Shoot em up = bullets

**Work has been outrageously insane. I don't even know what happened. Two years ago I started at this hospital & it was paradise. Even a year ago it was still paradise. Now...it is hell. It's like the administration is coming out of the woodwork with new rules & regulations & 99.99999999% of it is absolutely ridiculous. Just when I think I have heard it all & say to myself...what more can they possibly add to our jobs? And then they add something even more ridiculous. I'm telling you, it won't be long before they have us cleaning the rooms & giving manicures....sigh.

**I guess I could be worse off. I could be like one of my patients this week. A drug addict. Late 20's...hooked for years. Doesn't appear like your typical druggie, but she's been to our ER alone over 100 times in the past couple of years. May as well multiply that by 3 as there are other hospitals nearby that she rotates ER visits. What I don't get is why the doctors review past visits & think...hmmmm...maybe she is faking her symptoms just to get Dilaudid. And hmmmm...maybe giving Dilaudid to someone that is pregnant isn't the smartest idea. Her latest antic was to crush up Ambien, mix it with water or something...and inject it into her bicep. Yep... intramuscular. Not really sure how you can get a high off that as I've never seen anyone do that before. I guess she's exhausted her veins as it is nearly impossible to even get an IV in her. Anyways...she has injected her arm multiple times & you know what happens. It gets an abscess & infected & she needs to be hospitalized for IV antibiotics & she begs for Dilaudid & gets her way. It is such a waste of time & money. Then she'll complain of a headache....a normal doctor would prescribe Tylenol. Her doctor....MRI of the brain, MRA of the neck & brain. Thousands of dollars in tests wasted.

**Another sad story...a perfectly rational person that is homeless & has nowhere to go & no money for food.......comes to our ER complaining of chest pain & tells the ER doctor he wants to jump in front of a bus. Before you go...awwwwww...mind you.....he was just looking for a place to stay for 3 days knowing full well the MD couldn't let him be discharged. So he was Baker Acted for being a threat to himself. While I have a lot of sympathy for people who have nowhere to go, I do not think a hospital is the place to be. I understand it, but again...numerous tests being done all because he wants a place to sleep & some free meals.

**I had a patient fall this week. I kick myself, but I shouldn't...because I knew this was going to happen. I must have gone to his room 100 times during my shift. I was telling him so often what would happen if he attempted to get up on his own & he'd brush me off. He was alert & oriented & used to getting up whenever he wanted at home. I can't keep him tied to the bed. All I could do is keep re-educating him the risks of getting up without anyone around for assistance. He assured me he would not get up. He was sitting in the recliner chair. I had just gone to his room..."you need anything?" NOPE. "You want to go back to bed?" NOPE. "Here's your call light, push it if you need anything...DO NOT GET UP." OK, NO PROBLEM." Within 120 seconds of me walking from his room to the nurse's station, I hear that dreaded noise of someone falling to the ground. I wanted to scream in frustration cause I knew who it was. Luckily he was fine, no injuries whatsoever. After that I told him he didn't have a choice...he was staying in bed where I could have a bed alarm on so I'd be alerted when he was attempting to get up. I do not like falls!

**One more shift to go (tonight) until my 2 week vacation begins. I CANNOT WAIT! Well, I will probably go into work early Weds morning to get the Nursing Skills fair done, but that doesn't really count as there is no patient care involved.

My cruise leaves on Saturday.......to the Caribbean....hopefully there will be no tropical storms or hurricanes floating around down there.

**Operation Workout begins when I get back from the cruise = Oct 1. No more excuses for me. I'm tired of being this size. You would think with the 930840248 miles I walk per night when at work, that I'd lose something, but nope. I have never sweated more at work than I do now. I don't know if it's hot flashes or just a workout for me...but something needs to be done. Exercise is key.

Have a great week everyone!

Almost All Better

Hey all...I'm almost all better. Whatever that virus was, it knocked me out for like 10 days. Every night I was having fevers and after a few days I had a terrible cough. I thought I was going to collapse my lungs. I ended up seeing my doctor & although he really didn't want to give me an antibiotic, he did because of the recurring fever. I also got some cough medicine....the good stuff. Much more effective than over the counter.

The antibiotics did knock out the fever. The cough, however, is still lingering & it's nearly a month later. My voice is 95% back to normal. There are still some days where I wake up really warm or like right now...feel warm...but I'm beginning to think those are more like hot flashes than some illness. I ended up missing 4 days of work. I've never called in that many times. I had too though...I can't go to work with a fever. I did end up getting a verbal warning.....because of their stupid can't call out more than once in a two month period............regardless of whether you truly are sick or in a car accident or having an organ transplant. It is a stupid rule.

Work has been hell. The patients are sooooooo complex & soooooooo ill. Top that off with us being extremely understaffed & unappreciated...well, needless to say, my unit is a mess right now. Even our manager is bailing on us to go to another floor. Nice. And the hospital also decided that all those foreign nurses they recruited & gave work visas to over the last couple years...well, they won't be sponsoring them any more...so back to their foreign countries they go. Which means we will be even more understaffed. I want to scream.

It has really forced me to reconsider going back to my old hospital. Sure the raises suck & there are no bonuses, but at least we were properly staffed & the patients weren't so complex.....and they have patient care techs. I'll make a decision after my cruise.

Yesssss...that's right...it's nearly cruise time. I work tonight, Friday night & Sunday night...then I have 2 weeks of vacation. My cruise leaves on Sat Sept 24 & I will be gone for a week. I need an escape.

Back to the patients....there was one that really stood out the other night. He wasn't my patient, but it is the first time I really felt fearful of getting attacked. He was in for syncope & collapse....but had a history of schizophrenia & it was in full effect. It was downright scary. He yelled at us (the nurses) for 5 hours straight. Yelled! Our charge nurse was a whole lot of help.....she told us to stay away from him. Keep an eye on him...but stay away, we don't get paid enough to risk being attacked. Gee, thanks. Do you think we could get security or some male brought to the floor just in case this patient goes off the deep end? Nope.

I asked the nurse if she had any type of anti-anxiety drugs or anti-psychotic drugs she could give him. She told me he refused his meds. Ummm, great, but he's an agitated patient that is out of his mind right now....he doesn't get a choice in the matter. She managed to give him some Ativan IV & within 2 minutes, he was sleeping like a baby. Thank goodness, otherwise I would have been the one needing the medicine. All of his yelling & bullying towards us made me want to bang my head against the wall. I'm not even being funny. And it truly scares me that he lives at home alone & is probably like this quite often. So much for thinking I'd never go into psych nursing. They will come to you. I did not like it at all.

At my other hospital, when we had patients get out of control...we'd call a code grey (asking for extra manpower) & a bunch of men would show up & usually that would be enough to intimidate whoever was out of control & put them back into reality. If not, then they would be physically moved to a bed & restrained & getting anti-anxiety meds. Never would they have allowed the nurses to have to put up with such verbal abuse with the risk of physical violence. Never. It's discouraging to say the least...the way my current hospital handles it.

Hope everyone is having a great week!!!