Confessions of a Registered Nurse: December 2005

December 31

Resolutions I hope my teachers make

I hope that the following are on my teachers' New Year's Resolutions lists:

1. If I tell my students that something will not be on the exam, I will not change my mind without telling them and ask three questions about it.
2. I will actually take the time to look up the page numbers I want my students to read. I will never again just say "Read everything on Parkinson's Disease," when I really only wanted them to know one of the sections on it.
3. If I make my students spend $100 more to get the newest edition of a book, I will use that book too. I won't make the study guides and my test questions from the wrong edition and drive my students out of their minds.
4. If I am the evil person behind giving my students 300 pages of reading over a two day weekend, I will not try to blame someone else and act like I am the "student advocate."
5. I will not kick a wonderful person out of the program because she missed the cutoff in a non-nursing related class by 0.1%
6. I will bring a Super Soaker to class, and any time a student starts using my class time as their own "story time," I will shoot them.
7. I will give all students named Katie an automatic A in all classes.
8. When demonstrating how to do an important procedure, I will keep trying until I do it perfectly. I will not mess up and say "Well, pretend like I did it this way..." and continue on.
9. When a student can prove their answer should be correct on a test, I will acknowledge that my students might actually know what they are talking about, and give them credit. Especially if I am going to kick them out of the entire program over one test question.
10. I will proofread my test before I give it. Sudecteans to nout lyke haveing teasts thut arde fuell of typooos. If I fail to proofread my test, I will apologize and not just blame the secretary who typed it up for me, or say "Well we've given this exact same exam for three years." Doing something absolutely stupid three times does not make it any less stupid.

*This list excludes you Diane and Marty!!*

December 29

Two Group Activities?!?

Mike- I want you to know that I am NOT making fun of your mom by telling this story- you have to admit, this was pretty funny.... ;)

Mike's mom is very friendly, but also very shy, quiet and reserved. Last night we had "game night" at Mike's house. We were playing Catch Phrase, where you have to get your teammates to say a certain word (kind of like that $20,000 Pyramid game show). The words that came up were things like dog, tuxedo, airplane... Every time it was Mike's mom's turn, she would sit there for a few seconds and say over & over, "OH MY GOSH!" and panic because her word was so hard that she could never get us to say it (you are being timed, by the way). She had words such as baseball cap and soccer. This was funny at first, but after a few rounds it got really frustrating because she kept costing us points. Towards the end of the night, she looked at her word and again started with the whole "Oh my gosh's," but this time, her face was bright red and she really seemed upset. We all started yelling at her to start giving us the clues, and so she finally shouted out, "A group of people having sex!"

Uh.... In unison, we all (Mike's younger siblings included) replied, "Orgy!!" Who would have guessed that of all the possible words for her to get, she had the card that said "orgy." The box should have come with a warning: Do not play with the entire family- high risk of embarassing situations.

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December 26

The Grandparents

When my family gathers together for holiday meals, we always end up telling funny stories about each other. Somehow, we started talking about our grandparents babysitting. The first time my parents needed my Grandpa to babysit, they planned on leaving my older brother and me with him for several hours. At the last minute, they decided to take me with them, and told him this while he was watching TV. They got home several hours later, and asked him how everything went. "Great!," he said. "Both babies were just fine." BOTH babies? My parents decided to never let him babysit again.

However, a few years later, my parents really needed a babysitter, and both of my grandparents were available. My parents thought that the two of them together could handle three kids. Everything was going fine until it was time to change my little sister's diaper. They had no trouble taking off the diaper, but once it was off, they tried to clean it. They tried washing it in the sink, but it just wouldn't get clean, and parts of it even started coming apart. What do they do?! Two grown men should be able to handle one stinky diaper, so to avoid the embarassment of their failure, they got a shovel and decided to bury the diaper in the backyard. My parents must have returned home a little too soon, because the shovel was still out. They questioned my grandparents about the shovel, and since they were unable to come up with a good excuse, they had to tell my parents what really happened. This is when they were educated on a new invention: disposable diapers.

A year or so later, the other Grandpa was given the chance to babysit my older brother. When my parents got home, they were surprised to see that Pat was sleeping quietly on the floor next to my Grandpa, who was sitting at the table. "How did you get him to sleep so early?!" my parents asked. My Grandpa replied, "Oh, it was no trouble at all. About ten minutes ago, he hit his head on the table, and he's been sleeping quietly ever since."

