Critter patrol

I found some unwelcome peanuts in an unusual spot in an overhead cabinet in my office. Now I know why that mouse was climbing over my desk? To get to the Shangri-La of peanuts which was right behind all of my nursing books.

Curses! Did a lot of that (to myself) and got the Saniwipes out again to purge my desk of mouse droppings.

The construction outside continues and so does the cold.

It's making for some very interesting sights at the Hotel.

Santa, please make sure we don't end up on the news. And please, keep your reindeer outside on the roof. The regular deer might pay attention.

Stay tuned...

So eloquently said

While I haven't posted a RehabRN reading list lately, I'm still reading. Right now, I'm really getting into Atul Gawande's Being Mortal. It's a story about living, moving on, assisted living, aging and dying.

The stories are really vivid and I can just about picture the folks they are discussing in front of me.

There are so many things we need to learn about aging, death, and dying.

Stay tuned.

RehabRN book club: Holiday edition

Just to follow up on our last edition: Shrinks is so worth your time if you'd like to know how psychiatric treatment has evolved over time. While I'll never work psych (although we ALL have psych patients, no matter what area we are), it was a very meaningful book for me.

In my humble opinion, it should be required reading for all nurses before or during your psychiatric nursing class.

Here are a few other books I enjoyed recently:

1. The Laws of Medicine by Siddartha Mukerjee
This is a very short little book that's worth your time. I'm going to check out the Emperor of All Maladies soon.

And on the nightstand right now:

2. American Smoke by Iain Sinclair
Just started this one about the author who follows the trail of American literary stars such as Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs.

3. Lights & Sirens by Kevin Grange
I've called for lights and sirens a few times at the Hotel, so I was intrigued by this description of the life of a paramedic.

More to come on these books. Have a great week!

RehabRN reading continues...

It's so nice that Bubba's been feeling like reading, so Dahey and I take him regularly to RehabLand's public library (which is pretty darned good).

Here's a couple of things on the burner right now.

1. Child, please by Ylanda Gault Caveness. This author works the parenting sites and has lots of interesting perspectives as the mother of three kids.

While my childhood deviated on many planes from hers, due to ethnicity, etc., there were more than a few common sayings mentioned in the book that I heard in our house among my parents.

I chuckled to myself more than a few times reading this book, and frankly, there are some hilarious moments that will make you laugh out loud. (and even disturb your neighbors sitting nearby).

Little book with a whole lot of parenting wisdom. I highly recommend it.

2. Shrinks: The untold story of psychiatry by Jeffery Lieberman I just started this one, and the intro is just right. It sets you up in a patient story, and draws you in. The stress, anxiety and the ambivalence of the general public to consider the benefits of a medical psychiatric workup.

I can't wait to continue down the road of this story penned by the former president of the American Psychiatric Association.

Stay tuned!

RehabRN book club: post script

I'm still working on my list (somewhat) but I went out and actually met an author. Oncology nurse Theresa Brown was discussing her latest book, The Shift.

I started reading the book while I was awaiting the program to begin. The crowd was not rock star huge, as it often is for kids' authors or politicians, but the room was pretty full. There was not a lot of current nurses, but plenty of retired ones, and a few doctors sprinkled in.

It's not a huge book, so it won't take a ton of your time to read. When you think that it almost was never published, you realize the gravity of the attitudes about health care and the work of nurses. The author mentioned that it really was a sales job to the book folks to prove that, yes, there would be enough things happening in twelve hours to put in a book.

Surprisingly, once the editors saw the preliminary stuff, they realized she was on to something: providing a glimpse into the life of a nurse on the medical oncology floor.

Suzanne Gordon was right when she said this about what nurses do.

What do nurses do? They save lives, prevent complications, prevent suffering, and save money.

This book proves her right on all those points. Amen, sister!

RehabRN book club: Fall edition

Yes, the days are getting shorter, and since I'm burning the lights anyway, I might as well read. RehabLand has wonderful library folks, so check out your local library. You'll enjoy it and it's cheap.

Here are a few items on my current reading list:

1. The Great Escape by Angus Deaton. The newest Nobel laureate's book is on economics, but unlike it's common description (the dismal science), this book is very readable, even if you haven't sat through one, two, three (or like me, even more) economics classes. Professor Deaton writes a readable book that even a rehab nurse who's thinking of going to the dark side (insurance or anywhere outside the Hotel) could love.

Highly recommend this, especially if you want to learn something new, without trying too hard. Thank goodness he has a sense of humor.

2. The Joy of Work by Scott Adams. Dilbert at his 1990s finest.  Reminds me of the good old days before I was a nurse. Gives me street cred with the technical folks, even though many of the tricks mentioned are dated.

