Confessions of a registered nurse (Confessions of a student nurse): Random

The results are in....

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 04:51:36 GMT

Did you notice my new banner? That's right, I passed!!!!

I'll fill you in on all of the details tomorrow after work!

NCLEX tomorrow!

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:19:50 GMT

I don't want to wait another month to get this test out of the way, so I went to the doctor to see why I am STILL sick after six days. I no longer have the flu, now it is just an upper respiratory infection. The doctor was awesome- she gave me a steroid shot, an antibiotic shot, and a prescription for Cipro (strong antibiotic) and some cough medicine with codeine so I can sleep tonight. The steroid shot hurt more than I was anticipating, and it still hurts now, but it will be worth it when all of my swelling goes down and I can breathe without fighting so much! The cough is a lot better than it was the other day- it really only affects me when I am lying down. So as long as I refrain from passing out during the NCLEX, I think I will be fine. And I won't disturb the people around me (I'll have cough drops just in case). Thank you all for your advice, you had some great points.
After getting one shot in each hip today, I have decided that I definitely prefer being the one to give the shots. I'm still a little bit nervous when I give a shot, so sometimes I say, "Here comes the poke," and then pause a second before I actually poke the person. The nurse did that today and it was really frustrating! I braced myself, then nothing happened so I thought, "Hey, that wasn't so... OUCH!!!" It startled me, so I jumped, which made it hurt even more. So I will make sure in the future not to do that to my patients! It's interesting the little things that you notice when you are able to experience a situation from the opposite point of view. I'm going to spend the rest of the day studying, I'll let you know how the test goes tomorrow!

Tough decision

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 17:37:15 GMT

One of the first things my preceptor said to me was, "This winter, you are probably going to be sick at least every other week. That's just what happens when you first start working in a children's ER." Why was she trying to scare me away before she even had the chance to get to know me? Does she not like my hair? Am I too short? Too annoying? Well, it ends up she wasn't trying to scare me away. Three days after her warning, I came down with an awful cold that lasted six days. When I finally felt better, I was relieved that I had paid the price of being around all the germs early and had it over with. I normally only get sick twice a year: my birthday and New Year's Eve. I don't know why it always falls on those dates, but I figured I had gotten my birthday sickness out of the way a few weeks early. As I'm sure you have already guessed, I was wrong. On Wednesday, my lungs started hurting. Within a few hours, it had spread to my entire body. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I had the flu. Already. I still was not fully recovered from being sick last time! So here it is the day before my birthday and on my "power cram" weekend for the NCLEX (which I take Tuesday- I put the wrong date last time) and I feel completely awful. I have only put in a few hours of studying and can't concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time. I thought I'd be better by now, but I actually think I am getting worse (the awful cough that actually causes me to throw up just started yesterday). So, do I go take the NCLEX without studying, or do I push it back and have to worry about it for another month? Right now, I'm leaning towards taking it sick and without studying. I'm very anxious to get it off my mind! But am I making a huge mistake? If I fail, I'll be demoted to a patient care tech until I can take it again in a few months. But if I push it back, I might lose my mind, which would probably result in losing my job too......

Maybe I do have cooties. Anyone remember how to give a cooties shot?

Life as an intern

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 20:55:57 GMT

For some crazy reason, I was under the impression that after I finished school, life would be calm and boring. I think I was a little bit off on that one! Work is going well, but it seems like I am always there. I'm in a 14-week internship program, so I have class and I work with a preceptor (an experienced nurse who teaches me everything my school didn't). My preceptor's name is Tanya, and I really like her. She knows what she is doing and has a lot of patience, which is crucial, especially because it takes me forever to do even the simplest tasks.
I'm working in a pediatric ER, and working with kids is nothing like working with adults. When starting an IV on an adult, you enter the room, tell them you are going to start an IV, then start the IV. With kids, you enter the room, explain what you are going to do, answer a lot of questions from the kid and the parents, comfort the child while he cries before you even get the needle out of its package, then attempt to start the IV while the kid is being held down, and the mother, father, siblings, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and everyone else the child knows is standing there cautiously watching. No pressure, right? I shake just putting a band-aid on a child with all those eyes on me! I think it is absolutely wonderful that these children have so much support, and I wouldn't want it any other way, but it definitely makes things more uncomfortable when you aren't confident in your skills yet. So hopefully I get that confidence soon, because starting an IV will be much easier when I'm not shaking!

It seems like the kids I have worked with so far like me, probably because they think I am another kid too. Yesterday a nine year old boy asked me if I had a boyfriend. I didn’t think I looked that young…. And I thought nine year old boys thought girls had cooties. Whatever happened to cooties? Maybe the alcohol scrub gets rid of those....?

I'm a GN!!

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 11:55:16 GMT

Thank you TX State Board of Nursing for processing my GN letter the same day you received it (instead of taking two weeks)!! Maybe you guys could hear the panic and frustration in my voice and you took sympathy on me. Or maybe you were just really sick of me calling every single day to check on my status... Either way, I really appreciate all of your help!

Now if I could only get over this nasty cold.....

I take the NCLEX (licensing exam) on September 28th, so for the next few weeks, I'll be studying and working at my wonderful new job! Please don't get upset if I'm not around too much!

Congrats to Rachel & Jason on their engagement!! Jason, you are definitely a lucky man! Rachel is one of the most amazing women I have ever met. Rachel, don’t let Research dampen your excitement, keep bugging them and they will at some point send your transcripts too.

And to the staff at Research College of Nursing (I know some of you read this), THIS IS RIDICULOUS!! You need to send your students’ transcripts!! There is absolutely no excuse for sitting on them for over three weeks- you are causing people more stress than you can imagine.

Any school but Research!!!