December 24

My Christmas present

When listing off the best Christmas presents, people usually name things like electronics and clothes. While these are great, I received something much better tonight: my sister and her boyfriend, Mark, taught me how to start an IV. And, Mark let me practice on his arm. YAY!!! I started my first IV, and I did an ok job!! I honestly don't think I could have asked for anything better. At my school, we have so many students and so few resources that I have only practiced poking a dummy with a needle to start an IV once. My second attempt was supposed to be on a real patient who would have no idea that I had no clue what I was doing. I'm sure you can imagine how stressful this has been for me- every day at clinicals I have been praying that I wouldn't have to start an IV. Now, I am so much more confident, and I was blessed to have such wonderful, patient teachers. So, Mary Ann and Mark, from the bottom of my heart (and all of my future patients' hearts) THANK YOU!!!

To the rest of you, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate)!

Edit: My little brother, Michael, read this entry and was upset that I talked about the IV as being my best present. He thought his gift was better. I'll leave this one up to you guys. Here are a few of the things right off his dresser that he included in my gift:

Cross country punk. :)

December 23

Things I learned from my boyfriend

1. I do not have to be perfect. My little imperfections are some of the things he treasures the most about me.

2. I do not always have to be right. I usually am right, but on those rare off-days, he'll love me anyways.

3. The solution to a loud squeaking/clunking from my engine is NOT to just turn the radio up.

4. When a man says, "Why don't you just let me fix..." just say no!!!

5. When using the bathroom at night, always check the toilet seat, because it will be left up.

6. It is actually possible to have (future) in-laws you love.

7. Some people actually can have just one piece of chocolate.

8. Even though he claims he doesn't like my cats, I caught him pouring filtered water into the fountain they drink out of... so even when he tries to be a jerk about something, he is still a sweetie.

9. Not everyone sneezes when they look at a bright light.

10. Sometimes when men try to be comforting, they make the situation worse (like the time I thought I would have to put Isis to sleep, and Mike said, "Aww, babe, don't worry. We can have her stuffed and put on your mantle." Thanks Mike.

11. Concrete and cement are not the same thing.

12. Some people don't consider my hair all over the bathroom counter to be "art."

13. Pulling the comforter up over the messed up sheets does not count as "making the bed."

14. When a guy is confident enough, he will actually feel pride (not jealousy) when his girlfriend is hit on in a bar in front of him.

15. "Let's talk about this later" actually means, "Please God, let her forget about this!!"

16. When I hear, "Awww... Katie, come in here, ha ha..." from the other room, DO NOT ENTER THE ROOM for about five minutes.

Flashcards

If you would like to use my studystack.com flashcards, you can access them by going to www.studystack.com

On the left side of the screen, in the search box, enter lilk8tob This should bring up my flashcards. Enjoy!

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December 21

The phony

I have said several times throughout my blog that I feel like a fake when at clinicals- that I really don't know what I am doing and hope no one figures me out. Well, I am starting to feel fake outside of the hospital too. For example, when I was on the plane on my way to Dallas, I started thinking to myself, what would happen if someone on this flight had an emergency medical problem? Little student nurse Katie would come to their rescue!! I sat there for a few minutes daydreaming about saving someone's life thousands of feet in the air- and was rudely interrupted by someone a few rows back coughing loudly. Oh no, they could be choking!! Where do I hide!!!!???? I don't know what to do! That was my honest initial reaction. So much for being the hero, huh? Of course, the person was not choking, and once my heart rate returned to normal, I was left thinking about how poorly equipped my brain is to handle a real emergency.