My favorite escape book: I keep a copy of this in my bathroom.

3. My secret fetish lately: cookbooks. I read any and all for ideas on how to snazz up meals and bake new cakes, cookies, etc. Bubba is becoming an eating machine (and a picky one at that) so this helps keep him fed and out of my cabinets (for a while). Yes, you can get these recipes on the internet, but since my kitchen is too small for a computer and dangerous for an iPad, etc., I'm erring on the side of caution with a real book.

My current favorite: the old, reliable, Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I got a healthy one from work, but haven't tried it out yet.

Hope you enjoy these. Will keep you updated on the next exciting book. I will be attending a meet and greet at a bookstore this week, so I hope to have a new review soon.

Happy reading!

Homework

Bubba's been getting homework after I decided to go online and find some reading materials appropriate for his situation.

Here are a couple of the ones I picked:

• Dude, That's Rude (Get some manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick
• Speak and Get Along! Learn the Mighty Might, Thought Chop and More tools to make friends, stop teasing and feel good about yourself by Scott Cooper

They are entertaining, and only time will tell if they really stick. Gotta start somewhere.

RehabRN's Book Club: Summer vacation edition

No, I did not just pick up any old trashy romance novel at the airport newsstand. I actually went to the library (my favorite place to pick up books). Here's what's made it to the reading list this vacation week.

1. The Power of Less by Leo Baubauta. What's my favorite part of any book? Brevity and clarity. If it's short, I'll read it from cover to cover pretty quickly.

I wasn't quite able to sit  down and just read it until it was done (as Dahey often does), but I did  finish it today, and finishing any book in three days for me is a sprint.

Next on my list,

2. The Book of Joan by Melissa Rivers. Okay, it's as close to a trashy novel that I'll get. It's always interesting to hear what kids have to say about their celebrity parents, especially ones who were as famous as Joan Rivers.

Finally, for number 3, I always have Lewis Grizzard's Last Bus to Albuquerque on my night stand as my go to book. When I need some comic relief, I just pick a page, open it and start reading. I also start laughing and thinking that this interesting character has been gone for far too long. What would he think of the Kardashians and all the internet/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Instagram world we live in?

More books are on order at the library, so stay tuned.

Summer reading club

Yes, raise your hand, if you're one of those people who makes a New Year's resolution to read more? That's me, too. In my day-to-day work, I'm always reading. Most of the things I read are guidelines, policies, procedures or official-type documents.

As a kid, I was a veteran of the Summer Reading Club here in RehabLand. I have many fond memories of going to my local library, doing the program and getting my name put up on the wall with those of the other kids in my school in the children's section. I loved getting the certificate of completion and the FREE book. Although I loved to read, my free book was always a Peanuts paperback book. It was something they didn't loan out much in the library, and it was my reward for finishing. Snoopy was the subject of my first book.

Thankfully, I don't have to worry anymore about losing my summer reading club book list. Our new library has a reading club online and they give prizes to adults, too! It may not be Snoopy books, but it's fun.

Here's what I've read or am reading right now. Hope you'll enjoy them, or head on over to your local library and find one of your own.

1.Thoughts are things: Turning your ideas into realities by Bob Proctor & Greg S. Reid. I enjoyed this book about ideas and using them in life.Based on the ideas of the Napoleon Hill Foundation.

2. Small Batch: Pickles, cheese, chocolate, spirits and the return of artisanal foods, by Suzanne Cope. If you love food and love stories, you'll like this book, which talks about history, food and the new companies that have grown up doing what our ancestors did all the time.

3. Simple Lessons for a Better Life by Charles E. Dodgen. I'm still reading this, and I'm loving it. A couple of stories hit home for me, and really look a lot like what has happened occasionally at the Hotel. If you want a different view of nursing homes and older people from a the perspective of a psychologist., this is it.

The joys of junior high

Bubba is liking his morning setup. Get up, get ready, go to school. The only thing he's not really liking is the carrying of the heavy books, along with his trumpet. Today was nice because he got a ride home from me.

And now, since a weather front is coming in, what better time for a migraine.

I know the feeling all too well.

Stay tuned...

I think of arm wrestling

Or a juxtaposition of life where you wonder about things. For entertainment purposes, I checked out some interesting books at the library. The latest one: You are a badass: How to stop doubting your greatness and start living an awesome life.

Yes, this is indeed a book title. I didn't make it up.

When I read this opinion piece in the New York Times recently, it struck me for a few reasons. One, it's written by a doctor. Two, it's written by a young doctor with cancer. Three, it reminds me of a character at the Hotel struggling with his own diagnosis.

