The one where I finally hit my stride

Finally!  This past weekend I hit my stride at work, taking both of my patients mostly by myself.  It felt pretty good after 2 weeks of feeling like maybe I couldn't keep up anymore in critical care!

Ok, maybe I'm not quite a racehorse yet...

Of course, one of the problems is that I have 2 nurses orienting me, and their styles are radically different.  Don't get me wrong, they are both very smart nurses who have been in the ICU for 11 or more years.  That's not the problem.  The problem is, one is more organized in the way I like to be, and the other 'mothers' too much.  Like, "oh, we need to do such and such", but then does it herself.  Or, I'll get on a roll and start organizing and she breaks in with, "we should do THIS now" and then she does it herself.  Throws me off balance.

The first thing I wanted to work on was my organization and re-setting up the way the day should go.  I understand, the day probably won't go the way I want, but you gotta have a starting point.  That should have only taken a few days, but it didn't.

The second thing I want to get going on is a review of cardio and neuro issues.  Cardio since it's been forever since I've done it, and it was intimidating the first time around.  Neuro because that's my weak spot, having never worked in a neuro trauma area.  No problem here, we're a big neuro trauma center!

That's right, nothing important was probably harmed in the making of this xray.

But, like a new nurse, (which I'm not), I'm constantly worried about missing something, not knowing something, and possibly, killing someone.  Pretty sure I won't do that one, but it's always in the back of your head.


Remember, it's just a ride.  (unless you kill someone...)

The one where I learn about my new job

Been getting busy around here with the new job and all, I orient 3 days in a row, get home at about the time I need to be going to bed, and haven't been able to eat dinner for 3 nights.  Mostly because one of the nurses I'm orienting with appears to not need to eat!

They forgot the red pinpoint area for western Colorado!

On the plus side, some things are coming back to me, so I don't feel like a total idiot, buuuut, I've realized that I have been out of ICU nursing long enough for things to change enough that I keep coming across stuff that makes me exclaim, "WHAT?!" every other sentence or so.

Apparently, my new ICU specializes in neurotrauma.  Cool enough but....I don't.  My last major ICU experience was in a medical-surgical ICU, and we specialized in open heart surgeries, no major trauma.

My big patient of the weekend?  Previous head trauma meth addict who head-dived off of the retaining wall on the front steps of our hospital 20 feet down to the concrete below.  Now he's a quadriplegic.  All caught on security video.

My motto is:  If you're gonna do something, by god, do it right!

Sexy.

Like me, I'm trying to do it right.  I realized that a lot of my skills have diminished, or left my brain outright, so I got myself a giant critical care nursing tome, and will be studying up in the hopes that I will feel like I actually know what I'm doing.  Because, let's face it, I feel like I am having to re-learn all of my ICU skills and pathophysiology all over again!

Never fear, I will persevere!


Remember, it's just a ride.

The one where I start my new job...sort of

Yes people, today was officially my first day at my new job!  Except.....I was in training all day.  I'll be in training all day tomorrow.....and Saturday.  My first official day on my unit is Sunday.

Bummer.

You see, my new hospital is going to full computer charting, ordering, etc, and the training for nurses takes three whole days.

 

Since "go live" is in a couple of weeks, my manager put me in asap because she was afraid I would miss all the fun.  You know fun, right?  Like:

1- Stupid questions asked about the stuff the trainers just went over.  Like, "How did you do that?!" and "Where is that?"

2- Questions about why the program doesn't do such and such.  Simple answer:  Because they didn't think about the need for that, thanks for bringing it to our attention and stalling the class and extra 10 minutes for each of these questions asked!

And just for the record, I really, really, really.......really, like this program.  It's one of the best I've seen for healthcare, and it's fairly easy to use, copies duplicate stuff in appropriate places, (also know as "populating"), and eventually will be a great timesaver.

When the screams and bitching stops that is.  We nurses are known for our refusal to like new things until they're forced on us.

So, we got done earlier than I expected, and so I wandered up to my unit to cause trouble of the "I don't even know how to punch in" type, and found that since I didn't use my badge in the 1st 24 hours I had it, my code to swipe the doors to the unit was de-activated.

 

Really?

Now I have to call HR and get them to re-activate it.  And I hate calling HR for anything, no matter where I work.  I'm not into talking to someone who's answers consist of IDK, WTF, and GFYS (go fuck yourself).

*sigh*  Oh well, tomorrow's another day. (of sitting in class)


Remember, it's just a ride.