Before my accelerated program started, I was a waitress. I was not a very good waitress, and here is why: If I was at table 4, and my customers asked for two Cokes and a water, I would have to say over and over in my head, "T4, 2 Cokes, 1 water. T4, 2 cokes, 1 water...." until I had their drinks poured. Now, lets say someone at table two stopped me on my way to pour the drinks. They requested a straw. No big deal. Now its, "T4, 2 Cokes, 1 water. T2, straw." Over and over, almost like a song in my head. I'm doing fine, until someone at table 1 says that their food is burnt, and they expect a response from me. I talk with them for a moment, and continue on my way to pour the drinks, "T2, 4 Cokes and a straw. T2 water. T12, do I have table 12?!" Who wanted a water?! My brain obviously cannot handle more than one task at once. I quickly learned to start carrying a little notebook with me, and I wrote everything down. My coworkers, who have no trouble remembering simple drink orders, found this hilarious, and since this was when the movie "The Notebook" was out, I was the butt of way too many jokes. Anyways, I brought my waitressing skills up because while watching ER recently, I realized that nurses need to remember a lot, just like waitresses. When handling an emergency, a doctor will shout out, "Start IV 5% dextrose in .45 normal saline at 35 ml/hr. I need the bla bla bla results and get started on the arwlkgyeorh meds NOW!" The nurses on the show have absolutely no problem remembering the five things they were just told to do. How the heck do they do that!? I would be so scared I'd miss something or switch two numbers... I hope that this is a skill you learn quickly!

December 20

Advice for future nursing students

I've been reading through all of my comments, and I have received several requests for advice from people entering nursing school in January. I will post the advice I have given them, and would love if those of you in school now (or those of you who graduated years ago) could add to my list.

My advice to a soon-to-be nursing student:

1. Never forget that every other person in that classroom is just as scared as you are. If they always look confident, it is just an act. So don't let them stress you out.

2. Be prepared to work hard. You will have to do a lot of reading, and it will be very confusing at times. Do the best you can to get through it, and highlight anything that might sound important.

3. Find a few classmates you get along with, and stick with them through the whole program. At times when no one else in your life fully understands what you are going through, they will. I can't emphasize enough how important this mutual understanding is, and I guarantee that these people will talk sense into you every time you are 100% sure you are going to quit. (Danielle, John, Natalie & Rachel, I love you guys and will never forget all you have done for me!!)

4. Be prepared to feel lost. My first time doing everything (including putting a patient's sock on her foot), I was so scared I was shaking. It is normal to completely forget how to do everything (even the most
simple tasks) when you are nervous. So don't let this make you feel stupid or inferior- it is NORMAL!!

5. Ask tons of questions. If you are told by a nurse to do something on a patient and you are not familiar with it or are uncomfortable, ask for help. Don't let it bother you that she rolls her eyes at you, you have the right to learn, and your patients have the right to receive safe care.

6. Be prepared to laugh at yourself. If you fail to do this, you will be more stressed out than necessary. When you do something stupid, laugh. Don't be embarassed, we all do dumb things. Also, allow your patients to laugh at you. One patient told me that watching me frantically search for my clipboard (the clipboard I was holding in my hand) and then laughing with me when I realized my mistake, was the highlight of her week.

7. Even though you are extremely busy, take one night off. This means do not do any school work whatsoever one night every week. Thursday night is my night off. I watch TV, catch up with friends, just do whatever I want. On Monday, when I really want to watch something on TV or feel unmotivated to work, I keep telling myself that I only have a few more days until Thursday.

8. Find an outlet for your frustrations. This site has been wonderful for me- I just write about what I feel, and even though I usually don't end up posting those things for the world to see, just writing about them makes me feel a lot better. Although this takes away from my study time, it is well worth it. I don't think I could keep going all those hours if I didn't have some way to release some steam.

9. Know that you are not alone!! If you need someone to vent to or share your wonderful experiences with, leave me a comment and I will get back with you (just don't forget to leave your email address).

Good luck!!

Great study tool

During orientation to my nursing school, we had this guy speak to us about study habits. He basically said anyone who relied on flashcards was going to fail, because there was no time to make flashcards. I left very upset that day, considering dropping out of school before it even started. I pulled myself together, got on Google (my lifeline) and found this wonderful website. It helped me prove this guy completely wrong, and helped me get an A in pharmacology! So I thought I would share it will all of you- students and parents who want to help your kids out.

How to make your own flash cards:

~Go to www.studystack.com

~First you have to register with them. On studystack.com, click on "Logon" then click "Sign up now"

~Once you have signed up, click on "Create new stack"

~ Next, click on "Edit Stack Options" (third option on the left)

Under here, you are going to:

1. Change stack name (Ex: pharmacology test 2)

2. For description, write a quick summary of what it is, AND include your name. If you want to share your flashcards with someone else, in the search box, if they type your name, it will bring up all of your flashcard stacks (any stack that has your name in the description). If you don't want to use your name, think of something unique that no one else would use- I'll put "katiessample" in my description.

