Urine output

Can I complain for a bit?

Some days I really dislike my job. (And to be clear, the job I am referring to is my job as a nurse.)

Today was one of those days. Though, as far as bad days go, I've had much, much worse.

But something struck me today. It was just after 1 pm when I received a phone call from a doctor. I was actually in the middle of something. I was trying to get a patient of mine discharged. Up until this point I had hardly sat down. I had charted on only one of my patients, and that was because I was in her room waiting on someone to help me.

This doctor was calling to alert me that he was planning on bringing some orders by in the near future. So that I could keep my eyes peeled for these new orders. That was nice of him, I do appreciate those calls. Then he stated he noticed that no urine output had been charted on the patient. And I stated, "oh, yes I haven't charted it yet, but we emptied 1,400cc." (I should add that the patient was admitted on the Urology service.) I stated that I would chart it a little later. The doctor started to chew me out and say that I needed to chart it now. And did I realize that this patient was a Urology patient and these values are important. As I said before I had been in a patient room, trying to get him discharged. When I got this call, I had stepped out of the room. But unfortunately by this point I was raising my voice.

I told that doctor I was sorry, but hadn't had a minute to chart it yet. And that he would have to wait just like everyone else. I was furious.

The nerve of him. I had told him the value, wasn't that enough? He was implying that I needed to stop what I was doing at that very moment, and chart a value that he now knew. What would me charting it that second change? Nothing. He was on a power trip. And I was not in the mood.

I do not know what ideal world he lives in where I am able to chart everything I do right as I do it. I wish I could, but my patients require my services a bit too much these days. He was implying that I simply did not care about the patient's urine output. And this is not true. I hadn't fully remembered that I needed to chart it. (But I had made a note of it, and knew that when I was able to sit down to chart, that I would remember to do so.) Had the value been critical, I would have called the doctor immediately to let him know. But it wasn't. The patient  had perfect urine output.

I wish that doctor had followed me around today, to see how very busy I was. My legs, as I type this are sore and tired from being used for nearly 8 hours straight. I cleaned up urine and linen about 10 times during my 8-hour shift. Because right as we were finished cleaning her, she would empty her bladder again.

So, I'm sorry Doctor. I hadn't charted that value for your patient. I was busy with ensuring that an elderly lady's bottom did not sit in a pool of urine. I was busy trying to get a cancer patient discharged to his warm, cozy bed at home. To his dogs that were desperate for him to return to them. And I was busy soothing and calming your patient down when he didn't know where he was. All of these things are a bit more important when it really comes down to it.

If you were the one in that hospital bed, you would think so too.

The dog ate my homework...

and other excuses.

Yesterday was the second 5K in the series. Riley slept through it again, thankfully.(a lady who had a two year old and 9 month old in a jogging stroller was not so lucky. They were screaming the whole way.) We finished in 53:49 this time which is 4:41 faster than last time. That was with several stops to adjust ourselves and Riley. I had forgotten my tracker in the car, so I had to run back to get it, and instead of waiting for me at the start line, like I thought my mom would, she and Riley went ahead. I had to run to catch up (which just confirmed that I am terribly out of shape.) I couldn't run the whole way, and by run, I mean a slow jog, and had to speed walk the rest of the way. By the time I caught up with my mom, I was sweating terribly. This time I had long johns on, sweat pants, a t-shirt, a nursing tank top, a sweat shirt, and my winter jacket on. Plus gloves and ear warmers. My mom had also over dressed. So we paused to take off our winter jackets, and put the rain cover on the stroller (it was barely sprinkling, but we weren't sure if it would do more). Without that pause, I think we would have been 2-3 minutes faster.

