Now I know it's really summer, because I finally broke down and got my toes painted an outrageous color.
Pompeii Purple is not really purple, but has an interesting pearly sheen.
That is all.
Back to meeting prep...more to come.
Showing posts with label pedicure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pedicure. Show all posts
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Ah, those were the days...
I felt a lot of relief when I finished nursing school. To date, it has been one of the hardest things I've ever done, childbirth included.
So tonight, I raise a glass to all the graduates of PrivateU, my alma mater, who are getting ready for all the festivities coming up. If I were in charge of the nursing school commencement, here's what I'd tell you all, nurse to graduate nurse.
1. Enjoy waiting for your ATT (Authorization To Test). It'll get there when it's darned good and ready.
2. Take an NCLEX prep class with a guarantee if you can afford it. If not, plan on studying full-time for at least three weeks (Monday through Friday like an 8 hour job). Enjoy the weekends to digest everything.
3. Follow the instructions exactly when taking the test. Know where to go and get there a little early.
4. Breathe and count to 10 if you get the question from hell.
5. Do the same even if you get the TV commercial Viagra (Cialis, fill in your drug of choice) slam dunk easy question.
6. Do not throw up when you're done taking NCLEX. Relax and enjoy. You'll have to wait however long no matter what for results.
7. If you have a job, work hard and realize, yes, you really do need to keep studying those things you don't know on your own time. You need to do them at work.
8. If you don't have a job, make your search your full-time job, Monday through Friday, eight hours a day. Three words: network, network, network. Join a nursing organization if you have to (many have new nurse discounts) and volunteer if you can. Don't despair. Been there, done that, many moons ago (and waited over a year for a full-time degree-appropriate job).
9. Use every resource available to alumni of your institution for your job search. Register with them (if needed) even if you have a job. You never know when you'll look for another one.
10. Nursing is hard and there is a reason why (you'll soon find out) many new grads (somewhere around 50%) quit nursing after one year. Think of it like Survivor. Learn to outwit, outlast and outplay whatever madness comes your way. Always wear good shoes and use the rest room whenever you can.
And finally, make time to have a life. Have friends you can count on, in nursing, and outside nursing. Have family relationships of value. And most of all, take care of your physical and mental well-being, even if it means you get your toes pedicured once a month, get that monthly massage, or have that lunch with a friend monthly. Live so that you may have something to give to your patients and your coworkers at work and to the people you love when you get home.
This is just the beginning. Enjoy the trip. Congratulations!
So tonight, I raise a glass to all the graduates of PrivateU, my alma mater, who are getting ready for all the festivities coming up. If I were in charge of the nursing school commencement, here's what I'd tell you all, nurse to graduate nurse.
1. Enjoy waiting for your ATT (Authorization To Test). It'll get there when it's darned good and ready.
2. Take an NCLEX prep class with a guarantee if you can afford it. If not, plan on studying full-time for at least three weeks (Monday through Friday like an 8 hour job). Enjoy the weekends to digest everything.
3. Follow the instructions exactly when taking the test. Know where to go and get there a little early.
4. Breathe and count to 10 if you get the question from hell.
5. Do the same even if you get the TV commercial Viagra (Cialis, fill in your drug of choice) slam dunk easy question.
6. Do not throw up when you're done taking NCLEX. Relax and enjoy. You'll have to wait however long no matter what for results.
7. If you have a job, work hard and realize, yes, you really do need to keep studying those things you don't know on your own time. You need to do them at work.
8. If you don't have a job, make your search your full-time job, Monday through Friday, eight hours a day. Three words: network, network, network. Join a nursing organization if you have to (many have new nurse discounts) and volunteer if you can. Don't despair. Been there, done that, many moons ago (and waited over a year for a full-time degree-appropriate job).
9. Use every resource available to alumni of your institution for your job search. Register with them (if needed) even if you have a job. You never know when you'll look for another one.
10. Nursing is hard and there is a reason why (you'll soon find out) many new grads (somewhere around 50%) quit nursing after one year. Think of it like Survivor. Learn to outwit, outlast and outplay whatever madness comes your way. Always wear good shoes and use the rest room whenever you can.
