The Best of Nursing...Volume 6 and 7...

Week six was another pretty tough week, as I had another code blue situation that did not end well.  No matter the age or illness of the person, it is never an easy situation to deal with.

Week seven was one of those weeks where I had a day leaving the hospital shaking my head.  One of my patients called 911 and threatened myself and others with an IV pole while she was freaking out saying that we were holding her in an Islamic prison.  Yeah.  The best part was during her freak out when she started playing an Usher song and swaying back and forth.  I could hardly hold it together.  Mental note:  need to work on poker face.

The Best of Nursing...Volume 5...

Unfortunately, I had another sad week.  I had a patient pass away, but fortunately his family had made the difficult decision to let him pass away peacefully.  No matter the age or the illness, it is still a sad situation.

The best funny moment was when a patient told me that he did not understand how women with big butts go to the bathroom.  I nearly peed my pants.  He kept calling me baby doll and told me he loved me.  I guess this is the one case where being in your 80's pays off.  Who am I to yell at an 80 year old for loving me?

The Best of Nursing...Volume 4...

This was a pretty tough week.  I had my first code blue situation, which ended up resulting in the patient passing away the next day.  I had been part of code blues before, but this was the first time it had happened to one of my patients.  It was pretty tough to handle, especially since I had gotten to know him and his family.

Since I am all about trying to find the best in most things I would have to say the best part of the week was the wonderful compliment that I received from the patient's daughter that I had gotten to know.  She told me that she was so grateful that her dad had me as his nurse for his final days and that I was the best nurse she had ever met.  Given her grief and the horrible situation she was experiencing, I took this as the best compliment I could ever possibly receive.  I deal with many horrible people that sometimes make me question the human population, but people with this much kindness restore my faith in humanity.

That was the best moment of the week, despite the loss.

The Best of Nursing...Volume 3...

I am behind a week!  The funniest thing from two weeks ago was when a patient accused me of drinking her Gatorade.  Yeah, because that is what I am in the business of doing.

P.S. If you can drink Gatorade, it is time for you to move out of the ICU...

The Best of Nursing...Volume 2...

This week's best nursing moment made me die laughing.

Patient:  "I was in the military for 30 years and I was never afraid of my drill Sargent quite like I am of you...I mean that as the nicest compliment possible."

I guess my telling my delirious patient that he better not try to get out of bed was quite intimidating.

The Best of Nursing...Volume 1...

Since I am officially on my own at the hospital, I thought it would be fun to mention some of the best moments from each week.  These might be funny, sad, or really touching moments from my week.  Don't worry, I will not provide any information that could result in a HIPAA violation.

Here are this week's winners:

Best funny moment where I tried to keep a straight face:

Patient:  Keri, do you think I will be able to go again?  (Meaning go poop)

Me:  I am not in the business of predicting people's bowel habits sweet sir.

Overall best moment:

I was told by my patient's daughter that I was her favorite nurse ever.  This was such a sweet moment, as the patient passed away later that night.

The Night Shift...

My first full week of working the night shift is in the books.  I worked three shifts in a row, which seemed pretty daunting at the beginning of the week.  What are my thoughts?  Just meh.  It was okay, not horrible, not fabulous.

The low point was definitely on Thursday last week.  Ken was working at home and apparently I came down stairs when I was supposed to be sleeping.  I stopped on the stairs and started crying and shouting that the cats were yelling at me.  Yep, that happened.  It was definitely the low point of the week and sadly it was only after one shift.

Sleeping during the day is a struggle. I usually sleep like a corpse from 8:30 am until about 1:00 pm, but then it is a struggle to stay sleeping.  I am hoping that this week will be better since I have two in a row starting tonight.

I think the part that does not help is that I do not have any desire to eat at all during the night shift.  I eat snacks and drink lattes, but that is about it.  When I come home I go to sleep and skip eating and then barely want to eat when I wake up.  I have always heard horror stories of people gaining massive amounts of weight while working nights and I am not understanding how this is possible.

Here's to week two of the night shift!

NCLEX Celebration...

To celebrate my passing the NCLEX, we thought what better of a way than to go on a hike as a family of three!  Trust me when I say I wish the cats could join, but could you imagine the meowing that would take place?

