Dear Diary,
Today was exceptionally hard to wake up. I coerced myself out of bed with the promise of the amazing coffee creamer morning joy (Bailey's Mudslide), and yet even that was not enough to wake me up before it was too late - there was no working out this morning.
With cold weather and my already-shady allergies, I tend not to work out unless I have 2-3 hours so I can wash and dry my hair. It's an ordeal. It doesn't go away. Even if my hair was shorter it would still take 30 minutes I'm convinced.
Anyways, run-on sentences and all.
I got myself to work and sat down for breakfast (part 2), which is always a delight. There was no one in the break room, which is a good thing (I get silence) and a bad thing (everyone is working). At night that's really not the case, but during the day, silence means there's a lot of noise somewhere else.
So I went and wasn't surprised to see my job today was scrubbing. It's always fun, but a little more worrisome during the weekend/nights. I'm not that strong. I try to be, and I could be, but knowing the steps is difficult when you do it once a week. Maybe.
I finished one lunch with minimal scars, another I actually set up pretty nice (in doing nothing), and the last I sat and waited for anything more than what was happening. It's hard to explain, HIPPA and all, but I sat and sat and sat and waited for a 10 minute case that was taking an hour.
Chilled until our next case, no lunches, but our own case! And one thing after another after another - I'm beat. From one 10 minute case.
So I cannot trust anything now.
Finished and waiting for the bell in the break room. I get called into the front line to watch the desk while the others eat (how silly of them).
But then it's time to go home! And finally, how sinfully, I get to leave for a peaceful 12 hours before heading back for another 12 tomorrow.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
My Last 8 Hours
At work.
I'd just like to share them, since not everyone has the chance to know what my job entails. It's pretty nifty. Just like the word nifty.
I got to work at 0940 because it takes me about 15 minutes to walk the few blocks to work, about 15 minutes to change (especially since I'm wearing a tendonitis ankle brace, yay I don't have to wear it anymore as of today!), and about 15 minutes to sit and relax in the break room, perhaps eat a snacky snack and drink some water (the last you'll have today, potentially).
I have to go to my locker and get old scrubs to return because I have no credits in the scrub machine (it controls my life). It's kind of silly, we "rented" 3 pairs at the beginning of the residency and 3 is all you'll ever have.
Once changed, brace and compression stockings on, I sit in the break room with water (having eaten breakfast while getting ready because I was THAT hungry this morning), connecting to the wifi to look up my internet games (because instagram, for all I love in it, is just a game), and chatting with whomever is in the break room and doesn't understand that when the phone is out, I am already entertained.
At 1039 I clock in. Now the fun begins. It's not so much fun as it is harsh reality, but I lie to myself a lot as an adult (as I lied to myself through college to get to real life, and high school to get to college). Life is actually pretty fun if you live through each moment thinking "in just 8 more hours I get to sleep," "in just 4 more hours I get to sleep," "I should really work out, in 3 more hours I get to run," and ect. You'd be surprised at the amount of things I don't get done during the work day, one of them is sleeping. Working out, however, is really an all-day adventure in the OR world.
So I see my assignment. Yay! Unfortunately (or fortunately) today, I get to play ortho circulator. Which is not so fun (less break time and earlier lunch = I'm hungry and need to pee by 3) but really fun because I don't have to give anyone lunch. Which I'm always ecstatic about.
Anyways. Go to the room, they're finishing up, and our next patient (now to be referred to as "pt") is gonna make life complicated, but I have a STUDENT. Not only a student, but one who should have graduated last week. So what. Ever. She gets to do the work today.
Now, I said the next pt is complicated, but that's not her fault. That's just us, as healthcare professionals, trying to do the best thing for her in this difficult time in her life. So, without HIPPA violations galore, I set to work making the room acceptable for fluoroscopy and pregnancy. Talk about a great time.
And we get to work. Case is done. Next please! Jk you get lunch now, an hour and a half after you starting working your 8 hour shift. Great. Let's go. You have 30 minutes to make it downstairs, buy lunch, make it back upstairs, get a seat, scarf it down, drink some water, and pee break. If you're lucky look at your phone. If you're lucky chat with some coworker you haven't seen in ages.
