Door Joke

I am still putting a joke of the day on my office door at work. Healthcare can be a tough field and my work friends often deal with difficult situations and pressures. I love it when I hear someone chuckling at my door. Everyone needs a daily laugh, don't you think?

On My Office Door Today

Inappropriate Funnies

Sometimes I find things that are funny but maybe not appropriate for my door at work...

Yea, I try to keep it friendly and I don't want to remove that illusion that I am kind.

Funnies

I am still putting things on my office door that I hope will make people laugh. I'm thinking I'll do this one tomorrow. Is it too creepy?

Notes From Work

I've had a cold this week. I wore a mask at work so I wouldn't share my germs with patients. I had a bit of a coughing fit and a coworker gave me a cinnamon candy to soothe my throat. Later, after more coughing, I realized my mask smelled really nice, rather cinnamony. I just thought you would like to know that.

One of the jokes I put up on my board this week said, "I was addicted to the Hokey Pokey but I turned myself around." Did that make you smile?

People who get motion sickness are more likely to have nausea and vomiting from anesthesia. Because of this, every day, over and over and over, I ask people about motion sickness as I take their health history. Usually, that isn't a very memorable question. One day this week, though, I accidentally changed it up a bit. I asked a MAN, "Do you have any problems with MORNING sickness?" Oops.

THEN, I was looking through some doctor's notes (not one of our doctors) that were in a patient's file. I cracked up when I read this...

    She is a well nourished, well developed male.

Uh, ok.

I Hear Pretty People

Here's what I'm thinking about this evening...

With my new position at work, I am on the phone much of my day. I speak to nearly every patient that will be coming through our surgical center. One day I realized something interesting. When I am speaking to a patient, I usually develop kind of a picture in my head of what I think they look like. That's probably not too unusual. I expect most people do that. The thing that caught me by surprise was when I realized I nearly always envision each of them as being quite attractive. Is that weird?

I've been pondering this oddity. I know, everyone is beautiful. However, I picture people to look more like actors or models, not like the average person. You know what I mean, right? We really do have lots of patients who come through who are physically beautiful, but maybe not quite as perfect as I picture them on the phone.

One day, I was wondering why all my phone people seem so pretty to me.  I may be speaking to someone who hasn't showered in days, who has food stuck in his or her teeth or for some other reason would normally seem unappealing to me. Yet, as he/she speaks to me, my mind makes them all shiny and maybe even smelling sweet. Does that mean I am a person who has trouble accepting people as they are? I hope not. I'm going to put a different spin on it, because it is my blog and I can do as I wish and make myself seem as shiny and pretty as I wish as well. Because of that, I am going to guess that this phenomenon means I'm an optimist. Who knows what it really means...but I like  it.

Now, I'm wondering about the visually impaired. Do we all seem more beautiful to them? I hope so. It wouldn't make up for them missing out on beautiful sunsets or intricate flowers, but it would seem like a bit of compensation for what they miss.

And last, I am wondering if the same works in reverse. Do patients develop a mental image of how they think I look? I hope they picture me like Jennifer Garner!

Never mind. It doesn't really matter how they envision me. I think from now on, when I'm on the phone, I'm going to picture myself to look like Jennifer Garner.




P.S. to my family, I'm just having fun here. I like looking like me.

(photo from www.people.com)        

Morning Gift

I am bustling around this morning, getting ready to go to work. Here are some of the thoughts I had roaming through my head...

  I wish I'd had something ready for the crockpot for supper tonight.

  Why am I curling my hair when the wind is still at hurricane strength.

  I wish the little office where I'll be spending my days now had a window.

  Why is my mascara so clumpy?

Then, I dashed toward the kitchen to prepare my piece of peanut butter toast for breakfast and I glanced out to see this...

That other stuff just didn't matter anymore.

I'd just received a beautiful gift.

Learning a New Job - Again

Last Tuesday, as I told you, was a horrible day at the surgical center where I work. When we learned of the death of one of our nurses, we were all kind of a mess. Even now, it feels rather like a bad dream. I walk by her office every day, half expecting to see her working there.

