May I Please Have My Brain Back?

Meet our new toy, Arthur! He took us 3 hours to build!

 I think he wants his brain back! 

Pillow Talk From impactednurse.com

In his latest post over at impactednurse.com Iain Miller talks about pillows. Here is some of what he has to say. To read the rest click on the above link.

In hospitals, pillows are like puffy chunks of white gold.

Almost every patient needs at least one pillow. And many require complicated pillow constructions to pad and support the various broken areas of their anatomy. Or to stop them tumbling out of bed. Or, when the correct amount of pressure is applied,  stop those really annoying patients altogether.

Unfortunately, the worlds pillow resources are beginning to dwindle.

We are always running out of pillows in the ED and are often forced to mount covert pillow acquisition missions to the wards.

They in turn, are forever pinching our own pillows when we transfer patients. 

Yup, pillow smuggling is big business.

Hahaha! Last year my son broke his arm and we began the great pillow shuffle! A pillow from Pambula went with us to Bega then to Canberra along with an extra one stolen from Bega. One of these disappeared into the Canberra Pillow System not to be seen again but we returned home with one small child cocooned in pillows all boldly marked with their supposed owners names. So sorry Canberra I gave your pillow (actually I believe that Royal North Shore may have staked first claim) back to Pambula Hospital as compensation for the one the Ambo’s initially stole. But while it was in my possession it racked up over 3000 kms in the car and came back to Canberra to visit regularly. Maybe I should have added my name to the list before returning it to it’s place in the Great Pillow Shuffle!
Another skill I have noticed around Hospitals is covert wheelchair theft. You park it, you lose it! I got quite good at it myself under the expert tutelage of a Paediatric Nurse who knew all the tricks. Lurking in all the right corridors, knowing who was going to give chase, it all becomes a bit of a game (until the chair goes missing and you have to find another way to get your child mobile).
So what I want to know is - What else gets stolen? And what bizarre measures do you take to get the equipment you need?




Stay Safe - Nurse Wannabe

There's A Veloceraptor In My Shower And Other Reality Checks

I am not really a scatterbrain, I can be a very focused woman. My main problem seems to be that when something gets my attention I focus on it to the point that everything else fades into the background. For example, at the moment I have Medical Terminology assignments to finish, so I have thrown myself into not only completing the course work, but knowing it thoroughly. I have been devoting a great deal of time to it and finding that sometimes I pull my head out of the books and the world seems almost surreal. People speak to you and you almost have to search for the words to reply. Prefixes, suffixes, root words and medical abbreviations - no dramas, 'Would you like another coffee?' - that I can answer, but to actually converse with a person about anything else is hard work and if you want to talk clothes, hair or make-up I am out of here!
This morning I actually wandered into the bathroom to have my shower with my textbook still in my hand. I balanced it on the sink where I could keep reading while I undressed, turned on the shower, stepped in and stood on a Velocoraptor. Then I came crashing back to the reality that is my life! I am not a Medical Dictionary in the making! I am a Mother! I am also a friend, daughter, housekeeper, ex-partner, waitress, photographer etc.....
Last week I put my son to bed with his favourite book (Advanced First Aid) and told him he could read for 10 minutes and then I would be turning off the light. I went back to the computer and started studying. An hour later I remembered my son! Cheeky shit was being as quiet as possible, still reading! Oh well! I haven't forgotten to feed him or pick him up from school yet, so for now I am not going to worry about my occasional mental trips to La-La-Land! He doesn't seem at all worried and lets face it, who else but Mummy is going to diagnose 'Ambo Bear's latest illness or help him fix 'Doggy's pneumothorax ?


Stay Safe - Nurse Wannabe

Red Dirt In My Veins

I have a dream. At best it will take me 10 years to achieve it, but I do have a dream. One day I'll go home!

Reality Check

Back in May I did a little spot check of my progress and was pleasantly surprised, so I decided that another reality check was about due. I have been feeling like life has ground to a halt, but it seems that it is no where near as bad as it feels.

• Beat Pot Habit - Dec - Done
• Put on weight - Steady on target weight since Jan - 1.5 kgs above Target - WooHoo!
• Leave Ex - Dec - Done
• Find a house to live in - Dec - Done
• Leave the cafe I ran with the Ex - Late Jan - Done
• Sort out Tax issues from previous years - March - Done
• Stat test - May - Done
• Human Physiology Class - Started - Done
• Advanced Medical Terminology Course - Enrolled - Start next week  Done
• Quit Smoking - Attempt 1 - Failed - Attempt 2 - Failed - Attempt 3 - Started
• Enroll for Bachelor of Nursing - Awaiting STAT results - Application Submitted
• Transition to Nursing Studies Course - Oct
• Buy a car - Awaiting Tax Return - Done
• Regain Drivers License - Been Ignoring it
• Senior First Aid Certificate - Well and truly expired - Done
• Get Immunisations up to date
• Get voluntary work at local Nursing Home - Paperwork just needs signing Done
• Nursing Student!!

I am getting there!

Crawling Out Of My Cave

Hi Folks,
My apologies for going missing. Life seems to finally be returning to some semblance of normality. Well sort of!
I have not heard from the Happy Stalker for about 4 weeks now and I am starting to feel a little more confident that that issue has been dealt with. My study is going well, with just over two weeks until my final assignment for my Medical Terminology course is due. I finished the last exercise in the workbook this afternoon and did a little happy dance. So now just to finish typing it all up and send it in. Should be able to complete that on time, which has quite surprised me. When I started the course it all looked so damn hard and I was daunted by the fact that I had to learn about 1000 prefixes, suffixes, root words and abbreviations, but completing the final page of the book I was amazed to realize that I had not referred to my cheat notes once. Yeah me!
I have also started Quit Smoking Attempt #3. This time I have gone the Champix option. Well I am on Day 19 and not doing as well as I had hoped I would be but then again I am down from 30+ cigarettes a day to 3-4. I have had pretty much every side effect listed from depression to nausea, but I must say that the strangest side effect has been the dreams (when I do sleep). I have been having the most intense dreams! They have at times been so disturbing that I have taken all day to recover psychologically. But I have stuck with it and it all seems to be settling down now (and I have not amputated any body parts in my sleep for a week now) so I am now more confident that this will work.
Still have not heard back from the Uni about my application, but it is still early for them to be sending out offers, so I am not too worried yet. Give it another month and I will start freaking out. First round offers are officially sent out in Oct, but I was told I would hear well before then. Anyway thanks for listening to me ramble.


Stay Safe - Nurse Wannabe