Today is the first time....

.....I got truly barfed on. I mean like the really splashy kind, and it was purple for some reason. No spare scrubs in the car either. Maybe there are a few lessons to be learned from this experience.

Also, work is slowly getting a little easier. I no longer panic at every little problem and I can now get stuff done without asking for help. I'm starting to feel more nursey every day! It's a great feeling when someone has a problem and I can fix it. Everything is starting to make a little more sense. Finally. Oh, and I ate lunch for the first time today. I actually did enough time management so that I could eat. Amazing.

Barfed on and eating lunch! Such a memorable day.

And now I have three days off! And I'm getting a new computer! Yeah for me!

Go me!

Today I bribed a man with a cigarette so he would take his medications. I've sunk so low already.......

Well, let's see what happened today at work......

1. The facility is getting a new roof and the roofers were working on my side (read: constant hammering).

2. A roofers' foot went through the ceiling of one in my patients' room.

3. Two rooms became flooded at the same time. Could not find anyone with mopping skills.

4. Cafeteria was able to send a rancid fish smell down my hallway for most of the day.

5. We had a fire drill where we had to clear the hallways and shut every door in the building.

6. We had a second fire drill possibly caused by the roofers messing around with the heating system.

7. A only Spanish speaking Cuban family wanted to know every detail of one of my patients condition.

8. About 11:00 I started getting really dizzy and was seeing spots. I guess I needed some water or something.....

9. State inspector was asking me questions about documentation. I think I was coherent. Can't remember.

10. The payroll person informed me that she didn't have any of my hours recorded for last month.

11. After my 5 hours of passing meds, I was informed that 1) I'm getting a new admission on my unit and 2) I have to attend a one hour inservice about passing meds.

12. After a good cry, I put myself together, completed the inservice and then was subsequently late finishing my charting and loose end tying-up.

13. Ten and a half hour nursing shifts are fun!!!

Yes, we did!

Oh boy, the career has started

I wish I could express my thoughts to you about my first 2 days working as an RN, but I can barely wrap my head around what has just happened to me on my first shifts! The first epiphany I had during the first hour of my shift - throw out everything I learned in clinicals in nursing school. The 5 med rights? Two RN insulin checks? Reliable patient identification? What are these things? The second - nepotism is a huge part of nursing in my geographical area and will be something I will have to learn to manage to make my job not too difficult. I'm sure I'll come up with a whole lot more epiphanies in the months to come.

Basically, at this skilled nursing facility, I have around 30 patients with everything from young adults with cerebral palsy, brain injuries and multiple sclerosis to elderly patients who are living out their last days. There are a lot of psychological issues as well social and medical. My job is to give all these patients their medication (what is that? about 350 pills, powders, shots and syrups?) which takes the first 4-5 hours of my shift. I haven't done it by myself yet, and it will literally take me about 7 hours to give them. The key is to know your patients so that when med time comes, you know exactly how they like it ("Sir, would you like a minute side of applesauce with your digoxin?"). However, I have no time to get to know my patients since I'm getting to know the place and giving meds all day. One of my patients today I didn't even meet until 3pm! My job description should really be "surly medicine cabinet" because that's what it takes to get those med down!

Also, I just read this great book by Echo Heron called Tending Lives which is a compilation of stories from nurses all over the country. If you really want to know what it's like to be a nurse, this would be a great place to start.

(Oh and we have a new family member. I love it!)

Two Mini Vacations

Last week we went to the Santa Cruz County Fair, which is only our second time going in the five years we've lived here. There is so much to look at and do at the fair that it's always a good time. We met my friend Sue and her kids there unexpectedly. Some of our favorites events were the frisbee dogs, giant vegetable competition, feeding carrots to goats, feeding ourselves fried food, homebrew taste-testing and of course, the piglet races:
I'm kinda obsessed with piglets. It's hard to see in this photo, but there are two rows of piglets in which the bottom row is completely obstructed from view by the top row. Unfortunately, I could not hold one.

Sheeps in jackets!


Yesterday Jake and I went up to San Francisco for the afternoon to visit the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young Museum. We've always been big Chihuly fans ever since we saw an installation in the Old City of Jerusalem in 2000. We've also been to an exhibit in Grand Rapids and we see his work pop up all the time (there's even a permanent piece in Kalamazoo). His work is very distinctive. This exhibit didn't have any new works, but we did see some pieces we haven't seen before and it's just always a joy to see his amazing glass work. These pictures were all taken with my iPhone.


These next two photos were glass pieces that were placed above a clear glass ceiling. The room was just glowing from rainbows.

We now really want to go to Tacoma, WA to see Chihuly and his team at work in the studio.

Adorableness

Here's an adorable picture of us that our friend Brian took at his wife's birthday party. I made the cake again because it's her favorite and she waits all year for it. Diana said that it's worth getting older just to eat this cake! Couldn't have had a better compliment.