Great. Time to get the next pt. But whoops jk her paperwork isn't in order. Which is always fun. It's always fun for me to rely on other people to do my job because when I don't do my job correctly I get to answer the horrid question of "why are we late"? I hate that question. But it's what the OR revolves around. Seriously. Time is money. Money is everything.
So anyways. Set up for the next case. Try to tell charge nurse most likely won't be done by 3, which can cause an awkward shift where I'm supposed to be in another room at 3. So that sucks for whoever I'm relieving, but what can I do if my pt is still in my charge? Not my problem, this current pt is my problem. Let her yell at me. Fine.
Moving on. Bring pt to recovery (now referred to as "PACU") after 3. What? You say there's no cases yet? Perfect. I'll do health stream. Thanks very much.
5 pm relief. My RN tells me I have 6 minutes to get a pt I know nothing about into the room before I'm late and I'll have to answer the dreaded question yet again. Oh thanks for setting up the room, maybe you could've gotten the pt.
Get in the room. My pt is an absolute doll who makes this fast case acceptable. Ortho surgeons are absolutely favorite people to work with. Ortho surgeons comments on my "arm rubbing" technique. Jokingly reaches out his arm, whatever I'll rub that too. But are you going to sleep for a potentially long time? With a horrible wake up? With horrible pain before and after? Yes, if you're my pt I will unapologetically give you all my time and love for those (in my opinion) awful moments. I love pseudo-babies.
Wake up, bring pt to PACU, see that another RN has not had lunch. But she's in the most confusing type of case. But she needs lunch. Walk in with 10 pounds of lead on my body to protect myself and my privates from cancer. You know, X-ray cancer.
Get report, get a mountain of supplies that need to be entered in the chart, send her on her way. Now the real fun begins. But it's actually pretty awesome because the scrub is a scrub who is a good scrub. She knows this service inside and out. She's working overtime because she knows the service so well. And no one else does. Audibly hear her sigh when I question her motives. Whoops. But still, you make my life so much easier. Thank you.
But it's also good because I have one extra person in the room who knows exactly what every single wire, sheath, balloon and stent is in this closet. I will never fear when he is near me. Open things, chart things, learn new things because of man. 30 minutes go by and it's all good.
Clear out of the chart and the room. Proceed to make quiet exit because I ain't trying to play. Go home. Syke! I decide to drive 30 minutes east to see my parents since I won't see them until Sunday. Go figure, I'm also a home-buddy and I miss my parents daily.
Rip my mother off her computer and take her to the gym, 14 minute run with 169 pounds on the leg press and some incline and I'm DONE. So tired. Eat everything they have in the house with a certain rose wine (aka white ziph which I have heard is not considered wine even though it comes in a wine bottle). Grab some gas and get home. Start up my laundry and pass out before moving it to the dryer. Whoops, there goes free electricity between 2200-0600.
Pass out while texting my boyfriend good night. But thankfully I brushed my teeth this time. True adult status right there.
And that, while not truly typical, is pretty close to the daily life of me.
I'd just like to share them, since not everyone has the chance to know what my job entails. It's pretty nifty. Just like the word nifty.
I got to work at 0940 because it takes me about 15 minutes to walk the few blocks to work, about 15 minutes to change (especially since I'm wearing a tendonitis ankle brace, yay I don't have to wear it anymore as of today!), and about 15 minutes to sit and relax in the break room, perhaps eat a snacky snack and drink some water (the last you'll have today, potentially).
I have to go to my locker and get old scrubs to return because I have no credits in the scrub machine (it controls my life). It's kind of silly, we "rented" 3 pairs at the beginning of the residency and 3 is all you'll ever have.
Once changed, brace and compression stockings on, I sit in the break room with water (having eaten breakfast while getting ready because I was THAT hungry this morning), connecting to the wifi to look up my internet games (because instagram, for all I love in it, is just a game), and chatting with whomever is in the break room and doesn't understand that when the phone is out, I am already entertained.