Today, I had planned on going into work to say goodbye to one of my coworkers who will be working in one of the clinics. I took my shower early on, and did my hair and makeup while Riley slept. I didn't get dressed until later (because he has a way of spitting up on me right after I get dressed.) I started getting him changed into his outfit way before I wanted to leave, because I know how long it sometimes takes me to get out the door. I had him stripped down and was changing his diaper when he peed. I cleaned him up, and was thankful that I hadn't put on his new outfit yet. As I reached for the new diaper, he peed again. This time, it arced up onto his head. I had already given him his bath before I had taken my shower, but now had to wash his hair (for the second time). I am pretty quick at doing this, and had him in his seat and ready to go in no time. I got dressed quickly, and went to get my keys when I realized I didn't have them. Since I didn't want to bring my purse to the 5K, I stored my car and house keys in my mom's van. At this point I was already late. Jamaal has a spare key, so I called him to check where it was. He thought he had it. Turns out he didn't, and called me back to let me know. I eventually found it on the floor in the garage. I ran around the house once I had the key, and left my house 10 minutes before I was to meet everyone. I was a half an hour late. I felt ridiculous as it seemed everything that could possibly go wrong, had gone wrong. I forgot to mention that right after I got Riley in his outfit, he spit up all over it. (Before I had a chance to put his bib on). Since I was already behind, I just wiped it off and left it. I didn't have time to change it, and figured everyone would understand, if they even noticed. It was nice to see everyone, and made me kind of excited to go back to work (though I'd rather not go back at all). I know I need some time to myself, especially since I'm still getting hardly any sleep, and he seems to cry more often than not. He seems to have separation anxiety, and won't allow me to set him down, unless he, by some miracle, stays asleep when I set him down. I sometimes have no idea what to do, and feel like I am failing him as a mother. I worry about his lack of sleeping, and his colic-y behaviors, and what problems they might cause for him later in life.

Thankfully my husband has stepped in several times when my patience are wearing thin. I'm not sure what I would do without him.

Please do not be offended

This post really might offend some people. I apologize in advance.

Something I've learned about having a newborn is what accessories are necessary and what ones aren't. I had 3 baby showers. One with my family and friends, one with Jamaal's side of family and friends (I thought a lot more of his family and friends would come, so I separated them. If I would have known only 9 people were going to go, I wouldn't have separated them. You live and you learn.) and one at my work. I registered at Target and Baby's R Us. For the most part, though, I received clothes.

Don't get me wrong, clothes are necessary, we sometimes go through 3-4 outfits a day. (on a very bad day). But usually go through 2 outfits. Since the outfits are pretty small I usually do a load of all of his clothes and blankets, etc. 1-2 times a week depending on how big the load is getting. I will throw in my nursing bras and camis with his clothes too. Since I use special soap for his clothes, I don't like to waste it (and it smells like him which makes me smile). We have about 10 outfits that fit him right now. Which is just about perfect. I'm glad most people gave larger sizes of clothes. Newborn size clothes were a necessary item for him, only because I had him early. But most newborns don't fit in newborn size clothes for as long as they have fit him.

Clothes are a necessary item, of course. However, when you receive 2-4 (or more) outfits from each person, you begin to have loads and loads of clothes. I have given clothes only as a gift before Riley, and I now know that I will not be doing this again. Clothes are fun to shop for, so I understand the reason for people to want to give clothing, but most people receive second hand clothing as I did, and don't really need a ton of clothes.

From now on, I will limit myself to one outfit, and something else on the baby's registry. Even if it is something as boring as q-tips or laundry detergent. And maybe I won't even give clothes, if I find something  on the registry that is a little bit more expensive that I know was something I wanted/needed right away. Also, if I can't find anything on the registry within my price range, I will give a gift card along with the one outfit I've allotted myself.

Of course I am thankful for any gift we received. I do not judge or disapprove of anyone who gifted several outfits. I have been guilty of this before. And he will look absolutely adorable in each and every one of them. I also know that people do not have to give anything at all, and I am very fortunate to have received any gifts. But if I were to choose between 2 gifts containing clothes and 1 gift of some other necessary item, I know I would choose the latter.

Nearly 25

My DH loves me. A week ago, he gave me a card and a new video game for my birthday. The video game (Final Fantasy XIII) was one I looked at, and nearly bought for myself the day before. (I didn't buy it because I knew that my birthday was coming up and someone might get it for me.) The card was cute, it has a monkey on the front and says "Happy Birthday to my wife!" On the inside there is a boy monkey hanging upside down and a girl monkey looking at him, and says "...the woman I love to monkey around with."

It made me smile.

Friday, the husband installed a fancy radio in my car that has bluetooth in it, so now I can use my phone and drive at the same time. It also plays DVDs...I don't know who he bought the radio for, me or him?? :D I have a feeling I'll be driving a lot more now...