We knew it would be chilly, so we packed a thermos of soup, with plans to start a fire and open a bottle of champagne.  Such a fun little celebration we had planned!

Out for a cold six mile hike complete with snow!

Our little set up complete with a lake view, fire, and a husky

Ken popping open our bubbly while Kya supervises

Pretty happy with soup and champagne!

Don't let Kya's Resting Bitch Face fool you, she had a lot of fun.  She was in her element hiking in the snow and loved celebrating her mama's hard work.

My two cutie pies 

Hanging with my girl that always allowed me to listen to her heart and lungs as practice when I first started school. 

Such a fun family day!

Afterwards, we drove to Lawrence and Kya took a nap while we went to Free State for a beer and snacks.  It was the best way to celebrate my becoming an RN.  Night shift starts on Wednesday, so look out!  I am ready with my Starbucks cards, blacked out bedroom, and sleep mask.  

I Passed the NCLEX-RN!

That's right, I am officially a Registered Nurse.  I took the test on Wednesday last week at 1:00 pm.  I had been studying for the test every day since December 1st and in reality, I had been answering NCLEX style questions since the summer.  In my opinion answering the questions is the best way to be successful.

The NCLEX can be anywhere from 75 questions up to 265 questions, depending on where you fall within the passing line.  I am very grateful that I only received 75 questions.  I am not sure I would have had the patience to answer 265 questions!  I packed myself a snack to put in the locker, in the event that I would be there long enough for a break.

My NCLEX snack, because, why not?

Thank goodness I did not end up being there long enough to need a break and get to eat my snack.  I took about an hour to answer my 75 questions and high tailed it out of there!  I got to the car and called one of my nursing school friends to ask her if she thought I passed or not.  Lucky for me, I got the confirmation on Friday that I passed!  

For any people that will be taking the NCLEX, I recommend Kaplan questions.  I did not take the actual Kaplan course, but did do the Q bank questions and tests and found them to be the best example of how the questions are worded on the NCLEX.

For now, I am super excited that I am no longer having to spend my time studying.  Less time studying means more time running!

A Graduation Celebration!

The day after graduation, Ken had an exciting celebration planned.  It was not a surprise, but he did plan the entire thing, which was super sweet of him.  I may not have been excited about the graduation, but I was certainly excited about my gathering with friends.

The celebration was held at Somerset Ridge, a place that we have been hanging out at since 2008.  It was such a fun day filled with friends, family, wine, and cake.  It was a great time.  I will let the majority of the pictures do the talking.

Everyone enjoying wine and the charcuterie plate.

Michelle and Jill having fun

Katie and me

One of the big things that day was the discussion of scrotal edema.  You see, it seems to follow me all over the hospital.  No matter where I go, I come across a patient with scrotal edema.  The discussion started that day when Scott insisted I open my presents because he had written scrotal edema in his card.  He was pretty proud of himself.  Katie said we should make bets on how many cards mentioned scrotal edema because she knew of at least two...ha, ha!  Our friends I tell ya!

Michelle demonstrating an uncircumcised penis with scrotal edema.  You cannot make this stuff up!

With our good friend Scott.  Scott and I worked together at Oakwood and I had no idea when I met him over 10 years ago that we would be such good friends.  I miss seeing him every day.

Ken says that this is one of the funniest pictures of the day because no one is that excited for cake.  Well, this girl is!  I love me some cake, especially chocolate on chocolate cake!

This was such a delicious cake from 3 Women and an Oven

Getting ready to blow out my candle and being super embarrassed about some of the jokes about me blowing out a candle.  I am explaining that I am a modest young lady!

Jill and me.  Jill was my very first friend in Kansas City and I am so glad that we met over 11 years ago!

With my three besties.  I love these three to pieces.

A great representation of the day!

All of us girls

Our friend Jane and me

Linda and Bill celebrated with us and were super proud of their new nurse!

A great picture of Michelle and Rob.  

After the winery, it was determined that none of us had any food at home so Rob, Michelle, Mike, Katie, and us decided to go to Tanners for dinner and more drinks. Joe and Laura, who could not make it to the winery, met up with us too.

Mike and Katie at Tanners

Katie, Laura, Michelle, and me

There is so much going on in this photo.  Mainly, Michelle had made it rain Kleenex earlier and she is getting one back!