We can't give him time. We can only tell him that if he gets treated, he will most likely be cured. If he delays, he jeopardizes that chance of living until his grandchildren graduate from school.

He's cheated death a few times, so maybe he's jaded. Or maybe he'd just believe us if we could give him a number.

We can't.

So he's just going, as Becket says, to keep not going, and going along.

Reflections on a year going past

The latest from Sunday Stealing...

Questions for a New Year’s Eve Reflection Meme:

From the archives!

What was the single best thing that happened this past year?  
I travelled halfway across the country and met some really awesome people I never knew in real life.

What was the single most challenging thing that happened?
I have had to start programs without any management support (because they either quit or moved on).

What was an unexpected joy this past year? 
Getting a financial windfall I didn't expect when my husband was unemployed.

What was an unexpected obstacle?
Not getting promoted. (The paperwork is still in the mail...)

Pick three words to describe 2013.
Fun, crazy, cool 

What were the best books you read this year? 
Biographies and stories about perseverance.

With whom were your most valuable relationships?  
Certain coworkers who support me in spite of challenging environments.


What was the most enjoyable part of your work?  
Making the impossible happen.

What was the most challenging part of your work?
Working with a "team" that refuses to accept reality.

What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year? 
Meetings (about 90% of them anyway).

What was the best way you used your time this past year?  
I am creating programs to work with rehab patients in new ways.

What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?
Some people can see into the future, and some people are happy living in the past.
 
Create a phrase or statement that describes 2013 for you.
Hope for the best, plan for the worst, and savor every minute of joy you're given.

It's almost a full moon...

However, the calendar says we're a week early.

You would have thought it was with the sophomoric antics of some of our supposed "professional", long tenured staff.

I am starting to think that the best and the brightest leave because this guy's book title is indeed true. Why be exceptional when mediocre will do just fine?

Might as well give up and bay at the moon early.

Stay tuned.

My "no I don't have problems" moment today

After I read this article about a botched operation, I realized that no, I really haven't had any problems at work.

At least nothing of this magnitude.

Here's one for the nursing/medical/contingency planning books.

Back to the weekend...enjoy yours wherever you are!

Almost over...

Spring Break ends tomorrow for me and Bubba.

It's been an interesting week. Training, appointments and a couple of days of vacation thrown in. Overall, I'm happy, even if I didn't get a week to enjoy with Bubba or to have fun roaming hither and yon at whim like I'm apt to do on staycation.

I've been reading lots. Books, blogs, you name it.

Here's my reading list of the past few days, because tomorrow, it's back to being a grad student in the last part of the semester. No more breaks until May.

Fun books:

CSI by Anthony Zuiker talks about the show of the same name.

Brandwashed by Martin Lindstrom talks about marketing and manipulation. Ah, I get warm fuzzies thinking about my time in the marketing department as a contract worker bee. Such fun with product focus groups!

And even though it might not seem like fun, I really enjoyed Help! for Writers by Roy Peter Clark. I figure it can't hurt with those assignments coming up!

Blogs:

I like to read Doc Grumpy and Nurse K regularly. Two really different points of view, but I enjoy the randomness of things that happen, because that is my life, too. 

Since I had time to meander, I also visited a few blogs I don't normally get to enough. Everyone needs Therapy is an interesting blog and I particularly enjoyed the post on March 18 about Paul Carr and drinking.

At Your Cervix is another blog I pop in and out of intermittently. I like this blog because the author is a student like me.

The snarky ones: FML, Apostrophe Abuse, and my all-time favorite, Passive Aggressive Notes, had a section on Tourist Terrorists in Spain. Just priceless. However, the best of the snarkiness category had to be this entry on the Daddle (with comment) in UHpinions. No, I'm not making this up.

Alas, I'm getting back to a delightful Hefeweizen and getting ready for the week. Can't wait until the next vacation.

Stay tuned...

Fun weekend

I plan on having a bit of fun this weekend if it ever stops raining. Today was beautiful and sunny, until one hour before I was going home. Things turned stormy and the thunder boomed and lightning flashed. I was happy to make it home without getting caught in any hail.

This weekend I'll do two things I don't get to do much: hang out with my girl friends. For part one, it'll be sans little kids (one office mate is bringing her adult daughter along). What fun could a few girls have on a weekend: a spa day,trip to a winery, or retail therapy, you say?

Nope. We're going on a scavenger hunt. Yes, a scavenger hunt, which is held every year at the largest park in RehabLand. It's a cooperative thing among the local municipality, the parks department and the cultural attractions (museums, schools, etc.) that are around located near the park.