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 22:18:52 GMT

Last night Mike and I played an awful joke on Skitzo. We told him that we were enrolling him in nursing school at Research College of Nursing. This news upset him so much that he actually pooped himself right there on the kitchen floor.

Poor guy! We thought that after all I have been through with the school, he would have known that we were just kidding. But obviously he took us seriously, and a temporary loss of bowel control occurred.
Lesson of the day: Don't even joke about sending someone you love to Research College of Nursing. It's not funny, and you might get stuck with a huge mess on the floor.

At least I know anatomy.....

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 19:32:17 GMT

Last night Mike and I were watching a TV show that took place in Pittsburgh. I couldn't remember where Pittsburgh was, so I asked Mike. He didn't know either. A minute later, I said, "I think it's in Seattle." "Yeah, maybe," Mike replied. A few more minutes passed in silence. Then Mike looked over at me and said, "I think Seattle is a city...."

This conversation somehow brought back memories of the knee surgery I had in high school. I had to have my pes anserine bursa removed from my right knee thanks to my baseball and skateboarding days. While the nurses were preparing me for surgery, one of them said to me, "Which side of your leg is your bursa on, the front or the back? We need to know how to position you for the surgery." Starting to shake now, I told them it was on the front. "Ha! Told you," the one nurse said to the other. At this point in time, I did not know much about how hospitals worked. I thought that these nurses would be assisting in my surgery; I did not realize that they were just there to get me ready to go in. So right before I was wheeled into the OR, I was given the impression that they had no idea what exactly they were removing from my body! This could help explain the panic attack I had when waking up from the surgery. Still heavily sedated, I felt the pulse oximetry device on my finger. Terrified, I started crying that the surgeon had operating on my finger instead of my knee. Thanks Pittsburgh, Seattle for bringing back this awful memory!

It's the little things

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 21:58:25 GMT

I stopped by an Ace Hardware today and while walking around I spotted a Jayhawk flag. A Jayhawk flag in Texas country? I went over and looked at the price: $19.99. Next to the Jayhawk flag was the Texas flag with the horned cow or whatever their mascot is and the Oklahoma horse shoe flag. Their price? $16.99. That's right! The Jayhawk is definitely worth more than any Texas or Oklahoma mascot. Just don't tell any TX or OK fans I said that, ok? They can be pretty scary.

Lesson of the day: If you get lost in Northern Dallas, do not try to find your way back by keeping track of CVS Pharmacies. I made that mistake today- I thought I was going in circles because I kept seeing a CVS Pharmacy on the corner, but I actually traveled pretty far across town (in the wrong direction, of course)!

Work experience

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 19:29:27 GMT

Now that the excitement of finishing school is over, I have to face the reality of finding a job. I know that there is a nursing shortage, but for some reason, that does not make finding a nursing job an easy task. Before I can turn in my resume, I need to make my work history look good. My first job after graduating was "Office Assistant." I started as a receptionist and moved up to stocking plastic spoons, coffee, and coffee cups. Yes, this is what my 4.0 GPA in psychology got me. :) How do I describe this on my resume though? At that job, people would get extremely upset if I stocked the coffee too low and they had to bend down to get a new bag- or they would come close to having a heart attack if the spoons ran out. Would it be too much of a stretch then to say that my Office Assistant job gave me experience in:
~ the ICU : the coffee I stocked could probably count for a few employees' life support
~ the ER : "Oh, no! We are out of coffee! Someone call Katie, STAT!"
~ Pediatrics : a few people acted like children when the hot chocolate would run out
~ Psych : I think everyone gets experience in this area from dealing with their coworkers

And I have two degrees?

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 19:16:22 GMT

I was at the casino last week and their restroom sinks had motion-sensors for the soap and the water. I was washing my hands and when I was done, I looked down and I still had soap on the back of my left hand. I rinsed my hands under the water again to get the soap off. To my surprise, the soap was still on the back of my hand. "They must have to use some weird soap in these automatic dispensers," I thought. Getting frustrated, I again rinsed my hands off, this time paying close attention to the back of my hand to make sure I wasn't missing the spot with all the soap. That's when I realized what was happening: as I was rinsing my hands, I was triggering the soap dispenser to shoot soap at me.

Anger management

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 04:56:45 GMT

Back when I was in high school, I remember going out to restaurants with groups of friends and getting frustrated at the waitresses. Why did they always take so long to bring us our food? The worst part was when we would see them standing around talking instead of waiting on us. We're hungry!! Once I started waiting tables in college though, I quickly realized that the waitress has no control over what goes on in the kitchen. If you have a slow cook, your tables are going to have to wait. Why didn't I think of that before? And why didn't any of my customers seem to realize that simple fact either?
I see this same situation occur in the ER all the time. Patients have to wait several hours to be seen, and they take this out on the nurses. We can't move any faster than the doctors! And you shouldn't get upset at the doctors for taking their time with each patient, because you expect them to spend the necessary time with you too...
I think that we all need to step back when we are getting upset about something and question what we are really mad at. Don't take your anger out on the wrong person, especially if she is about to poke you with a needle. ;)

Things have been great in the ER. I have become a pro at IV's, and haven't missed one since Vicki showed me the proper way to start them. I have seen more things in these last few days than in all of my clinicals combined. The best part was that I got to be there while Vicki helped another nurse save a patient's life. I pretty much just stayed out of the way and handed the nurses what they needed, but just being there was enough of a rush for me!

Time warp

Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:38:34 GMT

I just got back home from Dallas. There was some confusion at the airport, and I can safely say I will never fly with American Airlines again. Here is an example of just how off things were today- this is an email update from Orbitz:

American Airlines flight 2046 is delayed.  Departure from Dallas/Fort
Worth International (DFW) is now estimated at 10:45PM Gate A20.
Estimated arrival at Kansas City International (MCI) is now 10:40PM
Gate 76.