At 1039 I clock in. Now the fun begins. It's not so much fun as it is harsh reality, but I lie to myself a lot as an adult (as I lied to myself through college to get to real life, and high school to get to college). Life is actually pretty fun if you live through each moment thinking "in just 8 more hours I get to sleep," "in just 4 more hours I get to sleep," "I should really work out, in 3 more hours I get to run," and ect. You'd be surprised at the amount of things I don't get done during the work day, one of them is sleeping. Working out, however, is really an all-day adventure in the OR world.
So I see my assignment. Yay! Unfortunately (or fortunately) today, I get to play ortho circulator. Which is not so fun (less break time and earlier lunch = I'm hungry and need to pee by 3) but really fun because I don't have to give anyone lunch. Which I'm always ecstatic about.
Anyways. Go to the room, they're finishing up, and our next patient (now to be referred to as "pt") is gonna make life complicated, but I have a STUDENT. Not only a student, but one who should have graduated last week. So what. Ever. She gets to do the work today.
Now, I said the next pt is complicated, but that's not her fault. That's just us, as healthcare professionals, trying to do the best thing for her in this difficult time in her life. So, without HIPPA violations galore, I set to work making the room acceptable for fluoroscopy and pregnancy. Talk about a great time.
And we get to work. Case is done. Next please! Jk you get lunch now, an hour and a half after you starting working your 8 hour shift. Great. Let's go. You have 30 minutes to make it downstairs, buy lunch, make it back upstairs, get a seat, scarf it down, drink some water, and pee break. If you're lucky look at your phone. If you're lucky chat with some coworker you haven't seen in ages.
Great. Time to get the next pt. But whoops jk her paperwork isn't in order. Which is always fun. It's always fun for me to rely on other people to do my job because when I don't do my job correctly I get to answer the horrid question of "why are we late"? I hate that question. But it's what the OR revolves around. Seriously. Time is money. Money is everything.
So anyways. Set up for the next case. Try to tell charge nurse most likely won't be done by 3, which can cause an awkward shift where I'm supposed to be in another room at 3. So that sucks for whoever I'm relieving, but what can I do if my pt is still in my charge? Not my problem, this current pt is my problem. Let her yell at me. Fine.
Moving on. Bring pt to recovery (now referred to as "PACU") after 3. What? You say there's no cases yet? Perfect. I'll do health stream. Thanks very much.
5 pm relief. My RN tells me I have 6 minutes to get a pt I know nothing about into the room before I'm late and I'll have to answer the dreaded question yet again. Oh thanks for setting up the room, maybe you could've gotten the pt.
Get in the room. My pt is an absolute doll who makes this fast case acceptable. Ortho surgeons are absolutely favorite people to work with. Ortho surgeons comments on my "arm rubbing" technique. Jokingly reaches out his arm, whatever I'll rub that too. But are you going to sleep for a potentially long time? With a horrible wake up? With horrible pain before and after? Yes, if you're my pt I will unapologetically give you all my time and love for those (in my opinion) awful moments. I love pseudo-babies.
Wake up, bring pt to PACU, see that another RN has not had lunch. But she's in the most confusing type of case. But she needs lunch. Walk in with 10 pounds of lead on my body to protect myself and my privates from cancer. You know, X-ray cancer.
Get report, get a mountain of supplies that need to be entered in the chart, send her on her way. Now the real fun begins. But it's actually pretty awesome because the scrub is a scrub who is a good scrub. She knows this service inside and out. She's working overtime because she knows the service so well. And no one else does. Audibly hear her sigh when I question her motives. Whoops. But still, you make my life so much easier. Thank you.
But it's also good because I have one extra person in the room who knows exactly what every single wire, sheath, balloon and stent is in this closet. I will never fear when he is near me. Open things, chart things, learn new things because of man. 30 minutes go by and it's all good.
Clear out of the chart and the room. Proceed to make quiet exit because I ain't trying to play. Go home. Syke! I decide to drive 30 minutes east to see my parents since I won't see them until Sunday. Go figure, I'm also a home-buddy and I miss my parents daily.
