In the news

Since I haven't done one of these in a while...why not?

Here are a few goodies I've encountered in my meanderings on the internet. Hope you enjoy!

Surprise, surprise
I guess we shouldn't really be surprised that a reality show producer would try to get some free publicity for a new story idea via Twitter, should we?

I know a couple of my friends were crowing that they figured him out right away. I just thought it was funny.

A hot ride
The good folks at the BBC gave an account of some stolen cobalt-60 in Mexico. The authorities are looking for the thieves, since they have been exposed to radiation.

My expert, Dahey, says there's no such thing as a little, harmless cobalt-60. Nice.

Finally, if that wasn't scary enough...
This may be. Millions of passwords compromised. All you need for Christmas is a new one. Change yours accordingly, so the bad guys can't masquerade as you on social media.


Cross this off your Christmas list
23andme, the genetic testing firm got in trouble with the FDA this week. So much for my brother and Aunt Martha's Christmas gifts.

Ask me...

That's what this week's version is called at Sunday Stealing. Enjoy!

The ASK Meme, part one

What’s your favorite candle scent?
Vanilla

Do you know a hoarder?
Yes. Dahey is one.

Can you do a split?
Regular = no. Chinese = back in the day I could!

How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike?
Six

How many oceans have you swam in?
None. Have waded into two.

How many countries have you been to?
Six.

Is anyone in your family in the military?
Yes.

What’s the worst grade you got on a test?
I've flunked a few tests. (I have always passed the classes, though.)

What was your favorite TV show when you were a child?
Emergency.

What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight?
Don't remember. Went as a hobo more years than I can count.

Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series?
No.

Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent?
I am fine with my accent (American) thank you very much.

Do you know who Kermit the frog is?
Yes...why are there so many songs about rainbows? And now that you have that song in your head, see the bottom of this page.
 
What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in?
Chinese

Do you spell the color as grey or gray?
Depends. Earl Grey tea and a gray sweater are fine and dandy, as my old sales manager used to say.

Is your father bald?
Nope.

The classic song that question made me think of...

Time to wake the lion...

Er, kid, I mean.

It is daylight longer so Mr. Bubba thinks it's fine and dandy to stay up goofing off as long as possible, since "my homework is done, and it's not dark yet."

Now, we have to get up for school (I love being the drop off queen for the neighborhood). Agony.

Stay tuned. The drama of statewide standardized testing starts soon!

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.

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...

Just another reason...

I don't have guys like this as a lot of my patients.I do have a secret to share though, if you're nice. I'll ask for a lidocaine order to go with it, so it takes the edge off.


I am a professional rehab nurse and do this a whole lot. In fact, I'm pretty good at it.

Just remember: No nicee = no lidocaine, and nurse may get nervous and go really, really, slowly.

Some things I do well...

Like proving to the nurse who tested me, that yes, indeed, I am still allergic to dust mites.
Thankfully, I do not need to start shots. So glad it'll be time for some antihistamine soon!

More to come...stay tuned for all the excitement.

Momma took a day

Yes, I took a day of my own vacation and did everything for me. Got my tires rotated. Went for an annual check up including those smashing tests. Even filed and buffed my nails (ran out of polish, so I decided to wait).

I also did some networking with some very important nurses who happened to be nearby at a networking shindig. Met lots of nice people and they even had really good cookies in between sessions.  Some people were from out of town, so I got to tell them about the good stuff in the neighborhood they were staying in, because we all love tourists in our town, especially this time of year, when it's usually slow.

And to finish Momma's day off, I went to a posh watering hole (PoshBar) with some of my old coworkers from my other life. With all the mergers and acquisitions lately, only one or two people are still working at MegaCompany. We had a blast eating all of those cheap appetizers. The waitress even  forgot to ring up three sodas I drank. I noticed  it on my bill and told her. "Oh, I'm not worried about those."

Consequently, she got a nice tip. I have no idea what PoshBar normally charged for those, but I made sure I covered it on my tab. As I learned in that other life, it's always important to keep your server happy.

Stay tuned...this staycation ain't over yet!

Gonna need more hair dye

The excitement around my house is just turning me white. Dahey has tests scheduled for late this week, so I'll be busy turning white waiting for the results.

And crossing my fingers, toes, stoking the prayer lines and lighting candles. 

Stay tuned....