Today, we went and saw Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3-D, and I really enjoyed the movie. The husband thought it was okay, but he didn't really want to see it. I thought they did a really good job.

The only complaint I have is that a couple sat next to me (we sat in the very back row) with a 6-8 month old baby. I'm sorry, but that isn't something I'm okay with. I understand that parents also want to watch movies, but I think an infant would have a better time with a family member for a couple hours.

Or, visit your neighborhood RedBox and rent the movie and watch in the comfort of your own home.

Thankfully the child went down for a nap, after the dad took the babe out of the theater for 20 minutes or so. But still, my belief stands.

On my birthday, my mom, sister-in-law and I will be getting manicures and pedicures and a Free pastry from Starbucks, because it is "Free Pastry Day." Celebrate my birthday, and visit your local Starbucks on Tuesday! :D

I'm starting to feel old....

Economics by Aubri

I want to talk about floss for a bit.

Jamaal and I ran out of floss. And I've been getting by without it. (I mostly forget to floss so I didn't miss the missing floss all that much)

I have decided that it's important for me to floss, and want to do so nightly. But, like previously mentioned. I had no floss.

I went to Costco earlier in the week, and thought "Maybe they have floss here." Thinking it would be strange to buy bulk floss; especially when we are both due sometime before the end of the year for a dentist visit (and with that comes free floss.) I also thought that it would be weird for Costco to even carry it. But as I was making my way to the cashier I saw it. A six pack of floss for....$12.99!

A little over $2 for a thing of floss?? I could not bring myself to spending that much money on floss. I can make floss with my hair or thread for that price!

So, after getting slightly depressed on Thursday night, (we did not sign the papers on Thursday, and therefore had to sign them on Friday which means we won't get keys until Monday or quite possibly Tuesday) I wanted to get out of the house and shop. When I'm depressed I like to buy things. It was stupid to go out, but, I did. I ended up buying a bag of Halloween candy (for us, though not for trick or treaters) and a couple movies and a small bag of popcorn for me to snack on while shopping. Which, I must say, stopped me from buying lip gloss that I was craving to buy. (and the popcorn came with a diet pop to sip on for only $1.75!)

Since I was in Target, I decided to buy some floss. I could not believe the horror that I found there. One roll of floss (that must be made of gold) was $3.49!! I didn't examine it very thoroughly, since I was appalled, but it must floss your teeth for you. "Just tear off a piece, place in your mouth, and in 60 seconds, your teeth will be flossed perfectly! " I could be a millionaire.

Thankfully there was a roll of floss going for $0.99...and I checked, it was the same yardage as the $3.49 roll. I just have to do the flossing myself.

Is anyone else as freaked out by this as I am?? Have you, like me, relied on free floss your whole life, and have never looked at the price of floss?

I imagine that has something to do with the price. It probably doesn't sell very well. So when they do sell one roll, they make a 600% profit (assuming it costs $0.50 to make the roll of floss) on that roll. The profit accounts for the loss they take when they don't sell 6 other rolls, in other words they come up even. (They still make a profit, if they don't sell 5 or less rolls of floss). I'm sure the floss from the dentist office is the cheaply made kind that I know and love, so it probably costs less to make. And so the floss companies can donate more floss to dentist offices with hopes that people like me will run out and have to buy floss at an inflated price.

My theories are probably wrong...I'm a nurse not an economist! But part of me believes I'm partly right.

If you lasted through this post this long I commend you.

Sad day

Well as you all are probably aware, J and I are in the process of buying our first house. We are super excited/anxious/ready to move out of our rental. I've been pressuring the bank to see if we could close early on Sept. 25th instead of the 30th, to give us extra time to paint and get the carpet installed before moving into the new place. Well yesterday I found out that an early close would not be possible. Which was fine, obviously not ideal, but I got over it.

Today I find out that we actually can't close on the 30th either. My loan lady says they are behind by "a couple weeks."

Fortunately, our landlords have not found anyone to replace us yet, so we aren't homeless. We had planned on staying only until Oct. 4th, with prorated rent, but it looks like we'll have to pay all of October's rent at this time.

