Life in general.......

Work which I mention first because it takes up 90% of my time, has been crazy! This Swine flu business has got to stop. Yikes! Our staffing has sucked so myself and one other nurse have been busting our tails until the afternoon shift comes in and that is also when the census gets higher so even with the other nurses........we still bust our butts but it always seems to work out in the end.

Home, I miss Amanda being here all the time. I don't get to see her enough or spend nearly enough time with her. It's like I've lost the other half of me. She is doing awesome in school and even taking some college level classes that will apply to her nursing degree. I'm very proud of her and love her dearly as always.

I've been trying to get as much overtime in as possibly by picking up extra days on the weekends because it seems as if I will never catch up with paying back all of the people who were kind enough to help me out while I was struggling in nursing school. There is a light at the end of the tunnel but it's a long tunnel and everyone is as important as the next. I'm getting there, slowly but surely.

Ryan, Allie and Geoff are doing very well. Allie is a hoot! She is over 2 years old already and talks up a storm. She now has a baby sister on the way. Ryan is 20 weeks pregnant and we are SO excited for the arrival of Ms. Olivia Ashley sometime in April of next year. I don't get to see any of them nearly as often as I'd like to either.

That's it for a quick update. It seems that I never have time to post anymore and when I do I usually just can't think of anything to say or don't feel like posting at all.

I hope all is well with all of you out there and I still try to read your blogs when I get a chance.

H1N1 or...the Swine flu

I can't even begin to tell you how backed up we have been at work with an overload of people coming to the ER "afraid" that they have the Swine flu. Our already long wait times have basically tripled because we have so many "possible flu" cases waiting to be seen.

The worst part? Is that with the onslaught of people in the waiting room, and back in exam rooms already who think they might have the flu.........the people who are coming in really sick, who really need to be in the ER are having to wait for beds that were filled with possible swine flu patients before the real emergent patients arrived.

My understanding......and someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but......there was a "swine flu" around in the 70's as well which most of us probably had so it's very likely that if you were alive in the 70's that you already have somewhat, if not complete, immuity to today's "swine flu."

We are not testing for "swine flu" anyway. We are only testing for flu A or flu B, if you have flu B you DO NOT have swine flu and if you have flu A that only means you could possibly have swine flu. The bottom line is that the swine flu is..........the flu. It isn't treated any differently than any other flu. Rest, hydration, temperature control and see your Dr if you condition worsens or doesn't improve. That's all that can be done. Period.

So many people are flipping out because they want a prescription for Tamiflu. Does anyone even realize what Tamiflu does? I don't think so or they wouldn't be so hell bent on getting it. Tamilfu does not cure the flu, it does not make flu symptoms any better, it only shortens the duration of the flu by a whole ONE day, possibly one and half days. The flu can last in duration of 7-14 days. so instead of having the flu for 14 days you will have it for 12 and a half or 13 days..............NOT a huge reason to be demanding Tamiflu folks.

No, I'm not burned out but it's very stressful to have patients/parents literally yelling at you because "their" child with flu symptoms is having to wait while you are with a patient who could literally die within minutes without your immediate and undivided attention.

When we have a child who is literally staring death in the face, that requires at least one but alot of times 2 docs, 2-3 nurses, respiratory therapy, x-ray etc so it's often impossible to close the door to that room just due to having enough space for all the people and equipement needed and we've literally had parents standing at the nurses station, who can fully see what it going on in that room, complaining that we aren't seeing them quickly enough. If it was your child in that room I feel quite certain you would expect them to be first priority.......I'm unsure why when it is not your child you don't feel the same level of concern or at least understanding of your wait time.

/rant

ACLS......

(Advanced Cardiac Life Support) is now complete and I passed with flying colors. Yay! Wow, talk about a hardcore class done in 14 hours.........that's A LOT of very intricate material to learn and then be tested on in that short period of time. I have to say I was a nervous wreck and was thinking "there is NO WAY I am going to pass this" but I did. I picked my book up and studied over the weekend. Soooo glad to be done with that.......until I need to renew it in 2 years anyway.

Next week I have PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) which will be alot of the same stuff but on children. Children are a whole new ballgame when it comes to meds and dosages so lots of new stuff to learn before next week.

