Woo hoo....what a wonderful Sunday it was watching Tony Stewart wrap up a great season & take home the championship trophy/title. It's nice to see how much he has matured & isn't out of control off the track. Don't get me wrong, I love when these guys get mad at each other & act out, but at the same time...it's nice to see them act like men & handle their conflict with words rather than temper tantrums. Now they're off for 2 1/2 months....I get my Sundays back. Which means.....back to work for me!
Yep, going back to my Sun, Mon, Tues work week...at least through December. There is a lot of change coming up. One good thing - they are starting to focus on computer charting. They have formed some type of team that will practice with it first so that all the issues can be ironed out prior to all of us using it. So it's probably at least a year before we get our hands on it. On top of that....the manager of my unit & the director of my unit have both resigned. That means new management which is kinda scary. Obviously there will be changes, I'm just hoping it's good change, not bad. There is already a rumor that they are not going to allow overtime anymore. That doesn't bother me too much as rarely do I ever have the urge to work overtime. It also seems as though they have hired many, many agency nurses & as a result, we don't get the offer for bonuses too much anymore.
It's so strange though...to go into work & the majority of the people working are agency. There was one night I went in & didn't know ANY of the day staff. I felt like I was in the wrong hospital. I worked Monday night & spent part of the night helping a new agency nurse. I didn't mind that....it actually showed me just how far I've come in just a year. I am so very comfortable at this hospital & I truly think it's because of the atmosphere. Yeah, we have our problems...but as far as teamwork, it is #1. Even with all of the new agency people...we all jump in & help one another when someone needs it. That is so opposite of what I experienced at that other hospital. I felt like I was all on my own & that wasn't a good feeling.
I am finally off of probation for calling in over the summer. And come January...I can go per diem = more $$$. I am working this Friday because they are desperate & offering a $150 bonus just to come in. I couldn't resist. I've had the last couple of weeks off & it has been nice. I've been working on organizing my own house & also working on fixing up my rental house. The time flew by. Other than Friday, I'm not scheduled until a week from Sunday. I also took the week off between Christmas & New Years. It is so nice having the flexibility to choose when I want to work.
Monday night went pretty well. I started off with just 3 patients. One little old lady who came in with a diagnosis of CVA. She had extreme right sided weakness & half the time I couldn't understand what she was saying to me. I could tell she was frustrated. It reminded me of that ER episode where the woman has the stroke & they showed you what it was like from her viewpoint. This patient's blood pressure was high, but I expected it to be as in the past I've been told by doctors that they prefer a higher than usual blood pressure when it is stroke-related. However, at one point her heart rate went up to the 150's & her blood pressure was 190/94. My clinical leader & I looked through her chart and noticed in the doctor's progress notes that the cardiologist had listed his "plan of care" for her & it included Lopressor & Norvasc. However, he never actually wrote the order for those medications. So I called him, he said he didn't realize he forgot to write the orders...got her the medications & eventually her heart rate & blood pressure improved. All was good.
My next patient was a 75 yr old man in with COPD exacerbation. He seemed perfectly healthy to me. His wife was at bedside & remained there the entire night - sleeping in a chair next to his bed. Earlier in the night, their son came out & asked me if I knew any of the test results. I told him the doctor would be the one to discuss test results with his parents. He understood...did I mention he was a cutie? Sorry, yes...even at work I do notice these things. Later when I was talking to my patient & his wife, they expressed to me that they've been married for 50 years. WOW! 10 children later & here they are. They were both very sweet.
My third patient was a mess...in with urosepsis, UTI, uncontrolled diabetes & pneumonia I believe. His temp was 102.9 when I came onto shift. Needless to say.....he was receiving Tylenol every 6 hours. I managed to get his temp down to 101.3 & that's where it stayed for the rest of the night. Kinda hard to get the temp down when he had a raging infection that needed to be controlled with antibiotics.
Around 11 pm, I got my 4th patient. One thing about our hospital...it seems like they are always moving the patients to different rooms. This one was a transfer from our second floor PCU. He came in with chest pain R/O MI...only 50 yrs old (my favorite kind of patient). He was scheduled for a stress test the next morning & after getting him some food & Ambien...he was out for the night. His cardiac enzymes remained negative...so I was happy.
The night was dragging by very slowly. I was actually glad to get my 5th patient to give me something to do. I got him around 3:15 am. A 40 yr old with chest pain R/O MI (again, my favorite kind of patient). His cardiac enzymes also remained negative.......some food for him & off to sleep. That was my night in a nutshell. Uneventful & calm.
I'm spending Thanksgiving at my parents house...looking so forward to it. I have my brother & his two kids at my house right now. As much as I like having them visit, I also like having my house to myself. I'm not sure I could ever marry & have kids.....I like my own space too much. Oh well...never say never. I have what I would call a blind date tonight. I want to go, yet I don't. We're just meeting for drinks & see what happens. Wish me luck!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!
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