4 posts tagged “nursing”

...it's a little bit more than I can stand. Hee. So crazy about this song. Krystel shares this crazy hobbit obsession. Haha!

Elliott Yamin - Wait For You

Elliott Yamin

Baby, I'll wait for you. I'm ALWAYS waiting. I wonder when this will all finally end. Haha!

What's new? I decided to go to work while school's out. So that means, I'm working tomorrow. On Good Friday, nonetheless. What can I do? There's no such thing as a religious holiday in the place I work in. And besides, I'm saving for a Florida getaway when someone comes over. :) HAHAHA hindi naman halatang excited noh.

Photobooth, baby!

I'm so happy my sister and I are back in action. We kind of had a fight (don't AKS, long story), and didn't talk for a month. Can you believe it? It was painful though, I've to tell you. But yknow you can only ignore each other for so much time, especially when the person is your other half, best friend, and sister. A lot of people envy our relationship (not even being conceited, they tell us themselves), and it's exactly because what we have is extraordinarily special. We got each other's backs no matter what, even when other friends people try to break that bond. It's different. Friends can easily be replaced, but you only got one family. And they're the ones who'll be there when everything else collides.

What can I say? When you love someone, over time every wrong thing they did becomes irrelevant and easily forgotten. That's love. You take them back without any questions asked. As if nothing really happened.

Tini Lau, I'm glad nothing horrible had to happen to one another (like being stupid enough to get a tetanus shot, WURD.) before we patched things up. I've to thank my Smart cellphone though. I love you! Shopping (both for real and wishful-thinking), pigging out, getting broke, taking pictures, surfing Multiply albums (or ALBUM? Haha!), watching DVDs, and late night kulitans are so much more fun when it's with you. =] All other "friends" can go crazy around Myspace and take us off from their top friends, but yknow what? I DON'T CARE. 'Slong as I got ya. I gotcha maaa! <3

Where Have All the Nurses Gone? The Impact of the Nursing Shortage on American Healthcare

Faye Satterly

Since I haven't read as much books as I intended to this year, I tried to compensate. Key word is TRIED. I loaned three books on nursing, and that book above was the first book I read. (I'm only halfway done with Trauma Junkie. The next one's Nursing America) I have to admit that even though our professor is too flamboyant, our Trends of Nursing class really took me to the next level in my nursing career. For the past few semesters, it's only been school-hospital-school. Sometimes, in order to become a really good nurse you have to be out there in the community and experience firsthand what it is to be one. It's been fulfilling. Sure it's nothing like experiencing a woman give birth in the labor & delivery unit, but the experience is exhilarating when simple ordinary people from the community thank you for spending a minute or two talking to them about their high blood pressure, what to eat and how to cook their food, and what their "pills" really are. Little things.

Anyway, I've been meaning to write this long post on nursing days ago but I never got around to it. It's basically my mission to get people into nursing. I know it's cliche (especially in the Philippines), but Lord knows we don't need any more doctors or lawyers! (Haha, sorry guys.) I was actually telling the boyfriend during one of our conversations that at this point, I don't care as much as I used to if people did it for money/practicality/whatever. I honestly believe that people who don't have the passion for it won't be in it for the long haul. (Sorry, ang tamaan wag magalit.) I've seen friends drop out of nursing school. The desire for money is not enough (but good Lord, thank You for a profession that is fulfilling both emotionally and financially! HAHA) That alone doesn't make you stay in a profession like this. Let me tell you why. I've witnessed firsthand the ramifications of the nursing shortage when we go to clinicals. IT IS CRAZY. It's honestly not like nursing in the books. Yknow, the kind where the nurse actually has time to talk to the patient during her shift. Hell, she doesn't even have time to eat or pee. It is that crazy. And so all the more, I hope people get into nursing. And I hope each nurse doesn't shun people away from a profession that badly needs manpower.

