Originally published at Nurse Sean. You can comment here or there.

It has been a great weekend! Friday evening was puppy playtime. Charlie is gaining so much confidence! He had no problem running and playing with the other dogs. He is completely over his need to hide under chairs or behind our legs. I’m really going to miss going to puppy playtime. I’m tempted to get another puppy, just so I have an excuse to go to what has now become a Friday night ritual. We need to buy a house! We really do want to have another puppy. Oh wait, if I stay in this city, I will NEVER own a house!

I used to be such a cat person, but I’m finding that dogs bring you joy on such a completely different level (not more or less, just different). I think I am becoming a dog person…as crazy as that thought seems. I think it is a combination between how much time you put into caring/training a dog, and the pure joy on the dogs face when they see you come home.

Saturday was a busy day! We spent the morning cleaning the apartment. This place is truly a disaster zone, and after several hours of cleaning, we’ve only scratched the surface. I just want to live somewhere clean…without having to clean it! Is that really too much to ask?

We then went grocery shopping and spent way more than we can afford. However, it’s nice to have food in the house again.

Saturday evening I went to INLAND EMPIRE, the latest David Lynch movie. Richard decided to take Charlie for a nice long walk instead of going, so I went alone. I actually prefer going to movies along *shrug.*

The movie was beyond strange. It was completely non-understandable for the first few minutes. Then, for about twenty minutes of hope, it made sense. However, for the last two and a half hours, it was a complete melting pot of confusion, horror, suspense, beauty, and intrigue.

I still have no idea what the movie was about, and I’m pretty sure nobody else does. I have poked around the forums for other people’s interpretations; however, they are usually vague and incomplete…which leads me to think that everyone is as confused as I am.

While watching it, I honestly thought it was about a woman with multiple personalites. I thought we were floating from one personality to another. But, I’m pretty sure I’m wrong, and the more I think about the movie the more it seems wrong. In fact, every time I have a theory, I discredit it…arg! Trying to figure out his movies is my prime reason for loving David Lynch, but this one is almost inpenetrable.

For those that have seen it (slight spoiler): Near the end, when Laura Dern’s character walks into and empty, old fashioned movie theatre and sees herself on the screen…I realized I was in an almost identical empty theatre. It was hard to stop myself from turning around to see what was behind me….but I was too afraid of what I might see.

That’s the kind of affect David Lynch has.

Sunday was the Lillac festival! I have always loved this festival. We walked up and down the street checking out all the booths and watching the crowds. And what trip down to the beltline would be complete without a Tubby Dog!

Tonight, after dinner, I am going to make some doggy treats. Then I’ll be making some chocolate chip cookies and watching Twin Peaks. I’m almost done watching the entire series again.

Tomorrow is back to work. I work three day shifts, have one day off, then work three more days. I think I may have students tomorrow…that would be a definite bonus! I love having students to help me out.

Originally published at Nurse Sean. You can comment here or there.

Charlie is doing great! Even though he has a splint, he’s been bounding around the house. We haven’t been able to convince him that he’s hurt and needs to REST! We went to our vet today to have the splilnt changed (it is now bright yellow…she promised we could have purple next time), and she gave us some advice on curbing his activity. So, we have him on his lead at all times…he’s either attached to the coffee table or one of our belts. And it’s working! He can no longer fly up and down the hallway or chase after us, or practice trying to get up on the couch.

But the real bonus is that it will help us with house training. We will be able to keep an eye on him at all times. No more sneaking down the hallway to go pee!

We actually took him to puppy playtime on Friday. We were worried about him playing too hard (puppy playtime is all about the puppies running around and play fighting), but we knew that the gentlemen that runs it is a vet and would be able to give us advice. Our plan was to keep him on a lead and just hold him back, letting dogs come to him. He suggested letting him walk around socializing, and only holding him back if he gets out of control.

For most of the time he just hid behind my legs (apparently this is the norm for the first couple times). However, he started to interact and play with dogs in the last ten minutes. He didn’t start playing too hard, but I could tell he wanted to. I can’t wait until his splint is off and he can go full throttle!!!

