Call for Nominations - NBOTM for Feb

I'm looking for nominations for NurseBlogger of the Month for Feb!

Please nominate your favorite blogger (or yourself!) by posting the blog name in the comments and we'll vote in a few days.

Let your blogger of choice know you nominated them. If you have a favorite post, put up a link to it so we can all read it.

That's Just Crazytalk

Oh wow.

What a weird career I'm having so far! I never planned to jump from specialty to specialty, but the experiences I'm having are amazing.

I started at the psych hospital last Thursday and I thought I'd put off posting until I had a good feel for how things worked. My very first day was like "awwHELLno!" and I thought I'd gotten in over my head, but the second day (Friday) was pretty cool, and Monday and Tuesday went well also. Today I think I can give a good overview of what it's like.

The first day I followed the LPN (a current RN student and very nice young woman) as she did med pass. She set up a mobile med cart sort of backed up into the seclusion hallway so that no one can get behind her. Patients lined up to get their meds, and it went smoothly until a female patient (who had to sit in a chair next to the med cart for 20 minutes for cheeking precautions after taking her meds) went off on her verbally. I mean, this patient was spouting insults, hostility, swearing and calling the LPN every name in the book and insulting her in any way possible - some very personal. It was not only bad, but it went on for 20 minutes! I could tell the LPN was just barely controlling herself, and practically shaking with anger, but she was professional. In retrospect, although that exchange really made me mad and frustrated that nothing could be done about it, it was a great learning experience and a very good example of what I may have to go through myself. There were also 2 shows of force that first day, and maybe the attitude of the whole unit was thrown off by that early-shift hostility-fest. A lot of patients seemed to be screaming about one thing or the other for the rest of the shift.

The second day I was put on an hour's duty of line-of-sight for a female who was on self-harm precautions. We got a chance to talk, and I enjoyed that. Later I did another hour on an underage female who basically had to have a chaperone wherever she went because the rest of the patients are adults. We had a nice conversation also. I'm quite aware that not all of my exchanges are going to be cooperative, many patients are hostile and delusional. I honestly felt much safer at the jail, because there was always an officer right there. That day was much nicer, patients were a lot calmer, and as I walked around on the unit, I was able to meet several of them and introduce myself.

A major difference in psych nursing for me is that sometimes there is just nothing to do but go out into the unit and talk to patients. The charge nurse is very nice, and she's making sure I get a good orientation and learn what I need to know. She said "I know it's weird, and I had a little trouble with it myself at first, but sometimes the job is just going out and interacting with patients. You feel like you should be doing something more to earn your wage, but being out there and connecting is really important also." It makes perfect sense, it's just that I guess I expect to have to chart everything, and I don't. I redirect patients, make sure they're using their coping skills, try to get them involved in groups, reorient them if they're delusional, and sometimes just listen.

One of the nurses precepting me told me to make sure I don't stay in psych nursing too long or I'll lose my other skills, and I believe that. I'm going to work on getting my BSN in the evenings. I'm not anywhere near as exhausted after work as I was at the hospital, and this will be a great time to do it. The program that I'm looking into requires 10 credits of a foreign language as a pre-req and I'll see if I can get that this summer. I've always wanted to learn spanish! :) I've got to do statistics also, but they say that can be done concurrently with the BSN program.

That's all for now. I think I'm going to put up a bunch of new blogs tonight, so stay tuned. I'm sorry I didn't get to NurseBlog of The Month last month, but think about some nominations, because NBOTM is happenin' this month!

Where's the Beef?

For Valentine's dinner hubby took me to an Indian restaurant we haven't been to before. I love anything named "chana" with the chickpeas (garbanzos) in it, and had a wonderful spicy masala dish with puffy poori (or puri) bread to scoop it up. We didn't know it was all vegetarian before we went and hubby had to 'suffer' through cauliflower curry and rice. After we got in the truck to go home he told me "We're never going there again! No meat!!" . LoL! Poor man... ;)

I suppose I could be telling you all sorts of other mundane bits about my life. I mean, I'm just bumming around the house until Thursday, why not? Ok so here are some things you may not have known about me but didn't care to ask:

We have a fish tank with a bunch of cute little fish in it. Sometimes it's more interesting to watch them than TV. I have had cats and dogs in my life and I guess I'm a little bit more of a cat person, but once we get a larger house I'd also like a German Shepard. My last kitty left home about a year and a half ago and we searched and never found her. She was fixed and tagged, and I guess part of me is ready to admit she's probably not coming home. I'll get a kitty again after we move.

