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I have to say that my pseudo-career change shocked me. I say pseudo because I only did it for two days but I knew that it wasn't the right thing for me, after the first day I knew that it wasn't for me, but I gave it another shot just to be sure. I really never thought that I would prefer hospital nursing to home health, I figured it would be the opposite. However, pediatric home health is not for me. Don't get me wrong, I like pediatric nursing, I LOVE kids, they're awesome! I like taking care of them, in the hospital setting but the home care setting was scary. Mainly because I was there alone and I had to make all the decisions. Granted, the kid that I had wasn't terribly acute, in certain ways but still, it was more than I am ready to handle at this stage in my career.
I'm still a fairly new nurse. I will have been a nurse for a year in August. I got my license in June but didn't start working until August. I never set out to be a floor nurse, I'm planning on getting my master's and being a nurse practitioner. However, until then, I will be working the floor...which surprises me because I didn't figure that I would enjoy it that much, but I do. Plus, there are always other nurses and doctors and respiratory therapists around to help me out, I don't have to do anything alone, like you do in home health. Yes, I make my own decisions but, I have other, more experienced nurses around that can help me. That is a good feeling. I feel like I will always need that, but I know that's not true. I will feel comfortable on my own and there are certain things that I am definitely comfortable doing on my own, but then, there's always that situation that I like having someone else to bounce my ideas off of.
So there it is, I enjoy being a floor nurse. :) Have a great week you guys!!!
I went to see The Lorax with some friends tonight and I was a little surprised. There was definitely a political message involved, and I have to say I was a little shocked. Granted, the movie was cute and funny but really, since when is a children's platform a place for politics? I doubt that Dr. Seuss was completely political or perhaps he was, I don't know but I don't go to the movies to get political messages.
The movie was pretty funny, there was a lot of humor. I have to say, that fish are hilarious, as is the Lorax. All of the characters are great...but the overall message was political and that I really didn't like. Ok, so we need to be green minded, and save the planet but I don't need to hear that in a movie. I know this, and I don't want to take my nieces and nephews to see this and them think that if you cut down trees then the world will come to an end. I don't know, I was just disappointed by this.
As a nurse, I see many amazing things. My days, or nights, be that as it may, are very rewarding. I enjoy seeing people getting well and going home to their families. But then, there is that other side, when patients are not able to get well or they do not get to go home. They "discharge to Jesus" as we say. It's very sad, but sometimes is just as rewarding, if we are able to allow these people to die with dignity.
I say all of that to say that I have become a huge proponent of the DNR or Do Not Resuscitate. There is a certain point in a person's life when performing chest compressions on them becomes cruel. If you are elderly, your bones are more likely to be brittle and here I am pumping on your chest. I may bring you back to life but then I have created even more problems for you from broken ribs, to a lacerated liver or a punctured lung. I have, in my mind anyway, taken away your quality of life. I think that is wrong. That being said, I know that this is one of the hardest decisions that families have to make, I hate to think that I am going to have to make this choice for my parents at some point. However, knowing what I know, I am confident that I will make the right decision, no matter how awful it seems.
I think that there is a certain point, especially if a person is very ill, that peforming extraordinary life-saving measures is just cruel. That does not mean that the person should be uncomfortable in their last moments of life, they should just be at peace. I can assure you that having someone perform chest compressions is not peaceful. I think that this is where hospice can be such a blessing, because the patient is allowed to be at peace and die with dignity. They still receive pain medication to help alleviate their pain, but they will not have a tube shoved down their throat or have someone compressing their chest. They will be allowed to move on, to the next stage of their life in peace and I believe this is so very important.
As a nurse, it is my job to help the patient, whether it be to perform extraordinary life saving measures or allow the patient to die in peace and with dignity. This is a very tough place to be but I urge all of you to consider, what would you want? Please take everything into consideration when making your choice. There is not necessarily a right or wrong choice, just be sure that the choice isn't made selfishly and that the choice is truly the best decision for the patient.
This is something that has recently become very near and dear to my heart. It pains me very much to think that I will have to make this decision at some point for my loved ones, and yet, I want the very best for them and sometimes, that is not allowing the machine to live for them.
It's a new year...already. That is crazy. I feel like I missed 2011 in some ways, but it was an incredible year and I think that 2012 is going to be better. I have many good changes planned for 2012, personal and professional.
First of all, I am going to start working on my bachelor's degree this semester. This is going to be hard, but fun. It's something that I have to do for myself but I know that it will enrich my professional life as well. Plus, it's a step closer to having my master's which is something else that is important to me. It's nice to be able to do something that is doubly enriching, personally and professionally.
I know that this year will be a great one. I'm sure that it won't all be easy but it will be fun. I'm going to have a new niece in April so that will be fun. I'm turning 35, not sure how I feel about that but it is what it is. I have really enjoyed my 30's though so I know this year will be enjoyable. I'm ready to get started.
I wish everyone a blessed, joyful and peaceful new year!!!
