You can observe a lot by just watching. ~ Yogi Berra
We got an e-mail recently saying the Hotel (and Washington and Madison) was becoming a "smoke free campus".
Supposedly, there was a campaign (not run by our crack public affairs officials) about this big news. I found out about it in a meeting earlier this month, and the nurse executive said, "This shouldn't be the first time you are hearing about this."
Sadly, it was. While I don't smoke myself, it does make things challenging for our patients that do.
Miraculously, someone got Ye Old (stress on old and clueless) Public Affairs person(s) to post this information for patients on our website and social media. It starts January 1.
The grumblings are loud and rowdy at the Hotel because our patients did not get a designated smoking area, nor did our employees. The nearest one is in the building next door, which is a long walk.
The best quote on social media, however, was truth.
"The last time I checked, no one could smoke inside Washington or Madison, so how is it that you weren't a 'smoke free campus' already?'
I'll just keep watching...stay tuned.
Showing posts with label Madison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Madison. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Friday, December 7, 2012
Another week in RehabLand...
And what a week it was! Lots of ups and downs, happiness and sadness. I got what I asked Santa for already: equipment and the start for a new clinic. And I got four pounds of espresso! Ho ho ho! I can't wait until clinic starts in the New Year.
At Madison, one of our doctors celebrated ten years at the Hotel. We finally got a new doctor to replace our last one who retired recently. Then our boss announced that he/she is taking a new job in a month, four hours away.
One of our staff complained of chest pains and got a cancer diagnosis instead once he/she was hospitalized.
School is on hold, I'm awaiting sentencing, as one of my old professors used to say. (Actually, he said waiting for the plea bargains....really miss that sense of humor.)
In a way, I feel the same. I'd like to plead for my sanity, but I'm just going to relax and see what happens.
More to come...
At Madison, one of our doctors celebrated ten years at the Hotel. We finally got a new doctor to replace our last one who retired recently. Then our boss announced that he/she is taking a new job in a month, four hours away.
One of our staff complained of chest pains and got a cancer diagnosis instead once he/she was hospitalized.
School is on hold, I'm awaiting sentencing, as one of my old professors used to say. (Actually, he said waiting for the plea bargains....really miss that sense of humor.)
In a way, I feel the same. I'd like to plead for my sanity, but I'm just going to relax and see what happens.
More to come...
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
A loss in the family
Some times, they say you spend so much time at work it's like your second home. And yes, sometimes that home is inhabited by some pretty dysfunctional family members.
But there are others who remind you of what working together is all about.
I should be finishing one of my very last grad school papers tonight, but I can't. We lost a member of our work family and frankly, I still can't believe it.
Eddy was a nurse who had worked at the Hotel (and Washington, our sister hospital) here in RehabLand for over 10 years. Eddy started out at the Hotel, and just thought he wasn't learning enough, so he transferred to Washington and worked in the ICU. He came back to the Hotel a couple of years ago, when he moved to the same neighborhood.
He had a grand old time there with those ICU patients and was known for having a easy, laid back humor. He could get riled up, but it was rare. If he were freaking out inside over a code or anything, he never showed it. He worked with a nurse in our clinic, K. and he always gave the two of us trouble when we were together. He'd say, "One of these days, I'm going to get my BSN and get a cushy job like you guys have." K. always said, "Eddy, come on down. I'll show you what this 'cushy' job looks like."
Eddy died today. He was on leave with his wife, since she had recently had a baby--their second. We threw a big shower for them days before she went into the hospital to be induced. They brought their older girl and we had a grand old time on the unit. We said, "See you when you get back...before the holidays" and meant it.
When I was in charge (I just like saying that, I'd joke to Eddy) with him on my crew, I never worried. Even though I had less experience, Eddy would ask for my advice. This floored me. "Eddy, why on earth are you asking me, you old ICU nurse?" He would also go home at lunch or dinner time to see his wife (they lived right near the hospital) or she'd bring his dinner to work.
Eddy would just say, "RehabRN, you know a lot, and I ask you to get the real dope on stuff." Guess that made me the "real dope dealer". (Eddy was fond of bad jokes!)
We're still waiting to find out for sure, but they suspect Eddy had some kind of cardiac issue, not unlike many of the patients he had cared for in the ICU. Eddy was reasonably young, didn't smoke, and wasn't overweight.
It's still hard to believe on such a beautiful clear, crisp day, on the cusp of the holidays, he was snatched away from us and his little family to meet his eternal destiny.
May the angels come to greet you, even though we mourn you who were taken away from us too soon. It was a pleasure to know you for the time we had been given.
Godspeed, friend.
But there are others who remind you of what working together is all about.
I should be finishing one of my very last grad school papers tonight, but I can't. We lost a member of our work family and frankly, I still can't believe it.
Eddy was a nurse who had worked at the Hotel (and Washington, our sister hospital) here in RehabLand for over 10 years. Eddy started out at the Hotel, and just thought he wasn't learning enough, so he transferred to Washington and worked in the ICU. He came back to the Hotel a couple of years ago, when he moved to the same neighborhood.
