The tales of woe

The word of my day was woe.

"Woe is me." I heard from the specialist who's complaining that the other specialist at X Hospital is bad mouthing him to our patients. Who tells specialist this tale? The patient. Specialist has taken care of patient forever, before he/she ever even went to X Hospital in our system. Patient told Specialist the truth, and he decided to tell me.

Kids, haven't you ever heard that maxim, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."? "No surprise" I told our Specialist. "He (and his hospital) have done weirder things lately." Frankly, I'm surprised upper management isn't reigning them in yet.

It was woe for our staff, too. I couldn't believe it when I saw our home health nurse doing assessment documentation on a newly arrived patient. She's usually out on the road somewhere, but for some reason, she got called into an admission that should have been completed by the floor nurse.  Not sure why the boss let that happen, but I'm so glad it wasn't me!

There was woe for one of our patients' families. Said patient died over the weekend. We really liked him (at least most of us did). Rudy was a very opinionated character who almost made it to his speed limit birthday, but he had a heart attack and never regained consciousness. He and I got along very well. I was the person who set up his Fritos whenever he was on our unit (he was a Frito maniac).

Rudy told me he wasn't afraid to die because, during one of his many spates of illness, he had had a near death experience. "Heaven is beautiful", he told me. "I saw it and I really wanted to stay, but they told me I had to go back. I saw the Devil, too."

"Really?" I asked. "How did you know it was the Devil?"

"He looked just like the pictures...and he had a bottle of Jack Daniels, trying to get me to go with him."

"No way!" I said. He just shook his head yes.

So from then on, it was our inside joke about Jack Daniels. I told him one night when he spiked a temp late in the shift, "Rudy, I know Heaven was nice, but could you just wait to go there until my shift is over? And whatever you do, don't take the Jack Daniels." Rudy eventually recovered and we laughed about it.

Happily, all of Rudy's last year wasn't a tale of woe. Rudy got to see his grandchildren born and he was so proud. I saw him from time to time and I always gave him trouble. On his last visit to the unit, I told him he had the most seniority (as in he'd been coming to our unit for so long) on the unit, so he'd better help us train our new staff.

"And Rudy," I told him, "if they say you're mean and quit, I'm gonna call you up."

He just smiled. I opened the last bag of Fritos I ever gave him during that stay while his family looked on bemused. Sure we spoiled him sometimes, but he was like our family. I figured out in the last couple of years, I'd spent more time on the unit with Rudy than I have with my own family.

Rudy was a Marine through and through. He loved the Corps and educated me that the Marines wear scarlet not red.

And like the old Marine saying goes, I send it out today to Rudy, not Chesty this time: "Goodnight Rudy, wherever you are." I'm praying you're in Heaven where it's beautiful and not with the Devil and Jack Daniels.

Godspeed, dear friend. I'll miss you and all your Fritos, too.

Still here

Plugging away on grad school homework. Not many days left to this semester (just short of 14 to be exact).

Will pop in an out as time permits. It's been a wild, wild week here in so many ways--school, work and the weather!

Stay tuned.

Dear Google

There really IS a reason why I didn't switch to the new interface.

It sucks.

Gimme my old one back.

Sincerely,

RehabRN

People wonder

Why some people want universal health coverage. Why some want simple, basic care with a little kindness.

This is why. Some hospitals think it's okay to sprinkle in the odd debt collector into their staff, and share data that is protected by HIPAA.

All I have to say: Accretia, please publish a list of  your customers. It will make life easier when choosing a provider.

When I want care, I want care, not harassment.

Stay tuned...

Far fetched? Maybe...

Dear Public U:

As much as the University loves technology, please don't buy this robo-grader thing until I'm done. I still have a few papers left to write that I think real people need to read.

Sincerely,

RehabRN

As the old saying goes...

Even the blind squirrel can find an acorn under the oak tree.

I got lucky and found the instructor's error from one of our assignments. So glad he's got a sense of humor.

Let the week begin. I'm ready to go jump on in! Here goes...

It is wonderful

'S wonderful...'
'It's awful nice/It's paradise'

Yes, indeed it is.

Happy weekend all, wherever you are, may your day be marvelous!

Run, run, runaway!

I have escaped. It may only be for a day or two here and there, but I get out when I can. The folks on the unit get incensed when they find out I'm not where I'm supposed to be in the SU, but it is nice to feel free.

Christmas came early when a lot of the junk (I mean VALUABLE medical equipment) finally got moved out of the SU after I pointed out that I was reporting the equipment staff to the hospital director. I guess the threats didn't fall on deaf ears, after all.

I went out with a bunch of other nurses from Madison, and we celebrated the local nursing awards. Big Boss nominated K. before he/she transferred out for this Local Hero Nurse Award, given to RNs in our area. It was at a big, swanky hotel, with a nice dinner. I even saw a couple of my nursing professors from PrivateU. It was a fun evening to celebrate a wonderful fellow nurse.

Stay tuned...more to come!

Multi-purpose rooms are one thing

But do we really, really have to store all unused items in the SU exam room because of its proximity to the parking lot?