I'm really excited about this upcoming year. Next August, I will have worked as a nurse for a whole year and that really excites me. We, as in the hubs and I, are making some exciting changes this year. I think it's going to be a really fun year and I am looking forward to it. We are going to try some new things and make some changes that have been coming on for a while. I think it will be awesome. I want to start now, but with Christmas around the corner, I'll just wait, so I can have New Years Resolutions. (That I'm gonna keep this year...lol!)
I feel like I am starting on a new journey this coming year. I'm in a profession that I love, doing a job that I love. (Even though I don't love every part of it) I feel like things are finally going to start going my way. I realize that my life isn't going to be perfect, but it will be fun. It has really been fun so far, I guess I'm starting to feel like my life is finally in place, if you will.
I'm ready for things to settle down now, granted, I'm not finished with school. I have a really crazy semester ahead of me but once it's over, it's over and I never have to do that again. I'm taking 20some-odd hours so it's going to be tough. Plus, I'll be working full-time. However, I work weekend nights so I have all week to go to school. I may have to change my schedule a little bit but that's okay, it's just for a semester!!! Then I can apply to the bachelor's program and get started on that.
So, I'm ready, for the new year!!! I hope all of you have a very blessed Merry Christmas and an awesome New Year!!! Go link up with Shell & pour your heart out!!!
So, on my last post, which was a while ago, I said I was going to change the focus of my blog...and then I didn't blog again about it. I've been busy, sort of, with work and such. I'm getting used to the night schedule, which I happen to love, even though it's just as busy as the day can be. The upside of nights is that there's not as many people, which is nice. I don't dislike days, I just dislike the bustle of it...due to all the people. At night, I get to take care of the patient, without dealing with all the other "people" around. I get to know the patient, and their families, which is why I do what I do...people.
Anyway, I digress...while I love my job, there are aspects of it that I completely despise. I think a lot of it has to do with the things that I didn't expect. I absolutely despise the political part of my job, the whole, bottom line. I know that it's a business and that we have to make money in order to do that, we have to have the business part. The worst thing is, the patients are the ones that get the shaft when it comes to the business part, which sucks. There's not a whole lot that I can do about it, unless I decide to go to school, perhaps for political science, and become a lobbyist...but that's not in the cards, it's not my thing. I'm a people person, not a politician...My mind doesn't work that way. I've considered getting a healthcare management degree but that wouldn't fix it because I would still be powerless.
There are parts of it that I don't understand. I don't understand some of the attitudes that nurses have. Essentially, there's a pervasive attitude that we're the bottom of the food chain, and as nurses, we sort of perpetuate that. I don't know, it's just strange. It seems as though, at least from what I can see, the nurses don't take credit for what they do...and they take everyone's crap. I don't get it. I'm not saying that nurses are perfect but we are smart, strong, and good at what we do, yet we take no credit for it. We also feel like we have to pick up other people's slack, without taking any credit for it and then we have to take their crap as well. Especially the doctors, it seems as though we're not "allowed" to stand up for ourselves when it comes to them, that we must "stroke their ego" if you will, and let them "dress us down" regardless of whether or not we were in the wrong. I don't know, I just don't understand why we can't take credit for being smart and knowing what we do and being confident about it, even as new nurses. I'm not saying that I am smarter than the doctors, I'm not, but I'm just as smart as they are, just in a different way. Doctors and nurses come at things from two different angles, we look at the patient differently.
I guess some of my problem is that I was very idealistic about nursing and I had certain expectations that aren't necessarily being met. I love my job, I love the patient care. I just expected it to be different and I can't really put my finger on what I expected versus what it actually is. I've talked to other nurses that I work with, and they said they had the same experience...so what is it? I don't really know what I expected, this just isn't it necessarily. It's not that I don't like nursing, I do. Maybe I'm not in the right specialty, that could be part of it, but I think there's more. I just don't know what.
I'm not going to quit being a nurse, I can't imagine not doing this, I just have to figure out what's missing, at least in my mind and fix it...so here I go.
I've decided to change the focus of my blog. It's because, in essence, I've decided to change the focus of my life. I know that sounds very dramatic but it isn't, it's just a change that's been a long time coming and I am going forward with it.
I want to be comfortable in my own skin. There are a lot of aspects to this. I want to be physically comfortable, which will involve losing weight and being healthy physically. I want to be comfortable with myself emotionally and mentally which is where I struggle the most. I feel like this is pretty common, especially with women, but I am going to overcome it. I just want to be overall comfortable with who I am. Sometimes, I am, sometimes I'm not. It really depends on the situation. Overall, I'm not comfortable with myself physically which leads to a lot of discomfort in other areas. So that's where I'm starting. I have made some changes and I continue to make more.
This is not going to be an overnight change, I'm aware of that. However, I want to do this right and make this a lifestyle change verses a "fad diet" if you will. I'm going to start, I think, by using the Hcg diet. Yes, I know this is a fad diet but I think it's the right start for me. The hubs and I are also going to start doing Weight Watchers. I think that Weight Watchers is one of the best "diet" plans out there, because it does help people change their lifestyles. That's why it works, I believe. We are also going to start working out on a regular basis. I will have to work on the schedule a little bit due to my work schedule but we will figure it out.
So, here's to the furthering of my new start. I wish all of you well on your endeavors!!! Happy Wednesday!!!