3. You can change the category if you'd like- it doesn't matter.

4. Check the box next to "prevent other users from modifying data"

5. Click "Save"

~Click on "Add or rename flaps"

~Flaps are the title for the front and back of the flash card. THIS IS NOT FOR THE FLASHCARD INFO ITSELF!! DO NOT ENTER ANY OF YOUR FLASHCARD FACTS HERE!!!

1. In the "action" column for Flap 1, click "Edit" and type whatever name you want (Ex: drug name)

2. You can leave "type" as text. Click "Save"

3. Repeat for Flap 2 (Ex: Drug effects)

4. Save

Click "Done"

~ Now to the actual cards- Click on "Add or edit cards"

1. "Add cards"

2. Type your info- column 1 is the front of the card, column 2 is the back. You can use TAB to get from one box to the next, which saves a lot of time.

3. When you've filled up all of the boxes, click "save"

4. It will show you the cards you have made, SCROLL DOWN and click on "Add cards"

5. Repeat steps 2 & 3

6. When you are completely done with all of your cards, select "done".

Scroll down, and now you can choose to use the info as flashcards, matching, tables, etc. You can also print the info in columns, and make the boxes big enough that you can just cut them & put them on actual flashcards. I always use the flashcard mode until I have them memorized, and then use matching to review.

I export my flashcards to my PDA, which is wonderful because the "Quiz Whiz" program gives the flashcards as multiple-choice questions (it takes the back side of four different cards, and you have to choose which choice goes with the front of the card you see..)

To go back later and view the cards you have made, Sign in on the main page, and it should show you all your study stacks. To share these with classmates, give them the unique name you put in the description, and tell them to enter that in the search box on the left side of the screen. For example, to view the sample stack I just made, you would type "katiessample" and it would bring up this stack. Next to the stack name, you will see several icons. These are shortcuts that allow you to go right to Flashcard mode, Matching, etc. Make sense? Let me know if it doesn't and I will try to help you figure it out.

One more thing: Even if you do not want to create your own cards, there are usually cards premade by other students that can help you out. For example, if you are studying A&P, just type "anatomy" in the search box, and it will bring up all study stacks that relate to anatomy.

December 17

The scratch

I'm in Dallas visiting Mike, and he let me drive his car around yesterday while he was at work. Mike's car is his baby. I think I was more nervous driving it than I was taking my pharmacology final. His car is black, and when I walked up to it after leaving the store, I noticed two new scratches on the hood. They were off white, so I thought they were down to the metal. My heart almost stopped beating. Do I just go right to the car shop and get it fixed so he doesn't find out!? I ran my finger along one of them to see how deep they really were, and made an important discovery: bird poop. I just ran my finger in bird poop. LOL... well, at least they weren't scratches, right?

December 16

Name that zit!!

This past week has been incredibly stressful. I will spare you all the complaining, and just say that the idiot administrators at my school decided to start the new semester the week after finals. This included three hundred textbook pages of reading, plus two tests in the first four days. As I am sure you can imagine, this has had a devastating effect on our bodies. Many of us have become sick over the last two weeks, and a lot of us suddenly have zits like we did back in high school. I am one of those lucky ones. I was in a crowded elevator with a few of my classmates the other day, and I brought up my new "beauty marks," and how I was thinking about naming them after the people who caused them. Pointing to the zits on my chin, I said, "This one's Karin, this one is Lana..." One of my classmates, who is normally quiet, jumped in and said, "If I get a big zit on my a@#, I am going to name it (name of dean of students)!" We all had a good laugh, and the elevator doors opened. As we were squeezing by the people at the front of the elevator, our wonderful dean said, "After you ladies," as we passed by.

I'm sure she was flattered, right? I mean, it's an honor to have something named after you.... I have a feeling I might be changing the name of my site to "Confessions of an Ex-student nurse" sometime soon.