Joe and me

If you know Michelle and me, you understand this photo.  Drink your water girl!

The entire weekend was unbelievable.  I received so many wonderful gifts, all of which were completely unexpected.  I feel so grateful for all of the wonderful people in my life.  Ken really out did himself with such a great weekend and celebration.  He sure knows how to spoil his girl.  Oh, he finished the weekend off with breakfast at IHOP.  Nothing says love to me quite like pumpkin pancakes.  

One of my gifts from my mother in law.  

Graduation Day...

My graduation day started of with brunch with two of my nursing school besties.  We talked about the upcoming day and made plans that we will be meeting up for brunch/cocktails or something at least once a month.  I am so sad thinking about not seeing them every week!  

When I got home, Ken told me he had a present for me.  I was absolutely clueless as to what it might be because I had not asked for anything and I am quite difficult to shop for.  He handed me a wrapped box and I almost died.  I could not believe that he had wrapped a present for me.  It could have been a cat toy at that point.  My heart had already melted.  I opened the present and my heart melted even more.  It was a new stethoscope that was pink.  It was a far nicer stethoscope than I would have ever purchased for myself.  He had put so much thought into and made sure it was pink.  It absolutely made my day.  I pulled it out and listened to Ken's heart beat so that his heart would be the very first one I would listen to with my new stethoscope.  That husband of mine is so sweet!

Saint Luke's College of Health Sciences BSN class of 2016

I did not realize the girl next to me was so tall until I saw this photo, ha, ha!

My friends Amy and Amanda

Beth and I with our signature pose.  Beth and I were clinical partners for complex care in the ICU. We had so much fun together and we found that she would always stand just behind my shoulder when I would chart, but I would have no idea she was back there.  She was the best clinical partner I could have ever asked for and not only because she took care of the eye drops for me since I have an eye thing.  She is going to be working in the ICU as well in the float pool, so I know at some point we will be able to work a few shifts together.  We found that we both get the giggles around 4:00 am on night shift, no matter how much coffee we drink.

These three ladies make my heart so happy.  I know nursing school would not have been the same without them.  I am so proud to say that all of us will be critical care nurses and received our first choice of units.  I will be in the ICU, Brittnee will be in the ER, Madison will be in the NICU, and Amanda will be in the ER.  I love these girls to pieces.

Grateful is the only word that really comes to mind when I look at this picture.  I think all girls should be as blessed as I am in the husband department.  He is my biggest cheerleader in everything that I do. 

After graduation we went to Spin Pizza with Ken's parents and Mike and Katie.  It was the end to a perfect day!

I Graduated...

One week ago today I graduated from nursing school with my BSN.  Graduated.  From nursing school.  I am still a little surprised that it is over with, but am thrilled that I am getting ready to start my career.

I have given it a lot of thought about what I should write/say about my graduation and it has taken me a bit of time to wrap my head around this accomplishment, because it is quite the accomplishment. If you had asked me last week if I was excited, my answer was just, meh.  I was excited, but for different reasons.  I was most excited about getting my first choice nursing job and not so much about the actual graduation.  I will try to explain my way of thinking the best that I can.

In our house if you say you are going to do something, you do it.  No excuses, no questions about it, you said you would do it, so you do it.  End of the story.  I know, we sound really hard core at our house, don't we?  In my mind finishing nursing school was just me finishing something I set out to do.

It wasn't until we were talking with our friend Joe last week that I realized how difficult it is to accomplish such a thing as an adult and that my completing a BSN was indeed a big deal.

I know that my graduating nursing school should be my proudest accomplishment, but it is not.  My proudest accomplishment is what it took me to get there.

If I am being completely honest, I have always felt like sort of a failure for not going to college right out of high school.  I am not tooting my own horn here, but I am too smart to have not gone to college.  At the time, I did not know what I wanted to do, so I started working and eventually fell into sales jobs, which do not always require a degree.  Still, anytime someone would ask me about college I always felt like a failure.

I knew in 2007 that I wanted to be a nurse.  I had plans to go back to school, but the timing was just not right for me.  I received a promotion at work and felt satisfied with what I was doing so I carried on and did not really think about it again.  The thought of taking classes as a 26 year old non-traditional student seemed quite daunting at the time.  Boy was my 30 something self in for a surprise later!