It is soooo frustrating.

What makes this worse is there is a stipulation in our contract with GMAC (the bank that owns our house), that says if we need an extension, it will cost $100/day. Now J and I think that we should not have to pay since it isn't our fault, but I don't know that the bank we are getting our loan through can help us very much. My loan lady said she would do everything she could to help if GMAC won't waive the fee. (That of course is our first hope.) My realtor contacted GMAC's realtor and asked what we could do to get the fee waived, and they stated a letter saying why there is a delay would do it. So we hope that that is the case.

This $8000 tax credit thing is the reason we are delayed. The bank had a 1000% increase in the amount of loans processing at once. People are rushing to get in a house before November 30th.

J and I wanted to have a Halloween (costumes required) Housewarming party. I hope we can still have that!

Oh how I love to cook on the grill!

Just a mild rant...

Jamaal used to work with a guy named Slavo. He is a mechanic and a very good worker (most of the time). Jamaal made an agreement with Slavo, allowing him to use our garage, to work on a car or two, in exchange for working on a couple of our cars for Jamaal. He did a few of the jobs that Jamaal could do, but didn't want to because of how much work it was.

Well Slavo has been walking all over us. He was showing up at our house at 2 AM, driving loudly up the driveway, that goes right under our bedroom window. Working on cars all night. Revving engines at 4 AM...it was awful. Jamaal told him that "business hours" are from 9 AM to 9 PM. Which Slavo followed for a few weeks, but slipped a couple times so Jamaal told him that he had a month to get his stuff out of our garage, yard, and storage shed.

Now to my rant....

Jamaal has a heater that is powered by propane tanks in the garage. Jamaal made the mistake of telling Slavo he could use it one night when it was really cold. We have two tanks, one for the garage, and one for the barbecue. Well, one day I noticed that the propane tank was missing from the barbecue, and Jamaal said "I told Slavo he could use it, because it was cold out." And of course both tanks were empty. I was upset because I had planned to use it, and so Jamaal was guilted into going out to fill a tank for me.

Well again the other day I noticed the propane tank was gone from the barbecue. The one we had filled for ourselves. This time Jamaal did not give him permission. Well a day or two later, the propane tank that had previously been in the garage was hooked up to the barbecue.

I asked Jamaal if he had done it, and he said, "No." So I asked, "do you think he refilled it and put it back?" Jamaal of course, did not know.

Well tonight I wanted to cook some brats on the grill, and so I opened the propane tank, and lo and behold it was empty! What kind of person takes a basically full tank, and replaces it with an empty one?? I was very upset. Jamaal knew I wanted to use the barbecue, so he had gone into the garage to get the second tank, and stored it in the house. Fortunately it was not empty. But now the tanks will be stored in the house.

Irritations

Things that could drive a person nuts!

1. When people on bikes choose which rules they will follow. For example, they ride in the street, but only obey traffic signals when they allow them to go! If you are going to act like a car (ie, drive in the street) then follow the rules of the car. If you want to be a pedestrian, be a pedestrian (although I'll remind you that it is the law to follow the rules of a car while riding bikes on roads). There is no mixing of the two!

2. When you come out to your car after a long day at work (or shopping or whatever) and the person who parked next to you only barely left enough room for the driver's side door to open. (this happened twice in a row recently, I really wanted to leave a note, they were just rude! I didn't though)

3. When a person passes you on the freeway, only to slow down to 5 under the speed limit. Why people race on the freeway is beyond me. I am driving home, you are driving home. We are both going to win the race, I'll beat you to my house, you'll beat me to yours.

4. When patients' family members use the call light before the patient arrives to the floor. And they want something like shaving cream or ice water or something. As if we aren't already busy...there is a cafeteria downstairs, and a gift shop. I don't mind so much if the patient is there and a family member needs something, but come on now....

5. When people call me Audrey and/or spell my name wrong after I have spelled it out for them!

When it rains

it pours.

Yesterday at work, it seemed I could do no right. I felt like I was swimming in a sea of quick sand, the more I did the deeper I sunk down. By the end of my shift, I was suffocating.

"I'll be right back"s turned into 20 minutes. 30 minutes. An hour or more. The instant I stepped away from one patient another needed me, and while this happens often, it was something urgent or necessary. So a simple, I'll be there in a minute just wouldn't work.