It has tons of rules, like no cell phones can be used, and you can't separate in your groups. This includes when you go to the bathroom. (Your group is expected to wait for you outside and not scope out the rest of the course). Besides that, like any other public fun thing to do anymore, you have to sign a release saying it's not their fault if you fall off the carousel or trip down the steps of the museum.

For part two of the girls weekend, my pharmacist friend is coming to town, with husband and kids in tow. It's her annual pilgrimage back to RehabLand, and happily, it coincides with the kids' Spring Break out on the coast. If we're lucky, we'll get a group of friends together and we'll just go to dinner or visit at somebody's house.

While she's here, we plan on starting the book. Still working on a title, but we're starting a chapter called the Top 100 Ways to Annoy Your Pharmacist. She's got 50 and says we can get more by the time she gets here. Should be an interesting weekend!

Enjoy your weekend, wherever you roam! Stay tuned.

What holiday?

I'll spend mine working in one way or another.

Got up early today and attempted to pay bills. Found out my sibling (who is disabled) had a 4 figure phone bill. Checked it out online, then discussed with said sibling and found out someone he/she knows has been scoring very expensive Eastern European phone calls from him/her, in addition to "borrowing" money. Got everything documented and hotlined him/her. Happy holidays? I don't think so. Not when you have no money in your account.

Installment #1 of 2 sets of books for the next grad class arrived today. Hope the other one (which has the required text) shows up by the time class starts in about 10 days.

Bubba and friends are having fun at the baseball tournament next door. Dahey is out making sure he's not eating everything in sight.

Should be a fun day....stay tuned.

Say it!

Can I get an amen from someone out there, please!


Ah, yes, I'm so happy to report that RehabRN will be escaping the confines of the Hotel for the carefree days of waking up sans alarm clock. Sure, I'll be staycationing this time, but I plan on having a good old time, cleaning, meeting, greeting and hanging out with Bubba, who'll be starting his spring break.

My day was startling to start. What happens when you decide to be the nice nurse to one of the biggest pain-in-the-butt patients on the unit and take away his breakfast tray first thing? He sabotages you by positioning his old glass of iced tea just so, that it goes down the front of you as you move to take the tray away. Nice.

Happily, the day was better. The boss let me order a book. He gets it free anyway, so it's nice he's thinking of me. Traveling partner had a good time messing with him, since as brilliant as he is, he's just figured out that we're friends, which is highly entertaining. "Why yes, Boss, I do talk to her every day I'm here." she said as a shocker when he asked if she knew where I was. We just laughed at the irony of that.

My other patient, Mr. D., was simple to take care of today. Get him evaluated, get him ready and get him up. No fuss, no muss. 

His next door neighbors still miss me. I took care of these two characters, who should be called Click and Clack  for a week and now, they're raving fans. They rave to other staff about how much they like me, which of course, irritates the hell out of them. One nurse assistant actually said, "Well, education and being nice isn't everything." when Clack told her he thought I was very educated and knowledgeable.

In terms of what's going on with patients, we had a lot of things going. One guy came in for a specialty surgery evaluation, among his other issues. Another patient had lots of trouble with his/her hot room and his/her MS. The heating and cooling is so messed up with the unseasonable temperatures, that we had to call the maintenance folks to fix things, so said patient could rest and be comfortable. I've become used to it, I guess. So far, I have yet to work on a rehab unit where the heating and cooling works as it should.

Dahey even had time to come visit me at work when I needed him to do a special errand. It was very nice. As a result, my day finished smoothly and I left work on time.

Can't wait to just enjoy the weekend and relax.  Stay tuned!

A great end of day

So when you can't reach the people you need to via phone, just send e-mail...again and again. That was part of my day today. We'll see tomorrow if anyone responds.

It was a beautiful day here, and I was so glad I could escape for a few minutes into the sunshine. The humidity has disappeared for the moment and the afternoon was glorious.

Reminds me of those lazy days in college reading my books under a sycamore tree as the wind blew by...ahh! This time was even better at a table with a good book and a coffee.

More fun tomorrow...stay tuned!

It's 3AM...

And I'm not lonely, just suffering from sinuses that refuse to cooperate with standard medications. Might as well get some reading done, and maybe a blog post or two.

While I haven't done a book club review lately, I have been reading Francis Collins' Language of Life. If you want a behind-the-scenes from the view of a geneticist who knows how to talk to people, you have to read this book. Very current, compelling and easily comprehended.

Now back to waiting for the meds to kick in...or people to wake up around here.

More to come...