Not so tough after all

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 04:03:10 GMT

Have you ever tried to staple at least five sheets of paper together with your non-dominant hand? This should be simple, right? Well I can't do it. Can you? If it is really easy for you, it's ok to lie and say you can't so I don't feel so stupid.

And just in case you were wondering, no I haven't been gone for the last week because I injured myself trying to staple things with my left hand. That was only a minor injury. :) I've actually been studying and my clinical has been pretty uneventful, which is why I was trying to find new ways of stapling papers. I've also found several different techniques for the extremely important task of placing a pillow inside a pillowcase. And I was worried that this clinical would be a waste of valuable time!

Dallas nurses?

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 18:27:02 GMT

Can any of you recommend good North Dallas hospitals to work at when I graduate in two months? Are there any hospitals I should avoid?

Also, just in case you didn't notice, they changed my site address. I'm sure they will redirect you if you type in the old one, but just in case, you might want to bookmark this new one.

Random thoughts

Mon, 12 Jun 2006 20:31:55 GMT

~ No amount of studying, test taking strategies, or common sense can help you when the person writing your exam is a COMPLETE IDIOT!!!

~ I will never understand why people with expensive cars have tinted windows. When you spend that much money on a car, don't you want people to be able to see that you are the one driving it?

~ Something I should be banned from using:

~ The reason:

~ Making students spend sixty-four hours following a nurse manager around is completely ridiculous!!

~ Even more ridiculous is forbidding them to use the word "shadowing" to describe their experience, even though shadowing is all they will be doing.

Interview tips

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 01:31:44 GMT

My friend John came up with these suggested responses to interview questions:

1. Why did you pick this hospital?
a) I like the cafeteria here better than at other hospitals.
b) Given the quality of nurses I've observed here, I figure I'd be a superstar in about a week.
c) My parole officer says I have to work in Missouri.

2. Why did you choose nursing?
a) Free drugs, why else!?
b) I like seeing people naked.
c) Dr. Jack Kevorkian is my hero, and this is as "close to him" as I can get.
d) Too many of my patients were dying when I was a CNA, so I thought I could do better as a nurse.

3. What previous experience do you have that will contribute to this job?
a) I worked at the zoo and learned how to clean up poop using a shovel.
b) My years as a drug dealer taught me about dispensing drugs to people who really need them.

4. How do you work with others?
a) Great! I was elected "Miss Congeniality" when I was in the psych hospital!
b) Great! My years as a professional dominatrix taught me how to boss people around.
c) I do really well with the unconscious patients.
d) Is that important or something?

5. How do you problem solve a situation (patients, visitors, staff, etc.)?
a) When no one is around I pee in the coffee pot.
b) If things get difficult I just go pull the fire alarm.
c) I find I have few problems with others if I just stay drunk all the time.
d) I go into the restroom and write on the wall, "For a good time, call....."

No hablo español

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 02:49:38 GMT

My mom is in charge of a large garage sale at her church. There are several high school volunteers who work at the sale, one of whom is fluent in Spanish. Last week a Spanish-speaking man asked my mom a question. She could figure out what he was asking, but did not know how to reply in Spanish, so she motioned for him to wait for her while she went to find the Spanish-speaking volunteer. She found him and said, "I need your help, please come with me." He followed her over to the man. My mom said to the volunteer, "Please tell this man that we can deliver the furniture to his house tomorrow." The volunteer stood there for a moment, looked at my mom, looked over at the man, and then said in fluent English, "We can deliver the furniture to your house tomorrow." The volunteer looked back at my mom with a confused look on his face, which is when she realized that she had grabbed the Spanish-speaking volunteer's younger brother, who apparently was not fluent in Spanish.

Quote of the day

Thu, 01 Jun 2006 12:38:56 GMT

My friend Julie: "I don't understand those stickers on car CD players that say, "Radio will not work if removed from car." How could removing that sticker possibly effect how the radio works? It's just a sticker!!"

I'm back

Wed, 31 May 2006 00:01:32 GMT

Isn't it weird how sometimes you don't even realize how burnt out you are until you completely crash? That's what happened to me last week- we had an online course that I completed early (I know, I'm such a nerd), so I flew to Dallas to spend the week with Mike. I planned on looking for hospitals to work at, going to lunch with friends, visiting my old neighbors, and studying for the NCLEX. What did I actually do? Nothing!! I slept in until at least ten every morning, read a few books that had nothing to do with nursing, watched movies, hung out with Mike, and listened to music. I rarely left the apartment. To most people, this would sound like a miserable and boring week, but it was exactly what I needed. But now life is back to normal, so I'm sure I'll have more stories and rants for you guys soon.

You know..

Tue, 23 May 2006 16:20:13 GMT

You know it's time to get a new couch when you find yourself giving your old one monthly "haircuts" to get rid of all the loose strings.

You know it's worth the effort to find your glasses before attempting to eat breakfast when you accidentally grab the sour cream instead of the yogurt. When you're blind they look the same, but definitely do not taste the same.