He had a grand old time there with those ICU patients and was known for having a easy, laid back humor. He could get riled up, but it was rare. If he were freaking out inside over a code or anything, he never showed it. He worked with a nurse in our clinic, K. and he always gave the two of us trouble when we were together. He'd say, "One of these days, I'm going to get my BSN and get a cushy job like you guys have." K. always said, "Eddy, come on down. I'll show you what this 'cushy' job looks like."
Eddy died today. He was on leave with his wife, since she had recently had a baby--their second. We threw a big shower for them days before she went into the hospital to be induced. They brought their older girl and we had a grand old time on the unit. We said, "See you when you get back...before the holidays" and meant it.
When I was in charge (I just like saying that, I'd joke to Eddy) with him on my crew, I never worried. Even though I had less experience, Eddy would ask for my advice. This floored me. "Eddy, why on earth are you asking me, you old ICU nurse?" He would also go home at lunch or dinner time to see his wife (they lived right near the hospital) or she'd bring his dinner to work.
Eddy would just say, "RehabRN, you know a lot, and I ask you to get the real dope on stuff." Guess that made me the "real dope dealer". (Eddy was fond of bad jokes!)
We're still waiting to find out for sure, but they suspect Eddy had some kind of cardiac issue, not unlike many of the patients he had cared for in the ICU. Eddy was reasonably young, didn't smoke, and wasn't overweight.
It's still hard to believe on such a beautiful clear, crisp day, on the cusp of the holidays, he was snatched away from us and his little family to meet his eternal destiny.
May the angels come to greet you, even though we mourn you who were taken away from us too soon. It was a pleasure to know you for the time we had been given.
Godspeed, friend.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Please forgive me...
Jeff Foxworthy. I'm only doing this post, 'cause Auntie sent me a funny e-mail you did.
You might be coming to stay for a long time at Hotel Madison if....
...you broke your limbs falling out of your wheelchair when transferring unattended.
...a drug deal went bad and you broke your arm when it was shot...and you didn't like that hospital where the ambulance took you, 'cause they're not as nice as we are.
...your doc told you "Oh, it's just a two day annual checkup. We're not going to do anything about that hole in your butt." and then changed his/her mind when our specialist showed up and said you were a candidate for a new, experimental repair.
...you have that insurance that pays you to camp out with us. Why work?
...you just like us so much, you try your hardest to get sick to come and see us. Every time the doc's in the room, you hyperventilate.
NOTE: I have embellished on the scenarios here, but at least 75% of these excuses are used to get an extended stay at our Hotel.
I wish I were joking...more later.
You might be coming to stay for a long time at Hotel Madison if....
...you broke your limbs falling out of your wheelchair when transferring unattended.
...a drug deal went bad and you broke your arm when it was shot...and you didn't like that hospital where the ambulance took you, 'cause they're not as nice as we are.
...your doc told you "Oh, it's just a two day annual checkup. We're not going to do anything about that hole in your butt." and then changed his/her mind when our specialist showed up and said you were a candidate for a new, experimental repair.
...you have that insurance that pays you to camp out with us. Why work?
...you just like us so much, you try your hardest to get sick to come and see us. Every time the doc's in the room, you hyperventilate.
NOTE: I have embellished on the scenarios here, but at least 75% of these excuses are used to get an extended stay at our Hotel.
I wish I were joking...more later.
Friday, January 9, 2009
OT for the weekend...nope!
Hooray, it's Friday and I got out on time. The boss wanted me to stay over another four hours, but Dahey already had plans, since this is my off weekend. I'm sitting here with a nice glass of wine and all of my administrative tasks at home are pretty much done. That holiday paycheck was nice!
My patients were good. Both got up and went to therapy and got evaluations for various stuff, like Aspen seating. One patient got a new loaner chair, so we had to work with him on driving it (the other had a neck-controlled drive system which was great, except when you had to lift in and out of it!).
The medication administration IT team was on the floor again, because those new med carts we got are actually the first ones for our hospital system period, not just for Madison. We gave the sales rep a lot of ideas for stuff we wanted, particularly for locking up controlled substances.
The big problem: rehab units tend to have a lot of people walking and/or rolling around in them, so having a cart that only uses a simple code to get into it is not a good thing. The company's answer was, "Don't leave the cart unattended." and while it may not be unattended, a nurse may need to turn his/her back. Lots of things can happen when you turn your back. Happily, the bigwigs are working on getting us a controls drawer that requires us each to have a special user ID to unlock it. Personally, I won't be storing my controls on the cart until they do. I may just do like one of my coworkers said today and put them in my pocket in a Ziploc, so they're in my possession!
Happy weekend all! Stay tuned...more next week!
My patients were good. Both got up and went to therapy and got evaluations for various stuff, like Aspen seating. One patient got a new loaner chair, so we had to work with him on driving it (the other had a neck-controlled drive system which was great, except when you had to lift in and out of it!).
The medication administration IT team was on the floor again, because those new med carts we got are actually the first ones for our hospital system period, not just for Madison. We gave the sales rep a lot of ideas for stuff we wanted, particularly for locking up controlled substances.
