random ramblings

(Sorry about the length but I really got to thinking on this one.)

Ok so I was catching up on my fav blogs when this post got me to thinking about my friends. I left a comment on her post but I wanted to expound a little more here.

I have had many friends over the course of my life. (and I know that I am not that old but a over a quarter of a century has passed since I graced the world with my presence.) I won't list them all for fear of forgetting one or two of the great ones but I would like to talk a little about some anyway.

In grade school I was really close to a couple of girls. We were like 3 peas in a pod. We went to birthday parties and had sleepovers and everything. However when I made choices in my life that were different than the ones that they were making we kinda drifted apart. I miss the good times we had and am grateful for facebook in that I can catch up on their lives. However I also am reminded of why I am grateful for the choices I did make.

In high school, I was really close to Jeni and Hannah. We were the three musketeers. For a long time I thought the friendship was Jeni and Hannah and I was tagging along a lot. I found it funny (and an interesting commentary on our friendship) when I discovered that Jeni had always felt that it was Hannah and I and she tagged along. She also enlightened me that sometimes Hannah felt that she was the tag along to us!! If you put us in a room today we will pick right up where we left off. No matter how much time or distance has been between us.

Now I have a friend that is so much like a sister to me that in fact I refer to her as such. I am aunt to her kids and she is another daughter to my mother. I would NOT have made it to this point in my life without her. The choices that I have made to put me where I am today would have not been the same without her as a sounding board. Love ya Kristie.

Also my parents are among this group as well. My father adopted me when I was a young child and was a stabilizing influence to show me what to look for in a father for my children. My mother taught me good values and always knew that I could do whatever I set out to do. We may not always see eye to eye and sometimes I am a typical daughter and make choices that she wouldn't have me make, but I do love her and will always value her opinion (even if I don't agree with it ;).

All through this life however there have been others to get me where I am. They all helped to shape me to who I am today. From teachers to church youth leaders to members of the church who watched over me growing up. And many other friends that have come and gone. I only hope that you know who you are and how much you really have shaped me into who I am.

As I stated on Amy's post:
As our lives change and rearrange, sometimes our friends do too. They were what we needed then (or maybe they needed us, or both we never know how God works) and as time has moved on and circumstances have changed our life paths seperate. This is not always bad or caused by a falling out. Life just happens, I have noticed however that we never lose those people in our hearts. The stamp that they left on our life will forever be remembered and will shine through. Years after we last spent time with that person we can still identify that little bit of ourselves that refers back to them. And when we see them again, our hearts will warm with the memory.

She didn't know how right she was...

Ok here is another story from my many (hehe) years on the floor.


Our telemetries are monitored by ICU and if there is anything abnormal they call down to us immediately.  Usually it is a simple thing such as the battery needs to be replaced or the leads are off.  Sometimes they say they can't get a reading.  One night at about 0230 the nurse monitoring the tele screen called to say that the pt in the last room of a long hallway was asystole.  Not normally hearing those words we took off at a run.  I was the second nurse to the room.  As I rounded the door I heard the first nurse calmly telling the pt that she needed to check her leads. So I knew the pt was ok.  As I approached the end of the bed the pt (a bit startled from having been awoken from a deep sleep) said "Oh I am sorry, I was just dead to the world!"  This of course struck me funny as for about a minute we thought she was! So then we had to explain why I was doubled over in laughter at the foot of the bed.  She promptly stated "Oh I wouldn't do that to you girls!"


I will respond to a call with an outcome like that any night of the week.

:(

Studying SUCKS. Wish there was a way to learn stuff without having to study it. Unrealistic I know but would still be nice.

Random vent

To my teacher.....

Please don't tell me how to go about getting my education.  I am passing your class.  If I choose not to take notes on your lecture, that is my decision and affects me.  Attendance is mandatory for your class I get that, you have to be there and so do I.  Participation is up to me.  Yes I am aware that just reading the book and maybe printing notes off the school's site (which by the way you choose not to post, not a problem just sayin) probably won't do it. I am fully aware that studies have shown that the mechanics of writing helps you to remember.  This is why I wrote down spelling words ten times in a row when I was younger.  I get it. However, you don't require that I turn in a notebook of the notes you provide in lecture.  So how can you get on to me (and the others in class as I am not the only one not writing down your lecture) for not writing down everything you do?


I am not disrupting class.  It is up to me what I choose to write.  I find your lecture style frustrating.  I have a hard time following you.  Trying to follow your lecture notes would just upset me.  I take my own notes on the chapter, make flashcards, do practice tests online (using a companion site to the textbook), and go over your old tests that you have placed in the library for us to use.  I choose to do this mainly at home. 


And I am passing your class without taking your notes.  If I were failing and you suggested that I listen to your lecture and take the notes you put on the board, I would probably agree that I should.  But when I am attending your class, and I am passing the class without taking your notes, and I am not disrupting your class then obviously I am doing ok.


Sorry for the long venting right on the heels of the last one but this really got to me.

Ok, so let me vent for a moment about shift report. When you give report please make sure your report is accurate. For example: Don't tell me that someone's potassium is fine when I ask you the level and it is most assuredly not. Please don't make this stuff up. If you don't know I can look it up. Just tell me you didn't write it down. I know better than to take report as law but when I ask the level and you say it is within normal values or slightly off I may not get around to checking it right away. If I know going in that it is really low I will put it a little higher on the priroity list and be on the lookout for a recheck or find out what we are doing about it sooner.

And for another thought, no matter what function you have make sure you get some sort of report. Nothing frustrates me more than taking over for someone (like several of our CNA's) more that halfway through the shift and they know basically NOTHING about their patients. I understand you want to hit the floor and get vitals done and breakfast out but please find out something first. It is very scary to me that you are taking care of sometimes 10 patients or more and you don't have a clue about why any of them are here. You may not need a detailed half hour briefing but at least know why they are a patient. And if they are a DNR or not. This really does make a HUGE difference.

Sorry for the soap box post but sometimes things REALLY bug me.

Sometimes...

it is just good to be home.  Not a bad night, nothing crazy going on (except the crazy patient but that is par for the course), no staff disputes, very calm, no admits. Now I can just go to bed and enjoy my next few days off. Yay me!!

What if??......

I know that sometimes there is nothing you can do about a patient outcome. I know that what happens is determined by a higher power than you or I have. Then there are those times when you KNOW something could have gone better. Report could have been better, you could have asked more questions, you could have prioritzed your first round differently, you could have glanced at the tele monitor sooner, you could have clarified who was doing what with who first, housecharge could have answered the dang phone (found out later she was busy elsewhere but still was frustrated at the time), the PA system could have cooperated. So many things could have contributed to a smoother process. The important thing is that the patient went to ICU and was fine later that night. However, it is hard sometimes not to play the what if game. After the episode was over, and an hour or two had passed, I was very nauseated. The only reason for that being the stress from my first couple hours. I hate these nights, they usually just build and build until by the end of the shift you are ready for an entirely new career. Luckily this night was different. I only started with four pts. Then was transferred to a different unit (purely a result of the staffing grid we play with) and had a fairly decent night there. I know better than to play the what if game for too long but I pray that everything turned out ok despite the way it all went down.

This all leads to another thought that I will post on soon. Shift report!