Nurse's Week

Happy Nurse's Week to all my amazing nursey friends! I have met so many amazing nurses throughout my life who have made me the nurse I am today! From the friends I made in nursing school, my co-workers over the past 5 years of my career (past & present), and my family of nurses (my mother, aunt, 2 cousins and now my sister!)

To all of you just starting your nursing career, it can be tough at times, but worth it and you will grow and become a strong person a better nurse from all you encounter!

Here are a few funnies to celebrate OUR week!

please excuse the bad language!

on my job and life long memorable experiences

I wanted to post about my NYE and a giveaway I have planned, but I'll save that for later this week. I learned of something at work that is heavy on my heart tonight and wanted to share.


I don't have the opportunity to talk about my job very much due to confidentiality policies, so I can't talk about specifics, but I wanted to try to explain what I do to you all and share some experiences as best as I can.


THE JOB:
The unit I work in is the Neurosurgical ICU. We take care of patients after surgeries and patients injuries can range from brain tumors to subarachnoid aneurysms, to head trauma. We also get overflow from other service patients so I take care of medicine/pulmonary, general surgery, vascular, ortho, etc type patients.


As a nurse we have to serve as an advocate for the patient, do what is most important for the patient, serve as their communication {when they can't} to the doctors, serve as communication between families and the doctors, all while trying to keep our cool. I say that last phrase only because there are some MDs who can be difficult to deal with, and make my job 10x harder. There are the pleasant ones though who make my job peaceful and easy!


I'm beyond grateful to have started my career in the ICU where I have learned so much information and how to take care of critical patients. I learn something new everyday and try to soak up all the learning experiences in the unit as I can. In a teaching hospital, there are interns and residents around all the time: perfect opportunity to listen and ask questions.


THE EMOTION:
In our unit in particular, as you may guess, the outcomes with neurosurgical procedures and trauma are not always great. So, I see a lot of depressing cases and even death. When I was a brand new nurse I cried, and I cried A LOT. I guess as I've worked longer I've created the ability to "separate" work experiences and my emotions. Maybe I've created a shell. For a while I thought I became "hard-hearted," but I know that's not true because I have the capability to experience to feel a wide range of emotions: happy, sad, excited for me and for others, etc.


I see also that I don't know these people and I don't have a connection to them, so as I realize that what they and their families are going through is very difficult, I cannot get upset every time. I tell myself I don't know them, so it's ok. There are the occasional families I do end up spending multiple shifts with and I do get to know them. And then I do feel somewhat connected and get upset with their unfortunate situation.


THE SAD:
I had a patient this summer who was driving through multiple states to go visit some family. She is about the same age as I am and a car got on the interstate on the exit ramp going the wrong direction. He hit her head on and killed her best friend, the passenger. She survived the accident, but had a long stay in the ICU with multiple surgeries and complications. Her mother never left her side, and I got to know some of her other family members as well. She had such a supportive family.


Unfortunately, most of our other patients do not have great family support or the financial capabilities to visit from out of state like hers.


Her sister organized a benefit to help raise money to pay some of the medical bills for when her insurance would expire. I donated a photo that raised $200! I forget how much the grand total was, but the event was a success and I'll never forget this family.




Today, I learned of my patient from last night who's condition worsened during the day today. I don't know any of the specifics, but I wanted to share some of our conversation. I had taken some of his medication for him to take around 0400, and he randomly started talking about Paris, France. I realized at that moment he was lonely and just wanted a friend to talk to. Luckily, I didn't have much to get caught up on, so I just let him tell me all about his 4 trips to Paris and other world travels and share his life experiences. I cherish moments like that where the ones with life experience and knowledge just want to share it. I have nothing better to do than to soak it up. I sit here crying, knowing he will never get to take that one more trip to Paris he told me only 12 hours ago he said he would do.


I feel obligated to take that trip for him!




A couple months ago I took care of a patient tragically was brain dead and them family agreed to organ donation. The family had so much love and support. The wife brought every card sent to them and taped them to the walls. As I said above, many families don't have great support, so it was AMAZING to see the support covering the walls, top to bottom, of the bland hospital walls. Again, I cried over seeing that as well!


THE SWEET:
When I was a brand new nurse, I had an elderly lady who had had a stroke and was unable to walk or feed herself. She and her husband had worked in the horse business their entire life together and were very wealthy. The husband and their children made sure she would get the best care for rehabilitation.


Her husband said this to me one night,"She has helped my build our horse business and been by my side the entire time. Our fortune means nothing to me without her."


I WILL NEVER forget that. It's THE sweetest thing I've ever heard. I hope I find someone who loves me like he loves her.


While there are many other sweet moments, this is just the one and only I'm going to share.


THE FUNNY:
It's common in subarachnoid patients to VERY, VERY confused. Every hour we have to ask them simple questions to see if they are oriented to name, place, and time. In our exam we ask them to follow simple commands, such as holding up 2 fingers, etc. This is more for intubated patients who can't talk, it's a way for us to know they understand. In our old hospital, the rooms were very close and did not have doors. So patient A was the VERY VERY confused lady. and patient B was the intubated patient I asked to hold up his thumb. Patient A heard me asking Patient B to do this, and she yells,"DON'T DO IT, DON'T DO IT, THEY WILL ARREST YOU! DON'T DO IT! THEN THEY WILL KILL YOU!" See? Confused!