You know you shouldn't quit nursing school to become a pet groomer when you make your parents' cat look like this:

You are getting sleepy

Thu, 18 May 2006 01:22:36 GMT

I love sitting by Rachel in class. She is one of the sweetest people I know, but that's not why I sit by her. The real reason is more evil and selfish. Rachel is free entertainment. She sits there in lecture, alert and paying attention while taking notes. But if you watch carefully, you'll notice that her eyelids start to shut, ever so slightly. Within a minute, they stay shut for seconds at a time, which signals the start of the fun phase of "class with Rachel" - the head tilting. Her head usually tilts to the right the first time, and she doesn't react too strongly, she just straightens back up and will be alert for almost a full thirty seconds. But then the left side of her brain starts feeling heavy, and her head will tilt over to that side. This startles her, and she will quickly straighten her head up and glance around to see if anyone noticed. Danielle and I are always looking forward at this point, trying our best to play it cool. We know that within seconds, Rachel's eyes will be closed again. When they do close, her head usually tilts backwards. This really scares Rachel, so she jerks her head forward and slaps her arms down on her desk to "catch" herself. She then looks over at Danielle and me, smiles, and says, "Was I falling asleep?" Sometimes we say we didn't notice, but at other times, we can't stop from laughing. I've never really understood falling asleep in class or while studying because unless I am extremely sleep deprived, this is never a problem for me. I think that karma has caught up with me for giving Rachel a hard time because over the last few days, every time I start studying for my HESI (which is tomorrow), I go through the exact same head tilting ritual. And it is not as fun as it looks! I actually fell asleep today after getting through less than a page in my book. I woke up and looked at the clock and almost had a panic attack, thinking that I was waking up tomorrow morning and that I had slept through my exam. I called Rachel to inform her that she was contagious, and she laughed and explained that her constant falling asleep during lectures or while studying is a classically conditioned response. It looks like you're at least ready for the psych section tomorrow Rachel!

Josh, our hero

Wed, 10 May 2006 21:44:20 GMT

You know that wonderful feeling you get when you pull into the parking garage and the perfect spot is available? It's amazing how quickly that feeling goes away when you get out of your car and realize that you are in a handicap parking spot. You start feeling even worse when you get back into your car to move it out of the handicap spot and realize that your car is dead. This is how Rachel and I started our day today after her car's starter picked the perfect moment to break.
Thankfully, Rachel's car didn't get a ticket and after clinicals, Josh agreed to help us start her car. Because it is a stick shift, Josh was able to put it in neutral, roll it backwards down the parking garage incline (which required us to stop oncoming traffic), and start it. We just couldn't turn it off because if we did, it wouldn't start up again. We were all cheering for Josh, our new hero, for figuring out how to start the car when Josh said, "Rachel, I need in your trunk to get my backpack." Rachel's trunk only opens with the key, which happened to be in the ignition, which needed to stay in the on position. Men!

In other news, I have decided to accept Nick Lachey's marriage proposal, just as soon as he realizes that he is in love with me. If any of you happen to know him or run into him, I would appreciate you letting him know this fact, because it might help speed things along (him finding out that I exist is probably a good starting point.)

Creative "explanations"

Wed, 10 May 2006 02:42:34 GMT

I have been sick the last few days, which is why I haven't been writing much. I do not want any of you to start having convulsions or tremors from "Katie withdrawal," so I decided I had to post something soon. But because I'm not feeling so good, I need your help on this one.

When someone asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, you are faced with three options: tell them that you don't know, pretend like you did not hear them, or make something up. I know that we all choose the third option on occasion, either for entertainment value or because we don't want to admit that we don't know it all. Do any of you (especially you parents out there) have good "explanations" that you have given when you don't know how to answer a question?

When I was in grade school, my classmate Allen was dared to run into the girls' restroom. Allen came out of the restroom with a confused look on his face. "Why does the girls' restroom have a metal box on the wall?" he asked. I explained to Allen that the teachers like the girls better, so they installed a candy machine in our restroom. Allen spent the rest of the day complaining that the boys didn't get a candy machine in their restroom too.

Your turn!

And the award goes to...

Mon, 01 May 2006 04:51:03 GMT

~ The award for knowing exactly what a woman wants to hear: Mike, for saying, "I wrote 'Do something romantic for Katie' on my to-do list, but it hasn't been crossed off yet." Did he get his dating advice from Josh?
~ The award for smoothly avoiding the question: Danielle, for her creative answer when her instructor was showing how to give a shot in the hip for the first time. The patient (who was about to get the shot) asked her, "You've never done this before, have you?" Danielle quickly replied, "She's showing me a new way to give this shot." I guess if you've never done it before, it is definitely a new way, right?
~ The award for the most creative (and disgusting) solution to a problem: Isis, for sitting with her feet out in front of her and dragging herself across the floor when a piece of poop became stuck to her tail. It was hilarious, until I saw the wonderful trail it left behind her.
~ The award for the stupidest question (yes, there is such a thing): my little brother's friend, who asked, "Can blind people cry?"
~ The award for best decision making: Me, after spending two days in OB, for deciding that Mike will be the one who has our babies, and after watching a circumcision, deciding that we will only be having baby girls.

Looking good..

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 04:41:24 GMT

You're hot. You made some little change (started a new diet, switched shampoo brands, ran an extra mile at the gym), and even if no one else can see it, you know you look good. I felt more self-confident yesterday because of a simple little change I added to my life: I have been drinking more water. To help me accomplish this, I bought some Crystal Light powder packets that you add to bottled water. I drank a bottle of fruit punch flavored water and then headed to the store. While walking around at Target, I can't really explain why, but I just knew I looked good. I held my head high and walked around smiling at everyone. By the big smiles people were flashing back at me I knew that they too could see how hot I was. After shopping, I got back in my car and glanced in the mirror. To my horror, the Crystal Light had turned my lips and teeth bright red. Mental note: Check reflection in mirror BEFORE entering a public place.

Separated at birth?

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 18:45:09 GMT

Kristin Davis and Natalie Portman are two lucky women. According to MyHeritage.com, these women look 72% like me:

Mike looks 73% like Freddie Prinze Jr.:

Who do you look like?

Moderation?