On top of everything, the vet found a lovely (yet massive) yeast infection in his ear. So, we get to put drops in his ear twice a day! Puppies sure are a handful!!! Not to mention expensive.

******

My day shifts on Thurs/Friday were chaos! Thursday I walked into a mess. One of my patients was receiving hefty blood transfusions and had a surgical dressing that was saturated despite being reinforced, changed, and reinforced again. The second patient had dimentia and was agitated all night and needed to be transferred to a stretcher, then it was discovered that many of his meds had duplicate/conflicting orders that needed to be organized. My third patient’s meds (about a dozen meds) had been ordered, but not scheduled, so the pharmacy hadn’t sent any up to the unit, and my fourth patient was having pain control issues that hadn’t been resolved.

I just took a deep breath, dug in, and organized! I worked my ass off and by noon, everything was fixed, solved, and settled. I was very proud of myself for taking on an enormous chunk of chaos and fixed it!

Friday, I was sure it would be a good day. I had done so well organizing my patients care the day before that I knew it would be a much better day….wrong.

It started out by finding the dimentia patient on the floor, flat on his back, and covered in blood from all the IVs that were pulled out. He had fallen while trying to get to the bathroom. *deep breath* and called for help! Another patient had a complex discharge that needed to be organized…and on and on and on. Again, I dug in, worked my ass off, and organized everything.

I’m proud of the work I did this week (Sean gives himself a pat on the back).

And now, it’s back to night shifts for two weeks. YAY!

Originally published at Nurse Sean. You can comment here or there.

I would like to introduce everyone to our new baby. His name is Charlie! He’s as bratty as he is cute! We’re up several times a night so he can pee (occassionally in the right place even), and he whines and cries whenever we leave him. Fortunately, he’s a very smart puppy and is learning very quickly!!! We are very exhausted parents though…

He’s 8.5 weeks old (Born January 2nd 2007), and is a crass between a Shetland Sheep Dog and a German Klein Spitz. His mother was 14 inches tall, and his Dad was 7 inches tall…so he should stay fairly small.

Originally published at Nurse Sean. You can comment here or there.

This is supposed to be a great close up shot of my new grad ring. Unfortunatley, the battery died before I could figure out how to get a nice clear close up. Oh well…I couldn’t be bothered to wait for the batteries to charge. So, I’m going with the “abstract” version.

The ring is a beautiful 10K white gold (I couldn’t justifying paying more than $100 more for 14K). It has “BN UofC 07″ on the outside, and my name in script on the inside. I really friggin’ love this ring! It’s subtle, classy, and is a great momento of my degree in nursing.

I also finally got my ass in gear and sent in my grad photos. The package with my photo proofs has been sitting in front of me for months! I can’t wait to get the portraits so that I can proudly display one on the wall of my apartment. Of course, I will be spreading the joy by sending my mom/grandmother/sister a copy. But the ever egotistical me will be keeping the largest copy.

******

I’m sitting here at 03:30 desperately trying to stay awake. I work night shifts next, so I’m in the process of turning my schedule around. So, I’m playing World of Warcraft, watching some TV, and listening to the Broadway channel on my Sirius satellite radio.

I have been in an “I love nursing” mood this week, which is much better than the “oh my God, I hate nursing!” mood I have been portraying in my posts recently. I had an absolutely great week, even with having to work day shifts the entire time. I had a good patient assignment, I was well organized, on top of my care. On top of that, my successful IV start streak has continued. Granted, they have all had great veins, but I’m still overjoyed!

I must say that life in general is started to fall into a nice groove. Everything seems to be exactly how it is supposed to be. It would feel a lot better without all the debt though.

