Leaving the Loony Bin

So it only makes sense that our neurosurgery/neurology (brain/back surgery and stroke) patients might be a little loony sometimes. Anything goes wrong with your brain and things start to get a little bit coo-key. Remember that one patient I mentioned a while back who somehow had a bag of marijuana smuggled into the hospital and he hid it in the sugar drawer at the coffee station? Well, HEEEE'S BACK. Last time he was admitted he was one of the most inappropriate patients I had ever had-trying to cop a feel when I'd lean over to listen to his heart and lungs with my stethoscope. Last night he tried to hug me at least 3 times and asked me out 4x which is a lot less than his last admission. Oy vey! Tonight is my last night as a floor nurse. Starting monday I become an ICU nurse. How weird/cool is that!?

Ventriloquist Evangelism

A of week ago I was driving down 34th street and turning onto Archer Road when I saw this strange figure between the cars on the median in the middle of the road. I drove up closer and stopped at the light to turn left and there he was- A man with a sign condemning everyone to hell if you don't turn and repent now! on his back, an umbrella hat, and to make things just a little more interesting a ventriloquist doll proclaiming the gospel. Growing up in church, I had always seen puppets being used to teach Sunday school lessons and help children relate to bible passages somehow through furry hand socks, but I had never even thought I'd see the day where I could be evangelized via drive by. I wish I had also gotten a picture of his RV that was covered in print just like the sign on his back. It was quite a story to tell people the day I saw this man, but when I was leaving work the other morning I saw him again! This time he saw me pull out my iphone to take his picture and he started walking towards my car. I hope this ventriloquist evangelism picks up across the world!! He's obviously getting the attention from distracted drivers like me.

The News

There has been a lot going on in the life of Kathy in the last few months. But before starting with my news, I wanted to briefly talk about what's been going on in the national news.

Most people have heard about the crazy pastor in Gainesville who is talking about burning Qurans with his tiny cult-church. 9 years ago on sept 11, I was a freshman in high school watching the twin towers be struck by the second airplane while I was in the cafeteria eating lunch. Everyone was so concerned about the terrorist attacks

, but I was convinced that it was not very likely that the Taliban would blow up my hometown of Gainesville. There was never any reason for the Taliban or any Muslim extremist to even know where Gainesville was on a map, UNTIL NOW! This crazy extremist who calls himself a follower of Christ, Pastor Terry Jones, has now put Gainesville on the rad

ar and made my life HELL. Its all the talk around Gainesville and the hospital because we have been put on high alert and have been made aware that if something were to happen all hospital staff will be "on call". My anxiety level has been sky high.

Nuff about that, lets get on to the more important news. Just to update those across the country who might read this blog who I haven't spoken with in a while, much has changed in the last few months as far as my home, my roommate, and now my job! I have 3 more shifts on the burn/plastics/neuro floor before I move on over to the pediatric intensive care unit on Monday the 19th. This is what my heart has always wanted and d

reamed of. I applied to the Burn ICU and was almost certain I was going to get the job. Well, to my surprise I didn't! Thank God though, or I would have missed out on the amazing opportunity to be a peds nurse. My new home and roomate(s) are great. I have never lived with a stranger before. Well she wasn't quite a stranger, more like a friend of a friend who was practic

ally a stranger because we had only spent about a total of 3 hours together. I had no idea what to expect. I was excited because there were no expectations. If she was a sloppy mess who never spoke to me and just inhabited the same apartment and paid her rent then I could find a way to deal. Turns out she and our other roommate (her small chihu

ahua Molly) have become not only co-inhabitants of a living area, but I'm rather fond of the both of them as well. I mean, who wouldn't love a Cuban with a Mexican dog, who is funny, pretty, makes banging awesome dinners, and keeps things interesting around the house? Props to Christina Palau. I will leave you with a few pictures of my new apartment that I LOVE! Props to Aly Kee for helping me pick out an awesome comforter set for my bed!

Nurses Week

This past week is nurses week. Most hospitals celebrate their nurses by throwing them big lunch-ins or something, or maybe give a silly goody bag full of candy. I'm very disappointed. Maybe it's because I work night shift and we always get the leftovers, but we didn't get anything for nurses week this year.
I did develop a new appreciation for nurses and zofran. I went into work last night feeling horrible. Around 5:30 pm a sudden mess of yuck came over me. I had a horrible headache that turned quickly to migraine. Nausea was soon to follow, with dizziness and the feeling of being light headed was right behind it. I got out of my car and made it to the elevator praying I would not pass out in the elevator. My entire body was shaking so badly. I ran into two of my middle school teachers Mrs. Bracco and Mr. Bailey in the elevator (apparently they are married now-weird). It was hard to make small talk when I felt so horrible but it helped me not concentrate on how horrible I felt. I clocked in and managed to make it to the nurses station where the nurse passing off to me noticed I was NOT right. I could feel the color leave my face and was ready to fall out. I stuck out 4 hours of the shift waiting for someone to come in to replace me, but as soon as I had relief I walked myself (scared I'd pass out in the tunnel underground and no one would find me for hours) to the ER on the other side of the street. They took me back right away to check my vitals. They were ALL normal. Then they checked my heart. NORMAL. Put in an IV and took some blood to run some labs. Everything NORMAL. There was no known reason for the way I was feeling. They gave me a liter of IV fluid and some zofran and I perked right up. I felt like such a wimpy kid and no doubt I was a horrible patient. Thanks Alex and Christina for being my nurses last night!