Wed, 19 Apr 2006 00:58:07 GMT

Do you ever read the fine print at the bottom of the screen during commercials? Normally, alcohol commercials have something along the lines of "enjoy responsibly" or "please drink in moderation." I expect these warnings and understand their purpose. However, while watching TV today, I saw an ad for Hershey's dark chocolate. Across the bottom of the screen it said, "Enjoy in moderation." What? Chocolate in moderation? That's craziness!!

My dancing needs some serious medical attention

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 00:06:28 GMT

When people ask me if I can dance, I always reply with the standard, "I can only dance when I am drunk." I have recently learned that this statement makes me a liar for two reasons. First of all, when I have been drinking, I only think I can dance. I still look like an idiot, just a drunk idiot. Secondly, I have discovered that there is actually a time when I am sober and able to dance: when there is a bug on me. While lying in bed last night, I felt something crawling on my leg. I flung back the sheet and saw a small silver fish staring right at me. "Get it off!!" I screamed to my wonderful cats, who stared blankly at me. This is when the dancing queen in me took over. I jumped out of bed and performed the most unique dance ever. Can't dance? Ha! I just need a jar of bugs with me the next time I go out. When I want to dance, I'll drop a bug on myself. Much cheaper than alcohol, right? And probably a lot more entertaining for anyone watching...

Advice

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:47:12 GMT

When standing in a crowded elevator, it is not in your best interest to cough, then turn to the stranger next to you and say, "I've had this stupid flu virus for several days now. I hurt so bad I could die." That flu vaccine I got back in November had better work....

What type of driver are you?

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 03:17:46 GMT

Drivers can be classified according to four basic types:
1. The wavers. These are the people who do something stupid (like cut you off), but who wave afterwards to show they are sorry.
2. The my-radio-suddenly-needs-changeders. Someone in this group will immediately focus all of their attention on their radio after they do something stupid. Just because you don't see me doesn't mean that I am not glaring at you!!
3. The do nothingers. This is the most frustrating group. They cut you off and do nothing! It's as if they never even realized you were there. Sometimes I fall victim to feelings of road rage and I want to rear-end these guys just to let them know that yes, that huge red thing they saw in their mirror was indeed my car, which they just cut off. Punks.
4. The flip-you-offers. Surprisingly, these people do not upset me that much. At least they are acknowledging your presence!

To my sister, Mary Ann....

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 01:24:47 GMT

Sisters. One minute they are your worst enemy (I still can't get over you throwing up on my head from the top of the stairs), the next they are your best friend. It's amazing when you realize that you have crossed that line and you actually want to spend time with each other. When did that happen? Sharing clothes no longer puts you at risk for whatever gross disease you are sure your crazy sister has, and you no longer have to worry that you are going to be told on for every little thing. You quit teasing each other for having crushes, and begin asking the other for advice (and actually trusting what they have to say). Mary Ann, I am so fortunate to have you as my little sister, and I love you very much. Congratulations on your engagement to Mark. Although I did not arrange this engagement like I did for you and Scott when you were in second grade, I still approve. Mark is a wonderful man (and I'm not just saying that because he let me practice starting IV's on him), and the two of you are going to have an amazing life together. Congratulations sweetie!

Times when it's ok to lie

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 22:07:47 GMT

~ When you studied for two hours and got the same grade as your classmate who studied for forty hours. Either lie and say you studied a lot or just keep it to yourself.

~ When your classmate, who is trembling and looks like a deer in the headlights, asks you if she looks nervous before attempting a new procedure on a patient.

~ When eating lunch during clinicals and your classmate looks down at her shirt and says, "This spot is chocolate, right?"

~ When your classmate, who just put the suppository in the wrong hole, asks you, "Do you think our instructor thinks I'm an idiot?"

~ At the end of your clinical from Hell, when the charge nurse says, "We have some of the best nurses in the country, don't we?"

~ When your friend just finished her presentation in front of the class and she asks, "Did I have this in my teeth the whole time?" Say, "No, but your zipper was down."

~ When a patient asks, "How many times have you done this before?" Either don't answer until you are done, or don't mention that your experiences were all on mannequins (or hot dogs).

~ When someone considering going into nursing asks you what your first day of clinicals was like, and your first patient just happened to be a dead body, you might not want to mention that fact. It tends to scare people away.

~ When a male psych patient asks if you can tell that he is pregnant with an alien's offspring. Actually, I have no idea what to say in this situation.

~ When your instructor asks, "Do you need experience in cleaning up a patient with C-Diff?"

~ When a patient asks, "Is this the weirdest thing you have ever seen?" Always say "no," especially if it really is the weirdest thing you've ever seen.

Pick-up lines according to Josh

Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:39:25 GMT

Josh is the only man in my clinical group. He is from Kenya and at times seems very confused by the American woman's complicated mind. When one of the seven women in our group seems down or is just in need of a confidence boost, Josh takes it upon himself to say something nice. Well, at least he tries to say something nice. Here are a few examples of Josh's compliments:
~ Your hair is beautiful, like a horse.
~ I love hugging you. You are so soft and squishy.
~ It's great to see you today. But would you mind not talking?
~ Don't worry, large women are beautiful.
~ You aren't fat, you just have a large butt.
~ You shouldn't have cut your hair. But it looks ok.
~ You look just like Beth (our manly looking teacher).
~ You aren't short, you just have the body of a primary schooler (grade schooler).
~ You have long arm hair.
~ You have beautiful veins under your eyes. I bet I could start an IV on them.

You'd be swept off your feet too, right ladies?