I never thought her job as a health history nurse was something I would want to do. In fact, there was no one else wanting her position. We're all nurses who enjoy direct patient care rather than a desk job. But her work was important. She made the first contact with most of our patients. She did a lot of the behind-the-scenes tasks needed to determine if a patient was safe for surgery. I'm sure she also calmed many patients and gave them confidence in the care they would be receiving at our center.

Much to my surprise, I found myself thinking I should volunteer to take on her position. As I said, no one else wanted it. I took a few days but the thought lingered. Sometimes I get the feeling the Holy Spirit is directing me. This was one of those times. Instead of thinking of the reasons I would not like her job, I started thinking of some of the positive aspects of it.

So, today I worked in her office. It felt sad to me to be there. It was different. I didn't get time to dwell on the melancholy, though. There was an overwhelming amount of work to be done.

Thankfully, I am not alone! There are others filling in, others helping me figure out what I need to do and how I need to do it. Everyone was pulling together as a team today. We had work to do. We had people depending on us.

Confessions of a Nurse

As I've said, I work at a surgical center. It is an outpatient facility, meaning patients usually go home after they recover a bit from their surgery. There are two phases of their recovery.

After patients have surgery they are taken immediately to the recovery room, now referred to as PACU (post anesthesia care unit). They remain there until they are awake, breathing safely on their own and stable enough to be moved to the post-recovery area. 

A lot of our patients are children who've had their tonsils out, ear tubes installed, hernias repaired, dental work requiring anesthesia and a variety of other surgeries. We also have many adult patients having their gallbladders removed, kidney stones resolved, plastic surgery, lap band placements, nasal surgeries, etc. 

I was assigned to the post recovery area yesterday and I did have a mixture of adults and children to recover. Usually patients are in a medical type of recliner while in post recovery. Most often when children are brought out from PACU we have one of the parents sit in the recliner and we place the child in their lap. Isn't that just the best place for a child to be when they are scared and/or hurting?

Anyway, that was rather a long build up to tell you about the dumb thing I did yesterday. 

I entered the room where a young boy was recovering in his mother's arms. I was preparing to take the boy's temperature and to go through the discharge paperwork. The boy's grandmother was in the room and I was talking with her while I was doing all this. Without even thinking, I used the temporal thermometer and swiped it across the forehead to take the temperature. The only problem was, I TOOK THE MOTHER'S TEMPERATURE! As I said to the mother, "That really gives you confidence in my highly professional assessment skills!" 

Then guess what happened!? Yep, I went over the edge. I laughed and laughed. It's not my fault, really. Remember, I suffer from the Genetic Laughter Seizure Syndrome. 

Eventually I pulled myself together, kind of. I still needed to go through the discharge instructions. I admit I had a couple more giggles slip out even then. Thank goodness both the mother and the grandmother were people who also enjoyed a good laugh.

Anyone else want to make any confessions of dumb mistakes they've made at work?

Something New and Different

I am in training again! No, I have not quit my job, just learning a new aspect. Here, let me explain what I do...

Patients who come to us for surgery or other procedures usually go through 4 different areas, starting in admissions first. That is where I work the most. We go through their paperwork, check health histories, shave and prep surgical sites if needed, start IV's and things like that.

Next, patients are taken back for their procedures, either surgical or endoscopic, such as colonoscopies and EGDs.  I do not expect to be trained to work much with surgical cases, I will be working with the doctors doing the endoscopy procedures.  Basically the doctors are putting scopes in from the top down and/or the bottom up to take a look at as much of the gastrointestinal tract as they can. They look for things like polyps, precancerous cells, irritated areas, maybe ulcers and other things along those lines. The scopes have lights and cameras and so we can see all this on a screen. It can be interesting.

After their procedures the patients are taken to PACU (Post-Anesthesia Care Unit... formerly known as the recovery room) until they are awake and breathing again on their own. Usually they aren't in the PACU too long but it varies per patient. They don't leave there until they are stable. I will eventually be trained to work in PACU as well.

From PACU the patients are wheeled out to the post-recovery area where a family member can join them. There they finish waking up while we monitor pain levels, nausea issues, make sure their surgical site is fine and things like that. When they are ready we take out their IV and wheel them out to their car. I'm already trained to work in that area as well.

