Signs of the end of summer

It was too good to last. Yes, summer is trying to escape here in RehabLand. It didn't even get to 90 degrees today, and for August, that's cool. The pools are still open (mostly on the weekends) but many are getting ready for the last weekend: Labor Day.

I escaped today as I usually do. I have to go on rounds at Washington, so if I'm not feeling adventurous, I just hop on a shuttle bus. The trip is short, so I don't see much. Standing outside is the part I like if the weather is nice: seeing the sun and soaking up some rays (even if I'm wearing heavy-duty sunscreen to avoid both cancer and wrinkles). Today was glorious. The potted plants aren't wilted and the flowers are blooming again as if it's spring.

The patients like this weather too. When you can convince your therapist to take you outside for a game, or to go wheeling around campus, you've won. We call it community integration and on days like today, it's a good thing.

Why? Because you learn how to get up and down curbs (and how to gauge where the water will be when it rains) and despite whatever illness or injury put you in a wheelchair, for the moment, you're free to hang out and be a lounge lizard. Don't worry, our patients get sunscreen too. Orders for sunscreen are harbingers of spring around the Hotel, just like the swallows coming back to Capistrano.

However, the shuttle trips never last. I'm always dropped off at the door to reality. And today, someone is waiting. Waiting for me, the resident expert, to help them solve one more problem, before they go off into the summery, yet cool sunshine.

I'll take it any day! Hope you enjoy every minute of gorgeous whenever it comes your way.

More later...

A little this, a little that

I've been escaped from the office and I've been busy. Dahey and I got Bubba from camp and took him on a road trip.

We're not the Griswolds, but we had a similar adventure on this trip. I inadvertently only read some reviews of the Hotel Hell we stayed at. I missed the good ones that said "Don't ever stay here."

It was really, really hot where we were. I packed lots of drinks in the truckster just in case.

The first clue we were in Hotel Hell was the neighborhood once we got off the highway ramp. It was sketchy. The lobby of HH looked decent, but I'm always a little concerned if they have doors to the outside, especially if the neighborhood is not so good. When you have to ring the doorbell to get into the lobby at night, it's not good.

Next, we got a non-smoking room with cigarette burns in the comforter. And if that wasn't enough, crumbs were on the floor (between the beds).

The room had a slightly musty odor and the air conditioning wasn't on. We turned it on, I inspected some more. There were no bedbugs or any other visible bugs and the in-room fridge looked new and was COLD. I got the extra strength Febreeze out and sprayed the room. I knew it would come in handy someday (have carried it, but never used it). I figured it would get better. It didn't.

All night we heard noise from the AC the room temp never went below 85 degrees. It was horrible. On top of that, there was a lot of noise from the parking lot. When that got quiet, the trains came by.

I probably slept about 4 hours all night. Needless to say, once the boys fell asleep, I booked another room in a nearby town for the second night. In the morning, I told the hotelier we were checking out.

We went off to see the sights and had fun. We even saw a movie while we waited for the check-in at the new hotel.

Our new hotel was an oasis. I checked everything then took a nice shower, so I could go out into the heat and sit at a baseball game.

It didn't matter. With more air conditioning and a clean room (and bathroom) I could tolerate anything.  Even a 110 degree heat index!

Now, it's back to staycation.  It's going to be fun.

Stay tuned!

It's HOT!

Dear Summer:

I know it's not Labor Day yet, and the kids are back in school, but this 100+ degree temperature thing needs to go.

I finally got used to not freezing to death at the Hotel. Now my space is so cold I have to either 1) talk to patients in the hallway, if it's possible or 2) turn the air off and sweat while I talk to patients.

All this stuff about designing rooms for patients is nice, but once in a while, couldn't we get a universal design that works for EVERYONE?

I know I'll be waiting for the remodeling (that may never come) in my end of the Hotel. Here's hoping the HVAC folks can get it right.

Sincerely (only if you fix climate control),

RehabRN

Too darned hot, part 77

First part: get an e-mail from the gal in HR processing an incentive program for you. Have to escape the office to drive to her office on company time (yippee!) Hot, hot, hot. Had fun, though. Susie, always has the darnedest stories about the idiocies of trying to recruit for the Hotel and Washington and our system.

"Hey, if they need you, you get the incentive period. Don't know why Idiot X in that department cares. Needs to get her panties out of a bunch."

I love Susie. Wish she could order more executives around!

Later, sitting in the drive-thru of the chicken place Bubba chose as his "eat out nite" place was brutal today. As Murphy would have it, we had to line up behind a van load of people with special orders.