Your site referrals

Thu, 30 Mar 2006 01:56:41 GMT

A few of you seemed confused about my last posting, so I am going to explain how to figure out what internet searches brought people to your site.
1. Sign in to your space.
2. Click on "Edit your space"
3. On the right side of the screen, click on "Settings"
4. Click on the tab that says "Statistics"
This will bring up information on your total page views. Below this you will see a table. The column on the right says, "Referring address." This lets you know how people reached your site. On the example HERE, there are a lot of blanks. This means that someone typed my site address in without following any links. When you see "http://spaces.msn.com/konekita", this indicates that either Sonia (konekita) was logged in and visited my site, or that someone was at her site and followed a link to mine.
When I hover my mouse over the www.comcast.net address, a yellow box will appear. (RETURN TO EXAMPLE) This box has a lot of random text and then the words "head+to+toe+assessment+icu+nurse". If I click on that link, it will bring me to a comcast search page (similar to google) where the person had entered "head to toe assessment icu nurse".
Let me know if that does not make sense! If it does make sense and you go through your own site referrers, let me know what entertaining results you find (as long as they are appropriate)!

Do your teeth hurt?

Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:58:05 GMT

While looking at my site statistics, I was surprised to see that I am result #8 out of 394,000 for the google search "Teeth hurt while touching sponges." Hmm.. I'm sure there is an interesting story behind this search, but I'm not sure what it is!

My random thoughts while attempting to study

Tue, 28 Mar 2006 01:43:46 GMT

~ If I can drive around with the parking brake on and not even notice it, is it really doing any good when I am parked on a hill?

~ Women take twice as long to pull out of a parking spot when they see another driver waiting for them. Do they really need to fix their makeup before they drive home from the grocery store? Couldn’t they just pull to the back of the parking lot to do that?

~ When you are stuck behind an extremely slow driver, they will always hit the light right as it is turning yellow and go through, leaving you stuck with the red.

~ Navy blue scrubs are cat hair magnets.

~ You never realize how often you use a certain muscle (or that you even had it) until it is sore.

~ I guess mace is not considered a weapon because I accidentally had it in my purse during my last flight.

~ It is extremely amusing to watch a teenager who has his pants sagging to his knees as he tries to run. It somehow reminds me of a penguin waddling around.

Lesson of the weekend

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 00:58:33 GMT

My classmates and I learned an important lesson while at Habitat For Humanity this weekend- if you decide to shake a can of paint, make sure that the lid is all the way on!! I am normally the one who does stupid things, but this time it was a guy named Arno who provided the comic relief. When I saw him starting to shake and swirl a can of paint in a room full of people, I thought to myself, "Hmmm.. this might not turn out so we..." This is when everything went into slow motion and the lid flew off the can, paint splattering on all of us around him. I looked down at my paint-covered shoes and jeans, then at my watch. We had only been there for two minutes. Seven hours and fifty-eight minutes to go........

Aren't student nurses great?!

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 20:05:58 GMT

For those of you who were wondering...

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 04:30:36 GMT

Yes, I have always been this cute.

I wanted to be an interior designer when I grew up. Well, maybe not, but that's the only excuse I can come up with for ripping the wallpaper off my wall.

I was not the one who convinced Michael that diaper ointment was edible.

Putting diapers on the stuffed animals (powder included) was all Pat's idea.

Pink slip?

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 06:00:31 GMT

Because I haven't had clinicals in a few weeks, I am running low on nursing stories. Therefore, I'll have to keep you entertained for the time being with stories from my other jobs.

After months of searching for post-college employment, I finally landed a job as a receptionist at a high-security company. I had three extremely important responsibilities: answering the phone, only letting employees with their badges in through the front door, and stocking the coffee. During my first week sitting at the front desk, an elderly man walked in and demanded that I open the door to the office (you need a keycard to open the door). I had never seen this man before, so I told him I needed to see his employee ID. This obviously offended him, and he stomped his foot on the floor like a kid having a temper tantrum and said, "I am Bob Smith." I replied, "OK Bob Smith, can I please see your employee ID?" His face started turning red, but I tried to keep my cool and pretend like I wasn't scared or intimidated. There was a man from another one of our offices sitting in the waiting area a few feet away, and I looked to him for help. His eyes were huge and he looked shocked, but didn't offer any backup. Bob Smith must have thought I was deaf because he again stated his name, and told me he was going to go check his mail, and I had better let him in NOW. That's when I realized what was going on- this was a test. They were seeing if I could handle the pressure of someone trying to get in without a badge. I was going to pass this test with flying colors! After a few more minutes of arguing with Bob Smith, another employee walked through the front door, and Bob Smith slipped in behind her. The man who had been sitting in the waiting area started laughing and said, "You better go check your mail box for a pink slip!" My heart jumped up into my throat. Was I getting fired for him slipping through the door? Was I actually supposed to tackle him?! The man then asked if I knew who Bob Smith was. I told him I didn't. I'm sure you can see where this is going- Bob Smith is the owner of the entire company. Maybe that's something we should have gone over in my training?

That pink slip never arrived in my mail box. The owner probably found the situation funny once he had time to settle down. Or maybe he knew better than to mess with me- I proved how tough I am (all five foot one of me)!

Reality?