A little early Halloween antics

Yes, it's been going on lately, but I just have to wonder with the pre-Halloween antics going on at the Hotel. What do you get? A dash of irony in it all...

1. Convince one of your patients not to distribute his candy to everyone. He's really proud of it.

2. We get a "prank call" at the nurses' station that one of our people has fallen in the lobby. We investigate and find no person in the lobby. Turns out it wasn't a prank. The other rehab unit's lobby (on the other side of the building) was the place and yes, one of their people did go down...for you guessed it, trying to pick up candy he/she dropped to the floor. Moral of the story: new amputee + wheelchair + stuff out of reach often equals a tumble.

3. And the best one yet to close....Dr. Z., one of our internists kept telling Mr. C. he should not eat the Halloween candy he got recently. So what does Dr. Z. order on today's round of tests...a HgbA1c and gives him a bag of his favorite mini candy bars.

Oh, I foresee a boo-tiful time in the Hotel until Halloween! More to come...

This is only the beginning...

Of lots of things, including the week. I already feel tired and I've just gotten started.

First of all, I got back for my first day of work. It's a really long week when I get ready to work the weekend. I'm getting annoyed already when I hear people say, "I don't know how she does it. I'd hate working that schedule." Well, that schedule is my life, so I deal with it.

Trust me, I've tried to get it changed, but the boss is not eager to do anything about it. Showing up and doing a excellent job at work can be an advantage, though. Said boss is going to put me on assignment working with our sister unit on another floor. This will only be temporary, but hopefully, will be helpful in the long run. It will probably unleash the crazies among my coworkers, but we'll see.

And now, I'm at the beginning of prep for my first test of the semester. School can get the best of you if you're not careful. Happily, we have a good team this semester,and hopefully, we'll keep our near-perfect record intact.

Stay tuned...more to come this week! I'm back to cooking ahead for tomorrow.!

In the dark

It's been interesting lately. It always is when you work the evening and night shift. Most of your life actually happens in the dark.

First, you confide in your coworker who's sitting just outside in the darkened hallway of what you see around you. She's been a nurse forever (since dirt, she likes to say) so she tells you about life in other places, and it ain't like the soap opera of the Hotel, either! Yes, sistah!

Next, you eventually turn down the lights in the rooms so people drift off to sleep. Sometimes, they don't drift too quickly. They fear the dark, sleep apnea, and the doctor showing up tomorrow. They vent in the dark--"Why didn't Dr. X tell me why I had to have so many blood draws?", "How come I have this IV?" or "No one told me I had xx bug."

One of my patients confided a lot of firsts to me recently. First person he knew to become injured. First person in his family to have cancer. First one in his family who controlled his type II diabetes effectively. First one in his family not to have a heart attack. Now his cancer has caused his recent mayhem. He's going back and forth on a pendulum he did not choose--surgery here, treatment there, back to us, and the cycle swings back again.

He does have a little consolation. His siblings bought him a computer. While the internet's not working yet for him, he does play games, which keeps him occupied. One of these days, he says, he'll beat that computer in chess.

And off I go in the dark, for the next round of confidences and consolations.

More to come...

Dashed dreams

Yes, the full moon is coming, and craziness is just down the way. Lately, though, the mood has been mixed, somber and silly, crazy and cool at the Hotel.

I heard part two of a story about one of our new nurses. Funny thing, both stories about the same incident were completely different from nurses with many years of experience, one present for the whole thing and one who heard about the incident from the nurse directly. It just reminds me that scuttlebutt is just that...lots of rumor and not lots of substance.

For our pending Magnet application at our facility, we had to fill out the yearly satisfaction survey. I usually make a line down my paper, straight down the middle of all the dots. I chose not to do that this year. If they really want us to get Magnet, they really need to know what's going on. Difference tolerated? You must be kidding...Is your manager supportive? Sure, if you can come to work every day and not ask for anything out of the ordinary. Are your peers supportive? I nearly fell on the floor dying of laughter on that one, especially after the incident I mentioned earlier. How do we support and nurture new nurses if we don't talk to them rationally and make everything a turf war where someone has to "win"?

One of our patients recently went for a series of GI tests. One revealed a very large gastric "polyp". My heart sank when I read the procedure report. The colonoscopy revealed some issues, too, but none like that. They also ran the usual bug tests to see what else is going on. Now all we can do is wait.

The patients, however, were still the same, rolling around, going to therapy, watching TV.