If I do watch TV I like House, Medium, and King of the Hill. Hank and the hubby are similar enough it's uncanny (except hubby doesn't watch sports or have a narrow urethra). It's so funny! We have My DVR from Comcast (like Tivo) and I use it so I can watch the shows I like when I want minus the commercials. Highly reccommended.

I still have my old truck (well, sort of like that...) and haven't traded it in for a newer model now that I'm actually an RN. Hubby's being sweet and saying I can get a Jeep Commander (He's got a Wrangler) and I would go for that except I'm too much of a chicken to take on a huge car payment! What I've decided to do is find a local 1991 Jeep Grand Wagoneer with low miles and drive that for a few years until the commanders are a few years old. If you follow the last link to the Grand Wagoneer you'll see the most beautiful one that just sold on Ebay. Pristine! Way cool - I didn't know they made those things all the way up to 1991. So now I'm an FSJ fan!

I love games - video games, board games you name it. Scattergories, Win Lose or Draw, Taboo and Cranium are some of my favorite board games. For the PC I like things like Warcraft, Diablo, Morrowind, and my new diversion Sacred. If I ever get a chance to play the PS2 I like Call of Duty, Ratchet and Clank, and the LOTR series. I jut bought Dance Dance Revolution and it's hilarious because hubby and I have been playing it as much as my daughter!

I'm a thrift store/garage sale fan and I've probably bought more stuff used in my life than new. I used to sell on Ebay and did it up until nursing school started. I still have boxes of things in the basement specifically for sale on Ebay. I believe I've got a good eye for what's going to sell and manage to do pretty well when I devote the time and energy to it. Strangely, I hate clutter and knick-nacks myself. The only things I can say I collect are books on spirituality and hypnotherapy and two "caboodles" worth of fine vintage costume jewelry (all of it sparkly and stunning) that I do wear when the occasion presents itself. Note: these are not actually pictures of pieces I have, but sort of represent what I like. I have never paid full price and only add to my collection from garage sales and the occasional foolish thrift store.

Alrighty - time for bed. Thats probably as much trivia about me as anyone can handle in one sitting!! :)

LA Weight Loss Stories

Does anyone have any experience with LA Weight Loss? Have you heard a story or know someone who went on it? I'm spring cleaning right now and besides cleaning out the basement, the extra pounds should go too!! :)

I've heard it is sort of expensive and you've got to pay up front, but that doesn't bother me as long as it works. I think I'd like the fact that I was sort of accountable because they say you've got to weigh in three times a week. It's so close to my house it would be easy to stop in after work.

What's Going On Here?

I've been "gone" for a little bit because of some changes in my life. Well, actually just one big change. I'm no longer working at the jail and have started a position in psych. Why I'm no longer working at the jail took me about two weeks to get over and I guess I'm just not going to get into that here, which is why I haven't been posting. (I will let you know that although it wasn't something I did, that doesn't help me feel any less like I could have done something differently or that I'm any less of a failure. I'm really hard on myself. Really.)

I feel like I'm in a whirlwind. What happened to my ideas of working in the ED or CCU? I do really enjoy those units, but when I had to look for something new, I called a psych position I interviewed at before I was hired at the jail. It had looked like they were going to offer me a job at the interview, but I ended up taking the jail position first. When I called her up, she remembered me well and asked me to come down to discuss terms (less than the county, but more then the hospital!). I needed the transition to be easy / pain free / worry free and this was it. So now I'm in psych.

For about a year now I've been studying and taking courses in EFT. I know it's still a new therapy/modality/treatment/whatever you like to call it, but go take a look at it. Out of the 20 or so people I've used it on, all of them have been "one minute wonders" - It's amazing! I'm finishing up my level 2 training now and am planning on going to the NY area in May to take a level 3 course. I haven't mentioned it before because I wanted to continue studying, using, and getting a feel for it. You can download information from the website (free!) on how to do it yourself. Please contact me and let me know if you're interested in this. My email is in my profile.

I think I'll enjoy psych. I know I won't be able to use EFT at work without discussing it in depth with the providers and my manager and getting their OK - that's much further down the road. Right now I just want to go to work and get used to it and try to reach that point where I feel confident and comfortable with what I am doing, and I know that may take a while.

PS: click on the picture if you like it.