Friday, November 3, 2006

7 Nights Straight

What a week! I worked 8 out of 9 nights....7 of them in a row...12 hour shifts. I haven't even calculated the hours I put in...hmmm, somewhere around 105 hours give or take. I set a personal record for myself. It wasn't bad at all & I absolutely love the computerized charting. What a difference it makes. Luckily, I was able to pick it up pretty quickly & charting is so very quick & simple now rather than hours of handwriting.

I had another pretty smooth group of patients. They were all stable for the most part. I had a lady in her late 80's that was going into v-tach now & then...but according to the cardiologist - what do you expect for an 80-something year old heart? She was asymptomatic with it...so no worries.

My only patient that really stood out was what we call a "frequent flyer." She's in & out of the hospital on a regular basis. This was my first encounter with her & hopefully my last. She was in with CHF and on fluid restrictions & all she wanted to do was drink & drink & drink. I tried explaining to her the purpose of fluid restrictions & why the doctor prescribed that - but she didn't care. That's the part that frustrates me...people doing the opposite of what is best for their care...WHILE they are in the hospital...lol. If you don't want to comply...why did you even come to the hospital? She loved me the first couple of nights, but when I stood my ground on the fluid restrictions...I think I lost points. Oh well...that happens sometimes. I'm not there to make friends, I'm there to help them get better, right?

I'm debating about whether to work this weekend or not. The money would be nice, but so would some time off. The county fair starts tomorrow....so maybe I'll go check it out. I'll decide later. Have I ever mentioned I love the flexibility of my job...haha. :)

My week started out wonderfully after seeing Tony Stewart win yet another race. Go #20!!! Dale Jr. stillhas a shot of winning it all. Only 3 races left. Go #8!!!!

It's finally getting a little cooler out, I love the time change....feels like winter is coming. Less than 2 months until Christmas...woo hoo. This is my favorite time of the year...Thanksgiving & Christmas.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween & that you have a wonderful weekend!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow your putting in a lot of hours :) Remember to try and take a little time for yourself but I understand,your doing something you love to do. I'm a recent grad of the LPN program here in GA, just took my NCLEX yesterday, and will be going on to pursue my RN.
We did computerized charting in some of the hospitals during clinicals and I loved it :)
Have a good weekend!

Gretchen
http://journals.aol.com/ksgal3133/LivinginSavannah2