Monday, Monday (aka back to work)

It was a brief trip to MegaConference and it was fun. I even met some new friends on my whirlwind tour. I tried to meet one nurse blogger, but she wasn't coming in, until I left town. I got lots of looks at my poster and made sure I didn't take a single handout home, by using a couple of marketing gimmicks. (I marked my literature holder--aka a brown envelope--with the words TRADE SECRETS).

All that business experience helped. I also corralled a spot near my poster and carefully set my coat and a notebook there (with a glass) so I could go between sessions and not lose my spot. (We were expected to be by the poster at break times, so...)

Dahey and Bubba drove around the town exploring, watching dogs and sailboats. Bubba also proved that kids needing to go to the bathroom is really a universally understood problem, no matter in what sort of ethnic neighborhood you may find yourself. They also saw a movie, which was a good excuse for Dahey to find a dark place with a comfy chair for a nap. (We got up really early to get me to the conference on time, since our hotel was far away in the suburbs.)

There was a party once the session was over, but I literally had to fly out of there, after I talked to an exec I had tweeted to during the sessions. It was nice to finally meet her after conversing back and forth. It was bedlam--cars, taxis, buses, everywhere. It was a miracle Dahey and Bubba could get to me amidst all the masses escaping the conference hall looking for a ride. I was really happy one of the staffers there was able to get us back to the highway to RehabLand.

It was literally down the street and around one corner. So we drove away into the evening to RehabLand.

Today was a long day with lots of caffeine infusions. My last one is wearing off, so I will say good night.

More fun to come...

Rehab nurses sure know it!

While I'm resting on my break (i.e. meaning I'm done with heavy lifting for a few minutes), I noticed an interesting e-mail.

I like to tell the nursing students who come to our unit at the Hotel that rehab nursing is really about bowel, bladder and skin (the physiological part).

Needless to say, I'm glad I was done drinking my Hefeweizen when I got this e-mail:

You have a new follower on Twitter

Kegel Universe

@kegeluniverse

We promote and support Kegel exercising! Our main purpose is to educate and remind individuals of the benefits of Kegel Exercising!
United States Of The World

Never a dull moment with us at the Hotel. Hope you enjoy!

The week that was

So happy the Memorial Day weekend is here, because I'm free from the idiocy of the Hotel.

What a week!

1. Bubba decided to goof off at day camp and injure himself. Hello Next Door Neighbor Peds ER. I think he'll be careful about goofing off in the pool next time if he wants to stay in it.

2. The new nurses started in the SU satellite clinic and have lots of good ideas, some of which may actually work with some of the primadonnas on our medical staff. One nurse was promptly pulled back to the floor because well-meaning manager never thought anyone would call in sick on payday before a holiday. Sounds like a writeup is coming!

3. I got to educate more people. Computer education, health education, you name it. I hope those educators don't get wigged out. There's way more education needed than what we're allotted to do.

One of my coworkers is working on a leadership project in my area...which happens to be the NBT (Next Best Thing) in healthcare. The Manglement puts articles on the employee intranet, on Facebook and Twitter, yet the non-clinical people have no clue what it is. D. is gonna have to do some education herself.

4. I get to work on a memorial project for our deceased patients at the Hotel (this started  last year). The support staff working on it are just too damned cheery for me. We'll see how it goes.

More to come...the big project starts next week in advance of the big trek.

Nuggets for August 13

There were a whole lot of interesting items out there recently, so here are a few of them for your viewing pleasure.

You've got questions...

They've got answers, and no, it's not an electronics store. ConsultantLive had this great article on the ubiquitous purple urine bag. I've seen it a few times before (also blue) and asked questions about it, and never got a straight answer until I found this article. They also have a number of other articles of interest, so peruse at whim.

Crispy and brown

Feeling burnt out? Need to read something to get you going? Laura Wisniewski has this great article over at www.nursinglink.com called Re-Engage Your Passion for Nursing that has a few interesting points to ponder.

A telling anniversary

It's been ten years (yes, it was 1999) that the IOM published To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System.

There are still lots and lots of mistakes happening out there. The Houston Chronicle (a Hearst Newspaper) recently ran a series called Dead by Mistake on what the state of error reporting is in the US, and it's not so hot. Don't miss it.

Study, study, study

I'm still doing some certification study (yes, it seems like forever...) and I ran into some terms I didn't recognize, so I went searching and found some articles of interest.

Glossopharyngeal breathing is used with some ventilated SCI patients. This article explains what exactly it is and how it works.

Figure ground deficit is explained in this Google Book called Neurological Disabilities: Assessment and Treatment.

I always feel weak in my studies of the brain, so I found this article about a particular TBI patient very interesting as an aside. (from http://www.nytimes.com/)

Privacy (or lack thereof)

And you thought a prescription was private (from http://www.nytimes.com/)
I just shuddered reading this article...what will they think of next? I'm sure all you pharmacists out there have some stories like this.

And everything else about bloggers

It seems like life is very electronic these days...with good and bad results. Here are a few articles about various topics related to blogging I've seen lately. And, no, some things just don't need to be blogged or explained electronically, at least not in my little world, thankyouverymuch!

Mommy bloggers and ethical conflicts (from http://www.cnn.com/)

A no tweet, no blog party (from http://www.nytimes.com/)

Nuggets for June 3

After a temporary hiatus, the Nuggets are back!

Multiple Sclerosis links:
Here are a few links I thought I'd share as a result of my conference last week.

National Multiple Sclerosis Society
http://www.nationalmssociety.org/index.aspx

MultipleSclerosisPro.org
http://www.multiplesclerosisprofessional.org/

PVA's page on spinal cord diseases
http://www.pva.org/site/PageServer?pagename=disease_main


From the blogs...
I'll never think of making someone NPO the same again...
http://serenitynowhospital.blogspot.com/2009/05/npo.html

Sadness for a traveling OB nurse
http://rvtravelerrn.blogspot.com/2009/06/can-you-help.html

And a related item: What is anencephaly?
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/anencephaly/anencephaly.htm

Things not to do on Twitter: announce your vacation.
http://casesblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/dangers-of-social-media-twitter-your.html

And for something completely different....
Therapists wired to write
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/fashion/04shrinks.html