Reality bites

Yes I'm still recuperating from my recent travels. It was fun, but tiring.

I did my presentation to lots of applause (along with my partner). Being scheduled after lunch is entertaining, since you get an upfront view of everyone in the room falling asleep. "No one was nodding off while you talked," my traveling partner said.

"Au contraire," I said. "You'd have seen them all snoozing from my seat." Luckily, she got some action shots of my speaking partner and I fielding questions at the end.

I got to see lots of people I haven't seen lately, including some folks who retired. They came for the CEUs.  We had a big group of folks go to dinner at one of these Food Channel-famous joints. It was interesting. After taking a stealth photo of the namesake owner talking to my traveling partner, I was waiting for security to come and throw me out. Needless to say, we're not famous, so said proprietor was not keen on a photo with us or my traveling partner, who told Mr. Big how excited she was to be there. Bubba, however, was impressed. (After watching all those episodes of MasterChef and MasterChef Junior, in addition to all the other food shows I miss...)

Thankfully, one of the folks who attended and works in a satellite office, knew that it was Restaurant Week in town and got us the "special menu" (similar to a prix fixe in normal places). It was good. The only thing that was annoying was the overcharging on the alcohol. I paid $14 for a glass of chianti when my traveling partner and I could have bought a bottle for the price of two glasses.

However, the happiest part of the trip, besides hanging out with my speaking partner and talking to the chief of staff of the organization (he/she was our main speaker one day), was escaping a hurricane. Despite Dr. H's insistence that he survived many a hurricane during his years in Florida, I was not keen on adding one to my own bucket list, thank you.

I made it home in time to do some chores, check my packed suitcases, then go out West with Bubba and Dahey to Dahey's niece's wedding. She's a sweet girl who was a guest book assistant at our wedding many years ago. Since then, she must have liked weddings, since she went into the wedding business herself. Needless to say, she had a whole lot of stuff and events. It was a busy weekend. Lots of food, drink and hanging out with the relatives, in-laws, and outlaws.

We even went on a horseback ride near one of the local wineries with the bride's Uncle Beau. Beau's brother, Bob, a professional rodeo star, had a party at his house for us when we were done. Bubba wanted nothing with riding a horse on the trails, so he went with the older folks on the wagon ride. However, he did ride the rodeo star's favorite horse, Biff at his house. We have lots of photos of Bubba smiling on Biff and he kept saying no, every time Uncle Beau asked if he wanted to get off. Thankfully, the other kids were busy playing in a water slide and didn't notice Biff was busy after a while. Despite keeping him up late, looking at those photos made him smile.

Thankfully, we didn't encounter any rattlesnakes or wild pigs in Bob's front yard as we were leaving. It was really dark and we could see the stars on a clear night. It was fun.

The day of the wedding we rested after all the excitement, because it was a long night. We went to the wedding at 5, had drinks after, then dinner, speeches, and dancing. Since everything was outside next to a famous creek side hotel, we also saw some wildlife. Mona, one of Dahey's relative's wives screamed when she saw a huge beetle on her side of the table. I wish we had a video of the encounter, because all of a sudden one of the flower girls appeared on scene. The bug rescuer was Dahey's five year old niece, Ella. She promptly rescued the flightless beetle and released him on a tree near the creek. She was smiling from ear-to-ear. Her father said, "Just call her my Crocodile Dundee."

After all the wedding excitement, we got up early and saw the Grand Canyon. It was clear, pretty and windy. Bubba was most impressed with the ambulance we saw about halfway through our hike. We heard no screams or saw any hysterics, so we kept moving along, since help had arrived. That definitely was one of the bucket list items I got to check off my list.

We returned home at the end of the holiday, then I went to work. It was tiring. I'm finally feeling like I'm not jet-lagged anymore.

So now it's almost the weekend. Hope you enjoy yours wherever you are. Hug your family members (human and furry) today. Life is short.

Read this

Several years ago, I was sleeping when I was suddenly awakened around 3AM. I went to work and found out one of my patients coded around the same time I woke up.

I thought of him when I read this post on the American Journal of Nursing's blog, Off the Charts today.