I was satisfied and happy up until I finished Ironman Louisville in 2012.  Actually, when we hiked the Grand Canyon for the first time in 2011, I met my friend Molly who was a nurse, and a seed was planted in my mind to consider school.  I quickly put the thought out of my mind rather quickly because I was satisfied at work.  I always kind of thought "what if" though.

During Ironman Louisville I met a girl named Anne during the bike portion.  We started talking and I learned that she was a nurse.  The thought crept into my mind again, but I quickly pushed it out again.  It was 90 something degrees and I had an Ironman to finish.  I never forgot about Anne though and her being a nurse.

After I finished Ironman Louisville I was met with a great deal of disappointment, which is quite common after such an achievement.  I was pretty depressed and felt rather lost.  What was I going to do next?  I sure as hell was not going to do an Ironman again...yet.  Suddenly the thought of Anne came into my mind as well as my friends Molly, Heather, and Jamie who are all wonderful nurses.  I knew it was time to make a career change.

Fast forward to a few structural changes at work and I felt like I had the flashing sign I needed to make me pull the trigger.  I really felt that if I could work full time and train for an Ironman, that I could put that extra training time to classes.  Fast forward to January, and I was taking 13 hours of classes while working full time.  I also trained for a marathon that year, because that is how I roll.

My very first day of class in January 2013.  

Some how, I managed to complete a BSN degree, which is a four year degree, in exactly four years.  Those first two years I worked my butt of to do so.  I took a full load of classes, worked full time, and was either training for a marathon or an Ironman, all while maintaining the house and being a wife.  I am not exactly sure how I did it, but I did.  That right there is what I am most proud of.  I did it, and I have myself and Ken to thank for it.

BSN graduate with the RN pending

When Your Dream Job Disappoints You...

From the moment I entered nursing school, I knew I wanted to be nurse in the operating room.  That was it for me.  I got to go into the operating room during my first semester (and hold an appendix!) and I absolutely loved it, the operating room part, not necessary the holding of the appendix.

I starting apply for jobs in the hospital in February of this past year, and thought it was a huge sign that I received an interview for a Nurse Intern position in the OR.  I really felt that was where I was meant to be after the interview and even more so after they offered me the position to start in May.  I was ecstatic.  Operating Room here I come!

I started in May and my first few days were in a classroom setting learning about all things in the OR and sterility.  Fast forward to my first day at my hospital and unfortunately, I knew it was the wrong decision the moment the director of the unit introduced me to the staff.  I tried to pretend like it was going to be my thing, I mean, it was a Monday - Friday nursing job with no nights or weekends with the exception of call.  How awesome was that going to be for a new grad?

Alas, the hours could not shine this position up like a shiny new penny.  I tried to fight it for as long as I could, but I hated it.  I hated going to there every single day of my summer.  I was miserable.  With the exception of a few people in the OR and the surgeons (seriously, the surgeons where the nicest people in there), I have never met such rude and immature people in my entire life.  I felt like I was back in junior high again with some of the stuff that was going on.  One of the girls walked around and made the fart noise (you know the one that sixth grade boys make???) under her arm pit.

The same girl would tap her fingers on the sterile table as I would gown and glove myself.  You can imagine the look I shot her when I told her that was not going to make me move any faster.  The final straw for me was the day when another one of the girls started criticizing everything I was doing setting up my sterile field.  She was not doing it a "let me help simply for this for you way" she was doing it in a demeaning and condescending way and I lost my shit on her and walked out of the OR.

I knew that I would not be happy in the OR, but I had to come to terms with knowing I would end up working nights and weekends if I took a job on the floor.  Ultimately, I decided that I really did not like anything about the OR.  I hated scrubbing in on surgeries to stand in the same place for hours (including the time I held a man's ball sack scrotum for hours) and I hated positioning patients.  The only thing that I enjoyed was the part where I would go and get the patient and bring them back to the OR.  That is when I realized I really need to interacting with patients more.  That is why I am so grateful that I will be working in the ICU after graduation.

If you are still stuck on the teaser about the scrotum holding, do not fret, I am planning a post with many such stories from my time in the OR.  There is plenty of scrotum holding to go around.

Labor Day Weekend...

Our Labor Day Weekend was full with what we love doing most, spending time with friends!