I admit I wasn't really excited about being trained as a circulating nurse in the endoscopy suite, but I think I will like it just fine. I have a lot to learn so I can keep up to speed with the doctors but I have my sweet friend, Donna, to help train me.

I guess I forgot to mention that we have to dress differently to work in the operating rooms. Do you like my new hat? I don't think that look is going to catch on. We'd already removed our cover-ups and masks before I thought to snap the photo. Obviously, I couldn't do that during the procedure or at any time a patient was present. 

Although I didn't exactly volunteer for this new training, I think it is good for my brain to have to stretch a bit. Have you learned anything new lately?

Mini Craft Sale

So, yesterday was crazy.
I woke up at 4:00 for no apparent reason.
I hate that.
I worked from 6ish until noonish.
I met the family for mall lunch.
I love that.
Mike and I visited some friends at the hospital. Get well, Allen!
I went to the bank.
I went home and slept for 10 minutes.
I went to see Maria, Elise and Cordy.
I love that.
I went back to work where we were having a little shopping get together with invited vendors right in the clinic lobby.
Wyoming Rose was one of the invited "stores".
That was fun.
Home by 8ish.
Sorted through crafts.
Bed!

Today, up at 5ish for another early day at work.  Sorry.  I will try to write something more interesting tomorrow.

Here's a photo from our craft table last night.  Maybe if you have a photograph to look at you won't realize how short and sweet this post is.  No?

Why the Cross?

This is me getting ready for work Wednesday morning.

There are certain things I need to accomplish before I am ready to head out the door:

• Secure my hair so I don't drop DNA on my patients.
• Find my name tag from my purse so I don't have to write my name on a piece of tape (not classy).
• Turn the sound off on my cell phone.
• Load my pockets with a pen, my key used at work, my cell phone and maybe some lip gloss that I won't remember is in my pocket until I'm heading back home.  I have a weird little system of putting work things like the pen and key in my right pocket and my personal items in my left pocket.  
• Choose a cross necklace for the day.

That last bullet point is very important to me.  I will give you an example of why.

Awhile back I entered a room to get a patient ready for a procedure.  I'd not met him before and knew only his name, his physician's name and what procedure he was to have that day.  Not long after I started filling out his paperwork with him he began telling me a lot of things about his past.  He had a criminal background, family troubles and a lot of other stories.  After quite awhile of talking he suddenly stopped and said, "Why am I telling you all this?  I never tell people anything about myself!"  I said some things to put him at ease.  He told me more things.  After starting his IV I had my hand on the doorknob when I turned and asked him if he'd like me to pray for him.  He just seemed so frightened and alone. He was eager for my prayer, so I prayed, leaving the room soon after the prayer.

Later, I peeked in to see how he was doing.  I was telling him that I don't always ask patients if they want me to say a prayer but that something told me he would appreciate it.  He then told me that he knew why I was prompted to pray for him.  He went on to say that before he came in for his procedure, he had a strong feeling that he was going to die that day.  After the prayer, he told me that feeling was gone.  Oh my!

My patient later told me he figured out why he told me his life story like he'd done.  He said it was because I was wearing a cross.

The Week Behind Me

It was so warm this week!  We've had a lot of temperatures warm enough to be outside without a jacket.  For those of us who live in cold country, that has been an unexpected way to start November.

Bode was even chasing a wasp this week.  Just so you know, he's a Vizsla. Vizslas are hunting/retrieving dogs but since we don't hunt, Bode has honed his skills in a new direction. This dog doesn't seem to enjoy playing fetch but he does enjoy using his skills for insect-hunting.  It doesn't always work out that well for him (he's been stung) but he keeps trying.

Earlier this week I got to implement some other skills myself.  I got to be a hairdresser at work!  OK, I really don't have any training in that department but I did start cutting all my doll's hair at a very young age.  Sadly, their's never grew back.  This time, I was cutting some hair from the head of a patient preparing for a surgical procedure.  I learned a cultural tip regarding hair and Native Americans.  They were teaching me that they believe it should be returned to Mother Earth.  So, I carefully banded it before cutting.  The family members gathered around as I cut, taking charge of the hair in a respectful manner.  I then shaved the area and the patient was good to go.

