On the other side

Did I blink during Nurses' Week and suddenly it's August? Yes, I did. And Bubba reminded me today that in two weeks, he starts high school.

What's happened? My boss was removed, then two months later resigned. When I found out why, I wasn't surprised. Basically, being a bully comes back to get you.

Bubba went to MiddleState U's Science Camp again. He had fun. We picked him up and enjoyed a weekend hotel jaunt in a suite free (that's what happens when you save years of credit card points). We ate, drank and were merry. We wouldn't miss our designated IHOP stop for anything, because it's become a tradition.

The summer of the first year of Trump has been heartening. I last switched jobs fortuitously right before the big 2008 crash.

I'm ready again, but I'm older and more leery. There are some things to be said for basic security, short commutes and decent benefits. All the folks at the Hotel eligible are getting out as soon as they can.

Nevertheless, I'm preparing for whatever fall might bring.

Stay tuned.

Just when you think you have it all figured out

In the early 2000s, when I was working a progressive yet conservative financial company, we talked about the business book, Who Moved My Cheese. In a way, in the years before 9/11 it made sense.

Then 9/11 happened, and that brighter, shinier future dulled and disappeared in a cloud of smoke and fire.

As I'm finishing up my work as a volunteer for a nursing organization this week (Happy Volunteers' Week!), I thought, "Wow. I've made it. There's really been nothing extraordinary that's happened while I've been the chairperson, so I can at least say, I did it. Add this prestigious title to the list. Check."

Until recently, when that "all set scenario" changed. It might have seemed like one meeting with some organization folks and some of us nurses, but as I look back, it could be the start of something big. We are changing things in the group that could change how people join the organization and get certified.

We are looking forward to how we can change to make things better, to help a younger generation grow and prosper in rehab. To me, it's as exciting as anything.

I can't wait to say one day, "Yes, I was there when..."

Hope you have your own moments of clarity this week, too. 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.

Will they ever learn?

"May we not succumb to thoughts of violence and revenge today, but rather to thoughts of mercy and compassion. We are to love our enemies that they might be returned to their right minds." ~ Marianne Williamson

May peace return soon to the streets of Ferguson, MO

Just a thought

I have a bicycle sitting idle in the garage. Bubba goes to school down the street now, so he can walk home.

I'd like to ride my bike to the Hotel, but I'm getting a little skittish after reading stories like this one. It  might help keep my weight in check, too, since I've been indulging in one too many goodies at work.

NOTE: I've already gotten in my own bike vs.car crash in college and I lived (I got a really good look at the driver and totalled my bike). Not sure if I feel like doing that one again.

The joys of modern transit and obesity.

Mark Twain was right

This was the result of a CE module I completed recently.

Congratulations! you have PASSED

Your Score: 100.00 % 

   

Exam Summary:

Your points: 93.75  Questions Answered: 15/15 

Points Needed to Pass: 79.05  Correct: 15 

Percent Needed to Pass: 85 (%)  Incorrect: 0  

BTW this was Mark Twain's quote:  

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

Thanking the heavens

It's not good, but it is getting better. One of Dahey's relatives was out in the storms recently and was seriously injured because he couldn't been seen due to wind, rain and darkness.

He and his family were in a car accident and he was the worst injury of the lot (rest of the injuries were minor). The medical staff at PrivateU are watching and waiting since he had to have this procedure and a small part of his brain removed to reduce brain swelling post-injury.

Send all those good thoughts and prayers our way.  It will be a long road ahead, no matter what happens.

Stay tuned...

Back to work and...

"She never gives out/She never gives in/She just changes her mind.
 She's always a woman to me."
 Billy Joel, She's Always a Woman to Me (The Stranger, 1977)

Q. is a character. A short, thin, sassy, color-coordinated one. So much so, that she put those color extensions in her hair to cheer up the patients. She put red and green in for Christmas. She put football team colors in during football season. Other colors for baseball. And there was always purple, because it is her favorite color.