And finally, make time to have a life. Have friends you can count on, in nursing, and outside nursing. Have family relationships of value. And most of all, take care of your physical and mental well-being, even if it means you get your toes pedicured once a month, get that monthly massage, or have that lunch with a friend monthly. Live so that you may have something to give to your patients and your coworkers at work and to the people you love when you get home.
This is just the beginning. Enjoy the trip. Congratulations!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Shifting gears
RIP Paul Newman...now there was a guy who could really shift gears!
Yes, I'm back to the evening shift and so far, things have not been too bad. I've had two patients and a med cart to lug around, but since our census is lower than it's been in a while, it's not too terrible. Our nurse who's famous for calling in on his/her shift to work on Friday even showed up last night.
Our census may stay low for a while since we don't have too many admissions scheduled for next week and only one or maybe two discharges. I'm sure all of the admissions will wait until I come back from my time off next week (Sometimes I think my middle name should be Murphy...as in Murphy's Law.)
My patients have been pretty good considering everything. Mr. AB #1 was back on my list. For some reason, I don't complain about people and I get to take care of the same people over and over. I hear my co-workers say things like, "If I have Mr. X for another day, I'll kill myself." so the boss reassigns them...to me. I must have "team player" or something stamped on my forehead in invisible ink, since I'm always "taking one for the team." At this point, I'm beginning to think that some of my coworkers have more mental issues than some of our patients, or just a heck of a case of compassion fatigue. I think my own compassion fatigue and stress from being the newbie has resolved itself...for now, anyway.
Mr. R. is also one of my customers. He's a trainwreck, who's heading to Washington this week for surgery. He's been made aware that it's very likely he could die during the surgery or not be weaned off a vent after, but he's going for it anyway. His chances of long-term survival are slim. I watch him very carefully, and thankfully, he's been pretty calm when I'm working. He desats when we reposition him in bed, so it makes things really interesting. The one good thing is that his bed actually goes into Trendelenburg mode, so we can move him more quickly and easily.
Finally, I have been busy planning in my off time along with other things, like buying a new furnace and air conditioner (ours is 20 years old and the furnace is dead) and going to doctors appointments. I'll get to do some fun stuff (manicure and pedicure) before Dahey and I go out and celebrate our anniversary. What joy! I love the pedicure place and by a stroke of luck, I found out about a deal with them, and it starts next week!
Gotta run and do work before I go to work. More later...
Yes, I'm back to the evening shift and so far, things have not been too bad. I've had two patients and a med cart to lug around, but since our census is lower than it's been in a while, it's not too terrible. Our nurse who's famous for calling in on his/her shift to work on Friday even showed up last night.
Our census may stay low for a while since we don't have too many admissions scheduled for next week and only one or maybe two discharges. I'm sure all of the admissions will wait until I come back from my time off next week (Sometimes I think my middle name should be Murphy...as in Murphy's Law.)
My patients have been pretty good considering everything. Mr. AB #1 was back on my list. For some reason, I don't complain about people and I get to take care of the same people over and over. I hear my co-workers say things like, "If I have Mr. X for another day, I'll kill myself." so the boss reassigns them...to me. I must have "team player" or something stamped on my forehead in invisible ink, since I'm always "taking one for the team." At this point, I'm beginning to think that some of my coworkers have more mental issues than some of our patients, or just a heck of a case of compassion fatigue. I think my own compassion fatigue and stress from being the newbie has resolved itself...for now, anyway.
Mr. R. is also one of my customers. He's a trainwreck, who's heading to Washington this week for surgery. He's been made aware that it's very likely he could die during the surgery or not be weaned off a vent after, but he's going for it anyway. His chances of long-term survival are slim. I watch him very carefully, and thankfully, he's been pretty calm when I'm working. He desats when we reposition him in bed, so it makes things really interesting. The one good thing is that his bed actually goes into Trendelenburg mode, so we can move him more quickly and easily.
Finally, I have been busy planning in my off time along with other things, like buying a new furnace and air conditioner (ours is 20 years old and the furnace is dead) and going to doctors appointments. I'll get to do some fun stuff (manicure and pedicure) before Dahey and I go out and celebrate our anniversary. What joy! I love the pedicure place and by a stroke of luck, I found out about a deal with them, and it starts next week!
Gotta run and do work before I go to work. More later...
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