I worked long, hard hours this week.  It was a busy, busy week at our surgical center and each night I came home pretty wiped out.  It was good, though.  I enjoyed my work and had interesting patients to care for.  I had several patients who's first language is Spanish.  Although most could also speak English, they allowed me to practice my Spanish on them as I prepared them for surgery.  It seemed to distract them from their worries as they helped me with my words and accent.  I am quite limited with what I know but because our class focused on phrases and words specific to nursing, I was able to say quite a few things.  It was fun!

One of the things I did when I wasn't at work this week, was shop.  My friend, Nicole, spearheads Operation Christmas Child at our church.  They send boxes around the globe to children in need.  The boxes contain an assortment of little gifts for these children, some of whom have never received a Christmas present.  Our youth group sent about 300 boxes last year and hope to send 500 this year! What a big goal, huh?  They offer a variety of ways we can do it, from packing our own boxes (they will provide them) ready to ship to donating money for them to purchase more things to put in the boxes.  We can also donate money to go toward the shipping costs.  If you click on the link above, you will find opportunities to pack-a-box online, without even going shopping.  It is a fun way to share the joy.  Do you have any special joy-sharing things you like to do for Christmas?

To start off this last day of the week I slept in!  Yay!  I was up before 7:00 a.m. but I still slept past the 4:30-5:00 a.m. alarm I need for work.  I REALLY hate it when I wake up at 4:30 on days I don't have to go to work!

 When I got up this morning I took this photo from our back door.  Apparently our reprieve from winter is over.  No worries.  I have my favorite coffee cup and I'm in my favorite chair.  Looking outside I see the street in front of our house is pure ice so it looks to be a great morning to pick up the crochet hook and watch some Netflix.  What are your plans for this day?

Bonus Day!

The truth is, I was just hoping to survive this week.  I've been plowing ahead through many busy days in a row with my job, church events and craft fair days.  It has all been good, but I was already tired when this week started.  Here's a breakdown of the last few days. 

Monday:  I worked from 7:00 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. before going to a meeting at church.  I got home about 9:30 p.m., ate a little supper and was just getting ready for bed when Bode had diarrhea on the new carpet.   After scrubbing that up, I crashed.  Bode was sick again a few times in the night but Mike took care of it so I could rest.  I love Mike. 

Tuesday:  I worked 7:00 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.  I can't remember what I did that evening but I remember that Mike told me he missed me.  He was also tired, having been up in the night with Bode.  Did I mention that I love Mike?

Wednesday morning I made pies for Thanksgiving and did some errands.  After that, Sam and I picked up Maria and Cordy and met Mike at the mall for our weekly lunch at the food court.  I then came home and took a nap as Wednesday night I was scheduled to work my first night shift in years.  I worked 7:00 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday:  After getting home from work just before 8:00 a.m. I ate a little breakfast, plopped some frozen rolls out to thaw and went to bed.  Although I never did very well with sleeping during the day, I had a new plan.  I took a Benadryl and put on a pair of those eye coverings for sleeping.  What are they called?  Anyway, I put in a CD of sleepytime music to cover up day noises, set my alarm for 2:00 p.m. and fell immediately to sleep.  My alarm went off and I jumped up to see my clock said 5:00 p.m.!  I panicked, as we were to go to Maria and Eric's at 3:00!  Well, it was actually only 10:30.  Lesson learned, don't set your clock and alarm when you are too tired to see straight.  I went back to sleep until almost 1:00, waking with plenty of time to bake the rolls. 

After all that, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Maria and Eric's.  Cordelia was in top form.  She greeted us and said "Happy Thanksgibbing" many times.

I was so grateful to Maria for taking on the responsibility of the family dinner. 

We usually go to my Mom's a few hours away but with my work schedule that wasn't feasible.  Although I was missing my Mom and all the family that we usually saw for Thanksgiving, I felt grateful to have this time with Sam, Mike, Maria, Eric and Cordelia.  I really missed Ben and Sara but was I was happy knowing they were with Sara's family for Thanksgiving. 

I just relaxed and enjoyed being a guest...

Maria had gone all out.  We enjoyed a beautiful meal, all vegan.  I ate so much I felt a little bit miserable for awhile but it was worth it. 