Q's laugh, high-pitched and resounding, could be heard all over the unit. One regular patient told me, "I know Q's here whenever I come, because I hear her." She'd fly into a room and give patients she knew a big hug and tell them, "C'mon Mr./Ms. So-and-So, you need to get up and see those therapists. They're waiting for you."

She would also clean them up and get them ready for relatives, trips to x-ray, or only to roll out in their wheelchair or stretcher on the unit. She had her favorite patients, and she'd tell you who they were. She was known to negotiate to get the ones no one else wanted. And when she was done with them, they wanted her as their nurse every day.

One day, Q. told me in the hallway, when I was done with one of her patients appointments, "RehabRN, I really have a pain in my side." I told her, "Q, you'd better check that out. Don't hurt yourself."

In a couple of days, Q. was at work and she told one of the staff she was having chest pain. Since she didn't fit the profile of a heart attack victim, staff still worried about her because she didn't like to complain. R., the staff member she told, took her to the ED down the road, so she wouldn't have to go alone.

Q. got the workup and she didn't have a heart attack. She had terrible labs, though. By the time the weekend came, Q. got the news: she had cancer. She started treatment immediately. She went through a short rehab to get her well enough to go home, but she went downhill quickly. She was sent to World Renown for better treatments, but she didn't make it.

Today we found out Q. lost her battle. Her infectious laugh will never be heard again, nor will we see those crazy colors for the patients.

The Hotel Rehab will be pulling out the black bunting again.

Collecting my thoughts...

Yes, I'm still around. Just been a tad busy.

Stay tuned...will fill you all in on the exciting news very soon.

Some people just don't get it

Case in point:

Dear HippieRN:

Being friends (or thinking you are friends) with patients is really not a good idea. Working here is really work, and since the Establishment says friendships are not a good idea, it means that it really isn't a good idea. You can think whatever you want to yourself, but verbalizing those thoughts with patients (and their significant others) is not a good thing. Yes, that's the reason why the boss changed your assignment recently and had a little chat with you.

What you did was not really therapeutic communication, so please don't do it again. Your count, as they say in baseball, is 3-2 right now, and you're not a home run hitter type.

Doing your work and not texting or chatting in person (or online) with patients really IS a good thing.

Here's hoping you get a clue, otherwise, your dope slap (and a pink slip) is waiting.

Sincerely,
RehabRN

Got me thinking...

Another day at work and thankfully, not too many dilemmas.

Monday went by quickly and relatively painlessly for me and most of the unit. It wasn't so painless for some of our coworkers who were involved in an accident while parking their cars on our busy front thoroughfare. A lot of craziness ensued, and everyone's okay for now. We'll wait to see what happens.

Bubba feels sick, so I get to go into nurse mode at home. I see the oak trees in the yard are blooming. Makes me wonder if allergy season has finally claimed him as a victim this year.

I did some more certification studying and for a little break I ran into Kim at emergiblog's recent Don't tread on my conscience post. Oh, it made me think!

Yes, it is hard to blog about controversial subjects including this one. Did I think about it when I was looking at specialties in nursing school? You betcha. I would have serious issues if I were in anything remotely related to Kim's topic, and yes, I did turn down a position with a world-renowned surgeon just because it could potentially pose such problems. I have my own set of values, which I'd prefer to display in my work rather than to discuss directly with patients. Yes, Momma did tell me never to discuss politics and religion and I adhere to that with my patients and coworkers.

I often think about situations such as this recent one where a per diem nurse lost her job because she discussed one aspect of religion. Do I agree that she should have bounced that ball to the chaplain? Sure, but do we know if anyone was around to take the pass, let alone be present with the patient. Another incident in the UK got a nurse suspended in February.

Finally, I'm often disgusted that we can't agree to disagree and realize we live in a country of many faiths and traditions. Allowing a nurse to honor his/her faith does not mean he/she is shirking the work, it reminds us that nurses are people, not robots, with traditions, beliefs and feelings, just like the patients. If we denigrate the faith tradition (or lack thereof--if that's your choice) of a nurse, we, in turn, denigrate them, too.

Kim: keep lighting the fires and making us think.