Technically, it's was only 102 degrees Fahrenheit, but the temp gauge on my old car said 120 degrees.

Glad that twenty minutes of my day is over and done.

More to come...

Sharp and tingling

It's the time of year that they start selling prickly pear sherbet in these parts (my guess is that it's imported to RehabLand from the Southwest).

Just wish I could try to make my own like these folks did with their cactus sorbet.

I think mine really would have been better with tequila and a squeeze of lime!

Stay tuned. It might even be under 100 degrees tomorrow. (A girl can dream, can't she?)

Dear Mr. Poikilothermic

Dear Mr. P.:

I love you to death because, despite the loss of voice you occasionally have, you are so darned snarky and funny that you make me laugh.

But since it is over One Hundred degrees here in RehabLand, I must have the air conditioning on in your room. As Dad used to say, "You can always put on a sweater, but can't take one off if you don't have it." I wish we had rules on what the temps could be.

So here's your blanket, so I don't melt into a puddle in your room with my gown, gloves and other assorteds on, because I will if you keep that thermostat above 85 degrees again.

Sincerely (unless I melt into a puddle, then deal's off),

RehabRN

That's more like it!

Weather: Sunny, with hot and muggy temperatures.

Air quality: the fine smell of charcoal is wafting around the neighborhood as people grill. Not as much as usual, though, since everyone's getting those gas grills.

Mood: Bubba has taken a break from playing outside. All is good.

All the ingredients of a great holiday weekend, which ends for me tomorrow. Back to work for the holiday. I can't complain.


Stay tuned.

So happy...

I'm no longer cleaning. My husband's sibling and family have left the abode. I'm no longer expected to entertain, or clean heavily. Everyone had a wonderful time, even if I did not get the windows cleaned for their arrival. It wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Back to reality...and work. And work was still the same. Just hoping and praying someday I'll find out about the new job and will get to leave the Hotel. This time of year is always so hot, especially in temperature and temperament.

Now I'm vegetating while the Dahey, Bubba and WildDog play in the yard. I love a house that's still, and full of peace and quiet.

More to come...stay tuned.

Life is like a box of chocolates? Maybe...

If any man has drunk a little too deeply from the cup of physical pleasure; if he has spent too much time at his desk that should have been spent asleep; if his fine spirits have become temporarily dulled; if he finds the air too damp, the minutes too slow, and the atmosphere too heavy to withstand; if he is obsessed by a fixed idea which bars him from any freedom of thought:  if he is any of these poor creatures, we say, let him be given a good pint of amber-flavored chocolate... and marvels will be performed.  ~Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin


And if ice cream's your thing, especially as the temps go up in the RehabRN household when Bubba plays more outside and comes in a sweaty mess:

Ice cream is happiness condensed.  ~Jessi Lane Adams

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!

The little blizzard that wasn't

Sometimes I thank my lucky stars when things go wrong. Today is one of them.

We have snow, we have ice and we have subfreezing temperatures. However, we also got about half of the snow predicted for our area, as the thunder and heavy snow moved northeast.

Off I go to de-ice the car and see how many brave souls will venture out onto the snow/ice combo to see us. Should be another slow day.

Are you really off today?

Yes, Bubba, this is what Mom calls a vacation. And I couldn't have asked for better weather, when the temps today are scheduled to soar into the 50 degree range. Yes, 50, after all that snow and ice the past couple of weeks.

Lots of random stuff to do today before certain places close until next year. Should be fun.

Chilly!

Fall is here in Rehab Land, even if the leaves aren't turning yet...brrr!

Not surprisingly, the unit is still unseasonably warm in many areas.

Now it's off for another day of adventures with specialists and protecting the patients (and ourselves) from the new resident (Dr. Haroompf) who's still learning how to use our computer system.

Stay tuned!

Relief

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and it's not yet 100 degrees. The rain has cooled things off for a bit, but the weatherman says it will get hot again.

I feel as if a load has been lifted from my shoulders since school is over. Now, I'm working on some fun projects and will enjoy my respite between classes that don't start again for six weeks.

The Hotel's actually come down in temperature a bit, so we can't say we've got a sauna in it anymore. Unless, of course, you enter one of the shower  rooms that never seem to cool off until the dead of winter.

I took care of three people and some other tasks last night. The patients were great...couldn't have asked for better. We sent one of our patients out to Washington last night. I won't miss him, though. He's very angry at everyone over every thing. I'm sure he'll come back, but I'm hoping it won't be until next week...when I'm off.

