Lessons Learned

I've learned a lot from working at the hospital I work at. I've picked up many important life lessons and even a few medical tidbits.

The biggest one?

Drunk People + (Motorcycles - Helmets) = Badness.

And I don't mean bad like how NKOTB were bad back in the early 90's as in they were freaking awesome. I mean bad like having your nutsack ripped open (for guys anyway...I guess boobage ripping would be the female equivalent).

Actually, honestly and truly, I had a really rough couple of nights at work this weekend. I had one patient die and another who got really unstable really fast. The death wasn't unexpected, I knew it was going to happen as soon as I walked on the unit and saw the room, but it was a big change from how things looked the night before when I took report. Plus there was a lot of family in and out and it was really very sad. I came in Tuesday night kind of hoping for a fairly easy night...yeah, sick patients, but nothing out of the ordinary. I ended up getting an admission and that was fine but things got pretty hairy pretty fast and even though they turned out all right in the end (thank God for having a day shift nurse who was very understanding of the busy night) it was physically draining and not really the kind of night I was hoping to have the night after a big emotional patient death.

I know it's the job and I need to deal with it or move on and I will...but it was a rough few days at work. It happens.

Although...I'll tell you this. Score one for team nursing staff. I am fairly certain we saved my patients life Tuesday night getting an XRay the doc wasn't sure we needed.

That part does NOT suck. At all. It actually kind of makes it worth while.

Friday the 13th...

At least it isn't a full moon tonight in addition to the wackiness that Friday the 13th brings.

Tuesday, however, WAS a full moon. And I was working. Let's just say that wackiness ensued. It was one of those "eat early because you won't be able to eat later" nights. We got probably 10 or 11 admissions total on the unit which is a LOT when you only have 36 beds. I ended up basically doing two admissions. One was claimed by the previous shift, but they didn't actually do anything for it...so I ended up doing the admission and it was a stroke protocol admit so there was a lot of stuff like labs and CT's and MRIs (those had already been done, thankfully). Plus I got my very own admit around 4 that was a "combative" intubation in ER (seriously, don't give them shit in the ER - they'll put a tube down your throat and a finger up your butt) that turned out to be an actually injured pt. I was on the medicine hall but it was a trauma/surgical admission because there were no more surgical beds open with nurses...so I got me a trauma admit, which we all know I love more than most things. It was a pretty wild night. Like, WILD. Fun though. I love those nights.

Had a sad case this week...well, sad for me a little. It wasn't like some of the other sad cases that were really tragic sad, this one just kind of reminded me of all the stuff we went through with Grannie before she died and before the family really got a hold of her Alzheimers diagnosis and had her put into a nursing home that really knew how to take care of patients like her. It was sad and hard and not really the most fun ever, which made it very different to watch as an outsider. Watching a family realize that they really can't take care of their family anymore is hard. I was glad that they were being realisitic about what care they could provide versus what kind of care their family member would need - they really aren't always the same and no matter what your opinions on nursing homes are sometimes it really is just too much for the family.

It has been raining here since pretty much Wednesday and it's the first rain I've had as a homeowner. Apparently part of my backyard drains into my garage...which I guess is better than it draining into my house. I also accidentally touched a cockroach in Layla's food cupboard hanging out behind her food bag....I screamed LOUD. Layla thought that me doing the EEEEW, A ROACH dance was a game and that I had something in my hand to eat. It was NOT a game and I sent Layla after that roach pretty quick. She's a good bug killer that puppy. Not a fan of the rain or the mud though. I'm hoping it dries out quick so she'll go potty outside once again. She isn't really a fan of the puppy pads.

Some sweet social events coming up- I get to see Micky and the Motorcars tonight, which is exciting. Lots of good bands in the next few months too. Plus, and write this one down, I am having a housewarming party on April 3rd!!