December 12

What I learned in class

I did not want to sit through eight hours of class today. But I am glad I forced myself to go, because I actually learned something pretty important: When I play connect-the-moles on my left bicep, I can form an almost-perfect star! You should try it sometime. If it can get me through Health Management II, it could probably get you through anything.

December 11

Out of shape

You know you are out of shape when you experience shortness of breath just from opening a bag of cookies.

The last time I exercised was way too long ago. I went up to a school track and ran three whole laps without stopping. I was so proud of myself!! I drove home, and a few blocks away from my house I saw my little brother running, preparing for his cross country meet. I pulled over and said, still a little out of breath, "I just ran three whole laps!!! He looked at me funny, and said without any difficulty speaking, "I'm almost done with my eighth mile." Cross country punk.

December 10

It's your turn!!

I do plenty of stupid things. You guys know this by now from reading my blog. Now, I want to hear about your stories. And this isn't limited to nurses or nursing students- I know all of you have at least one good story about the time you really messed things up or just weren't using your brain. So why not post it here for all of us to enjoy and learn from?

Please keep all stories appropriate! And if you are in the medical field, try not to use language that non-medical people won't understand.
I will post a direct link to this topic in the top right corner of my page under the guest book.

The keychain light

I bought this cute little keychain flashlight a few days ago, and was so excited tonight when I needed to use it to navigate my way through my garage in the dark. When I reached the door, I was digging through my purse looking for my keys. I even shone the light in the purse to help in my search. They were nowhere. "Thank God I have this light to help me search for them," I thought. So I started retracing my steps shining the light on the ground. I only made it a few feet before realizing that the keys were attached to the light.

I want to thank MSN for featuring my site, and all of you for stopping by and reading about my day. I love your comments, and will try my best to respond to all of you over my Christmas break. It is wonderful to read the encouraging notes from current RN's, and to know that all of you students out there understand exactly what I am going through. And Mike, you are truly amazing.
And just in case some of my patients come across this site, I wanted to take a second to say "thank you." I have learned so much from each of you, and I will never forget you. Thank you for teaching me that it is good to laugh at myself, that it is ok to admit I don't know the right answer, that I can cry with you without feeling stupid, and that even people who seem harsh sometimes just need someone to sit with them and hold their hand. Thank you (and your family members) for your patience, words of encouragement, and wonderful senses of humor.

December 08

The next American Idol?

Do you ever have one of those days where you are so stressed out that you get in the car, turn your CD player up loud, and then sing at the top of your lungs? I've been having a lot of those days lately, due to this being finals week. Today I was singing, "Free Falling," and a few verses into the song, I came to the realization that I sounded good. Really good. This just encouraged me to sing even louder, which of course made me sound even better. During the chorus, "And I'm FREEEEEE" the CD skipped, and I heard nothing but the awful, awful sound of my "wonderful" singing voice. I sounded like my cat when I accidentally step on him. Even though I was alone, I was so embarassed that I felt my face turning red. I guess I'll have to find a new way to release stress, or buy a better CD player that will never, ever skip.

December 07

You saw a what?!

Because my patient was suspected of having a stroke, we had to perform neurological tests on him. One of these tests consisted of showing him a picture and having him describe what he sees. The picture we showed him had two boys climbing on a chair to steal cookies from the cookie jar, but the chair is tipping over. It also had a woman doing dishes at the sink, and the water is overflowing from the sink. For some reason, people with neurological problems don't usually notice that anything weird is going on in these pictures. My patient was no exception. I held the picture in front of him and asked what he saw. "Carpet," he replied. I asked him what else he saw, his family anxiously listening. "Umm... a naked woman," he said. I looked at the picture, and did not see a naked woman. I looked down at myself, and thankfully, I had remembered to wear my scrubs. So I am not really sure what he was talking about! I'm sure when he's better and life is back to normal, this will be a story that his family tells for years to come!

Side note: I just wanted to mention that I take all of my patients and their conditions seriously. I am in no way trying to make fun of my patient here. When he said "naked woman," it would have been extremely awkward if we just stood there and didn't say anything. He was shocked at the words that came out of his mouth, so laughing at it eased the tension and allowed all of us a break from the reality of the situation. In nursing, humor is a wonderful way to get through a lot of situations. When my patients burp or have some other embarrassing thing happen, they always immediately look at me for my reaction. When I smile and laugh a little and say, 'Well excuse you!" they laugh too. Ignoring things like that can make the situation more uncomfortable than it needs to be. My patient has a long road ahead of him. But with the help of his family, and a bit of humor, I am sure he will get back on his feet again, and at least smile when they tease him for the “naked woman” incident.