And I, too, thought of those family members who aren't around anymore. The pain subsides, but some of it never goes away.

Love, however, goes on.

Just in time for the holidays...

Ah, it is always an interesting time reading the RehabLand Board of Nursing newsletter. So here's today's edition of what not to do as a nurse.

Don't say those licensing people forget the holidays...be careful out there!

Things not to do as a nurse: the holiday edition.

1. Don't sleep on the job. 
Yes, that nicely made bed looks comfy, but if you forget to wake up, you have a problem. NOTE: some facilities do let you take power naps, but remember, you are PAID to come to WORK (notice the items in caps).

There are some expectations that come with that.

2. Forget to pay your income taxes.
Here in RehabLand, the Department of Take it all Revenue can report you if you don't and you can lose your license. According to the numbers, almost 25% of nurses lost their license last year due to tax issues.

3. Don't force someone to do something they refuse to consent to do, like take a bath.
Do the words assault and battery mean anything to you? I knew they did.  Patient says no, you document to CYA.

4. Drive while intoxicated.
They shouldn't have to tell you "when to say when" if you are a health care provider. But if you tend to be indulgent, get someone else to drive.

5. Fail to monitor a patient and act accordingly.
The example used in RehabLand's newsletter was disgusting. An RN (old one at that--we can tell by their license numbers) flat out did NOTHING for a patient who became sick in the morning. Let him/her throw up, wait until nights when said patient drops the phone, while satting at 82%  (normally 100% person on room air) and passes out.

The night nurse had to call EMS to take this person to the ER.

And finally the topper of this edition:

6. Don't let residents who are supposed to be on the unit (per orders) out.
Another old RN decided to go on a smoke break and six (not one two or three...) residents who were confined indoors got out of the facility. One, Z., was gone for so long that he/she did not get scheduled insulin, had glucose issues, passed out and fell out of his/her wheelchair.

Old RN left Z on the ground, got the other 5 back into the building, hoisted Z back into a chair and told a CNA to take Z to his/her room. No assessment, no documentation, no nothing.

Z sustained a head injury, which was later diagnosed when Z started having other issues.

Today's Sunday stealing

Ahh, the fun of random questions. I answered a few of the bunch here this weekend.

Enjoy your day wherever you are!

What was the last thing you watched on television?
The news. Yes, I'm boring. And sports. (My kid is an ESPN junkie).

How old will you be in 12 months? 
Really old...40 something.

Do you sleep naked? 
Every once in a while.

Have you ever held hands with someone in a car? 
Yes, all the time. I'm old fashioned.

Could you go the rest of your life without smoking a cigarette? 
Yes, I have so far...so I'm keeping up my streak.

What do you say during awkward silences? 
I learned to count to 10, then breathe.

When will you next see the last person you texted? 
Probably Monday. I text our technical staff at work all the time because the cell signal in my building is wacky.

Honestly, when is the last time you have been to Texas?
2010 for a conference and to see some friends. Can't wait to go back for another conference, hopefully next year in big D where my high school friend now lives. We try to meet whenever we're in each other's neck of the woods, although, I made her drive to San Antonio last time.

Dear Hotel Geek Squad

Yes, I realize you are under pressure to upgrade all the PCs in our building by the end of the fiscal year because the IT honchos told you to do so.

It is not, however, a good idea to not tell the nurse manager that at 0300, while nurses are writing notes, recording vital signs, etc., you guys (since there are no women involved) will be pushing PC updates over the network to many computers at the nurses' stations.

In case you forgot, nurses really do work 24/7. While you are snoring away and a computer is doing your work, nurses are doing theirs live and in person. You simply cannot do this without warning.

As my professor in nursing school used to say (because some IT guy said it to her), "If I want to break something or find flaws in how it works, I give it to a nurse." So if you disturb the night nurses, they will figure out ways to break your stuff. Off/on is not a good game to play on a PC early in the AM when updates are going over the network.

Just sayin'...be nice to the night (and really all) nursing staff.

Sincerely, really, so not kidding,

Your favorite nurse ('cause I fix the easy stuff so you don't have to),

RehabRN