Rip my mother off her computer and take her to the gym, 14 minute run with 169 pounds on the leg press and some incline and I'm DONE. So tired. Eat everything they have in the house with a certain rose wine (aka white ziph which I have heard is not considered wine even though it comes in a wine bottle). Grab some gas and get home. Start up my laundry and pass out before moving it to the dryer. Whoops, there goes free electricity between 2200-0600.
Pass out while texting my boyfriend good night. But thankfully I brushed my teeth this time. True adult status right there.
And that, while not truly typical, is pretty close to the daily life of me.
Obviously I Suck... Whoops
So obviously I suck, and I would tell you to get over it if I were already over it.
I just re-read my post from more than a literal year ago, and just high-fived myself in my head. Because I can. And because I am so so so proud of my writing post-college. It's the little things.
And I have never been more proud of my professional self. And over the course of this blog post (and hopefully more to follow p.s. I suck at routine) I will explain to you, avid, avid reader, why I cannot be an adult yet, but I'm up for some award in dabbling in stupidity and over-exertion like I always do.
So, let's catch you up since I've been doing a horrible job at that thing I'm supposed to be doing for my own sanity.
And so, dear reader, I couldn't tell you what's been more fun. Finding what I'm good at, or finding what I should never do again. But I will tell you that traveling is on my mind. And puppies are on my mind. And in the near future (whatever near means to your own person), I could have a white picket fence type of life. That I never, ever, in a million years, thought I would achieve.
So now, here is my "thing". I want to make a vlog, but this blog will suffice for the time being. I want to make an advice book for young OR RNs (because I cannot fathom what other nurses do during their shifts because it is all SO FOREIGN) and this is gonna jump-start something or another.
So, let's back up shall we?..
I just re-read my post from more than a literal year ago, and just high-fived myself in my head. Because I can. And because I am so so so proud of my writing post-college. It's the little things.
And I have never been more proud of my professional self. And over the course of this blog post (and hopefully more to follow p.s. I suck at routine) I will explain to you, avid, avid reader, why I cannot be an adult yet, but I'm up for some award in dabbling in stupidity and over-exertion like I always do.
So, let's catch you up since I've been doing a horrible job at that thing I'm supposed to be doing for my own sanity.
Since July 15, 2013 I have:
- started a new position as a OR RN Resident
- graduated and become an OR RN I
- joined AORN
- become a Board Member of AORN
- traveled to an AORN conference
- signed up for more AORN conferences
- signed up to be a delegate for the Dallas AORN at Nationals
- been through a hefty amount of healthy or unhealthy relationships lasting from nights to months
- found a potentially all-in mate
- got an old piercing back
- got a new piercing
- got a tattoo
- went to Miami
- went to Vegas
- went to ATX for fun
- went to HTX for friends
- been in 2 weddings
- been a part of 2 divorces (or near-divorces)
- had 2 very close friends die
- lost my online, one-email-a-night, diary
- forgot how much I love to write, and draw, and paint, and etc.
- forgot how much I hate laundry (I swear it just sits on your bed and stares at you)
- renewed my love for football
- and hockey
- and my family
- found a new love in boxing (no really, I couldn't live without boxing)
- found I can be relatable
- found I can be completely, unapologetically un-relatable
- forget how I act when I drink more than coffee
- renewed friendships
- signed up for grad school (what was I thinking)
- said "see you later" because "good bye" was too hard
And so, dear reader, I couldn't tell you what's been more fun. Finding what I'm good at, or finding what I should never do again. But I will tell you that traveling is on my mind. And puppies are on my mind. And in the near future (whatever near means to your own person), I could have a white picket fence type of life. That I never, ever, in a million years, thought I would achieve.
So now, here is my "thing". I want to make a vlog, but this blog will suffice for the time being. I want to make an advice book for young OR RNs (because I cannot fathom what other nurses do during their shifts because it is all SO FOREIGN) and this is gonna jump-start something or another.
So, let's back up shall we?..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)