The Endless List

I'm a list person. Always have been. Always will be. I was making my to do list for the week and thought I would share. It shows why life has been not exciting this last week.

1. Take practice exam for my stats test
2. Take my stats test
3. Laundry--the over flowing bin.
4. Clean Inside of my Car
5. Clean Outside of my car
6. Shave--yes I have to put this on here or it doesn't happen
7. Print off all papers for confirmation numbers
8. Module 20
9. Module 21
10. Module 22
11. Module 23
    
12. Make Packing list
13. Pack for Virginia
14. Fax Humanitarian Mission Paperwork
15. Clean my room
16. Clean bathroom
17. Buy new book
18. Move more stuff out of my apartment
19. Find the tickets
20. Order lab coats and scrubs
21. Make need list for mission things
22. Play with the nephew
23. Get a birthday present
24. Watch bones--yes this is a must
25. Work my 3 twelves this week
26. Find New Notebook for Scripture Study
    
27. Find my camera!
    
28. Convert my body to a normal day people schedule
    
29. Oh yeah and SLEEP!!
30. Add to the list as things comes up.
    

The Triage Night that Wouldn't End

My nights in triage seem to get crazier lately. Last night I checked in 70 patients in 5 hours. The waiting room looked like it would explode at any minute. Here are my favorites:

1. The 12 yr old boy who was running and went face first into the back of a truck. You can imagine the jokes made about that one. He was a tough kid though to his credit. He actually didn't brake anything. Just went home with a bloody nose.
   
2. The 20 yr old girl that had me a urine sample that looked like cranberry juice. I never found out why but it looked like cranberry juice. Yummy!
3. The 49 yr old female who came in by ambulance because she was crying. Its what we like to call the "Hispanic Panic." She had 11 family members with her in the room. What a surprise that she left 4 hours later saying, "I fixed myself." I must admit I rolled my eyes on that one.
4. The 26 yr old male who came in looking like an inflated red balloon. He was having what we call an anaphylactic reaction. Red hives covered his ENTIRE body. His eyes looked so swollen he couldn't see out of them. Neck was all poofy. Yeah he went right back. The Best part was during his shot of epi. Big surprise a male afraid of needles I know. His bright red face when a punk color green and he passed out. His poor wife freaked out. He looked like this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC238FrUm8M
   
5. The continued run of pedicatrics with running noses, coughs, and fevers. Yes, people your kids will cough, its called croup.
   
6. The 17 day old baby--yes, 17 days--that bascially had a kinked neck. I don't know what a baby has to be stressed about but he had a 4 cm by 2 cm lump on his neck. Truly bizarre I know!!
7. The drunk guy who while drunk fell of his curb and broke his jaw in 3 different places. I love the fact that he couldn't speak in one full sentence he was so drunk. They couldn't even take him to surgery to fix his lop sided jaw because his level was too high.
8. The 28 yr old girl who came in looking whiter than a ghost. Seriously, the walls were darker then she was. She looked like a vampire and sucked up a lot of blood to appear human again. I couldn't believe she was still standing. 3 units of blood later she had color to her lips. What was amazing about her was she had the best attitude. Her blood was delayed an hour and even though it was 0300 she just laughed and joked with me. I got the blood in her as fast as I could but she didn't scream or yell at me when I was late getting her pain meds or that she had been there 6 hours. I was shocked! A nice sweet patient at 0300!
   

We cleared out at 0455 just in time for day shift to come in. I think the final tally was 88 patients in 12 hours :D.

Eating Habits of an ER Nurse

I am the first to admit my eating habits are something to be desired. Its not all my fault--this job has forced it on me. I usually get my bowl of kix or cheerios in me with the occasional banana in there before work. Sometimes that is my only real meal of the day. When we aren't slammed or crazy I get a half hour to cram whatever food I can find in my mouth. Sometimes its french fries and some chicken sandwich others its a frozen dinner or leftovers from whatever I can find. I also think I have eaten my weight in graham crackers. I love the crazy cravings my body has at 0300. Another favorite is the emesis basin, bedpans, and buckets full of various candies and chips. The other night we were all wired on sugar it was entertaining. In addition to the loonies we already are, the sugar made everything so funny. Yeah for the ER eating habits!!

One big thing we are all hooked on is a place called Spoon Me. The best frozen yogurt with fresh fruit on top! I'm seriously addicted to this stuff.

Will the Week Ever End?

