This week has been very interesting-I actually had four days off this week. I took this week to refresh and relax-despite the many changes and challenges in front of us as a nation-and even at my facility.
We nurses, as a collective bargaining unit have had to make a conscious decision to increase efforts of making an example of how we need change in order to adequately serve our community. The energy behind the decision has been positive; the action will be next week, so to be continued...
What I have learned this week:
1. That coworkers can be dumbfounded on otherwise intelligent coworkers beliefs, making them more discerning and skeptical;
2. That there is support in unexpected places, and that support can be enough that it can be enough to make progress worth it;
3. The side effects of epinephrine can helped be remedied by placing the patient in Trendelenberg, as well as not change the vital signs despite the side effects.
4. That pts with underlying psychosocial issues use this time of the year to get warm and seek solace, even when they are aging out and make it challenging to give them the resources they really need.
I sure the upcoming week will be filled with more learning...I also learned that I needed those 4 days off.
I learned how fast I can get lab and diagnostic to show up for a STAT chest x-ray and CBC (mention possible aspiration and/or Perforation due to a PEG tube and they get there within 30 minutes rather than the 4 hours it normally takes them for STAT). My poor patient tonight randomly started bleeding from her rectal area with no obvious signs of damaged tissue. She also was vomiting her Jevity (it came out milky white) and her O2 sats dropped. I had to call the doctor 3 times, get the x-ray and CBC done, and d/c her Lovenox and Jevity and then put everyone (CNAs and on-coming night shift) to continuously check for further bleeding.
Then to add insult to injury our charting system crashed so I was stuck at work until 930 pm instead of getting off at 630 pm. But that's how my whole week has gone...I've been stuck hours late every day. Today is day 2 of the pay period and instead of 24 hours I am already at 28.5.
Oh that and my co-worker on Wed and Thurs can't remember to chart her evening medications or close her charting and somehow she is the DON's pet so I get tasked with figuring out what she didn't do and fixing it on top of my own pile of paperwork that keeps trying to swallow me by the end of shift.
AvaRose
191 Posts
I learned how fast I can get lab and diagnostic to show up for a STAT chest x-ray and CBC (mention possible aspiration and/or Perforation due to a PEG tube and they get there within 30 minutes rather than the 4 hours it normally takes them for STAT). My poor patient tonight randomly started bleeding from her rectal area with no obvious signs of damaged tissue. She also was vomiting her Jevity (it came out milky white) and her O2 sats dropped. I had to call the doctor 3 times, get the x-ray and CBC done, and d/c her Lovenox and Jevity and then put everyone (CNAs and on-coming night shift) to continuously check for further bleeding.
Then to add insult to injury our charting system crashed so I was stuck at work until 930 pm instead of getting off at 630 pm. But that's how my whole week has gone...I've been stuck hours late every day. Today is day 2 of the pay period and instead of 24 hours I am already at 28.5.
Oh that and my co-worker on Wed and Thurs can't remember to chart her evening medications or close her charting and somehow she is the DON's pet so I get tasked with figuring out what she didn't do and fixing it on top of my own pile of paperwork that keeps trying to swallow me by the end of shift.