Thursday March 28th 2024

[Joe NightingMale, MSN, RN]

Tweety leading a group is great but sometimes you get so involved in organizing that you miss a lot of the socializing

Stars it would be good if she would change her ways but she's probably beyond the point where she can learn new things

NJ22 I often wish I could sleep late, but I worry that might trigger insomnia

Ado was nice that they recognized you

Work ended up being crazy, increasing as the day went on, with multiple voicemails and emails and at least 1 irate person.  Toward the end of the work day I decided to take a half Xanax, something I haven't done in a long time, which helped me calm down.  Though then I felt down, perhaps at the state of the world as I had been checking the news

After work I drove to the restaurant for the over 50 group, there were only 3 of us there but it was a nice time anyway.  Found out a lot of the events are virtual, that many in person events are proposed but not acted upon.  Which means I'll likely have to organize something to have an event closer to my area

Today hopefully will be better at work, though we do have a meeting.  Won't be meeting with the counselor as the meeting time overlaps with the appointment.  After work plan to stop at a local pickleball court and practice a bit, as long as the weather cooperates.  Also need to work harder on mindfulness again, to keep the anxiety under better control.

It will be in the mid 50s today, so a bit warmer than yesterday, should be no rain

[No Stars In My Eyes]

Got up at 11 AM, took Momo down to have her breakfast, and lo and behold....Nannie was already sitting in her recliner; said she had been up for only about 5 minutes, but who knows. So I gave her the usual tray w/ pills, cranapple and yogurt. I went back up to the kitchen and made myself  cup of coffee and came back up to rest against pillows in my  bed and wake up further. Then I have to go back down and take Nannie through her morning routine and get her dressed, back out to the recliner. And here I thought I was going to get an hour or so of peace and quiet before I had to start my day. Oh well, tomorrow is the day SiL comes over to get Nannie and take her over to her house for the day, and I will say TGIF!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....I'm pulling on my jeans and a turtleneck, as it is only going to be 58 degrees today, and it is cloudy, so we might get a little more rain.

[No Stars In My Eyes]

Riddle me this: (WTH???)

Nannie says, "What is...." wiggles her hands, stutters, says, "Oh, You know, it's, it's...Oh I don't know."

And I sure as ____ DON'T KNOW!

She is having a hard time realizing she is 94 and can't go upstairs because her body is weak, and no, she doesn't read, do crossword puzzles, or sew to keep her occupied. She can't remember this one or that one, is confused by who is who, and has a hard time understanding she is the last one of her family's generation, who is still alive.  // "Where do I go to sleep?  //  What's that room over there? // So, I don't go to church anymore? // "If I, uh, well, no, I can't do that..." //

Lots of chewing of her lip after I answer one of her questions. I'm sure it is a rude shock (again) to realize she can't do much. Some of the time she forgets what she asked, and then doesn't understand my answer, even when I try to keep it simple.

Now she has gotten up (w/ assistance) and doesn't know where she is going to go or what she is going to do. But she went into her bedroom, and is looking through all her clothes that are hanging up. I left her there to piddle around, and she comes out holding a blouse or sweater: "Is this mine? Where did I get it? I don't remember these. This isn't mine! " (it is) Now back out to the recliner and frowning and chewing on her lips. Five minutes after she came back out to her chair, she now wants to go back in the room and look around. I said it was fine with me, and if she needs help, let me know. I wish it was time for supper and she could have some more of her meds; if I give her the meds now, she would probably not be awake enough to eat supper. 😖 BUT! She is so unanchored and so unfocused, I asked her if she was hungry and would like to eat her supper. She said she could eat if she hasn't already had supper....So , I did go ahead and give her the meds, and she is eating sesame chicken with noodles, and a piece of key-lime pie.

Poor thing, she is so at odds with herself, can't understand why she can't just go out and drive to a store, or go upstairs, or pay her own bills, or, or, or.....why she can't figure anything out.

Very sad.

[nursej22, MSN, RN]

Hi. overcast, cool weather here. Sun is forecast for tomorrow. The dogs and I took a long walk, Then I did some yard work--scoop duty, and pulled a few weeds. dh came home from volunteering at the food bank and explained his foul mood last night. We were both planning on attending a community meeting, but when it was time to leave, he snapped that he was not going. He had had a bad headache. The meeting was interesting, it makes me sad that most of the people there were opposed to helping people living in their cars to find a safe place to park. They are convinced that safe parking will attract drug users and violent felons to our town. They just don't want to believe that unhoused people are already in our community. The housing people said that people will wait 2-3 yrs for a housing voucher, but then it's not enough to afford a place to live. I stopped at the store to get a salad for dinner, but forgot to update my debit card in my phone. So came home and had a PB&J for dinner. 

Stars, that is sad about Nannie. Will she listen to music? I don't know it that would be soothing or not, but maybe some old hymns or something from her past. 

I'm going to take a nap, and then make dinner. Or go get a pizza. 

[No Stars In My Eyes]

SiL and I talked about it and we think Nannie must have a UTI. She's going to call the doc's office tomorrow. Last time neither I nor the Dr's nurse could get a clean catch spec, so they just prescribed antibiotics. I hope they give her SOMETHING. She has been up and down all day, then 'forgetting' she got up to pee, and 'couldn't' pee. She is driving ME batty, as she is acting battier than ever.

She just got mad at me because when my phone rang, she had to know who it was and what was said. I told her it was my personal cell phone and it was a friend of mine who called me, and it really wasn't about anything she needed to be concerned with. Boy, you should've seen the face she made about that! 😡

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

Stars. sorry to her Nannie is stressing you out.  Hope antibiotics help.

We admitted a man living in his car going through a rough time.  He fell and broke his hip while drinking.  Now as a society and facility we will have to deal with him having no insurance or a safe place to rehab.  My new employer contracts with certain facilities and pays for their rehab.  This costs us (meaning taxpayers and insured persons) millions by the end of the year, but at least there's some help when there wasn't before.

Work was horrendously busy.  Had to deal with 17 discharges and maybe 10 admissions, patient complaints, on and on.  As a charge nurse I busted my butt in my own assignment and helping others, especially a new grad that has a lot of questions and I have to step in (not her fault, she's new and on her own).  The two people I helped the most doing admissions, taking care of things for them left long before me. 

I got a "best place to work" survey.  It's randomly set out and really important to the CEO's but I was honest and gave a good review but that they need to stop the 6:1 ratios in med surg and my feeling is they don't care about med surg nurses.  

Happy Good Friday because it's Friday already.