Birthday Nurse

So instead of 3 shifts this week...1 works just as well for me (though maybe not as good for my paycheck)! I felt 150% better, and survived the night fine, but it was crazy busy. Moved one recovery, blocked my 1cm prime and got chewed by a doctor for an order the previous nurse wrote wrong. I guess "labor epidural PRN " varies from doctor to doctor. I guess maybe I should have called to verify blocking my girl, but most other doctors would holler for double-checking such a standard order. Oh well, the girl went from 1cm-4cm in an hour after her block, so I felt justified. Then she stayed at 5cm for most of the night, then went to complete and was pushing when I left. I delivered another gal who came in contracting on her own and delivered 3 hrs later. She SROM'd in the middle of her epidural, that was exciting, then pushed great and here was baby! All that after all I was going to do was "put her on the monitor." I should have learned that if you're the 1s...

Called in sick again for work tonight, figured better to not risk it since walking down the hallway to get a drink wears me out. So I was scheduled for 3-in-a-row, and now it looks like I'll only be working the last 1 of them, then I was already scheduled for 7 days off. I feel like a slacker, but I knew there was NO way I could keep up tonight, and I'm still running a low-grade fever. I know everyone gets sick, but I can't remember the last time that I really got hit with something. I really, really, really hate being sick! I think it's my "controlling" personality coming out, ' cuz being sick isn't something I can control. So I've been in bed all day, I am bored out of my mind but don't have the energy to do much besides lay here. I really hope I get some kind of energy back by tomorrow night, I am DETERMINED to work at least one of my shifts this week!

The only thing worse than going to work when you don't feel good is going to work, getting nauseous, having to rush out of a patients room to puke and then coming home and puking all night. I've been in bed all weekend and hadn't really thought it was anything more than a sinus infection. I never felt sick to my stomach, never felt anything more than just stuffed up with a sore throat. But as soon as I got to work...uh-oh. At least I just had a cervidil that was supposed to come in at 2000, so I seriously sat in a chair, drank 2 full water bottles and tried to focus really hard to get my nausea to go away. Seriously, I can take a stuffed nose and a sore throat, but if there's one thing that bothers me about being sick it's puking. I hate it with a P-A-S-S-I-O-N. So luckily they were able to call someone else in and I feel like a horrible person because I left her with lots of things not done. I had a triage that I hadn't had a chance to chart on, and hadn...

You know you need a break from work when... *I took 2 Advil this morning and the first thought that crossed my mind was "I need to remember to chart this!" Sheesh...

I don't think there is ever gonna be a shift where I don't do something I've never done before. Last night it was actually "starting" someone on mag, with the 4gram bolus and then the 2gram/hr thing. I've heard too many stories about people forgetting to change the pump rate after the 4grams in 15minutes when they hang the "big bag" and send their patients up to ICU because of respiratory failure, so I was a little nervous. The awesome day shift nurse helped me roll the patient out of the OR and get everything straightened out and the mag started and the paperwork organized and stuff before she left. So I had a fresh section on mag and the patient wasn't one of those who I would call "stoic", actually quite the opposite. This was about her 7 th admission in the last 2-3 months of her pregnancy for various things, but when she got hit with the PIH she got hit hard and really was sick, so even though she was only 33 wks it was a good ...

MUCH better than Tuesday night :) I had a gal who was on Mag for pretty bad PIH . 24-hr urine, then cervidil , then pit...and she was finally complete. She also could barely open her eyes or talk to us b/c of the mag. So the mag got turned off, we labored her down for about an hour, then we pushed for about an hour and a half and had a baby. Poor girl, I really wasn't convinced that she was gonna be able to push a baby out because she was pretty out of it, but she did awesome, and the last half hour or so she actually was 1/2 way on the same planet we were on. I guess that would be the way to do it, be half out of it during the hardest part then come back to reality right before delivery. She and her husband were really sweet. She was pretty alert the rest of the night, even after we turned the mag back on post-delivery and said several times how she thought it was funny how we had kept asking her to "open her eyes and talk". She said she could hear us, but just couldn...

When at 1915 I wondered out loud if it really was only "7:15?" I knew it was gonna be a long night. My poor, sweet patient didn't speak english , but everyone was expecting her to deliver since she was 7cm at 1830. Well after 3 hours of pushing + vacuum, she delivered at 0240. I just got my new Dansko's yesterday, and wore them for the first time last night. After seriously being on my feet for all 12 hours, my feet are a little sore...those are high arch supports! But, I think they'll feel better tonight. Anyway, it was just a rough night all around. Everyone seemed to come in a little on eggshells, they closed down our parking garage and turned it into "visitors/doctor" parking (so now I'm gonna have to scrape frost in the morning!). I realized AGAIN, what a difference working with "team players" can make and the importance of having SOMEONE open for triage. I pray that the new unit that we're working on has a triage/antepartum uni...

Ask me why I'm blogging at 0430 am on Saturday morning and the answer is simple...I CAN'T SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT ANYMORE TO SAVE MY LIFE! I'm wondering if it would be better to just not sleep when I get home from work and stay up until the next night so I can sleep, but I don't think I could do that. I'm so exhausted on my nights off anyway that I sit down and fall asleep at like 8 or 9 and then sleep wake up bright eyed and bushy-tailed at 5am (or earlier...like 130 this morning...). This isn't cool anymore! Anyway, so I worked Thursday night. I'm slowly moving things from my "never seen/done" list to my "I've at least seen it/done it once" list. Thursday I added my own personal mag/pit delivery and my first vacuum delivery to my "once" list. It was a little overwhelming at shift change ' cuz she was hurting and puking, etc. But I always seem to get overwhelmed at shift change, so once I sucked in a couple deep breath...