And the story continues...stay tuned.

These are the days...

One of my patients recently went home. He/she had a particularly harrowing set of tests to determine the origin of a problem. Tests were completed and patient left with family and no problems.

Patient grabs me in front of family, gives me a hug, and says, "I'd have never made it without you, RehabRN."

These are the days I really like my job.

The merry, merry month of May

Ah, yes, it is. And it's been merry so far this week. I was temporarily inundated with multiple patients, but nothing too difficult. Some of my people are even fighting to get me back! How nice it is to feel loved!

Anyway, feeling loved is a heck of a lot better than smelly C-diff. Ugh! I had one patient with it this week and it's always fun when the docs want a room, they start saying, "Well, his WBC numbers are down, let's take him off isolation." All I have to say is, "What happened to those ID rules (infectious disease, such as this sample one)?" No one asked for any more tests, so who knows!

Today there was a party and BBQ for the patients. People everywhere. I got my patient up earlier than usual and he tried to go back to bed before I left. He's not liking that rehab status at all! There will be more excitement next week, but I'll be at home until the weekend.

Ah...more to come. Stay tuned!

Sobering

That was how my week ended. My patients were doing well, fluffed and buffed, but elsewhere on the unit, there was a cloud.

No, not the "happy cloud" the instructors told people to go to in the class some of our cohorts took, but a pall of the doom you know is coming.

One patient came in and within a couple of hours got his first order of vitamin K and some more elaborate diagnostic tests. Someone was drinking a little more than they let on...

Another got the bad news that he's got a terminal illness. No timeline yet, so he just hid under the covers most of the day.

Finally, I managed to bugger up the med cart. Technology is great, but the instructions on resetting it were not. Trial and error can be your friend, but when you're busy, you just don't want to go there.

Thankfully, I resolved the problem and got things to work. Hooray! More to come next week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend...wherever you are!

A pretty good day

I was lucky enough to have my three same patients back and my day was reasonably easy. The Slug was coordinating our Boss's Day festivities, so it was pretty haphazard as I expected, and she disappeared for not just one plus hour, but two and a half hours. Heaven forbid you actually do this stuff on your OWN time!

I got Mr. B. ready and he kept having orthostatic hypertension. He'd get set up in his chair and in an upright driving position and his BP would just plummet. I had no choice but to contact the NP. He kept dropping in spite of his TED hose, abdominal binder and his 5 mgs of Midodrine. I got an order for another 5 mgs of Midodrine at lunch time and he did well, but he got woozy again on me late in the afternoon as I was leaving. I passed this on to the evening shift. Tomorrow, I get to go with Mr. B. up to Washington to see the neurosurgeon. They will do some flexion-extension x-rays to determine if he can get his halo removed.

The other Mr. B. got back from his trip to Washington without a hitch. The GI docs found a cancerous polyp on his last colonoscopy and were looking for the area where it was removed today. They searched his entire colon and could not find it, even though he had a tattoed polypectomy last time.

Mr. W., my other patient, a para who did all of his own care left today. He was very nice and was very happy that his colonoscopy didn't show anything bad at all. I put in his discharge notes and wished him well.

The afternoon went reasonably well. I got my hotel confirmed for the conference I'm attending in November. I'm still getting the flight situated. I missed two Accuchecks at lunch time because two of the diabetic patients escaped to the free lunch one of the veteran's organizations has each month. I managed to get all the Accuchecks done before anyone ate anything else and I escaped at 1600. Fall is definitely here in our neck of the woods. It was blue skies and sunny, but the wind was cool and crisp.

More later...

Nuggets for September 2

Yes, it's been a long time since I posted Nuggets, but I really missed them, so...Now that I've returned from my trek to ye old neighborhood pet store to get an electronic fence for the wild ol' herding dog at my house who nearly got hit chasing a scooter yesterday, I discovered a couple of goodies out there of note.

Enjoy!

Long-term ills tied to bad food (from www.washingtonpost.com)
That salmonella or E-coli can cause trouble for years in some folks.

The Well at the New York Times website is a blog that has lots of interesting articles on health-related topics.

Here are a couple of the more interesting ones out there right now:

Voices of Crohn's disease is a multimedia collection including audio files with comments from folks with this disease.

Best online psychology tests Just in case you needed a break!

The Wall Street Journal also has a health blog with a great story this week about a study regarding older fathers and kids with bipolar disorder.