After that, I enjoyed time with Cordelia up in her room while Maria cleaned up and the guys watched some football. 

Eventually Cordy had everyone up in her room, most of us taking turns in the playhouse with her.  It was wonderful!  Later, the guys went out to watch more football while we girls came to our house to watch Netflix and let the dogs play. 

So today, I am still in my jammies just relaxing for awhile.  It feels like a bonus day with only good things planned.  I am NOT going shopping!  Black Friday scares me.  Instead, I will be crocheting.  Technically it is work as I am fulfilling Christmas orders for Wyoming Rose Boutique, but it feels like fun.  Right now I am working on a mother-daughter set of matching ponchos and hats.

Cordy will be here for lunch and snuggle time.  We'll watch the Wonder Pets, rock and likely have a snuggle nap.  Mike and I may go to a movie later.  See what I mean?  It's bonus day!

Craft Fair in My Rear View Mirror

Whew!  The craft fair this past week-end was a  LOT of work and I think both Maria and I were pretty worn out.  It was fun, though.  We got to see a lot of people we knew and we also met some we didn't know before.

As for sales, it was not quite what we'd dreamed but it was ok.  We sold quite a few things. 

This little hat, made by Maria, went to a little baby girl with a TON of black hair.  It looked so cute!

When Cordelia was there one of us walked around with her quite a bit, while the other stayed at our booth.  Cordy was looking pretty cute in one of the ponchos and people were stopping to comment on her cuteness.  One such time an older couple was trying to talk to her, telling her what a pretty girl she was, but thankfully couldn't hear her comment.  She kept saying, "I tooted.  I tooted."  I decided it was time to move on!

Maria and I agreed that we liked it when people came to look at our creations and made nice comments even when they didn't make a purchase.  Quite a few crocheters from other booths came to look over our things and several asked where we found all our patterns.  I think they were surprised to know that we almost never follow patterns.  We both kind of like to create more free-style.  Luckily I am better at freestyle crochet than I am at freestyle cooking!

It was fun to people-watch at the craft fair.  Do you like to do that?  We saw some interesting people but I think the winner had to be the man who strolled by both days, wearing shiny dresses and some kind of dangly headband on his nearly bald head.  I have to say it wasn't my favorite look but he was memorable.

I will be busy working at hospice these three days before Thanksgiving.  How about you?  Are you busy getting ready for Thanksgiving?  Are you having company or are you someone's guest? 

Thank-you for stopping by. Feel free to use my photos but please link them back to my blog. I am honored if you wish to share content of any of my posts on Facebook, Twitter, etc. as long as it is linked back to my blog.

Busy...But in a Good Way

Whew!  I have been soooooo busy!  I have been pushing myself to get a lot of things done recently and I just finished 3 days of the 12 1/2 hr shifts at Hospice.  It's all good but I think the dream last night was a bit meaningful.  I dreamed some kind of avalanche fell from the sky, burying me.  I had to work and work to get to the top of the snow to find a place to breathe.  Hmmm...

One of the things that has kept me busy (but happily so) is that I've taken a LOT of orders for crocheting ponchos and hats.  I'm still not caught up but I'm working on it.  Also, Maria and I are preparing for a BIG craft fair this week-end.  Here's a sneak peek of some of those items (also found at our shop)....

This is just a sampling!  I wasn't kidding when I said it has been busy around here! 


Thank-you for stopping by. Feel free to use my photos but please link them back to my blog. I am honored if you wish to share content of any of my posts on Facebook, Twitter, etc. as long as it is linked back to my blog.

Caring Hearts and Gentle Hands

I was having trouble with my computer so this post is 1 day late....my apologies.




I am working 3 long shifts in a row so my blogging time is greatly diminished.  I did want to share this with you.  It is a photo I took at work today.  It is over the main entrance to the patient area at the hospice home where I am training.  I hope that I read it everyday as I try to fulfill what it says.  I am training with an awesome nurse that is truly remarkable with the patients.  I am learning a lot.

Thank-you for stopping by. Feel free to use my photos but please link them back to my blog. I am honored if you wish to share content of any of my posts on Facebook, Twitter, etc. as long as it is linked back to my blog.