I think as nurses and/or future nurses, we should all go out and tell the world. Become nurses just like how it's really supposed to be according to Nightingale, mah lady. Haha! Srsly, I hope we don't become nurses who simply go to work and go home without being out there. (Krystel, CULTURE na ba?) That's REAL nursing. Taking it out to the streets. Being a nurse even when you're not in your ugly nursing school uniform or your chic scrubs.

And as for you other people who haven't considered nursing, I hope you do. Haha, it entails a whole lot of sacrifice, but there's nothing more fulfilling than taking care of another person's needs before taking care of yours. This wasn't really meant to be a nursing recruitment post. I actually meant to say, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES. Go to a doctor regularly. Get your annual physical check-ups. Watch what you eat. Exercise. (Me too.) Because if you take care of yourself, then that means lower prevalence of the horrible diseases/conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and hypertension. And yknow what that means for us in the other end. Yep, less work. Yknow, no matter how superwoman we nurses look like.. We still have stomachs to fill when they're hungry, bladders that need to be emptied, backs that'll eventually weaken, and legs that'll abound with varicosities over time.

This morning after our exam, our professor showed us a video of patients and patient's families/friends sharing accounts on nurses who've done 'little' things and made big differences in their lives.

There was the old lady who had a tube down her throat, extremely discomforted by it, asking her doctor if he could please take it out. He said they had to keep it in for a few more days. Her nurse followed the doctor soon as he walked out, and a few minutes after she walked back in... to take out the old lady's tube. :) The old lady was so happy as she recalled that incident.

There was the first-time mother who's been in labor for hours. They couldn't get the baby out, and she unfortunately had to go for a C-section. The woman was as expected anxious and scared. What the nurse did? She took her hand and told her not to worry and that she was gonna be with her the whole time at the operating room... even if her shift just ended. :)

There was the 16-year-old diagnosed with a brain tumor who was veryvery scared and worried after finding out. In between tears, she talked about her experience of having her nurse hug her, comfort her, and just be there with her at a time like that.

There was a mom of a child diagnosed with some chronic illness talking about how her kid's nurse was so supportive, providing her with all the technical things she needed to know about her child's condition and at the same time honestly telling her what to expect from her child. She said the nurse held her at a time she couldn't even hold on to herself.

There was the friend of a basketball player who suddenly collapsed in the middle of a game recalling how a small and tiny nurse performed CPR on his tall and huge friend. And how a minute after, his friend started coughing.. Revived by the nurse.

And there was the woman hospitalized several times raving about how nurses took into consideration every little thing, like the open window in the room. Always ensuring the patient's ultimate comfort.

It was so so beautiful. I was in tears throughout (thank you, dimmed lights). Sometimes, even only as a student nurse in clinicals, we feel as if we don't do anything as majorly important as what physicians do for our patients. And of course there are times when we even forget to eat or pee only to give proper care to our patients. But hey, as all those testimonies above say, every little thing we do does matter. It doesn't go forgotten. :)

Just tonight at the dinner table, I was telling Mom and my sister about that time my Spanish-speaking patient in tears asked her son to please tell me thank you for all the help the whole afternoon. It was so heart-melting that I did cry A LITTLE in front of the patient. Heehee! And even as I was recalling it earlier, it still brings happy tears. What patients don't know is that, they too make a difference in nurses' lives. They are simply put, those who keep us going in this profession.

I honestly think we as nurses can never ever ever be able to fully detach ourselves from our patients, coz when that happens... That's the time you've got to detach ourselves from nursing. And so with that said, I am entitled to shed a few tears every now and then as I recall a touching patient story. Hahahaha!

