I came in from 5-11).

I also just got my course information for peds (but of course nothing else for the others). Seems like a lot of busy work to me!!

I CANNOT believe that I am going back to school in a week! I am very excited, but I think that's because I just want to be done!!

In the meantime, I have just been enjoying time off as well as working as much as I can before school starts because once that happens, I won't be able to work nearly as much. I have been floating a lot to my hospital's ICU stepdown unit which I LOVE. The nurses on my home floor treat me well, but the nurses on the stepdown treat me even better. I just love the whole nature of the floor and the fact that it is still critical care also makes me really happy because that's what I want to do when I graduate! Unfortunately the floor isn't hiring despite the fact a full-timer quit and a part-timer just put in their 2 week notice to quit...but they keep calling me to come in so they obviously must like me :)

For those who don't know, the ICU is for the critically-ill patients. You get patients with traumas (MVA's, GSW's, impalements, etc...generally those go to the SICU, or surgical ICU) as well those with critical diagnoses, such as ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) which generally leads to intubation and having the patient on a ventilator, drug OD's/toxicities, DIC, DKA, TBI's, etc...when the patient gets better, but still needs close monitoring, they go to the stepdown unit. Sometimes you will still see ventilators, but generally patients who have trachs that are hooked up to them. Everyone is still on telemetry. You will still see things like DKA, respiratory problems, cardiac problems, guillan barre, etc. Patients aren't sedated in the stepdown like they are in the ICU. Once they get better, they are then d/c'ed to a general medical floor. It is truly amazing to see patients get better :)