You get what you wish for...

Or at least it seems that way right now. What a week!

For almost five years, I've been asking for help and/or equipment. While I can't get them to give me the help, in terms of personnel I want, I am getting equipment, so it's keeping me busy.

My favorite thing: I'm finally having days where I actually do the job I was hired to do for almost the entire eight hours I'm there (and sometimes then some...). The patient flow is something I have to work on, though. I follow the guidelines, but somehow, I always have a patient who wants to tell me more.

This week, I got to go to training that was cancelled many moons ago. It was interesting, even though I had to attend with my boss, who, with his/her MBA, knows everything. He/she succeeded in driving a lot of people nuts, which got me lots of sympathy from the folks I already know.

Finally, after working on my last patients this afternoon (and one emergency with a speech therapist), I got the e-mail I've been waiting for from the boss. He/she's recommending that the holdouts complete things they need to do to work with me in my clinic.

Five years is a short time where I work but almost a lifetime anywhere else. That e-mail made my week. I can only hope I'll get a few more wishes...

Happy weekend wherever you are. More to come...

TGIF fun

It was gorgeous! The pollen may be high and driving Bubba crazy, but it was beautiful. I took my friend K. to Washington to get some admin stuff out of the way and I checked in on a new patient in our acute wing. We stopped by and grabbed lunch on the way back to the Hotel, so I could sit outside at work on the patio and enjoy the glory of a bright, sunny day.

K. had lots to do so she had to go back to her desk in the inventory department. It was sad we couldn't enjoy lunch together. I really miss her now that she's back in that group full-time. We don't see each other often, even though, we're on the same hospital campus.

I got a lot of work done, because I opened the blinds to look out regularly, and whenever I could, I stepped out the front door and just looked around. As my Irish grandma used to say, you need to go outside "and get the stink blown off you." Maybe life's not a smelly, but yes, fresh air is good!

My favorite specialist (Dr. E.I.) came to see us for a Grand Rounds that Hippy Nurse planned on her favorite topic. However, HN didn't quite complete her task: she forgot to show up today. I'll remind her (and her nurse manager) that she's really not too good on completing tasks. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated event. Working behind her on the floor is a nightmare. Some things she does beautifully (she can get an IV in just about anyone) but some things really vary (like charting, turning and paying attention to detail).  They vary because  it depends on how enthralled she is on Facebook that day. Other staff and patients complain, but nothing (including her work) never seems to get done some days. Needless to say, other shifts get angry. This is just one (of many reasons) I don't miss working the floor.

But nothing could stop me from running out the door when the day was done. It was just too pretty.

Hope your weekend is beautiful, too, wherever you are.

We are getting there

Slowly, but surely our HAPU rate is going down. Why would we worry about it, anyway?

In rehab, HAPU is something that will derail the most eager patient. It can even kill you. 

As I tell the patients, your skin is a force field.If you damage it, your bones and everything else can suffer when dirt and microbes from the environment decide to invade and make you sick.

Simple but effective...for most people. All we can do is repeat and maybe by the hundredth time, it will stick.

So, we'll keep on going. TGIF to all wherever you are.

Resources I wished I had

This article for my patient who was so very unhappy with her ex-husband's last name. If the former Mrs. U. comes in, I'll print it out.

More often than not, I'd like opportunities like this one to volunteer. Some of my coworkers need rejuvenation more than others.

After a wild, blood moon kind of week, I am so happy it's the weekend!

TGIF all wherever you may be!

The waiting game continues...

Still waiting to see what exactly made Bubba (and Dahey later) sick this week.

Once I know, then Bubba can be ready to play the waiting game for sleepover camp, which is coming soon.

Yes, you got it, I'm stuck waiting, too.

TGIF folks!

Some things aren't meant to be

This week there's been a lot of talk on the subject. Frankly, I'm glad this week is nearly over.

1. In the news, the Redskins lost their trademark protection.

2. They're redoing the parking lot (again) and we have a ton of traffic now. I can't wait to have some more!

3. My high school friend was at the far end of RehabLand with her daughter for a dance competition. Too bad I didn't have vacation. Said child one a first place in a national competition!

4. My attempts to get another side job foiled again. Better luck next time!

TGIF in advance!

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).

I have to remind myself why I continue...

To blog.

Who knew that keeping a journal may be the one of the best kept productivity secrets out there?

Sounds like a very good reason to me.

TGIF! Enjoy your weekend wherever you are.

TGIF

Or why I'm really glad it's Friday edition.

1. Some people will be on vacation next week, so it will get quiet...quiet enough to enjoy!

2. I'm going to go do my civic duty next week. I wiill be reading those books I had planned to read!

3. It's pay day. Hooray!

Hope you enjoy your weekend wherever you are...

I hope it's true...

I know it's a fleeting thought, but the first day of spring is March 20th this year.

For a brief moment, we had reprieve today. It was GLORIOUS! I escaped to the acute unit of the Hotel today, and warts and all, it's getting off to a nice start, despite the rough beginnings when it opened.

Happy Friday to all, wherever you are.

TGIF...fifty, fifty

TGIF all. I needed it to be Friday really, really bad, even though, I'll just have to do work and homework this weekend getting ready for the bigwig visit to the Hotel next week.

The day was 50/50. Win some, lose some.

This site about autocorrecting while texting made my day, especially since I often have to text our techs to get things done at the Hotel.

Have a wonderful, fall weekend wherever you are!

Sometimes, we're cutting edge...

And sometimes, we're a little behind.