You work your magic quietly
Cause you're not in it for the glory
The love you give comes naturally

Cause you're my
Unsung hero
And I know it's not easy
To walk in your shoes
Day after day
You continue to amaze me
Now I sing this song of love
For you
-- Unsung Hero, Tina Arena ♥

Okay, 2 papers down. 3 more to go. Crunchtime crunchtime! I've been on the computer working since 9am, only getting out of the chair to pee or eat. I was already about to doze off at about 12pm, and I probably would if eating lunch and sleeping could be done simultaneously. I cannot afford sleep right now. Not even for an hour. :( My right arm was tingling in pain earlier from too much typing. I swear, I have carpal tunnel in the making.

And I really miss Ian who's gone for a veryveryvery (haha!) long 3-day vacation. :(

Oh, he just texted. Yay!

I swear, I've been meaning to update since last Thursday. Butbutbut I am SO swamped with readings I am not even kidding. Plus, those assessment tools/care plan papers really just take up so much time to make. By the time I'll have time to write about last Thursday, it will all be irrelevant. So, I'll try my best to immortalize that first OB clinical day real quick (because, what's new? I've readings to doooo.)

I got 2 patients last Thursday. One Spanish-speaking patient. And one first-time mom. The day went by so quick. It was actually the first time my clinical instructor asked me to go have lunch. As opposed to previous rotations when I'd be waiting for lunch. Wahahaha! There was a whole lot of teaching especially for the first-timer. I was surprised I actually knew a lot about infant care -- like how to change a diaper, how to burp the baby, etc. Haha, many thanks to that babysitting stint with Kyle from a year back. Teaching was so much harder with the Spanish patient. :( I had to make do with my broken Spanish phrases. The very little I knew. It was good that it was her 4th baby so she pretty much knew her way around. What else? I got to carry around babiiiies (whom I had to resist kissing and sniffing, because demmet they were so cute!), change diapers (srsly not as gross as the oldies' diapers. HAHA!), and feed babies among others. I got to do a CBC blood draw, even if we haven't really done the procedure in lab. The instructor practically guided me through right there. Bwahaha! During post-conference that day, I think I may have gotten on my instructor's good side when she commended me for an "excellent performance for the first day" THANK GOD! She wasn't so intimidating anymore.

I'm loooooooving every minutesecondnanosecond of this clinical rotation. I swear. It doesn't even seem to be like 'work' to me as Med-Surg or Psych was. I love iit. I think I may have found where I wanna be working. This Thursday, it's gonna be the nuuuuursery. EEEE! More babies to play with! Hahaha!

But then there's just too much reading. It'll probably lessen by two weeks or so. But that's too long. I need a new desk as well.

Desk

This is how my desk looks like when I'm doing an assessment tool. Wahaha! That's the maternity book. Please excuse the graphic. Yes, it's a baby's head peaking out of the mom's thing. I didn't quite notice it was opened there when I took the photo. And then there's the Med-Surg book that actually looks like an encyclopedia. =)) Mostly for references. (The Fundaments of Nursing book which I sometimes use isn't there, because hello? Where else will it fit?) Then the care plan book. And then the patient's charts. I'm so glad the hospital I go to does electronic charting, so there's really no need to write down stuff. Just printprintprint!

So yes, an assessment tool every week. That's at least 15 pages of stuff right there. If there isn't a tool due, then there is a careplan due. Or a teaching plan due. Or some kind of essay. Too much written papers in this cooooourse.

Oh and then Thursday couldn't have been any better, when I received a call from a cargo service saying I had a package from the Philippines. Little did I know that sneakysneaky Ian actually sent me....

Ny

This shirt among others. It says "I love Manila more than NY" I lovelovelove it! And then a pair of long coveted white Chucks and that Havaianas with the Philippine flag. Of course there was a letter that no doubt made me cry. Hahaha! I loooooove it!

Sneaky boyfriend conniving with my sister to send birthday gifts. They all fit perfectly and halaveet. I really do. Thanks, sweetiiiie! (Alam ko, pang Christmas at anniversary na to. WAHAHAHA!)

I could really make use of some fried chicken sushi rolls and taro milk teas right now. :( Too much stuff to do, so little tiiiime. Better stop LJ-ing.