I took my patient water with his meds last night and asked him how it was and he replied,"Mmm, Gin and tonic!"


I have tons of other one-liners from our confused patients. It's funny little phrases like that that put a smile on my face.


THE APPRECIATION:
Through all of the stress, crazy nights where no one in the unit has time to sit down, eat drink or use the bathroom-yes 12 hours without peeing, crazy families who blame you for their family member's injury {yes, this happens}, Drs yelling at you, etc...


there are actually great moments in my job:


The teamwork from my co-workers is indescribable. Nursing couldn't be done by one. It's a team effort. The friendships I've made are irreplaceable and definitely life-long! The kind words, thank you notes from families, and sweet treats they make to say how appreciative they are, is something they don't have to do. To think of us when their loved one is in the hospital going through a very serious time, is so meaningful.


Once again, despite the bad and the sad, I wouldn't trade what I've learned and gained for anything.

saying goodbye

This week I'm having to say goodbye to two doctors that I've grown to actually like! {as co-workers!} I work at a teaching hospital and in the medical field Doctors do their residency here and when they complete their residency they usually leave and get an Attending {head hancho} job at another hospital. Residency can be anywhere from three to seven years long, then doctors can do extra specialties {very confusing}. But, the Neurosurgery doctors I work with, their residency is seven years long. And they spend more time at work than at home.

When I first became a nurse, these two guys were on-call a lot at night, so I got to know them, learn from them, and now that they are leaving, I'm actually going to miss them! Some of us at work got together and got "going away" gifts for them.  

Of course...UK theme

like my wrapping? my 1st real job {besides babysitting} was Christmas present wrapping at the mall. 

I'm actually glad I did that! Crisp edges and corners!

The thing on the left is a keychain pen light. This is to check a patients pupils. We gave them one of these because every day on rounds, NONE of the doctors had one. They should! Because this is one of the main components of a neuro exam. So, when they go to their new job, they can check their patient's pupils!

The other thing is a UK scrub cap for their surgeries. You would think living in UK NATION, that it would be easy to find. Well, we were SO WRONG!...Sarah and I went to 7, YES 7 stores before we found it. We searched 3 campus bookstores, 3 scrub stores, and a medical supply store! At the last scrub store we saw one, then I asked the sales girl and begged, BEGGED her for another and I pretty much looked ridiculous. I'm sure she thought I was psychotic. I bought another for the resident leaving next year so I didn't have to go on a hunt next year. Geez...we never dreamed it would've been so hard to find!

Sarah made these yummy treats for the whole team: 

BRAIN CUPCAKES

Sarah made cute "neuro" names to go with their name:

Epidural Eric

Nystagmus Norman

Wernicke Whitlow

Decerebrate Davis

Hydrocephalus Hughes

Astrocytomao Asfahani

Brainstem Brown

Gyri Grupke

Meningitis Mannas

Subarachnoid Stafford

Lambdoidal Laith

Hypertonic Hessel

Broca Brenda

Cranial Christy

this picture was from last year

We are going to miss you two! 

Love, the Neurosurgery girls

change

It all started four years ago, the beginning of my nursing career. Right here at this not so lovely place. I also was a patient once myself. So, for me, the attachment goes beyond what people might think. It's where I learned everything I know about nursing! 

The co-workers I have are amazing. We are so dependent on each other and because of our small unit, in an instant if someone needs something, in an instant, someone is there!

Tonight when I go to work I will be embarking upon a change. A change, I have to say, I have been dreading for the past few years. Yes, the new unit is nice with all of the new technology and new equipment, but I do not like how big and spread out everyone will be. This change is going to affect how we "nurse" (as a verb) and how we take care of our patients. Hopefully, we get used to things quickly and I'll end up liking it much better than anticipated! 

Here are some pics I took of the old and the new!

OLD HOSPITAL

 NURSES DESK

OLD BREAK ROOM...AMANDA AND CORY!

NEW HOSPITAL

Central nursing station

Bigger room, stocked with upgrades in equipment. And each room has a window. Shocking, but in the old hospital, not every room had a window!

Now, there are individual charting areas outside each room. 

And, each room has a door. In the old unit, each room has a magic curtain!

I add the picture of the bathroom because in the old unit, there were ZERO patient bathrooms. So, now the patients who are awake and able, they have access to a bathroom! 

Hope you all have a good week ahead!

After my last 12 hours...

After the last 12 hours I just had at work, I'm going to be sleeping like a rock. I probably won't even move for the next 7 hours. 

Tonight (last night, for you normal people!) at work was just horrible. It was one of the most horrible working nights I've had in a lonnnnnnggg time. I will detail later...

And I still need to tell you some stories from my trip! But until then, I will be doing this...

GOODNIGHT!