My mother really was a saint

Momma had coal black hair and eyes just as dark against her Celtic skin. Yes, she looked like those black Irish ancestors sans the blue eyes that Granny had.

She suffered lots of stress in her life: getting married "late" (at 25), not having kids right away, and when she had them, she nearly died.

Momma was stubborn, though. (Dad loved her for that.) After nearly dying and losing her first baby, she kept going until the rest of us were born. She finally was where she wanted to be: a mother of four children, just like all of her siblings (except for her old maid sister Maisie). Granny was pleased with all 24 grand kids. Momma was her baby, and she finally had her own brood of kids. Gramps and Granny absolutely loved being overrun by little (and big) kids at their house.

But, the happiness was short lived. In the prime of her life, Momma found out she had a terminal disease, something she would not get now, but then, they didn't know how to prevent it.

Momma died in her 40s. We were very sad. One of Momma's friends ran a local newspaper and published a long, sweet unofficial obituary for her, which I still have here somewhere. I couldn't bear to read it more than once, so I put it away.

However, I cannot imagine being a child who would have to write this obituary. We had much sadness in our home, but we were loved so much, and so rich in comparison.

I mourn not for the dead lady, but for her children.

A little break

And while I was doing that I got flashbacks to the old days when I worked in marketing. First when I saw this new Adobe commercial and then later when I saw this classic IBM ad on buzzword bingo (which we actually played at one firm).



Fun times....stay tuned.

The best and worst of the week

What a week it was and I can say I am happy, happy, happy it's over. TGIF!

It wasn't just the weather in RehabLand that got exciting. The mood on the unit was the same tempestuous mix of turbulence that was the weather pattern in our neck of the woods.

One minute, a patient is telling a student that he/she was physically assaulted by a staff member. No signs, symptoms, or witnesses, but some of our staff members got long weekends, courtesy of administrative leave. I am sure our charge nurse is glad this week was over after that reason alone.

On the subject of psychotic patients...one word: ugh! Thank goodness for security support and the folks who mark patient records for illness and non-compliance with little things like psychotic episodes of verbal abuse of staff and then they get them out of the neighborhood when they clearly don't see the sign going into the parking garage that says "No weapons of any kind allowed on this property. (including a nice drawing of a handgun and a big knife)"

Yes, go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200 if you violate this rule.

It's not really psychosis, but technical difficulties occasionally bring out the weirdos on our staff. I'm so glad our support person got ours sorted out or I would have had my face planted in the wall permanently after trying to keep people from wigging out over really relatively minor items that did have workarounds.

But, despite many of these things that were downright horrible, there were good moments.

One of my favorites was the look of excitement of one of the patients who just got up for the first time after flap surgery. When I showed him the new big screen TV in our lounge in the lobby, you'd would have thought I told him he won the lottery. It was a lot of fun for him to sit in front of a big TV after being sick so long and trapped in a room with a little TV.

Another one of our patients wandered by and was worried that he was getting sick. We got him in a clinic to see our docs, but now he has to have tests. He was worried, but we talked about them, and his strategies for coping with things at home. I even called one of our team to get him a consult for when he comes back for his next visit. He was delighted, and said, "I can't believe you'd do that for me." I just said, "That's my job...keeping us all employed helping you." and smiled. He just laughed. I also got to make sure the transport people picked him up to go home, so I was busy!

And some of my projects I've been working on got rolling this week after, literally months in process.  Oh, joy, joy, joy! I may actually get something done this year.

Indeed, it was the best and worst of times, but happily, the best outnumbered the worst today.

More to come...

It's nice to know...

We're not alone. Another parent from our daycare pulled their kid from there, for different reasons.

So, so, so happy Bubba's outta there. Now I'm just waiting for the bigwigs there to lose something.

Then it will really be a Merry Christmas in RehabLand. Cross your fingers and pray if you're so inclined, whatever your faith. We'll take it!

Stay tuned, kids. We're in for a wild ride, no matter what.

The fun continues...

What are you, if as a mandatory child abuse reporter you choose not to report when you "think the whole thing's overblown," and your kid "is just melodramatic"?

Maybe this as noted in this document:

Rationalizing: Another danger is the professional’s acceptance of unrealistic explanations for how an injury occurred. If any doubts exist, no matter how small, assessment should continue, and/or consultation should be sought.

In this state, for not reporting, you are charged with a crime.

Good luck hanging on to that child care license, b&*tch!

RehabRN book club

After, I thought about working for an idiot recently I went searching for a few business books and grabbed these two:

The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One that Isn't by Robert I. Patton.

This is a nice, little book. If you read quickly, you'll breeze through it in an afternoon lounging. This book piqued my interest since the author was an academic for a while who wrote an article about workplace assholes for a large, conservative business periodical in which they would not use the A-word in the title. I found this quaint and hysterical at the same time.

The book has lots of facts, no figures, but a great story line we can all enjoy: they're out there, so learn to live with them (or learn to make them go away) or get out.

I also got Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace by Davenport, Schwartz and Elliott. It's also a shorter book, so I plan on reading that before I start my classes again and it's grad school nursing every time I want to read something.

More later, so stay tuned.

What is it...

That makes some of the people I work with not give pain meds? What makes them the judge and jury on pain when a patient who had major (and I mean major, serious, as in World Renown Hospital screws up royally on a simple slam dunk procedure) abdominal surgery asks for a pain med?

To top it off...no history of abuse. Another thing...what's with telling them they can't have their PRN med when they ask for it (which, by the way, was within the time parameters).

I just want to scream sometimes. Thankfully, I have more creative outlets.

Stay tuned...it's always a blast at the Hotel, even without fireworks!

Fantasy becomes reality

Lots of good and potentially not so good stuff going on today, so some fantasies readily become reality and some we wish would just go away.

First, one of our patients who was very depressed during his/her stay came to us in a very good mood. Said patient has a goal--to go hunting this fall. All patient needs is a letter from us so patient can get a special permit from our nearby state to participate in a special program. We wished patient well and hopefully, this fall, we'll see some venison sausage and lots of smiles. If only we could convince more of our patients to participate in the Wheelchair Games!

Second, lots of things were discussed recently with our team, which includes the nurses. One of the worst patients the place has ever seen may be returning to the unit. Said patient is so abusive and mean to staff that some long-serving nurses have threatened to quit if said patient is brought back. It's all about policy and paperwork, so we'll see what happens.

Third, my patient who's been wanting to get out of bed for days got his wish. His bowel problems resolved enough that I was able to get him out of bed for his allotted hours. He went to therapy and worked his arms so much he was tired by the time he got back, so I put him to bed.

Finally, our facility is cutting more costs. Our own "Chainsaw Al" is willing to burn and pillage to make a name. We can only wait to see what happens next, as I pretty much kiss any hope of anything extra for school or certification goodbye.

Maybe that lottery fantasy comes true, so while I wait, I'm still filling out scholarship forms. It's a long shot, but at least, most scholarships have better odds than the lottery.

More later...

Happiness is...

Only having two patients instead of three (one crashing) and a new admit. Why? Lots less paperwork for one thing! I only had two patients today, Mr. S.and Mr. M. and it was like heaven. No rushing, no fussing, everything got done, charted and I was out on time. Hooray!

Sadly, Mr. H. who I took care of a couple of months ago was back at Washington in the ER. Apparently, he was taking too many drugs over the weekend and developed a subarachnoid hemorrhage. He's now on a vent and not expected to make it.

I'm off tomorrow, so more fun starts later this week on evenings...stay tuned.