Friday, August 28, 2009

Pulled…and some good eats!

I had my ninety day review at work on Wednesday, which meant that my “trial period” is officially over.  My manager went over the official checklist, which I personally think is a bunch of administrative mumbo-jumbo, but whatever.  My feedback was basically that I asked lots of pertinent questions (mainly because I have NO CLUE what I’m doing…shhh!), and that I’m progressing well.  I’m “where I should be or a little bit ahead, even,” per my manager.  Soooo I guess that’s a good thing?  Of course I would love to be light years ahead of where I am at the moment, but it’s only been three months, so I still need some time.

Since my ninety days is up, I can officially be “pulled” to another floor.  Basically, this means that if my floor is overstaffed and another floor is understaffed, we can be sent to a different floor to work.  While this is better than being cancelled (and therefore not being paid), it still isn’t so fun.  Annnnnd guess what?  I got pulled on my first day!  Of course. 

I was sent to a telemetry floor, so most of the patients are on heart monitors.  (We don’t have anything of that sort on my floor!)  Overall, it was fine.  But naturally I freaked out when I got there and I had to draw blood right away and I was convinced that someone was going to throw a crazy rhythm or something.  Obviously I was overreacting, but I had finally gotten to a certain comfort level on my floor, and then I was ripped out of it.  I don’t do well with that in any situation.

I broke down at the beginning of the shift, which I hate doing because I hate crying, especially in public.  One of the nurses pulled me into a supply room and told me that she wasn’t going to let anything to happen to me or any of my patients, and that I could ask her all the questions that I needed to.  Half of my anxiety is in not knowing anyone and not knowing who to go to for help, so that calmed me down.  The rest of the night was smooth sailing, and I thanked the nurse who helped me throughout the night.  She reminded me that what I’m feeling is totally normal for the first six months to a year (or two…or three…as one of the other nurses pointed out!), and that I did great and will make it with time.

I just hoped I don’t get pulled tonight!

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As promised yesterday, I have some good eats to share!  I really do love to cook and bake, especially new, tasty things!  On Monday I asked the Rocket Scientist what he wanted for dinner on Tuesday (since I had off!), and he said pesto.  The only time I’ve made pesto was when I studied abroad in Italy one summer and we received cooking lessons.  I looked up a recipe online, which turned out fantastic!  (Not that I can find it now…boo!)  I cooked up some pasta, added some asparagus, grape tomatoes, and chicken, threw on the pesto, and voila!  Tasty tasty:

082809 Pesto and Cookies 002 Yum!  Definitely a keeper.

Post-dinner coma, it was time to cook up some dessert!  I wanted some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, so I did some googling and came up with this recipe from Tammy’s Recipes

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening or softened butter
1/3 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick oats
12 ounces (2 cups) chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Cream butters and sugars in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, stirring until smooth.

2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, and oats. Add to creamed mixture and stir to make a thick cookie dough. Add chocolate chips, mixing with hands if necessary.

3. Roll dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and place on greased cookie sheets. Press to flatten tops. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until cookies are browned and cooked to your liking.

SO GOOD!!!  And it’s healthy because there’s whole wheat flour and oatmeal…right??  Baking in progress:

082809 Pesto and Cookies 005 Mmmmm cookie dough!!  I may have had a few samples…

082809 Pesto and Cookies 008Ready for the oven!

082809 Pesto and Cookies 009Final product!!  I may have eaten this entire plate that night.

Okay, I didn’t eat the entire plate in one sitting, but I could have because they were so good!!  I definitely recommend them if you need a new cookie recipe to try.  I thought that the oatmeal + chocolate chips + peanut butter would be too much of a flavor combination, but it was quite tasty.  Enjoy!

25 comments:

  1. Your pesto and PB Cookies look great! Sorry you had a rough first day on a new floor - I hope things get better soon!

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  2. Dinner and dessert look great! I'd have chowed down on that entire bowl of cookie dough.

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  3. Being in the medical field as well, I feel your anxiety, especially if you aren't in your comfort area. My uncomfortable area is pediatrics, nicu, and labor and delivery. I'm so glad that your coworker lent out a helping hand to you. That was so sweet of her. Your pesto looks so good right now, by the way. I'm starving and would love to have that right about now! LOL

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  4. These recipes look delicious! It is important, as a nurse and runner, to have these types of recipes at hand to make life easier and more manageable.