From the worst nose bleed I've ever seen, to the inability to pee (and hurting because of a distended bladder). I was torn up.

I almost cried at least twice. And on my drive home as well.

I snapped at one anxious family member as I was getting 15 million requests all at once: "I'm a little overwhelmed right now. I need to focus on one task at a time." I'm honestly surprised I did not get a complaint out of the deal.

For some people you can only do so much before you want to gouge out your eyeballs and stuff them in your ears.

I thought for sure today would be the same. But it went much better. It was smooth, even with another world record bloody nose.

The difference today was the help I had. Instead of fighting the sand alone, I had many people off shore reaching out to pull me up.

It is amazing how one day can be so terrible, and the next everything goes well. I know at least one of you has felt this way recently.

I cannot, unlike some other nurses I work with, leave work without finishing my charting. Today I left on time. Yesterday 2 hours late. 2 hours extra after working a 12 hour shift. I did get my lunch break, because my lunch buddy took my phone and told me to go eat. (at 2pm, which is very late for me.) Today I had to drag myself out of bed, but I knew I had to think positive to get myself through my second, and last shift before 4 days off. (I requested to not have one of my patients from yesterday today, which made a huge difference.)

One of the contributing factors to my terrible day, is an issue that is plaguing our hospital at the moment. Usually, when patients press their "call bell" a light shows up outside their room, as well as on a monitor that looks like a map of the rooms. The monitor sends a message to the corresponding RN's phone to alert him (or her) that his patient is in need of assistance. For example, Room 6 presses their call light, a second later a light shows up on the monitor over the corresponding room, and a message is sent to the nurse that says "Room 6." Well the monitor got a virus, so that now the lights ring to the monitors, but not to the RN's phone. There are very few computers (for charting) near the monitors, so it is difficult to know when a patient is calling. This also makes the patients and families more difficult, because the call lights stay on for a little longer than usual.

All in all, I'm glad to have 4 days off ahead of my, but I do not look forward to working 5 days in a row next week, 3/5 of those days will be 12 hour shifts. If that isn't bad enough, I have only one day off afterwards....

"When are you due?"

The elderly man said to his nurse.

After she wiped the shocked look off of her face, she said "I'm not."

"Oh, so did you just have a baby then?" he calmly replied.

After looking down to examine her abdomen, and finding herself unchanged, she stated "No, I have had no children."

She paused, then continued "I do have a lot of things in my pockets though" and she shook her scrub top pockets around to emphasize her point. She did not think herself ridiculously overweight. Nor did she imagine that she looked even remotely pregnant, except perhaps if she purposefully bulged her belly out.

He responded with "You're just like me, I always have lots of stuff in my pockets."

He said nothing more on that subject, but went on to talk about something completely unrelated without a hint of remorse or embarrassment.

------------

Nothing like a blunt old man to keep you humbled at 1 am. Oh the things I endure on the job....

Every nurse I told that story to agreed with me: I do not look pregnant, nor do I look like I just had a baby...I give him the benefit of the doubt: it was dark, I did have a lot of stuff in my pockets and they were bulging out a bit, and he is 81 years old...

Support nothing

The other day I went to Leavenworth with a few friends and we saw this magnet on a tow truck:
I was appalled. I really just think it is tacky, and I personally would not call that tow truck company to tow my car after seeing that magnet.

I hope that someone put the magnet on the tow truck as a joke, instead of the company putting it on their truck.

I get that it is a joke, but to me it isn't a funny one.

Underwear gnomes...

My lovely girls seem to think that the best thing in the house to chew on is my underwear! Clean or dirty, they don't care. They seem to love to make them as holey as possible before we catch them with them in their mouth!

It drives me insane! Now I am quickly running out of underwear. I have to go shopping for some once I get paid on friday because it is getting a little ridiculous around here.

Bacardi will pull the clean ones out of the plastic hamper, through the holes! I just don't understand their obsession. Bella does it too, but usually she just licks more than bites, so if I catch her soon enough there are no holes in my underwear. Bacardi, well I might as well throw it out if she has had it for a millisecond!

Sometimes these girls test me...