The cutting edge part: I work in the SU and we have the latest and greatest technology for dealing with rehab patients (and lots of other patients, too.)

The behind part: it's very telling, when your hospital finally gets the hint that this has been a Joint Commission recommendation since 2009.

We've had a few other changes happening, which just adds to the mix.

Why? Because people are starting to complain. And morale is low.

At least, we had some fun today, brightening up the area under construction. It was a blast for the patients, and for me, too.

TGIF all! Enjoy your moments wherever you are. I will!

Friday, Friday

It was a good day knowing that the weekend was coming!

I got a few things done before one of my coworkers comes back, and we review paperwork (joy!) from one inspection,and I help the senior NP and nurse manager with some other stuff related to another inspection. Panic, of course, ensues when people realize (at the last minute) that things got to be done.

Dahey brought me lunch. I was starved, so it was all lovely! 

I'm ready for the weekend! More later...

Oh uh oh...or fun on the evening shift

TGIF all...enjoy your night!

Happy Friday!

It's the last Friday in July. You won't get another until next month.

Need any other excuses (reasons)? I am going on a field trip with the home health team today AND the weather is beautiful.

Here's hoping it's a good Friday wherever you are. Cheers!

So happy TGIF

Yes, so, so happy. Go to work, do work, get lunch and coffee, go to a meeting, come back and finish the day on an up note. Stuff actually gets done. I don't feel like I wasted my day sitting at the computer sending endless e-mails.

Joy, joy, joy!

Hope you all enjoy whatever the Flag Day weekend brings you.

More to come.

Yes, it's here!

The weekend, the weekend, the weekend.

It was a pretty productive week with a little weirdness added in for good measure. (What is that full moon for, anyway?) Yes, if you want to use the VPN client  for Hotel work, you have to have the blessing of the Information Security Officer. It would have been nice if they'd have told my doc that before he/she left with a computer without access. (I got to play "scramble" to get things done.) I love HIPAA!

I got most of the work I'd started completed by the end of the week and lined up even more. For entertainment, we bet each other sodas (my favorite is Dr. Pepper) on the number of folks Dr. Q. would discharge by today. He was hoping for 6, but we did get 4. I guessed 5, so Mike, our nurse manager, won the prize, a Mountain Dew from me and two other folks who participated.

Now to face laundry and teach Dahey how to use his birthday present (an iPhone).

The fun never ends.

Stay tuned!

Another week done

Hooray! Give me the weekend, even if it's colder than when the week started. If it's sunny (like they say it will be), I will rejoice.

I have seen way too many clouds lately, in the sky and at the Hotel.

One of my old regulars came back this week. He's sick. He tried to stay well he told me, and now it seems, his body's giving up. He sick and he's scared.

Another regular came back right in the "season" as he calls it on his farm. His family misses him and calls him with reports. Even the dog misses him.

Finally, I got to finish the day off by helping some of the case management folks review files for Hotel admissions. I learned a lot about syndromes that I never knew existed. One started when the patient's main complaint was "I keep falling".  He fell one time, however, and couldn't get up.

And it's looking like the start of the "season" for me, too. One relative (who was hospitalized last year a long time) is going to the ER tonight. I hope it all goes well. I'm not sure if I'll be a good supporter this year or not. I'm drained after everything that happened last year. It was a wild roller coaster ride.

More to come...

Sometimes you're the windshield...

And sometimes, you're the bug, as the song says. Nevertheless, it's Friday and I survived.

It was a busy week punctuated by technical difficulties, rascally coworkers, and stressed out providers who bark orders at you, then apologize later (after you've got a nice case of indigestion).

That was just my side of the house in the beauty of the old, untouched, 70s era Hotel. The new, renovated part of the Hotel is shiny, and the infection control nurse is worried about me. "If you don't have a sink in there where you see patients, what are you going to do?"

Turns out I do have a sink, since I use a clinic room that has one. Problem averted. He/she makes me nervous since one of the therapists tried putting the popcorn machine used by the volunteer group in my clinic room. "No dice." I told the therapist. "We have to move it or it will be confiscated." Thankfully, we found a couple of legal spots for the machine in the renovated Hotel section down the hall. Yes, we'll have to walk, but it has its own spot ensconced next to the nutrition refrigerator.

There was sadness, too. One of our very sick patients got back home and died the other day. He was a sort I wasn't sure would get out of the Hotel. He was elderly and got sick while he was over for his annual check-up. He just bounced back and forth for a while. I was happy to see he was up and motoring around with his wife, who became a minor celebrity on the unit when she was featured in a newspaper story about our town before he left us. They never did hold that "autograph session" I was always teasing them about in the lobby, since we have a paper box nearby.

Godspeed Mr. V.  You fought the good fight. We'll miss you and your "famous" wife, too.

Totally TGIF

Maybe it's something in the air, or some thing about the winds of change, or the coming weekend that makes people edgy.

I wanted to strangle the group that made an appointment with some of our folks at one time and told me another (at a later date). Not going to work, kids. If you leave me out of the discussion, I will not get what you need.

Sometimes, you just see things you don't want to see...

Driving from Washington for a meeting, I see a person who looks vaguely familiar. He's one of our customers and he's surrounded. Turns out an ambulance turns the corner and picks him up.

So I go back to work and ask Madge, our NP, "Have you gotten any calls on Mr. X?"

"No. Why?" she asks.

"I saw some guy getting picked up by an ambulance near Washington that vaguely resembled him."

I leave and come back. Madge gets a call.

Yes, indeed. It was Mr. X. He was diverted since Washington's ER could not take him.

Happy, happy Friday to me.