The dilemmas I've faced this week.
The first one was the dreaded certification renewal (one of them, anyway).
Getting a nursing certification is a little like qualifying for an equestrian event: lots of jumping over obstacles and looking perfectly put together.
After months of combing all my files for CE certificates to put in the application, making sure my membership was updated, then filling in the rest of the application and credit card info, I sent it off. A few hours later, I got the "we're reviewing it" e-mail.
Today, I got the all clear. I'm renewed for another five years. The hamster wheel starts again...
The last couple of days, not throttling some of my coworkers about the US presidential election has been another dilemma.
For those of you not in the know, we not only elected a new president this week, we will, on Bubba's birthday, January 20th, inaugurate the nation's first reality TV star, thrice divorced president married to only the second non-US citizen First Lady. Some of my coworkers want to talk about it all the time.
I'm not one of those people. We give out blood pressure meds for a reason at the Hotel. We're not supposed to be inducing conditions that will send people into rehab.
However, I'm looking forward to the weekend. I'm celebrating my favorite US veteran, Dahey.
Happy Veterans' Day to all of you who have served!
Showing posts with label blood pressure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blood pressure. Show all posts
Friday, November 11, 2016
Friday, March 6, 2015
Little victories
Sometimes it's the little things that matter most.
TGIF folks, wherever you are!
- When you see a patient get up in a wheelchair after being in bed for months and he/she has a smile from ear to ear AND his/her blood pressure stays good the whole time.
- When the problem you've been working on for months finally gets resolved and you can give work away to someone else.
- When you see light at the end of the tunnel, because the week is over.
TGIF folks, wherever you are!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Bed bingo on a crazy Monday
You know you're in for some excitement when you get to work and everyone's all shuffled around. This is known as "bed bingo". Bed bingo happens for a number of reasons, and it's mostly related to isolation status. We had one patient come up positive for a new organism, so as a result, five people got moved around to get rooms ready and everyone in their correct group.
Note: our facility cohorts patients in the same room with the same organism and we only have one (yes, one) private room among our rooms.
I got the same assignment and the med wagon far away again. This can be frazzling, but I dealt with it. The thing that is most frazzling is when one shift forgets to do the things to which they're assigned. Since our boss has been in and out with things, the tasks that normally get done on the floor have gone to the wayside a bit.
The housekeepers are the biggest problem right now. They have had some turnover in the last few months and they can't seem to keep the paper towels in stock in the staff bathrooms, nor can they keep the trash emptied. I've mentioned this to one of the housekeepers who usually sets us up well, but I'm not sure why it's not getting done. A lot of people on the evening shift are getting frazzled, and I'm one of them. I'm not on evenings all the time, but I see things on days and then I go to evenings and it gets annoying. With cold and flu season here, I wish one of the docs would notice and throw a fit, since maybe that might get something done. Running out of paper towels in the bathrooms and patient rooms is not an option!
Besides that, some of our day staff are not even attempting to pull their weight. Unfortunately that saying, "When the cat's away, the mice will play" is very true. I dread working behind some people. You should not immediately have to empty urine bags when you get on your shift, but I have done it every single night on evenings this round. One day, I had to make the patient's bed and get all the linens. This is the job of nursing at the ranch, and the nurse who had this patient couldn't get it done before she left at noon, and the nurse who followed her for four hours had made no attempt, either. Thankfully, I had the bed made...just as the patient was returning with his family from a day pass. I also got lucky and had to empty the bed bag for this guy, too, since this was just one more thing they forgot. I have to say most people are consistent--when they don't do something, they really follow through and miss everything. End of soapbox.
Ahh...that venting felt better....on to more fun stuff. My younger patient is doing more every day. It's really good to work with him. He puts the active in active rehab. He's even paying attention to his diet, which is really important for SCI patients. We talked about his bowel routine protocol and despite the assessment of the docs and the charge nurse, he's probably going to stick to a daily routine.
One of my other patients was really depressed because his blood pressure would not stay up even with his TEDs, binder and Midodrine. We talked about it and hopefully, it can be resolved soon enough.
I'm going to stop here...more later! I'm going to enjoy my off day! (Happy Birthday, Mom!)
Note: our facility cohorts patients in the same room with the same organism and we only have one (yes, one) private room among our rooms.
I got the same assignment and the med wagon far away again. This can be frazzling, but I dealt with it. The thing that is most frazzling is when one shift forgets to do the things to which they're assigned. Since our boss has been in and out with things, the tasks that normally get done on the floor have gone to the wayside a bit.
The housekeepers are the biggest problem right now. They have had some turnover in the last few months and they can't seem to keep the paper towels in stock in the staff bathrooms, nor can they keep the trash emptied. I've mentioned this to one of the housekeepers who usually sets us up well, but I'm not sure why it's not getting done. A lot of people on the evening shift are getting frazzled, and I'm one of them. I'm not on evenings all the time, but I see things on days and then I go to evenings and it gets annoying. With cold and flu season here, I wish one of the docs would notice and throw a fit, since maybe that might get something done. Running out of paper towels in the bathrooms and patient rooms is not an option!
Besides that, some of our day staff are not even attempting to pull their weight. Unfortunately that saying, "When the cat's away, the mice will play" is very true. I dread working behind some people. You should not immediately have to empty urine bags when you get on your shift, but I have done it every single night on evenings this round. One day, I had to make the patient's bed and get all the linens. This is the job of nursing at the ranch, and the nurse who had this patient couldn't get it done before she left at noon, and the nurse who followed her for four hours had made no attempt, either. Thankfully, I had the bed made...just as the patient was returning with his family from a day pass. I also got lucky and had to empty the bed bag for this guy, too, since this was just one more thing they forgot. I have to say most people are consistent--when they don't do something, they really follow through and miss everything. End of soapbox.
Ahh...that venting felt better....on to more fun stuff. My younger patient is doing more every day. It's really good to work with him. He puts the active in active rehab. He's even paying attention to his diet, which is really important for SCI patients. We talked about his bowel routine protocol and despite the assessment of the docs and the charge nurse, he's probably going to stick to a daily routine.
One of my other patients was really depressed because his blood pressure would not stay up even with his TEDs, binder and Midodrine. We talked about it and hopefully, it can be resolved soon enough.
I'm going to stop here...more later! I'm going to enjoy my off day! (Happy Birthday, Mom!)
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