I NEED SOME HELP IN HERE!

There is nothing like your first emergent situation in a hospital. I got floated to a different floor two weeks ago because I was the only one on my floor at the time that had enough experience to float (SCARY). Because there was debate as to whether or not I would have to float to another floor or not, I was late taking report from the next nurse. I got out of report at 8pm. I like to first check on my patients the first thing out of report- to make sure they're still alive when I get them ;) . I started down the hall with my first patient and worked my way up the hall. At 8:10 I got to the 2nd patient and heard from two doors down a little voice screaming for help to get her husband off the pot. The nurses station called for a PCA (nurses assisstant) to the room, but I sensed a little bit of panic in this little old lady's voice so I rushed in there to find that the man was having all sorts of symptoms of a stroke! STROKE!! AHHH! What do I do!? Adrenaline kicked in and my hands were shaking so bad I felt like a parkinsons patient. I am used to stroke patients- AFTER they stroke. Within seconds I had help of another nurse and activated a stroke alert which is kind of like activating a code blue for those of you non medical people that need a visual. It just means a Dr and many other skilled professionals rush to the scene within minutes. I did all of the right things, thank GOD, but it was very scary. It took me about two hours to catch up on everything else I needed to get done that night and for my adrenaline to calm down.

As I was sharing this experience with another nurse, she had a story of her own to tell me. As a new nurse you are always scared of your first emergent situation. This nurse had a patient come to the floor and upon seeing him for the first time, he was complaing of chest pain. Instead of being rational and asking him more about his chestpain and ordering an EKG (checks your heart rhythms) and notifying the physician she couldn't think. She was afraid that this man was having a heart attack and everything she learned in nursing school had gone out the window. She screamed down the hall, "I NEED HELP IN HERE! I'M CALLING 911!". The nurses who ran in the room to help her hung up the phone and calmed her down. "Why are you calling 911? We ARE 911!"
I hear this and can't help but to laugh! Luckily that patient wasn't going into cardiac arrest and was just having a panic attack.

Potty Dance

Have you ever seen those ridiculous Pull-Ups commercials where they sing the Potty Dance song in so many different genres. There is the rap version. There is the middle aged man trying to rock out. What happened to the old commercials like this one? OK you might be wondering why I have you watching all of these pull-up videos. I wonder sometimes how much easier it would be to just pee in your underpants, then change them when they get too droopy. I've thought about this a lot due to the amount of elderly patients we have in diapers in the hospital. Most nights when I am at work I don't find the time to pee. This is a HUGE problem because it's so unhealthy and can lead to UTI's and kindney infections. Luckily, I haven't had either, but it's probably a matter of time. I saw the potty dance commercial come on the other night while I sat in the break room eating my lunch. I couldn't help but think about it some more. There was once an episode of Grey's Anatomy where Christina Yang and Little Grey were wearing diapers to get more surgeries or longer surgeries which were more complex. By wearing diapers they didn't have to dehydrate themselves or scrub out to pee. It was a pretty funny episode seeing them waddle as they visited patients in rounds. Last night at work, I really wish I were wearing a diaper. It was kind of a busy night. I didn't have time to do much of anything other than chart, pass pain meds, chart, do burn dressings, chart, and so on. I also have had an orientee following me, in which I have had a lot of teaching to do. I found myself doing something that looked a LOT like the potty dance. I found a perfect opportunity to take a break and I B lined it to the bathroom. I apparently had to go so badly that I couldn't wait long enough to even pull down my pants! Between trying to hover over the toilet and pull down my pants- I PEED ALL OVER MYSELF!!! WHO DOES THAT!?? I can't help but laugh at myself about this. Instantly after it happened I thought of only one thing.. I finally have something to blog about!!

My sweet pride and joy

I don't know who really reads my blog anymore, but for those who might have been interested or remembered me mentioning wanting to buy a new car for so long.. the day has finally come! After many days of searching for the right one for me, dealing with pompous and ignorant car salesmen, and finagling my way around getting the best possible deal for me, I found her! Everyone, meet Rhonda! Rhonda is a tango red 2010 Honda CRV. Rhonda and I have already gone to the beach together and have hung out with lots of my friends. Rhonda and I plan on taking many more trips together in the next few months. I can't wait! Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee!

10-5 This is Kathy.