And thank you Bill Thomas, RN, for explaining this situation - "Your patient was experienceing expressive aphasia when he had trouble naming objects. The message from his eyes, to brain and then to his speech center becomes blocked. He said "naked lady" because that noun was randomly spoken in place of the real answer. He knew what to say but was unable to "express" himself. Most of the time you can look at your patient's facial expressions and see that they are perplexed at their own answer."

December 06

Is it Monday?

Today was one of those days.

I was driving to my clinicals this morning, belting out the lyrics to Boulevard of Broken Dreams, and it was freezing. This is a play-by-play of my 6:15 am ride:
"MYYY Shadow's the only one who walks beside me...."
Hmm.. it's really cold in here. I wonder if my heater's working?
"MYYY Shallow Heart's the only..."
It is really cold!! I have the heater on full blast.. (looks down at heater), yes it's set all the way to the blue....
"Sometimes I wish someone out there would fi....."
BLUE?! Dangit!!!!
Lesson of the morning: Blue = AC, Red = heat

PMS!!??

I had a really difficult time keeping my patient awake long enough to get anything done. When I gave him his pills to take, he was about to put them in his mouth when all of the sudden he started snoring. I shook his shoulder to keep him awake, and he opened his eyes and actually managed to get a complete sentence out, "What's your problem, you PMSing?"

Before I could come up with a clever reply, he was already snoring again. Patients... gotta love them, right?

December 05

How NOT to drive in the snow

Since some of you are starting to get snow, I thought I would share with you an important lesson I learned about driving in the snow.
One morning, I was running late for a big test and I missed my bus. Everything was covered with ice, with a few inchs of snow on top of that. Since I was in a hurry, and it took forever just to get my car door open (had to chip through the ice), I didn't take the time to clear all the snow off my car. I just cleared a small hole in the windshield so I could see. I turned out of my parking lot and onto the main road, which was still not cleared yet. I thought I was in my lane, when all of the sudden the snow from above my little "viewing hole" caved in, and I could not see where I was going. I stopped the car and jumped out to clear the snow off the windshield. Being the genius I am, I realized I should close my door so the snow wouldn't fall in on my seat. I must have forgotten that my reflex when I open the car door is to hit the lock, and I locked my keys in my running car. "This is not a big deal, I can handle this," I kept telling myself. I was almost convinced that this was true, until I saw a bus coming down the street towards me. I noticed the bus was coming right at my car. "Stupid jerk," I thought. Then I saw the line of cars behind the bus, and I came to an important conclusion: I was parked in the middle of the road.

Now what!? I know, I'll run back to my apartment and get my spare key!! I left my car in the road (the bus did manage to go around me) and ran all the way back to my apartment. Once I got to my door, I realized that I did not have a key to get inside. I pounded on my friend Ryan's door and begged him to drive me to a friend's house so I could get my car key. He reluctantly agreed, and we ran out to his little older-than-me Honda. There was a coating of ice on his car, but we didn't have time to fuss over that. He unlocked his door, pulled up on the handle, and it came off right into his hand. It wasn't too long after he ripped off his passenger side handle too that my roommate pulled in and unlocked the apartment door, allowing me to get my car key and move my car out of the road. Why was my roommate back so soon? Our teacher couldn't make it in and had postponed our test. I thought the whole situation was hilarious, but Ryan, who had to crawl through his hatch-back trunk to get into his car for the next two weeks, didn't seem to find the humor in the situation.
The big lesson I learned: Some days, it is better just to stay in bed. Also, if your door is frozen shut, do not try to force it open by pulling on the door handles. Those do have the tendency to snap right off.

Bleach + carpet = oops

If you feed your cats cheap cat food with orange dye in it, and they throw up on your tan carpet, DO NOT pour bleach on the carpet to get the orange stain out. The result will be a permanent white circle with a pink middle.

Confessions of a Registered Nurse

Sunday, June 13, 2010

December 2005