Saturday special

Oh, adventures with Bubba are never dull. It's fun for a tween boy  if...

1. You can make $40 moving boxes with Dad before 9AM. Dahey and Bubba were helping a friend (along with some big, burly guys Dahey works with) clean out his house and move.

2. You can laugh hysterically at the talking birthday cards in the store.

3. You get to hang out with one of your buddies (and 12 other boys from school) at the local laser tag adventure place, shoot hoops, and generally act silly.

4. You get pizza and you convince your mother to take you to a place that still may have an old fashioned cake donut at 6PM. (and it's not the local donut shop seen on TV either, 'cause they closed at noon).

My weekends are never dull.

Rife with opportunities

A big week in the land of healthcare when this guy fell on his sword. It's only the beginning.

The thing about this whole situation, is that maybe something will finally get done. It's not exclusive to just one business. Unethical behavior happens everywhere.

Or the elephant will still be in the room, and the patients will suffer the consequences.

More to come...

Thoughts

We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.~ Maya Angelou

RIP Maya Angelou.

This day

"Memorial Day this year is especially important as we are reminded almost daily of the great sacrifices that the men and women of the armed services make to defend our way of life." -- Robin Hayes

Thank you for your service, Uncle I., killed in action in France, 1945. We remember.

Holiday surprises

Some things you'd rather not get for the first long holiday weekend of the summer.

1. A letter from the corporate attorneys due to a pending investigation.

2. Food poisoning.

2. A speeding ticket (not me, but Dahey did).

At least, I have another day to just hide out under the covers.

More later...

The story of my life, part 12

I read this quote recently in an article and it really struck me:

"The good workers get disheartened and demoralized if they see these non-performing workers making as much as them and they're not doing their job."

I have seen this daily since I started at the Hotel. It really does practically take an Act of God to get someone fired, unless of course, the state takes their license.

However, I am stubborn. I stick around and do my job to the best of my ability to spite them all (and trust me, there are enough of them). It's a challenge, but some days ARE really better than others (today was pretty decent).

I will let it all take its course before I decide to do something else, but the clock is ticking. I have never been so glad to be on the downside of my service contract for graduate school!

Do we know...

In honor of psychology week, do you know the difference between a psychologist and a social worker?

How to use a Hoyer lift?



If not, maybe you need to view this one this one, which should be called What really happens in therapy.



Enjoy the adventures!

Frittering...

I should be doing something productive, but I'm not. I was busy orienting a new nurse who got to spend the day with me in the SU.

It looks easy, but it's not. At least, she got some experience in what might be useful in my world.

And right on cue, I had a couple of folks I had to do walk-in support for today. I told her it only happens every so often...

I didn't even have to call them. They just found me. It's fun.

That is all. Enjoy your week!

What not to do as a nurse, version 100

We have new staff members at the Hotel, so I'll be sure to bring along the latest installment from the RehabLand State Board of Nursing newsletter.

This issue was more sad than silly, unfortunately. When they say you are a "licensed professional nurse" they really are stressing all three of those things. Licensed (you have one) professional (you are one at all times) and nurse (the occupation, not just the job).

Here are the top 10 items: (I wish there weren't this many, but...)

1. Yes, you really can get a ding on your license if you decide to take some controlled substances you got in 2010, and for which you no longer have a prescription.

The little problem happens when your employer makes you pee in a cup.

Can you say "just dispose of this properly and get a script if you need one."? I knew you could.

2. Don't just screw up one thing, screw up many.

A nurse had a really, really bad day and just kind of forgot to follow a bunch of orders on an acutely ill patient (meds, isolation, etc.)

3.Sleep on duty.

Just say no. Sleep on your own time and no one ever reads about it in a newsletter or on the news. End of story.

4. More on not following orders: disobey transfer orders on a patient, then remove a surgically implanted port, then attempt to reinsert it yourself.

O.M.G. After reading this, I would have had a hard time not thoroughly throttling this nurse.

5. Just forget to renew your license for a year.

Whoops! No license, no job. Sorry!

6. You work in an office and you just don't call the patient back when they ask to reschedule. If that's not enough, you just forget other things, too.

My question: How did you pass your boards? Certainly you had to remember SOMETHING?

7. Do drugs (at work, at home, at some place you can't remember).
Yes, all of those came up this issue (cocaine, meth and alcohol). The scariest one: the pregnant nurse doing meth. And yes, the kid tested positive.

Hello, another state agency, Children and Family Services.

8. Fake your license renewal.
Because, really, who wants to pay the State of RehabLand money to work when you can do it for free?

9. Get drunk, go driving, and wave a gun around in the air.
You will win the following: an unlawful use of a firearm, peace disturbance, and driving while intoxicated charges.

10. And finally, the worst one this issue: steal a dead patient's identity to get a cell phone in his/her name.

Despicable... be warned, professionals!

Suspension of reality

It was a regular old Monday. Nothing fancy. Went to work and had a few unforeseen occurrences. No biggie.

Educated patients (my favorite part of being a nurse) and did some other stuff. Went back to my desk, did more stuff, then came home.

Now I feel like doing nothing in particular, but ran into this funny suspension of reality: the dog texts. Made me think of WildDog, who, as a member of one of the smartest dog breeds was a crafty character.

Enjoy!

Happy Mother's Day

Here in the US we are celebrating mothers. Enjoy this stream-of-consciousness song wherever you are!

I raise my glass (of Merlot right now...) to you wherever you are!

Mom, I miss you so much!

Ah, flashbacks

I remember in a previous life that one of my professors said "Always take a glass of water to meetings in case they start talking about price fixing. Spill it in your lap and politely excuse yourself so you won't be able to vote on anything."

I doubt any water was spilled when "cooking the books" was discussed. Recently, there has been much talk of this phenomenon in health care.

However, I was not particularly disturbed until I read this article. A great way to cap off Nurses' Week...NOT!

Disgusting...

Happy Nurses' Week

You could listen to a hospital system or nursing organization tell you to "Lead the Way" (this year's Nurses' Week theme).

Or..you could just enjoy Marcy Hoo's video here, where she does her rendition of Pharrell William's Happy.

Enjoy and have a great week. You deserve it!

Surprise, surprise

Yes, according to the CDC, five things cause most of the deaths in the United States.

I found it funny that alcohol is not mentioned in the unintentional injuries section. At least, it's recognized as a cause of 1 in 4 spinal cord injuries.

More later...enjoy your weekend wherever you are. It's gorgeous (except for that pollen) in RehabLand.

It just keeps coming...

Maybe it's the superstition of threes, or we're just on a roll at the Hotel.

1. One patient died last week.
2. Another one died today.
3. A recently discharged patient went home and was readmitted to FarOff Memorial Hospital today.

Tomorrow really will be TGIF (because I don't think I could handle another day this week).