We kicked off the weekend with some wonderful news on Thursday afternoon before I went to clinical. I was offered a Registered Nurse position in the medical surgical trauma ICU!  To say that I was excited was an understatement.  It was such wonderful news to hear before I headed off to clinical for the night in that same unit.  Now all I have to do is finish this semester and pass the NCLEX!

Celebrating the great news with a little cocktails and sunshine!

We woke up Saturday morning to join Rob and Michelle for some sunflower viewing at Grinter Farms near Lawrence.  Yeah, we lasted a total of 15 minutes and that included the time walking to and from the car.  It was madness.  People were everywhere with families dressed to the nine for family pictures.  It was definitely a one time thing.  

The funniest part was when we were leaving, we were questioning where the general store was.  We were driving along and I spotted it and said, "hey, there it is!"  Rob, without even looking or hesitation, gunned the car and pretended like he did not hear me.  I guess it is safe to say he did not want to deal with anymore madness.  It was too funny!  We are still laughing about it.  Only Rob!

Ken and me enjoying the sunflowers.  Now that I look at this, it would be quite possible for me to get lost in the field of sunflowers!  Most of them were taller than me!

Prom posing

The sunflowers were quite beautiful.

Rob was much more impressed with the corn

On Sunday we met Brian and Jill at Somerset Ridge for a little birthday celebration for Jill's birthday.

Brian and Ken enjoying the day and dressed as twins

Such a fun day talking about playing kansta at Jill's old apartment 12 years ago!

Happy Birthday Jill!

We wrapped up the long weekend with Ken playing golf and me running 15 miles on the treadmill.  We topped the day off with Mike and Katie coming over for some grilling.  It was definitely a fun-filled weekend!

The End of an Era...

Today marks the end of my time at home.  Yep, tomorrow is my first official day where I have to get up and go to work with the masses.  Gulp.  It was bound to happen eventually.

I was at home for almost two years.  The first six months I worked from home before I started nursing school.  After nursing school began, well, I was working a little from home and loving being with my hooligans.  

I am not going to lie, it was not always fun.  I am social.  I like to talk.  I crack jokes all of them time.  I need to be around people.  I really do.  All that being said, I am so incredibly grateful for the time I got to spend at home with my babies.  I will always be grateful for Oakwood allowing me to be at home, and most of all, Ken.  Without Ken, none of this would have been possible and I am forever grateful that he is such a wonderful husband and afforded me the time at home with my babies.

I am fully aware that to most people they are animals, but not to me.  The way that people feel about their children is the way I feel about Angel, Theodore, and Kya.  They are my world.  In my time at home I broke up disagreements between them, said, "we do not behave this way!" more times than I can count, and I spent many days cuddling and watching movies with my hoolies.  

On Thursday and Friday, the four of us felt a little nostalgic.  I was fully aware that many of things we were doing, were going to be for the last time before mama hits the real world.  Of course, we made each moment count and I took a few extra moments to enjoy the kitty fights, cat naps, mouse beatings, and the adorable husky sleeping in the backyard.  

My sweeties and me enjoying our Thursday night wine because when you have nowhere to be on Friday morning, you put on the PJ's and enjoy a glass or two!  Please excuse the frightening devil eyes from the hoolies.

Theodore really showed his personality while I was at home.  I know he is sleeping in this picture, but he really became my work and study buddy while I was at home.  He also mastered the need for a mid-morning nap.

These two really are the boss of me.  My life is run by two white cats.  Do they not look intimidating? 

I enjoyed watching Kya sleep in the most random places outside. We also really enjoyed our runs and walks during the day while other people were at work.

This girl and I did one of our most favorite things and walked to Starbucks together.  

The truth is, the next time Ken asks me what I have going on tomorrow, I cannot wait to reply with something more meaningful than walking to Starbucks for a latte.  I feel like I will have a purpose again, and that is something that is pretty important for this driven girl.  The biggest issue I am going to have is the reality that I have to hit the grocery store in the evenings or on the weekend.  First world problems, you know?

I am going to miss many things about being at home, but it is really time for me to take my next big girl step.  Starting tomorrow, I will be working in the operating room!  That is right, the OR right where I was hoping I would end up!  I still have one semester of school left, but after that and pending the passing of the NCLEX, I will be a Registered Nurse in the OR.  Eeeks!!!