This makes patient appointments challenging.

Yet another fun thing to put under "other duties as assigned."

Strategizing...

Going to have to justify away why the SU should continue. Boss is helping, thank goodness, or we'd be going to Hades in cutesy lil' basket.

Stay tuned...

I love my child

And I really enjoyed this section on happyplace.com on the darnedest things kids say (on homework).

Happy Monday all! I'm trying, too!

Jazzy Sunday

Hope you all enjoy, wherever you are...

A case of senioritis

I should be studying for my next test coming up very shortly, but I've been surfing again. Surprisingly, I've found articles on some other kinds of seniors, you may want to check out.

Senior citizens find the grass is greener (from Daily Reckoning) I'll bet our clerk M. who retired, is at one of their seminars (he was thinking about this when he left).

An unusual pilgrim (from CNN's religion blog) College kid (may or may not be a senior) takes a hike in search of a saint.

So now, off I go, to study again...stay tuned.

Ode of the tired (of the BS) nurses

The boss told me today it's important to network in your field, if you don't have any grinches (aka the Professional Development committee) at your hospital.

Lately, I've spent way too much time justifying my needs in nearly 50 pages of forms, brochures and supporting material. And if life were really like a Hollywood musical, this would be my song to perform below. (My apologies to David Bowie).

To the committee:

I've nothing much to offer/There's nothing much to take/
(How many more forms can I possibly fill out?)
I'm an absolute beginner/And I'm absolutely sane/
(and I absolutely read every stinking thing in the handbook twice)

As long as we're together/ (me and all the other nurses at the conference)


And to the bureaucratic horses behinds...y'all
(The rest) can go to hell

Can I put it on Craigslist?

Dear Hospital Equipment Engineer Guy:

The portable equipment has been waiting for six months already for you to pick it up. They even came and installed a new, handy, dandy one, so the techs don't even use this one as backup. We've called, cajoled and asked nicely multiple times.

So if you don't come and get it, here's what's happening.

1. I put it in the lobby. I'm tired of walking around the dinosaur every time I need to get one of my patients with wheelchairs in the room.

2. I'm calling you one more time.

3. If you choose not to pick it up, I'm turning the inspection form on the front over, writing "FREE" on it, and parking out in front of the building.

4. Right after it's staged there, I'll post that ad on craigslist to come by Madison Hospital for a great free "rare" equipment deal.

I know security won't do anything about it, because it's too heavy, but call you.

Sincerely not,

RehabRN

Divine providence

Who knew, that at 18, she'd be embarking on a career of a lifetime? Well, that's what's happened for one of our staffers who just celebrated not 10, not 20, but 40 (yes, 4-0) years at Madison. She has a work ethic most people don't have anymore: come to work, and do the work.

Another one of our staffers had the day off today. She was hemming and hawing between going to the gym and staying home to sleep in. Some nagging feeling just told her, "Work out, girl." There was a reason and not just to stay healthy. The middle aged man on the treadmill next to her dropped suddenly to the floor and had an MI. She did CPR with another nurse for several minutes before the ambulance arrived. The man lived.

Finally, one of our patients got a horrible diagnosis. He is living on borrowed time. He is denying it, and the way things are going, he won't get to spend his last days at home. I went into my goody stash and found several tools our team can use to help him deal with everything going on from his diagnosis.

I'm just wondering if it's just the way it's supposed to be...

Happy!

So, so, so happy. Found my lost gas cap AND...

I'm a RN-BC. Woo hoo! Those months of studying paid off. And I sent special thanks to two former Navy nurses who helped make it happen. I couldn't have done it without them.

It is indeed a Happy Monday in RehabLand.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day.

Rebirth

No, I don't believe in reincarnation (sorry!), but I am reminded how much hard work goes into anything worthwhile. I cleaned, scrubbed, cut, chopped, mixed and baked away for today's Easter lunch. It was gobbled up relatively quickly, but many happy, content smiles were shared sans alcohol. (Yes, they were driving!). We had a grand time at the RehabRN house.

I'm saving my alcohol (as tough as that was...I enjoy a nice glass with a good meal) for tomorrow. When the test is over. Yes, I'm taking one of the biggest tests of my career so far. I'm as ready as I can get. 

Back to studying. More to come.

Son, we need to talk

If this were my kid:

"Friends don't ask you to sell your organs for an iPhone and iPad. If they do, they're no friend of yours or mine."--Mom

So glad I don't live there, since I'd probably not be allowed to tell my kid that.

Back to work...time's a wastin'...

Enjoying my time off...sort of

It's like my baby. I've managed this project from the beginning when Boss told me I was going to take it.

Now we're set up and ready to see our first patients.

I am nervous. The first encounters have to go on without me, since I'm going to take one of the biggest tests of my life that day.

I've trained my people, but I won't be there to support them. I have phone numbers, backup numbers, and more numbers. The tech guys will be on standby and my newbie is fully trained.

I'll be doing a lot of praying this weekend, and not just because of the Easter weekend.

Stay tuned...