The big problem: rehab units tend to have a lot of people walking and/or rolling around in them, so having a cart that only uses a simple code to get into it is not a good thing. The company's answer was, "Don't leave the cart unattended." and while it may not be unattended, a nurse may need to turn his/her back. Lots of things can happen when you turn your back. Happily, the bigwigs are working on getting us a controls drawer that requires us each to have a special user ID to unlock it. Personally, I won't be storing my controls on the cart until they do. I may just do like one of my coworkers said today and put them in my pocket in a Ziploc, so they're in my possession!
Happy weekend all! Stay tuned...more next week!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
I like to move it, move it...
And we'll be doing a bunch more of that at our house soon, both literally and figuratively.
There's always plusses and minuses to moving, but I'll be glad to do it, since Dahey's heading to a new assignment. I love the current Hotel Madison, but they all understand. My shopping buddy, A., will miss me, but now she says, she'll have another place out of town to hang out. My boss and other folks were sad, too, but understanding.
As a result, I'm going to have to figure out which way RehabRN the blog will go. I'm working on some stuff for that, too. I met a lot of neat people at the conference. It was such fun.
More later...
There's always plusses and minuses to moving, but I'll be glad to do it, since Dahey's heading to a new assignment. I love the current Hotel Madison, but they all understand. My shopping buddy, A., will miss me, but now she says, she'll have another place out of town to hang out. My boss and other folks were sad, too, but understanding.
As a result, I'm going to have to figure out which way RehabRN the blog will go. I'm working on some stuff for that, too. I met a lot of neat people at the conference. It was such fun.
More later...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Whew! Another week over!
It was busy going from evenings to days. Thankfully, when it got really hairy, I was not working evenings.
One nurse was off this week, since a family member recently passed away and she headed out of town for the memorial services. One night in particular was crazy without her. I heard about it on Friday. I'm glad I was not working evenings. I would have just gone crazy!
My time back on the day shift was not bad, just busy. I got to pass meds a couple of days, then just take care of people on Friday. That was lovely, even though I felt like all I did was draw labs and run back and forth. For some reason, labs pulled from PICC lines on our unit always get screwed up. I don't mean sometimes, but most of the time. We get screwy results from the PICC, so then the doc orders a redraw from a vein, which usually drives the patients crazy. I had to do this with one of my patients. He was getting persnickety, so I tried an easy vein, but it didn't work, so I had to use one in the hand for his blood draw. While I'm not the best IV sticker, I can get blood out of hands and arms pretty good. I also like to think that I keep people from getting all bruised up, too, which I normally do. This draw, happily, went as usual.
The same patient needed a Vancomycin trough, so I drew that from the PICC. He was not going to let me get it any other way. I looked up the protocol and followed it to the letter, so I knew
I would not mess it up! I did a lot of fluffing and buffing, so I was happy to be finished.
Today, while I was perusing the paper, I found out one of my favorite patients died. Mr. B., the crazy plumber I took care of at Saintarama died this past week. The obit showed a photo of him that I recognized. It was from a photo with his family that he had in his room. He tried but never succeeded in getting rid of the trach after his illness. I will miss him. He was so funny.
I'm getting up early, early, early Monday morning to drive to the airport. We're taking off to our Pacific Northwest conference. The weather says rain, rain, rain, but at least, we'll be away from Madison. It should be fun. I'm going to have to tinker with mobile Blogger and see how that goes.
Have a great weekend all....more next time!
One nurse was off this week, since a family member recently passed away and she headed out of town for the memorial services. One night in particular was crazy without her. I heard about it on Friday. I'm glad I was not working evenings. I would have just gone crazy!
My time back on the day shift was not bad, just busy. I got to pass meds a couple of days, then just take care of people on Friday. That was lovely, even though I felt like all I did was draw labs and run back and forth. For some reason, labs pulled from PICC lines on our unit always get screwed up. I don't mean sometimes, but most of the time. We get screwy results from the PICC, so then the doc orders a redraw from a vein, which usually drives the patients crazy. I had to do this with one of my patients. He was getting persnickety, so I tried an easy vein, but it didn't work, so I had to use one in the hand for his blood draw. While I'm not the best IV sticker, I can get blood out of hands and arms pretty good. I also like to think that I keep people from getting all bruised up, too, which I normally do. This draw, happily, went as usual.
The same patient needed a Vancomycin trough, so I drew that from the PICC. He was not going to let me get it any other way. I looked up the protocol and followed it to the letter, so I knew
I would not mess it up! I did a lot of fluffing and buffing, so I was happy to be finished.
Today, while I was perusing the paper, I found out one of my favorite patients died. Mr. B., the crazy plumber I took care of at Saintarama died this past week. The obit showed a photo of him that I recognized. It was from a photo with his family that he had in his room. He tried but never succeeded in getting rid of the trach after his illness. I will miss him. He was so funny.
I'm getting up early, early, early Monday morning to drive to the airport. We're taking off to our Pacific Northwest conference. The weather says rain, rain, rain, but at least, we'll be away from Madison. It should be fun. I'm going to have to tinker with mobile Blogger and see how that goes.
Have a great weekend all....more next time!
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