How to Reach 50 Years Together

I was talking to my patient and his wife today, a couple that are still so sweet and loving even after 48 years of marriage. "So what's the magic formula to keep things strong?" I asked. Yes, it might seem a redundant question but her response was one that really tugged chords with me.

"Commitment. There is no out clause for us. We vowed forever and we will do everything in our power to keep that vow." She told me that they had been through some rough times, and there are moments that even she would want to pull his hair out. But she always reminded herself that she "went into this with my eyes wide open and will stay in it with my eyes wide open."

It just got me reflecting on how our generation is so ready to call it quits as soon as the relationship hits the skids or calamity strikes. We have become a generation of fast food relationships, where friends, family and loves are casually tossed aside when they no longer fulfill our needs or something better comes along.

Alot of my patients went through the depression, and they hold on to everything from a shoe string to a piece of tissue paper. What we view as waste, they store and keep for when it will be needed. But I'm getting off topic here...

Oh yeah, so the formula to a long lasting relationship by my lady in room 17;

• Commitment
  
• Good Communication--talk about everything, your thoughts, your actions, your motives etc. This will help you see where the other person is coming from.
  
• Never going to bed mad--and always have sex even if you are fighting. This shifts the energy of the argument and reconnects you.
  
• Don't be afraid to seek counseling or professional help

Oh, and if your guy is sick in the hospital, come with a cheery attitude, some good food and a smile. It will do wonders for his health.

Musing

This weekend was one of those days that if I hadn't handed in my resignation letter already, I would have had to resign all over again. However, it's over and I have today off to recuperate and rejuvenate so I'm not even going to dwell on the torrid parts, but instead, will focus on the goodness.

My coworkers are the greatest! I was so frustrated that I hadn't taken lunch and it was an hour to report. The Charge Nurse practically ordered me to take a break and when I came back everything was done---and I mean everything from my last meds passed, foleys emptied and documented and fingersticks done and insulin given. They even helped me document some of my new patient paperwork and the only thing I had to come back to do was to finish charting and give report. Talk about teamwork. In 30 minutes they had pulled together and finished what would have taken me the rest of the shift to finish.

Man...I hate the fact that I'm leaving. And I think they do too. As the day draws nigh, I start hearing more and more how everyone is going to miss me when I'm gone. It's nice to feel valued, even if I was just on the unit for 6 months, I feel like I really bonded and made some great friends. I really am going to miss not being here anymore.

When I left my first job in 2005, I thought I would never find another place that I adored my coworkers as much, but my crew of 2007 have proven me wrong. I guess it doesn't matter where you go in the US, if you are a genuine person you will make genuine connections.

Happy holidays to everyone.
7 more days till Portland baby!

Doubling

Doubles are so hard to do. The first couple of hours are a breeze but then come 2 o'clock you are still hustling, my body feels like it's shutting down to "rest and relaxation" mode. I just did a slew of doubles last week and can't wait to see how fat my check is gonna be on the 28th.

Sorry, I'm kinda out of it.

What's up with you all?

The Blues

Okay, even as a nurse with an iron stomach, some things totally make me squeamish. It's weird, I can deal with lots of poop and vomit, but let me have a patient that needs regular suctioning and I'll be inwardly cringing. There is something about the Crrrrr sound of suctioning that gets my grout and flips me out. RT's like suctioning, and I know alot of nurses that dig it, but that shit is not my cup of tea at all. Ewwwww!

Luckily in med surg, you rarely run into a frequent suctioning case so it's not something I have to deal with much.

I'm getting to my last couple of weeks on the job and I'm trying to rack up the OT like crazy. I plan to work hard for the next three weeks, bank up that holiday money and take a week vacation between my present job and my new one. I hope that everything works out in my mind like I've planned.

As you can see, I don't have much to say today, but I'm glad that I'm a nurse, even though we are so underpaid for the ish we put up with, the good times for me are far more than the bad. Sorry for the blathering, I'm kinda tired after pulling a double last night but too wired to sleep.

Hugs to the nurses out there.

7 Random Things

I've been tagged by Nocturnal RN and I'm supposed to share 7 random/weird things about myself. I have alot of weird things about me, and I've done this several times on my other blogs, but for the sake of this blog, I'll stick to 7 weird things about me in nursing, to keep it fresh.

1. At work, I hydrate by drinking a gallon of water mixed with 3% lemonade or lemon juice. I can drink this more than just straight water, and it actually makes me feel like I'm staying hydrated.
2. Since the very first day out of nursing school and on the floor, I've taken report the same way, folding an A4 paper into four and sticking it in my pocket for reference. Everything is on there, but if I lose it I can still function because the art of writing the stuff makes it stick in my brain.
3. I coordinate everything about my scrubs. I even coordinate my shoes, socks and hair clips. My watch is coordinated as well as most of my 'nursing' stuff. Getting dressed for work is a ritual for me, it puts me in the mindset of going to work. It's like my supernurse outfit...and TaDa!, I'm ready to hit the floor running as soon as I clock in. Most of my scrubs and outfits are red, pink, green or variations of blue.
4. I always chart at the end of the shift, in the last hour after I&Os and everything is done. I just want to get a complete feeling when I'm done charting, so charting twice irritates the hell out of me. I'll work straight through the shift with minimal breaks and get my patients tucked in by 10 so that I can compose my report and chart in the last hour. That's essential to me.
5. I HATE the pagers...I think everyone does. When mine goes off and it's not my patient, I get very irritated when the nurse covering doesn't seem to care or doesn't deal with the issue. I'm the one that's going, "Are you doing something about your patients' HR of 140?" It's not because I care that much, I just hate my pager going off!! Sometimes I want to slam it against the wall. Almost every shift in fact.
6. I make rounds on my patients' every hour and tell them this when I introduce myself. This is more for me than them, I want to poke my head in, see their chest rise and ask if they need anything. Usually I find my patients end up using the call bell less, because they know I'll be around soon.
7. At the end of the day as I'm clocking out, I give myself a mental pat on the back and say, "Good job Vixen you supernurse you!"

Okay, totally weird but then again, they did ask for weird things. So I'm sending this back out with a twist. Nurses, what are the weird things you do?