Melanie

I am done bitching and moaning . My good friend is in surgery and fighting to see another sunrise!
You can accept me for all my faults or you can turn your back.. It’s up to you! Life is short and we only have one.. I’m done!!

Nursing

I am a NURSE.. I refuse to see you as a $ sign!!

Selling Out

So let me get this straight.. You work for a multimillion dollar healthcare organization. Every fucking staff meeting in the last 15 or so years is focused on “customer service “?!
Then you throw your loyal employees under the bus and sell out?!
What about my employee satisfaction and retainment?
Wake the fuck up! Customer satisfaction is a schmooze term for “show me the money”!!
If you want me to “script” my entrance into a patient’s room then you had better damn well support my efforts.
I want to care for Human beings when they need help ..all you want is the almighty dollar and all you care about is the next fiscal year!
Tell me this.. If your were in a crisis who do want taking care of you or your loved one ? An experienced, certified RN or some poor soul off the unemployment line making $10/hr? Stop and think …
Thanks again to our country’s leadership.. Thank you for FUCKING up the lives and careers of your citizens!! Remember them? The ones you are supposed to represent???!!

INFINITY AND BEYOND

Infinity..it may pertain to those who follow galactic definitions. For me, infinity does not exist, at least in my own little world.

The best example for me is the time we spend here on earth. It is FINITE.

We are NEVER promised a tomorrow, much less another second of another minute of  another hour of another day.

Needless to say, tell the ones you love “I love You”, share a hug, a smile, a laugh with those you care for.

Don’t hold grudges.

Forgive, understand, empathize, realize..that tomorrow may never come.

DO NOT neglect to reach out to those closest to you, no matter the cost.

Most of all..spend your time WISELY. It is FINITE!

An unspoken prayer

She called me and said “I just needed to hear your voice”
Her sister died today of an overdose. She was just 46 y.o.
Whatever God’s plan is, I don’t understand it. I suppose that is where faith takes over…

DADDY, I LOVE YOU

I have a tough job. I deal with the living and the dying. I had a patient yesterday that had a subdural hematoma (a bleed in his brain). He had been in a car accident and among other things had a tooth lodged in his airway laying on top of his vocal chords. I assisted the doctor that came into Trauma room 3 to try to remove the tooth. He was unsuccessful.
After the Doc left the patient went unresponsive and became diaphoretic ( sweating a lot) and his heart converted into an irregular beat. I called my ED Doc and I rushed this patient back to Cat Scan.

The brain bleed was twice as big and he had a “midline shift”. ie. so much blood leaking into the brain that the pressure caused his brain to move to one side, instead of staying in the center of the skull.

A serious decline in status.

His daughter was in the room when we got back from Cat Scan. The doctor explained to her how critical her father was. She was terrified.

The patient was not responding but I assured the daughter that he could still hear her, which I truly believe from years of experience.

I suggested she tell him she was with him and how much she cared for him.

She held his hand and whispered in his ear “Daddy, I love you”..

These are the moments that stay with me, night after night..

Most likely this young woman will see her father return to God. But he heard her proclaim the love she had for him and I believe he knew just that.

What a remarkable things.. to simply hear the words “I LOVE YOU” when all else is failing..and know those words to be true!

 

How insightful, so true, Thank you Yunichar!

Silence

Silence is the worst punishment of all.. Not even caring enough to say a word is not caring at all. Brutal and sobering.

“Shut up I’m Still Talking”

146 posts and counting. I love to write. To me, blogging is sort of like keeping a diary, only a little more dangerous because you share it with the world. Add your picture and you step out on a ledge! Your most intimate thoughts are now for all to see and connected to a human face..as it should be.
I will no longer be ashamed of what I say or how I feel. I can make apologies for the mistakes I make but then the rest is in the other person’s hand.

I saw a great post today on a Website called “SHUT UP I’M STILL TALKING”:

“The person who really loves you sees what a mess you can be, how moody you can get, and how hard you are to handle. But still wants you in their life.”

Now this really takes guts. To believe in someone enough to look past the flaws and still accept them for who they are.

Who would want to put up with someone like this? The person who is willing to understand that no one is perfect. If we were there would be no such thing as grace and forgiveness.

When it comes down to it..yes you can choose who you let walk out and who you choose to keep..even as a friend. (As I have once read).

I choose my friends and they choose me. I do not intentionally wake up in the morning and say to myself “what kind of shit storm can I create today” but then again “shit happens”!

Caring is a process of learning your own limitations. You determine just how much you are willing to give. Notice I did not add the work “take”.

We all live in a world that could have an unlimited view of love, friendship, caring, acceptance..if you are willing to step out of the box and have not only sympathy but empathy.

“Could” is the key word. Sadly reality most often does not accommodate this. We see intolerance at every turn. We are in a “me” society.

Please do not misunderstand me..I am not saying that a person has to put up with being abused or taken for granted. But, if you are not willing to imagine walking in someone else’s “shoes” how will you ever find a “matching pair”?

THINK ABOUT IT…

 

 

The End of Florence Nightingale

I spent all night lying on a torn vinyl covered cot staring at the ceiling in my sister’s hospital room. I managed to fall asleep for about an hour. As I went to get up I almost busted my ass when one of the wheels on the damn thing fell off!
I then came to the realization that It was Wednesday. I had to take a 1.5 hr. computer module certification on a new IV pump system just to get me in the door of the 2 hour class for tomorrow.

OK, so let me get this right…I am responsible for taking care of the patient as a nurse, having intimate knowledge of various computer programs (Spacelabs, Sunrise, Allscripts, Omnicell, Pixus, AS400, Staffing Angel, and others), I am a social worker, a babysitter, a mechanic, biomed tech, waitress, housekeeper and transporter. I hold numerous certifications including BLS, ACLS, PALS, TNCC and ENPC.

I know how to operate a ventilator, rapid infuser, ICP monitor, maintain an ART line. I can drill a hole in your bone using an IO if I can’t get venous access, I can insert just about any kind of tube in every orifice you could think of. I know how to read a 12 lead EKG to rapidly determine if you are having a heart attack. I can read an x-ray fairly well and I can spot even the tiniest of discrepancies on most any CT scan.

You wonder why you don’t get your cup of water within 5 minutes? You bitch and moan when we don’t know all the TV channels and you complain when we won’t let you eat because of pending exams.

Know this..many nurses are pushed to the breaking point. When asked why not change careers we say because I am a “nurse”. It is a not just a career, it becomes who you are.

Think about that next time you are in the ED or an inpatient.

If you become disillusioned about your care call the “Big Dawgs” in administration. Our hands are tied. Thank you President Obama!

Regardless..I am a NURSE and damn proud of it!!