Mon, 20 Mar 2006 23:06:48 GMT

Reality TV is a big hit these days. Many of us enjoy taking a break from our own lives to experience someone else's "reality" for a few minutes. But I'm sure many of you know that reality TV does not always depict what actually happened. Random video clips are spliced together to create a show that is entertaining and tells a story, even when no real story exists. We are spoiled by this- we see the perfect couple and wish we could be that way (their fights don't fit in the story line- so we never see that part of their reality), we want to be like the guy who always has the perfect joke (his bad jokes are conveniently not aired), and there is always something exciting going on (why would they show you the boring stuff?). The editors of a reality TV show pick a story to tell, and use whatever clips they can find to help them tell that story, ignoring whatever does not fit.
My blog is not reality TV. It is reality Katie. This means that I am going to write about what I experience in my life, good and bad. If I dislike something, I will say so, I'm not going to sugarcoat things because I want to make everyone happy all of the time. I think that this is part of the appeal of my blog- people get an honest look at the world of nursing through my eyes. Many things are exciting and wonderful, but there are also things that are upsetting. There are things that I will never write about because they are too personal to my patients or I feel I would be violating someone's confidentiality, but other than that, I will write what I want. My purpose in this blog is to let people experience my journey into nursing right along side me. When I have a bad day and am literally covered in poop, I know that I can go home and write about it and hopefully give a few of you a good laugh, and receive some supportive comments to keep me going. I will portray things as I see them, sometimes with a humorous twist, whether they make me or nursing in general look good or bad. If people are inspired to go into nursing based on what I write, I think that is wonderful. It is never my intention to scare people away from nursing- but if presenting them with the reality of what goes on scares them away, then I think it is in their best interest to know this before investing time and money into nursing school. I would be doing these people a disservice if I painted a wonderful "reality TV-like" picture of nursing and then they were shocked and angry when realizing that things really aren't perfect. On the same page, I could paint a wonderful picture of all nurses in general to help get nurses more respect. One person even commented to suggest that I do this. Unfortunately, that is not what my blog is for. As anyone in my clinical group can attest to, we have seen many nurses who should not be nurses. There are nurses who show up to work for their paycheck and treat their patients like nothing more than a job. I have seen several nurses who walk into their patient’s room, turn the TV to their favorite soap opera, and watch that while performing patient care. Don’t they realize that talking to their patients could be just as entertaining, plus therapeutic for the patient? I could ignore these things and lie and tell you that all nurses are wonderful. But they aren’t. Many of them are amazing people. I have met some of the most compassionate human beings, and I pray that I get one of them to take care of me if I am ever hurt. I am hoping that my blog is read by some of the nurses who no longer treat their patients with respect. Maybe seeing my anger at the situation will infuriate them too and help them remember why they went into nursing in the first place.

To conclude my long rant, I just want to say that I acknowledge that there are many wonderful nurses out there. I know that quite a few of you who are reading this are amazing nurses (or future nurses). But there are also nurses who aren’t compassionate or caring, and if that is what I see, that is what I am going to write about. Maybe someday there will be nothing negative to write about. Wouldn’t that be wonderful…

Siblings... gotta love them

Wed, 15 Mar 2006 01:26:57 GMT

I am a wonderful sister. I never realized how true this statement is until swapping "how I tortured my younger sibling" stories with a few friends. The worst thing I have ever done to my siblings was that I tried to convince my brother Chris that a bowl filled with dirt was actually crushed up Oreos. I even went as far as eating a tiny bit myself to prove it to him. Unfortunately, that didn't work, so the whole thing backfired on me and I was the only one who ate any dirt.

One of my classmates has a younger sister who had severe asthma when she was a child. My classmate would sneak up on her sister when she was sleeping and cover her mouth and nose so she couldn't breathe. The poor girl would wake up in a complete panic, thinking she was dying from an asthma attack.

Another friend of mine hated her little brother. They went with their mom to a crafts store, and my friend slipped a spool of thread in her brother's pocket. When they left the store, her brother pulled the thread out of his pocket to see what it was. Their mom saw him with the "stolen" thread, and made him go back inside to return it and apologize to the manager. My friend enjoyed the whole scene, especially her brother getting into deeper trouble when he refused to confess to his crime.

Now that I think about it, there was one awful thing I did to my older brother, but it wasn't exactly on purpose. We were in the van on a long road trip and he suggested a game. I had a pencil and he had a pillow, and the game was that I would try to stab him with the pencil while he blocked with the pillow. Sounded like fun to me, so I stabbed him right in the arm (I truly thought he would block it). The tip broke off the pencil into his arm, and he was crying in pain. My poor mom had to pull the van over and when she saw the tip of the pencil in his arm, she panicked and drove right to the ER (she didn't want him to get lead poisoning). It ends up that pencils aren't made of lead, so he was ok, and to keep me out of trouble, he told my mom that he had accidentally stabbed himself while drawing. What a great brother!

Organ donation

Fri, 10 Mar 2006 20:10:06 GMT

Are you an organ donor? If so, does your family know?
Let’s say that you do want to be a donor but you haven’t discussed it with your family yet. Something awful happens to you, and you are brain dead. Your family is asked if they will donate your organs, but when they go in to see you, they look up at the screen and see you still have a pulse, heart beat, and appear to be breathing (you are on a respirator). From watching ER or other medical shows, they “know” that you are still alive until that heart monitor line goes flat, so they do not allow the doctors to donate your organs. How could they, you are still 'alive'?! This is one of the biggest problems for people waiting for organs right now: people do not understand brain death. When a person is brain dead, there is no way that they will recover. They are actually dead, but the doctors are keeping the body going to keep the organs alive. As soon as they pull the plug, the person’s body will die too. Brain death is not the same thing as a coma or even being in a persistent vegetative state. I think it is crucial that people educate themselves on organ donation and brain death before they are put in a position where they have to make this extremely important decision for a loved one. It is also important for you to sit down with your family and tell them how you feel about organ donation. I know this isn't the easiest topic to bring up, but if something does happen to you, talking about it now will make their decision a lot easier, and they will have the comfort of knowing they did exactly what you wanted.

