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...)