*cries*

Originally published at Nurse Sean. You can comment here or there.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1.) I am obsessed with Days of Our Lives. I have been watching it since I was eight years old or so. I’m a little mad at the show for changing a bunch of the actors recently…but I know that a year from now I will have forgotten all about it. That’s just the way soaps work. My favorite character by far is Stepheno…I miss having him as a visible and regular character on the show. The Vivian/Ivan duo is a close second for favorite. I digress…

2.) I love the Mormon religion. I love it’s fascinating and rich history, beautiful architecture, rituals, and most of all..its people. I have through the years done a lot of research and talked with many friends who were Mormon. I seriously believe that if I were not gay, didn’t have objections to the rigidity of some of their beliefs, or dislike their their practices of prostelatizing, I would look into joining. I know…that’s a big list. However, most people don’t know the extent to which their rituals are based on old masonic/pagan influences–which definitley jives with me.

3.) I think nurses are much too obsessed with the cleaning of patients. I understand the importance…but not the obsession. We have elderly people come in who are used to bathing once or twice a week. However, some nurses insist in it being done twice a day. I wash my sheets at home once every 1-2 weeks…but 1-2 times a day in the hospital? I’m telling you….it’s an obsession that’s running rampant! On a busy day, it’s one of the things to go first when trying to prioritize. I know…it’s controversial…and makes me a horrible nurse. *rolls eyes*

4.) I believe nurses are literally decades behind in their technology skills. Nurses are touted as being users of technology, but for the most part their skills are laughable. I had to teach one nurse how to double click yesterday, and another how to scroll. Nursing is completely backward in its use of available technology…and this is completely because older nurses (who have the strongest say) reject it completely. We need to get into the 1980s and start to use computers!!! We just implemented a brand new computer system that is intended to create a paperless work environment. It *could* make our days easier and more efficient; however, there is a strong refusal on the part of the nurses to use the systems as intended. When I asked our unit educator about our incorrect use of available technology, I was simply told, “the older nurses would never accept the changes.” I say stop babying them and start expecting them to learn and change. Lets face it, computers are here to stay…LEARN HOW TO USE THEM!

5.) I hate crime shows. This includes Law & Order, CSI, Boston Legal, all true crime shows. I find them completely boring and uninteresting.

6.) If I could “do it all over again,” It’s possible I wouldn’t choose to become a registered nurse again. The job is nothing what I expected. It’s physically, emotionally, and mentally harder than I ever expected. Knowing the pace and amount of work I put in every day and the enormous decision making power/responsibility* involved, I wouldn’t have considered it a well paying job. Nurses deserve at least double what they make here (about $29 - $36 an hour).

*On a side note to point six…has anyone had this experience:

Nurse Sean: “I’ve decided to take your Foley out” (This was a urology unit where nurses made that decision…I know not all units give nurses that authority…insert any number of nursing decisions here if desired).

Patient: “OK, so we’ll wait until the doctor comes in the morning and tells us to do that?”

Nurse Sean: “Uhm….actually, doctors have nothing to do with this….nurses make decisions like that.

Patient: “Maybe we should wait until the doctor is here. He might be mad if you don’t ask him if it’s ok.”

Nurse Sean: *Sigh*

Everyone just assumes nurses are around to do what doctors say. They think we get a list of orders and go to work. It’s more of a team effort…they give us orders for what we need to do, and we make lists of things we need them to do.

For example, after my last night shift I gave the doctors a “to do” list that looked something like this:

1.) Mr. Smith needs an order to irrigate his drains
2.) We started an NG tube on Ms. Connor and need orders for same
3.) I gave Mr. Elliott tylenol, I need an order for it

On the same night, I called a doc and said,

“Mrs. Ruth is having chest pains, I ordered an ECG, CBC, lytes, troponins, started O2, and gave her morphine. I need you come see her and sign off on those orders.”

The point is, sure doctors make lots of decisions…however, it is often nurses who call doctors, or write them lists that say, “I have decided the patient needs (insert whatever) and I need you to order it. Television would have you believing that doctors are the only decision makers in the hospital.

I won’t keep going…this whole “media image of nurses” is a dead horse that really doesn’t need to be beaten right now. I’m just tired of people underestimating the power/knowledge/skill of nurses. I challenge anyone who’s not a nurse to follow me around for a day and not have a completely new understanding of our profession. You may think you know what nurses do….but you don’t.

Sean

P.S. I didn’t tag anyone…I’m not much of a “tagger.” If you haven’t done this meme and would like to…go for it!