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  5. Yay for oatmeal cookies made with chocolate chips! I'm def going to have to make them. I can't believe you got pulled to another floor on your first day. I'm sure you're doing a fantastic job.

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  6. Cookies = heaven.

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  7. Yum!! Your cookies look great! I will have to make them soon!! Glad your review was so good! I always hated being pulled too, you are never comfortable away from your "home" so it's normal to feel the nervousness! I'm sure you did great though!

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  8. oooh!!! sorry you got "pulled" ... we call it getting "floated". i ALSO got floated my first day off orientation (the problem with being on a unit that was always overstaffed) and one of my patients went into v-tach! (fortunately his AICD went off, but he was anxious and i was even more so!)

    does your floor have a list of when people are "pulled"? we usually go in order, so the likelihood of going two nights in a row is nil. good luck!

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  9. ahhhh i hate getting pulled, too! we can get pulled to fill in if a resident is sick when we are on 'jeopardy' called. there is nothing worse than getting surprised about having to do what feels like someone else's job. i feel for you!!

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  10. Fresh pesto is so freaking GOOD isn't it? I used to think I didn't like pesto, because I had only had it in crappy Italian restaurants. Nice job making it and not buying the premade stuff!

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  11. Whoa, that pasta looks SO GOOD!

    I can't believe it's been 90 days! It feels like you were just writing about starting. Isn't work so much easier when you feel like you have an ally, someone you can trust? How nice that the other nurse helped you out!

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  12. I'm enjoying learning about the world of nursing from you--the positive and negative aspects. So nice of the other nurse to pull you aside and comfort you!

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  13. Hey! Sorry I've been MIA around here. Been on a trip and then got sick...boo...

    Anyway, sounds like you have a good review! Congrats on that! Getting pulled to a different floor is so scary so I think it's natural to freak out. With time, you'll understand what is expected of you on different floors and it won't be so scary!

    Have a good weekend!

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  14. Years later, & I still hate getting pulled. It's just disconcerting to be in a different environment.

    I'm glad that nurse pulled you aside & talked to you - very awesome.

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  15. Geez, I can't believe they are floating you so early!! Floating blows.

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  16. Ohh I want that cookie dough! (ahem...Cookie...) ;) Pasta looks great too - i need to grab some asparagus before it goes out of season!

    Having worked in a few hospitals I hear ya on the Anxiety thing - it's so hard not feeling comfortable or really "knowing" the staff yet. You'll get there though, and it sounds like your review went really well!

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  17. Thank goodness for kind caring people like that nurse who helped you out! I hope things continue to get better for you..sounds like a really tough job!

    Your pesto looks really good! I tried to make some, but my basil way wayy too bitter, and it wasn't very good. I'll have to make sure I get some sweet basil next time.

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  18. Bah, sorry about the rough day! At least you had some good eats to make up for it!

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  19. I can't think of a better combination then oats, pb, and chocolate. Hope your day got better hun. :)

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  20. A better way to look at it: Instead of being afraid of the patient on the monitor going into some funky rhythm, you can be relieved that you have that information available to you immediately! I mean, if your patient isn't on the monitor and then they start having odd symptoms, you can't rule out anything without tele, hehe! I say, the more monitoring systems in place, the better!!! Hope you had a nice weekend. Ps: I think I might make these cookies either tomorrow or the next day, so thanks!!

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  21. Those cookies look good! What work stress too! Hope you settle into a rhythm, and remember all the good you do.

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  22. Those look amazing. I've made a similar recipe and the combo of pb, oatmeal, and chocolate is awesome.

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  23. That can be normal for 2-3 years?!?! You poor thing. I would NOT do well in that sort of environment (prob a good thing I didn't go into nursing, eh?) Your dinner looks majorly yummy!

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  24. Those eats look good! I'm a sucker for cookie dough FOR SURE. Great job on your review!

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  25. Getting pulled sounds a little bit nerve-wracking. I'm glad there was another nurse there to help you out!

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