The Overdue Blog!

You might call this blog 'overdue' but I prefer to think of it as very sentimental. Exactly 30 days from yesterday I started on my own. So here is my personal evaluation of the past month.

I definitely have learned a lot. Mostly I have been on the orthopedic unit & I must confess that I really like ortho. I am kind of shocked at myself b/c I never would've thought I would like ortho, but I do. It is so amazing to see people with total knee or hip replacements get up and walk the first day after surgery. I find it very rewarding to take care of them b/c they realize how incapacitated they are without that joint(s) and that makes the patients very grateful.

Of course I get my fair share of Med-Surg patients mixed in with the ortho patients. That keeps it interesting. For example, I had a patient who was on the floor for over 20 days, history of dementia/alzheimers, so he was not completely oriented to where he was. He was the most stubborn person-he didn't want to be washed, didn't want to be cleaned after a BM, etc. When I would try to clean him he would try to punch me or scratch me with his 2inch long nails. Fortunately, I only suffered one light punch to the stomach, nothing serious!

One of my pet peves is trying to read the doctor's handwriting. I think I spend a total of 30-90 minutes of my day either trying to read the doctor's handwriting, asking someone else if they can read it, or calling/tracking the doctor down to clarify the order. That is very annoying. I've gotten to the point that when I see a doctor with one of my patient's charts, I will ask him what he is writing for, just to save myself some time!

Overall, it is very rewarding to see myself conquering challenges and troubleshooting problems. I truly believe that the hardest part about being a nurse is learning how to work in the hospital and understanding the way things work. IV fluids are IV fluids no matter where you go, but the process of getting your patient to the MRI lab is different any where you go and it can get very confusing.

I leave you with one small story that I treasure. Two weeks ago I got report on a lady with a left total knee replacement. By the time she got to the floor my shift was ending (of course, everybody loves to send patients at change of shift!) so all that I could do was make her comfortable in her room and make sure all her lines and equipment were running. She was the sweetest little old lady, sooo super nice and kind. I ended up having her as a patient for the next 3 days till she was discharged, so I was with her through every step of her "knee replacement" journey. It was a pleasure to take care of her. Well, she kept saying how much she loved me and how great I was, both her and her daughter kept giving me rave reviews; they even told my manager. Her last day there she gave me the sweetest card, and it had a Wawa gift card for $20 inside -- I wanted to cry. When I went in the room to thank them the patient's daughter said, "You are a great nurse. You have your stuff together." I laughed in shock, and I thought "ME??" I was so surprised and amazed that all the hard work I do actually gets noticed. It is easy to go through a day and not have any of my patients say 'thank you' to me for what I do. I will never forget that patient with her left knee, or the hug & kiss she gave me as she left. Hmmm...maybe this is why I wanted to be a nurse.