Recently a lot of the staff at work keep asking me, "You are all talk right? You're not really transferring to a different floor or moving to TN/NC are you?" I think it's so great to feel like I really fit in at work. If I were to be working with my night shift staff all the time without all of the management issues I'd consider staying. Joe, my charge nurse and "mentor" has told me recently that he is going to ask our nursing coordinator if he could train me to charge. This is NOT something I want to do. Yes, I would make more money. Yes, I would learn how to do a lot of new things. But, HECK NO! I don't have the experience it takes to be a charge nurse. To know what to do all the time when one of the nurses working the floor freaks out because they don't know what to do. I had my 6 month evaluation last month and my nursing coordinator did ask me to consider becoming a charge nurse. I declined. However, they have had me orienting new nurses to our floor. This is a scary scary thing. I feel bad for the new nurses I am orienting. They have however, given me quite the confidence boost. I have had a lot of people ask me lately how long I have been a nurse. My response to them is often, "How long do you think I've been a nurse?" Many have said they thought I looked too young to be a nurse, and others have said that I seemed so experienced they thought I had been doing it for 3 to 5 years. YIKES! Who knew I was just that good.. not to mention young looking! I'm kidding btw. I have SOO much to learn.

Would you like some marijuana with your morning coffee?

I haven't really brought you too many interesting stories from work lately, because I tend to forget them by the time I get home. Recently there has been a patient who I shall name George, who has become quite the annoyance. Every once in a while you come across that one patient that just drains you and the rest of the staff. When you come into work and find that you are assigned that patient(again), the first 5 and a half minutes of your shift you sigh and maybe complain a little here and there to whomever will listen to you or just under your breath, then you suck it up and get the job done. George has been with us for a while now, and everyone on staff knows him well. He will at times stop you in the middle of something just to talk to you about nothing. Or make comments about how hott you are and make you feel uncomfortable. But like I said, sometimes you get these guys and you just have to deal. The other night at work we had some issues with George. He had apparently been seen with a joint earlier in the day. There wasn't much we could do because we ourselves did not see the joint. Later that evening, George became agitated. I was forced to take action. I had to get very assertive with a Dr over the phone (with an audience no less) and sedate Mr. George. My night of work became much easier after that. One of George's favorite things to do was make and drink black coffee. He had at least one cup every 30 min. Around 3am, the clerk went over to clean up the nutrition room-where we keep the juice, sandwiches and patient formula and such. When she was cleaning around the coffee pots and restocking the sugar and creams she found a nice little baggy of green leafy substance. It was rather entertaining to all of us. Of ALL places for George to hide his stash, the nutrition room where all patients and staff have access is probably the most ridiculous place to hid it. We phoned security, who weren't really sure what to do with it. They took some pictures of the room and the drawer it was found in along with some names, placed the baggy into another baggy to prevent it from getting anyone else's prints on it. It had me crackin up. Never a dull moment.

Tik Tok

I forgottttt!! We had lots of dance parties at our intern reunion in NC. I didn't participate as much as I enjoyed laughing and watching, but we made a video for our friends who couldn't make it to the reunion. Check it out! Kristi wants to get to 300 or so views! She's getting close and already at 159 views! You might not think its nearly as funny as we do but it's most definitely entertaining. Enjoy! Tik Tok!

Growing pains

First off- I have to wonder who these random china mans are who are making comments on my posts. I don't read chinese and dont know how they have gotten through my privacy settings..

I have been pretty bad at updating my blog. I have had many attempts at it and then get distracted or bored and delete my posts. If I'm bored writing it there is no point in making you bored when reading it.
Lately I have been busy trying to have a social life. I was talking to my friend Jenny in Colorado about being an adult and how much planning goes into practically everything you do. You have to plan your trips to the grocery store, plan meals, plan a time when you can call your friends to make plans to hang out. When it comes to even talking to Jenny there is so much planning that goes into it. We text back and forth (with sometimes hours or days between each text) planning on when we can call each other to catch up on life. I miss my days of being spontaneous.
Work is going ok. I'm growing to love a lot of the people I work with. For the most part this has been a great first real job because I have a lot of time to learn how to be a nurse and not be overwhelmed. But in some ways its nothing I was looking for. I am however, VERY lucky to have a job. When I complain about my job I am often reminded of how my mom has been jobless for a YEAR and many other people who are with out jobs all over the place. The Lord has surely blessed me.
Another part of being grown up that I'm not so fond of is the number of bills that come along with it. I have recently begun to pay back my student loans and have become compeletely independent from my parents. Learning to budget is uch a hard concept for me. I am hoping I will get the hang of it while I am young and single.
I have had some funny stories to post here from incidents at work and with friends but can never remember them when I get home. Here are some pictures from my trip to NC from Christmas break like I said I'd post. We went to the sand dunes in the OBX. I have never seen anything like this in my life. I felt like I was on Mars!

and for new years we went to dinner and watched the ball drop with our bubbly and/or sparkling cider. It was a great way to bring in the new year. I'm not quite sure why that was all underlined and I can't get it to not be. Here are some of the great people I got to hang out with.