Did you have one of those weeks that would not end? This is one of the worst weeks I've had in a long time. After the frantic move home home last weekend I have yet to find some of the basic necessities. My stuff is in boxes in various locations throughout the house. Though it has been fun to say goodnight to my sisters at 6am as they are getting up. My sleeping patterns have suffered a bit. I haven't slept a solid 8 hours all week. Work hasn't helped. I drove to the hospital everyday this week between my 12 hour shifts, a very non-educational skills day, and the oh so ever productive staff meeting. The shifts this week were long and demanding with a lot of cranky people who didn't need to be cranky. Why must people be rude and obnoxious when they don't need to be?

In addition to this I've had the frustration of dealing with a friend who I think is going down a bad path. The reason I moved home was to escape the bad environment and get her attention. Well it did and I explain everything to her. I haven't heard from her since. Even at work she doesn't talk to me. So I've fought the feeling of caring too much and trying not to care at all. Either one didn't work at all.

Between the sleep deprivation, rude people, long hours, and a dying friendship I had about had it on Saturday. I am going on a humanitarian mission in May and had a meeting for it at 8am in Salt Lake City. I was grumpy and everything annoyed me. As I drove around the point of the mountain I saw something like this:

In addition, tucked inside the mountain I saw the lightly glowing Draper Temple. To most people it probably wasn't much. To me it was a tender mercy to remind me that despite my crappy week someone knows and understands. The sun will come up on a better day. Yesterday, I spent it sleeping and playing with my family. I am usually pretty good at knowing my limits and stopping before I push past them. This week was not the case. I pushed too far with no sleep and now I have to recover from it. I applaud those who do so much more than me. A lot of people are busier and have more responsibilities then me and thrive on them. One day I will be able to handle more! The one good thing about weeks--they end!!! On to the next one.

My Fish

I was going through my pictures and found one from my trip to Alaska few summers ago with my dad. Meet my fish.

My Proud 64 LB King Salmon catch on the Kenai River in Alaska

The Night That Would Never End

I guess I have put way to many hours in this week because my patience level was not high at all. Most of the time I try to see patients as people who really need help and treat them that way. Tonight I could not pull up that attitude. A few patients didn't help the case.

First, was the 500 pound patient who came in with her wheelchair and made me immediately gag. I have a pretty strong stomach and an even stronger one when I eat something before work. To paint the picture of how bag she smelled close your eyes and focus on this. She had rolls and rolls of skin that hadn't been washed in weeks. Incontinent of urine with day old pads stuck in between her rolls to cath the leaking urine. I saw flecks of something fall of her clothes as we helped her into the bed. As if that wasn't bad enough she had a bowel obstruction for a few days. Because her stool couldn't go out one way it started coming out her mouth. She gagged, burped, and vomiting yellow liquid that reeked of stool. I must admit i did a little dance when I sent her upstairs to the floor--poor nurses.

Second, the lady who was completely faking it. We of course got an ambulance call at 0200 saying they had an unconscious lady who had taken "a purple pill." She came in with an oral airway--something used to keep the tongue from blocking the airway. She was breathing on her own and her vitals looked okay. We tried our usual tacks and she didn't wake up so we threw a foley cath in her bladder and walked out of the room. She wouldn't talk to us but low and behold her boyfriend leaves and she is crying for him over and over. One particular time he left and she freaked out wripping off her leads,BP cuff, etc. She went for her IV and one of bigger nurses stopped her. She slapped and kicked him before I hear her scream and cower in pain. Well the swearing and f bombs began streaming from her mouth. The poor child down the hall just had his little eyes wide open. My favorite is when she tried to pull her foley out. A 10cm balloon pulled through a 2 cm tube. OUCH!!! By the end, after a visit from the police, she was very respectful calling me mam and saying thank you.

The only good thing that night was an adorble 2 year old girl who said thank you after she grabbed the apple juice out of my hands. She was cute and downed the apple juice in a minute flat I was impressed.

I wish I could understand why people must be so uncivilized and out of control. What happened to basic decor and HYGIENE! Please do me a favor and take a shower before you come into the ER!!

You Put What Where?

One of the highlights of my job is seeing where people--not just children put things. Tonight back in fast-track--yes I am a gluten for punishment. I had a little girl came in complaining of belly pain. Well after her x-ray we saw the glowing screw in her belly. I have seen kids swallow everything from coins to toothbrush to screws. I luv this picture of the coke bottle. I am waiting for my time with that one.