Work 2 nights...off 1 night...work 2 nights...off 1 night...work 1 night, and I'm supposed to remember what DAY it is? I think not. I just finished the 2nd set of 2 nights working, am going to sleep my one day off, and then am back tomorrow night. I've done pretty good I thought. I did one vag delivery of a poor gal that had been there for 2 weeks with PPROM and her fluid finally got pretty low and shew as >36 wks so they induced her. She said I was the nurse at the top of her list when she realized she was going to deliver on the night shift. I don't know if she was just saying that, but it made me feel really good! Nice delivery just about an hour into my shift too :) As I'm just starting her recovery (hadn't even left the room yet...) I got a page that my cervidil was in her room and waiting for me. I didn't know I was going to be doing a cervidil ! Oh well. It just took me a few minutes to settle myself down, get her on the monitor, check her, page th...

This waking up at 5am after 4 hours of sleep is really getting old really fast...grrrrr. Maybe if the vivid nightmares about decels and other L&D disasters would go away I could quit trying to force myself to wake up to make them go away!

I really never thought I would never complain about an ante assignment...but tonight I didn't mind! I had 3 patients all night, but they all slept and I didn't break any of them, so that was ok by me. It made the night go a little slow, but after we had a 38week unknown IUFD walk in and deliver in 30 minutes it was a good thing there was a nurse to help take care of paperwork, etc. So I did a big part of my 2 nd DIU in a short period of time. I hate those! This one was really sad, she had been to the office early in the week, had good heart tones and then tonight there just weren't any. When the baby came out it was pretty obvious that he had been dead for several days just from how he looked. I really wonder if it's sunk in yet. Mom and Dad were making phone calls and seemed so unaffected by it. I don't think I saw either of them cry. I would have lost control. I worry about them when they get home. I know some people just don't show grief, or don't sho...

I think I need new shoes. My feet and legs are seriously killing me. They ache and just hurt! Maybe it's because I didn't really sit down for 12hrs, but I think new shoes are a big part of it. Anybody have any suggestions for some real "nursing shoes" vs tennis shoes? Where to get them, brands that you recommend and how much I can expect to pay for them? Anyway, good shift back after a blessed 4 days off. I didn't get called at all to come in extra since last Sunday, and that's a good thing, I needed a break. I walked into what seemed like a cluster at 1830 last night, with a hurting IDDM whose sugars were dropping and of course it was shift change. Brother...but after her sugars got better and she didn't hurt so bad, she relaxed a little bit. I felt bad for her, first time mom, don't think she really had any idea what labor was really gonna be like and was hurting pretty bad and not changing. One of the first things she said to me was "they...

115hrs at work in 2 weeks is a few too many I think...but I'm excited to see my paycheck this weekend! 2 full shifts of holiday pay for Christmas night and New Years night, plus all the time-and-a-half pay for extra shifts! Bye-bye school loans...or a least a chunk of them! I wanted deliveries, and I got them! 3 deliveries in 2 shifts is pretty good for a night nurse, let alone me! So I was happy. I went in a hour early for one of the day nurses last night, so I took over a labor and she delivered close to 0100, so moved her out about 0300, did one triage and saw the first day nurse walk in and I clocked out at 0640 and headed home! Thank goodness I have 4 days off now, I think I need them, just to take some breaths and sleep through some nights (ya right) and be ready to go back and not feel like I'm dying. I got to play with my baby from last night that caused me all the problems. He is SO cute! He sure doesn't look big enough to break his mommy's tailbone! I guess he...

I must have a really, really sensitive conscious. They called me tonight while I was walking through the mall and said they were desperate for help again. I told them no because I've worked every night but Wednesday this week...but then about 20minutes later I called them back and they still hadn't found anybody, so I went in...and just got home about 0830. I'm pooped... Yesterday when I was wishing for babies...I got 2 of them last night. I took a SROM that had been there all afternoon who was still 2-3, she was doing great, I liked them, we were bonding...then another SROM came in and I ended up taking her back for a section partly out of her choice (she was "thinking" about a VBAC ...) and partly because baby looked like poop. So I handed out my first patient to her 4 th nurse of the day and took the new SROM to the OR. I circulated her section, then they called another nurse in and she came in just as the doc was closing the skin. So she finished the recov...

6hrs Sunday night, 12 hours Monday night, 12 hours Tuesday night, NO hours Wednesday night, 12 hours Thursday night, 3 hours Friday night after a desperate phone call for help. I am so ready for ONE night off before I go back to work! Really, I love my job, I just feel like I have lived at this hospital this week! I'm kinda getting in a mood for a delivery too. I haven't done a delivery since I caught my baby, and that was the only delivery that I've done off of orientation. I've had ante's ALL week, and just cervidil's before that. I'm starting to worry that I'll forget how to do a vag or a C/S delivery pretty soon! I broke the complete previa girl last night who hadn't bled since several days before Christmas and she bled a little last night. Poor girl, she called me and you could tell she was scared out of her mind. It's wasn't a big gush, but there was definitely blood on the pad. I don't know what they'll do or how long they...

Ok, my one night off, and it's gonna be after 0200 before I'm in bed! What is wrong with me? I could have fallen asleep the moment I got home from the gym about 2000, but now I'm going strong! Right after midnight everyone else headed to bed, I organized my CD's, cleaned up my room, and now I'm trying to convince myself that I'm sleepy and need to go to bed! This is my first night off since Saturday night, and it seems like it's been a long week! Maybe it's because one of those shifts was extra and I know that I still have one to go this week. But they've been good shifts, and I haven't completely broken any patients yet, so I keep going back to try again...haha! It seems like this week between Christmas and New Years we have triaged the entire pregnant population of the surrounding 250 miles! It's been one person in after another! I think I did 3 or 4 admissions/discharges myself last night! It strikes me as slightly humorus when a 23wkr com...