The staff are still the staff...whispering and muttering about people coming and going and all of the customer service "gestapo" out there. But some should fear the customer service wrath, because they're all in tryouts to be the next Nurse Ratched (no offense Terri! I'm talking about the movie one...) because they like to inflict their personal ideas, whims, or peculiarities on people to their advantage. It's not happening because the patients are spilling their guts to the powers that be at the Hotel and it ain't pretty. And when it ain't pretty, the boss is furious.

It doesn't bother me, though. As one of my fellow nurses pointed out, if we just follow the Golden Rule a little more often, we wouldn't have too many problems with a lot of these complaining patients.

And she's right.

Stay tuned for more excitement...

Heat, humidity, and vacation season

The Boss is on vacation again this week. Should be interesting. Thankfully, so is the Slug. The charge nurses in control don't need any more mayhem than what occurs naturally at the Hotel.

The unit is cool in some spots and hot in others. It's a classic case of quads like it hot and everyone else likes it cool. This is the time of year I hope to take care of all the people who like it cool. Otherwise, I melt. I throw off the isolation gown ('cause it seems like almost everyone in our place is on isolation) and run into the cool hallway to get some relief.

And with all the heat and humidity comes the storms. Nice if I didn't feel like watering the plants, but not so nice when I'm out with Bubba and the scouts fishing. Those fish just don't like to bite during thunderstorms and standing in an open area with a fishing rod, is not the smart thing to do.

So Momma is gonna retire to some nice air conditioning, with a cool glass of whatever looks good.

More adventures later...

Itchy and scratchy

I love it when I wake up with eyes like this! I just tried out a sample of this new product, so I'm not sure if it's that or just the pollen outside. I really like the results so far, I must say!

Work was fun once the week ended. Thankfully, I'll have some extra off time this week to do paperwork for school. Ah, I really missed filling out forms. Thankfully, the SuperDuper U staff sent everyone a welcome letter with links to everything you need to do before the semester starts. It should be fun checking off everything I can this week.

I read this post at head-nurse and immediately thought of my unit. Ah, summer is always interesting when you have spinal cord patients around. It never fails...the quads are too cold, the paras are too hot. Occasionally, we get a quad, like one we have now, who's a combo (gets both hot and cold), but with all the isolation rooms we have and the nylon gowns we use, I never feel like my deodorant lasts the entire shift.

Needless to say, more than a few staff wanted to strangle the maintenance guys when they said they'd turn off the AC in the early afternoon for a repair, leave it off all night and maybe turn it back on in the morning. Maybe never came. Their boss came over and told our boss that the AC would come back on in two hours, tops. Happily, no one got hot under the collar!

Gotta run...more stuff to do...stay tuned.

Ahh...the weekend!

Just what I needed! It's been a thrilling week and I was glad to be spending my weekend at home, thank you very much. The full moon and the crazy people at work were enough for me! I'm feeling better, since those meds kicked in my doc finally sent me. Hooray!

I left late Friday because I volunteered to take a patient to Washington for a scan. The tech left early, so when we got there, we had to wait for the on-call to show up. "He'll be here in 15 minutes" actually took over an hour. Thankfully, this was not an emergent scan, although it was ordered stat. The scan took 5 minutes and I got a whole lot more OT. Said patient wasn't too crazy except for when the "people" came back on the ride back to Madison. Oh, hooray! More documentation for the boss for me.

My days were pretty decent, even though I ran and ran and ran. My day seemed like this for a while: Do AM care, dressings, etc., get patient in chair. Feed or set up for lunch, let patient sit in chair some more (or go to therapy) then put to bed before end of shift. Heaving three guys around (even not big ones) with a lift, still is taxing. I did not have to do meds at all on day shift, which was a welcome change.

One of our long-time people decided to become a DNR this week after much discussion with the medical staff. We'll see what happens next.

An observation: all of our rooms, except one, are isolation now. You name the isolation, we've got it: MRSA, MRSA/VRE, MRSA/AB, and MRSA/VRE/AB. MRSA's just so popular in our neck of the woods that we have multiple rooms with people on this isolation. One coherent patient was so funny. He was calling MRSA "Mercedes", as in, "I've heard a lot about that Mercedes bug on TV."

The temps have been ricocheting around (one day 10 degrees, the next 50) so it makes you really sweat with the isolation gown and gloves on. I was in the non-isolation room one day with just gloves on for five minutes and my hands looked as if I had had them in water for 10-15 minutes straight. Ahh, you just gotta love the heating and cooling system when the weather does gymnastics.

More goodies to come...I went to some great CE seminars last week, so I'll post a little bit about what I learned in some Nuggets.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, wherever you are!