Tuesday August 13th 2024

Tweety, BSN, RN · Aug 13, 2024

Good morning!

Hi Joe, have a great day.

Been doing some meal prep and cleaning. I have my tablet on YouTube watching some foodie channels.

Yesterday at after competencies the educator cornered me and talked about me doing some competencies for the floor and how to conduct them. Basically I was drafted by management. I later thought about it and wondered how we were to get this done during the day and emailed her back and copied management. I said, I'd be willing to come in a few hours on days off to do them. I was told "we'll talk about it during the next charge nurse meeting". Which basically means, "no it's going to be added to your duties". They also said when the charge nurse has a couple of patients and there is only one tech on the floor the charge nurse doesn't get a tech. I objected to this, and said that we deserve a tech to help us through the day if nothing else to help with hygiene and stuff like lunch, blood sugar checks and vitals, and was again told "we'll talk about it during the meeting but blah blah blah.....". Doubtful I'll make any waves but at least I expressed myself and discussion will be had, but I can tell when I'm on the losing side.

Sorry for the vent.

No Stars In My Eyes · Aug 13, 2024

Squawk away, Tweety! Just exactly how many hats do you have to wear now? I figured at one time, at my last disastrous facility job, I had about 7 hats on my head per shift. It totally sucked and they couldn't understand why it often took me 2 hours past the end of the shift to get completed and leave. Documentation was a lot of the reason; I was so busy on the floor until the last second, so I had to do charting after everything else.

OH guess what! SiL is 'sick'....she felt bad yesterday (a virus, she says) so she isn't coming over today or tomorrow. She STILL is going to go to work at the ABC store tonight and tomorrow night, and Thursday and Friday morning. Real 'part-time', ain't it?Don't it just figure? So, I am still hoping that the Chatty CG DOES come on Thursday afternoon. If SHE bails out too, I may have to go on strike or something! There definitely needs to be another back-up person here. Them saying "I'm so sorry" doesn't really cut it or help me AT ALL! (Please imagine I have typed a whole string of vigorous cuss-words here, because if I actually do it myself, TOS will trounce on me!)

S'posta rain some this afternoon and be in the 80's instead of the 90's.

I'm going to call Nannie's Dr's office and ask about splitting the Lexapro to BID instead, like 1 in the AM and 1 at suppertime? I doubt they'd boost her Seroquel to TID because that'd be the tops of the allowed dosage, but there has to be something to span this increase in her 'sundowning' angry behavior. I know there will be a point where medicine doesn't help make a difference. If she gets 'worse' with her dementia/Alzheimers she will have to be packed away to a nursing home. I don't know if she would be able to pay that much, it may squeeze her financials to a difficult point. But, SOMETHING will have to be done.

As usual I am doing the laundry (wet bedding) and 2 days worth of dirty dishes. I actually am beginning to think I would LIKE to have a dishwasher here, but I don't know where they'd put it (or how much it would cost to purchase and hook it up). I never ever wanted a dishwasher until now!

So, that's the same-old-same-old usual sad tale for today. I must be Irish, since I am having 'the luck of the Irish" . Maybe I could hire some Leprechauns to take care of Nannie?

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Aug 13, 2024

Ah, these angry and demented old ladies are fun, aren't they? At least when I become one I won't know it.

Yesterday Hubs had a doctor appointment in the morning and left around 7:15-7:30. I figured he'd be back by at least 9. Twin A had left for work and Twin B was sleeping after his shift, so I stayed in case Gma got up. She did. I got her changed to dry pullups but only after she put the wet ones back on while I went to find a dry pair. Then I fed her breakfast. Hubs finally got home about 10 and was frustrated because Twin A had called him while he was at the doctor's office to say the Jeep had overheated on his drive to work, so he had gone to bring Twin A and the Jeep home. So I arrived to work very late. Then saw I had a voice mail from stepson. It was a tearful message that essentially said he is very lonely and contemplates suicide and that he really needed to talk to his dad but had tried to call him. Stepson said, "I know you guys aren't speaking to me" which really isn't true. I blocked his number because he sent crazy text after crazy text and I had to do it for my own mental health. Anyway, so I called Hubs who was already having a bad day and told him he needed to call his son. He did and they had a good talk... but Hubs was emotional and irritable when I got home and told me that I wasn't being very comforting or supportive. He realized at some point in the evening that he hadn't taken his Tramadol all day and that was part of why he was reacting so emotionally. I don't know how to feel about that.

Today, our niece sent a message asking for another $1500 for moving expenses since stepson's apartment didn't renew his lease because they will be remodeling. We just sent $1200 to pay the attorney upfront for filing for bankruptcy. Still waiting on the appeal regarding SS disability. I'm finding it difficult to focus at work and at home.

Ado Annie, ASN, RN · Aug 14, 2024

Joe, it sounds like your book club isn't the best fit for you. I love mine but realize that it started with work friends. We are friends and like spending time together. We do discuss the books but it isn't like being in a literature class. We talk about what we liked/enjoyed, what we didn't, how authentic, likeable, etc. the characters are... that kind of thing. If the book comes with discussion questions, we might go through them or some of them, anyway. Very low pressure. And sometimes we read books with "important" themes -- say, the dust bowl as in Kristin Hannah's The Four Winds. And sometimes they're just fun stories. I like the fact that we all bring something new that the others might not have considered reading but end up enjoying (or not). All that said, I didn't go to my book club Sunday night. There had been all that flooding here and in OKC and I didn't pay attention to time and would have been rushing around.