I am an organ donor for many reasons:
1. If I was ever in need of an organ, I would not hesitate to put myself on the organ recipient list. If I’m willing to take an organ, isn’t it only fair that I offer mine to someone who needs it when I die?
2. If there is any way that my own death could help someone else live, I would feel selfish keeping that opportunity from them. I’m not going to be using my heart, but I’m sure thousands of people out there could.
3. It is amazing to think about a part of me living on in someone else.
4. Being an organ donor does not cost anything.
5. Despite the rumors you have probably heard, being an organ donor does not mean that the doctors will not work as hard to save your life.
6. How could I turn down the chance to be a hero?

Here are some sites you can visit for more information:
Organ donation myths and facts
Brain death information
Frequently asked questions
Little girl who received heart
Gift of Life Foundation

Job searches

Thu, 09 Mar 2006 18:06:24 GMT

All you lucky students out there who are graduating in May should check out this site to help in your job search: NursingJobs.org

I'm jealous of you soon-to-be-grads because you are almost done with school, but at the same time I'm really scared about my own graduation- I still don't know anywhere near enough to have someone's life in my hands. Plus, I have no idea what area I am going into. I am leaning towards pediatrics or ER, but I don't have my Peds rotation for a few more months, and I will never get an ER rotation (and my school won't even let us shadow in the ER).

A question for the students out there- have you figured out what area you are going into? If so, how do you know it's right for you? Did you enter into school already knowing what you wanted, or did it just hit you during one of your clinicals?

Don't try this at home

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:54:04 GMT

**I am in no way encouraging or condoning this type of behavior**

Mike is good friends with an architect named Adam. Adam is a smart and friendly guy, but he is still a crazy jock at heart. About a year ago, Adam was out drinking with a group of friends. He was talking to a woman and somehow they began discussing which gender has the highest tolerance for pain. They both thought their own gender was superior, so the woman suggested a contest to see who was right. There was a candle on their table, so she suggested that they see who could hold their hand over the flame the longest. She told Adam to go first. Adam held his hand over the flame, actually watching the fire come up between his fingers, for "four Mississippi." After he went, he looked at his hand and it was charred a little bit. Now it was the woman's turn. She held her hand over the flame for "one Mississi" and pulled it back. "Ouch! That hurts, I'm not doing this!" she said. Adam was proud of himself for winning. Five visits with a burn specialist later, he was able to tie his shoes again. When he told me this story last night, I asked him if he had learned any important lessons. His response? "Yea, never be the person to go first." He is still proud that he won the "highest tolerance for pain" contest. I acknowledge that he won, but disagree with him on what exactly he won. I think the appropriate title of their contest should have been, "Who is the biggest idiot?"

Choices

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 21:29:31 GMT

It's a Friday afternoon, and I am faced with a difficult decision:

Study for my huge final ~or~ Relax and watch TV

Winner: TV!! Was there really ever a doubt? ;)

Temporary insanity

Fri, 24 Feb 2006 05:31:02 GMT

Do you ever have those moments where you stop and think, "If a psychologist had witnessed that- I would have just been diagnosed with five different disorders"? I had a few of those moments today. Clinicals did not go very well, and on the way home I just couldn't get my mind off of the things that had happened and how angry I was. Sometimes when I get really upset, I stop thinking rationally. Other times, I can't stop my mind from role-playing what I should have said, what I will say later, or what I am going to do to solve whatever problem I am having. Then there are days like today where I simply experience a few moments of pure insanity. I was driving along and was approaching a stale green light. Right before I got to the intersection, the light turned red. Unlike you Dallas drivers out there, I knew that this meant I needed to stop. So I pushed the brakes and came to a complete stop. I looked around and there were no cars anywhere. I sat there for a few minutes and still hadn't seen another car. Why isn't the light turning green? As I sat there waiting, I suddenly found the whole situation so hilarious that I could not control my laughter. Yeah, crazy woman, right? For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that I was out there all alone, no other humans in sight, and yet I could not make myself go across a white line drawn on the ground because someone made the rule that the road is imaginarily blocked when that little light is red. Not too funny, is it? I think I need a break....

Ads gone wild

Thu, 16 Feb 2006 03:10:40 GMT

Have you noticed that a lot of websites have ads that actually relate to the content you are reading about? If you do a google search on nursing care plans, when you go to one of the websites, there might be an ad or two for nursing schools. This is a clever idea, but sometimes it doesn't go as planned. I was just reading a news story about undercover police officers in Virginia being told to go to massage parlors where prostitution is going on and to do "whatever it takes" to get a conviction. I won't go into much detail here, but it does involve needing to pay for some services. Right in the middle of this article on massage parlor prostitution was a large ad for a massage school. Hmm.... I think I'll pass on that one.

Elevator: 2; Katie & Rachel: 0

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 03:51:13 GMT

A few months ago, I made fun of one of my classmates for having issues with the elevator at our school. Now it's her turn to laugh at me. Yesterday I got onto the elevator to go to the first floor. I pushed "1" and the light on the button came on, but immediately turned off. I must not have pushed it hard enough. So I pushed it again, but the same thing happened. Ok, I bet it really worked the first time, but by pushing it that second time, I actually turned it off. So I pushed it a third time, only to get the same result. The doors closed and I was standing there by myself but the elevator wasn't moving. I just started hitting "1" over and over, still nothing was happening. Being the intelligent person I am, I concluded that something was wrong with the button. Thankfully, there is another set of buttons on the back of the elevator, so I went over to those and went through these same steps. Frustrated and embarrassed, I looked around to see if there was some sort of hidden camera. That's when I saw the huge yellow sign that said, "Due to construction, this elevator does not stop on the first floor." Ahh... that would have been nice to know before getting on the elevator! I hit the 'door open' button and stepped off the elevator. When the doors closed, I looked back and was surprised to see another huge yellow sign relaying the same "does not stop on the first floor" message. Rachel, one of these days we will figure out how to use elevators!! ;)