TURQUOISE ROCKS!!!!!!!

Why, you may ask.  Because today is March 31st.  Today is National Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Day.   Just what is that?  Well just  click here. 


One of the nurses where I work is dealing with this very thing right now.  The little guy (and the entire family) have come a long way, but they have a long road still ahead.  So when you see turquoise today think about these babies and their families.  Say a prayer for them. And if you have healthy babies at home, thank your Heavenly Father for that.

Mornings........

SUCK!!! It's a good thing that I don't work day shift. I would never be on time. Last week I had a staff meeting which meant I had to be at work at 0745. I woke up at 0710. I threw clothes on, sprayed some smell-good, jumped in the car, and didn't sit too close to anyone. Today I had a meeting at 0800. Was supposed to meet a friend for breakfast a little after seven. Instead I awoke at seven. I jumped into the shower, threw on clothes, grabbed a granola bar, and raced into town. Thank goodness that all the rest of the week I am working at night! You day shift people can have it!

RN, LPN, CNA..........

Well, I have been thinking lately on a simple truth I learned when I first started in this business more than seven years ago. A good CNA can make a bad night a little smoother. Some nurses seem to have this crazy idea that a CNA knows nothing. How untrue. I have worked with many an aid who has seen more than I have. They may or may not be able to explain the physiology of the problem but when they say something ain't right well something ain't right.


And I will NEVER forget Iris. Iris was the toughest aid we had when I first started. She had been there close to thirty years by this point and easily knew more than this girl. As green as I was even I knew that.


We had a patient on the floor one night who had diarrhea. And I mean the running off the bed to puddle on the floor kind. I don't remember now if I had asked her to help or if she had told me to come along but I remember seeing that mess and thanking the heavens above that we were in it together. I thought to myself that if I had been alone on that one I would have been clueless as to how to start this monumental clean up task. But Iris was here. She would take the lead and I would watch and learn.


Imagine the sheer PANIC that overtook me when this woman (who had been doing this since before my mother had graduated high school) put her hands on her hips, heaved a big sigh, looked at me and said "Well kid, where do we start?"  Under her direction though we finished the bath and I have never seen a worse mess since. A few have come close but nothing has topped that night. Of course a few years of my own experience may have helped that too.


And all the nurses on the floor knew that if Iris said to go look at the patient, well you had better go have a look.


Some people today think that help like that just isn't around anymore. I disagree. A while back I was working on the floor with two very good CNAs. I enjoyed working with both of them. My assignment that night was to split the floor with the two of them so that we could match with one RN and do team nursing. Just before I started to tally I&Os on my group one of the RNs became ill and had to leave the floor in a hurry.  There was no time for a full report so I had to take her notes and go with it. This was on a team that was entirely different from my own. But rarely does anything in nursing go as planned.  I asked one of the other aids (whom I affectionately call 6-7 in reference to his height of six feet seven inches- a full foot and six inches taller than myself) to do my I&Os which he readily agreed to do.  I of course promised him a beverage on me as soon as I could access vending.  I finished up her meds and turned them over to the next RN at eleven.  However one of our docs had come in at eleven to discharge a pt.  I was working on this discharge and had even told my RN that midnight vitals would be late.  She understood.  I underestimated the discharge paper work however and was getting a little frustrated with it.  6'7 saw this and graciously offered to do my vitals for me.  Earning him a bag of peanut M&Ms and my undying love and devotion. 

So just a reminder for you.  Don't piss off the most valuable members of your team.  Treat them well and you will forever be grateful.

Ok here's a new story for ya.......

Allright now that I have found a new blogging app that I like I am gonna try to do a post for ya.

So  one of my favorite patients lately was a confused little old lady that was a challenge to some.  She has a habit of becoming very confused at night.  By.morning she would usually revert to being a civilized lady who was slightly fuzzy around the edges.  all through the night however she was incapable of finding satisfaction with what we did for her.  My favorite phrase that she used often was  "You son-of-a-bit**ing ba****rds."  This was her favorite as well as she used it often.  You see for some reason getting cussed by the confused patients doesn't bother me.  It is the alert and oriented thirty year olds that I find bothersome when they are rude and nasty.  It is these patients that I want to remind just who it is that holds the keys to the narc cabinet.

Just a random thought for you all today.

Also, please excuse any typos for a while. I am posting from my phone so may not catch all the mistakes.

Still here.....

I am still here, for a while. Still no internet yet. But I do have a new smart phone and am trying to find a blogger app for it. You should see if a few days if I have found one that I like...