I still want to get TNCC (Trauma Nurse Core Curriculum) and NRP (Neonatal Resucitation) sometime within the near future. My hospital is awesome when it comes to education, not only do they pay for the classes themselves but they also pay you your normal hourly rate while you are there. So I will be getting all the advanced training that I can, it will only make me better at my job and I am thankful that the hospital offers it.

Anyway, that's all that I've been up to. Allie-Beth will be the big "TWO" on Friday so Amanda and I will be driving over there to spend her birthday with her and then her birthday party on Saturday. I can't believe she is 2 already, time flies so quickly.

Ta for now. I'll try to update more often but work has been slamming us with possible swine flu so I've been slam worn out and uninterested in updating lately. Hope all is well with everyone.


PS: SleepDeprivedMomma....I need an invite to your blog since you went private. Thanks! Looking forward to catching up with what's been going on with you. I'm thinking I should be seeing you in Peds ER for your Peds rotation pretty soon.

My Dear Tom.....

I would like to take a minute to reflect on the life of a longtime reader and more importantly, a great friend.

My friend, Tom, from Beachcomber's Fotolog has passed away. He was so much more than just a blog reader to me, he was a true friend with a heart of pure gold. He has been there for me so many times throughtout the years. He was one of my loudest cheerleaders as I made my way through nursing school.

You will be missed by so many, Tom. My prayer is that you are flying high with the Blue "Angels" that you so truely loved. The world will be a much darker place without the light of your beautiful presence. You will be deeply missed and I thank you for your friendship during your time on this earth, it meant the world to me.

Rest in peace.

Unless you think you are dying..............

PLEASE don't go to the ER. I cannot tell you how many cases of flu A we are seeing. Flu A is the strain that swine flu is in. Over the last few weeks we've seen kids come in who have minor ailments and then return later for flu symptoms. Why? because you never know if the person sitting next to you has Flu A and could potentially infect you while you are at the ER for a rash etc. Just don't go.

I am off today after having worked for someone else who was sick yesterday and not feeling so well myself, I awoke this morning feeling like I'd been ran over by a truck. I'm doing the zycam (basically zinc) lots of vitamin C and fluids so that I may return to work in the morning. Mine feels more like a throat thing than any sort of flu virus, thankfully.

So I'm going to spend the next couple of hours reading, while watching the rain from tropical storm Claudette come in and then hit the sack for what will hopefully be a blissful night of recouperating rest and sleep.

Wash your hand folks. Better yet, but a gallon of hand sanitizer and use it every 3 minutes. :o)

Anyone who knows me........

knows that I'm not easy to entertain. I don't know why that is. I just don't find the things that most people find funny to be very funny so it's gotta be pretty good to make me laugh.


This.............Made me laugh my butt off. Enjoy........and comment damn it! Are everyone's fingers broken these days? JK!

Vacation........

Well, kind of anyway.

I've been working in the Peds ER since May of last year..........so 14 months now and I have yet to take a vacation. In fact, everyone else that I work with has had 2 and some of them 3 vacations since I've been there. I, on the other hand have not only been working my own shifts but picking up many, many shifts for other nurses.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my job, I love what I do and I feel blessed to be doing it but I have noticed lately that I am a little less tolerant of some of the tougher patients...(not medically tougher, just demanding parents and sometimes demanding patients.)

I feel like I'm a little less tolerant of my co-workers as well. Where I used to just shrug off their inappropriate behavior that I am now letting it get to me sometimes. Sometimes, not often. I have a wealth of patience so I knew that something was up. I decided that I just need a break. Really.

We just had a nurse come back from 2 weeks off and a couple of Unit coordinators as well, even management has been on vacation but I've just been plugging away.

We (the Peds ER) tend to be a bit slower (as I spit, cross my fingers and do a voodoo dance because using the words 'slow or quiet' seem to bring out the ER gods and things go haywire....so I take it back) anyway.................if I am going to take a vacation this is the time to do it. So......I approached my manager yesterday and told her that I don't want a whole week off (can't afford it) but I could really use some time off and we looked at the schedule. By taking off a Wed and a Thur I actually get 5 days off when added to my already 3 day weekend so we decided to do it NOW!

I am off until Monday which feels nice. I don't have any plans which feels nicer. I do hope to spend some time by the pool, a lot actually but today is a bit overcast.

So even though I really can't afford it right now I really need the down time to decompress. That's it from me for now folks!