Wednesday, September 23, 2009

IV Master

if you need an IV, i’m your girl

Instead of working a normal shift tonight, I went to the hospital’s pre-op area to practice starting IVs all day.  People who are having outpatient surgery show up about an hour and a half before they’re scheduled for surgery, and a nurse starts an IV, draws any necessary labs, goes over the pre-op checklists, etc.  Basically, I got to start IVs on a bunch of people.  Let’s just say I was at 100% for the day!  I got each one on the first stick…woo!  However, I must say that these people have much better veins than some of the people we see up on the floor.  Since they’re coming and going from surgery in the same day, they’re generally a little bit healthier.  My confidence is still up, however!  This area of the hospital is MUCH less stressful than the floors, and it’s easy to see why older nurses work there after working at the bedside for so long.  I could see it getting old day after day, but it was definitely a nice change of pace.

mercy

As I blog, I’m watching the new nursing/medical show Mercy.  While I was slightly annoyed that the first five minutes of the show included a patient yelling about “stupid nurses,” I haven’t really seen enough to form a real opinion.  I identify slightly with the new grad nurse, who one review says she looks like she’s never been in a hospital.  For the record, I looked like a deer in the headlights for at least the first two weeks of orientation!  It doesn’t help that I look twelve.  I may not watch the show on a regular basis (since, you know, I’m usually working now!), I may tune in now and again.  I think that the media plays a huge role on how the public views nurses and the medical profession in general, so I think it’s important to tune into shows that have a nursing emphasis.  One of my patients today asked if the three little bubbles in her IV tubing would kill her like she saw on TV last week.  (The answer is no.)

i love me some leftovers

Over the weekend, I made some a Black Bean Tortilla Casserole, compliments of allrecipes.com.  (Love that site!)  Anyway, this is a quick and easy recipe and makes for awesome leftovers…especially when you’re cooking for one.  :)  I probably should have halved the recipe, but I’ll be happily eating it all week!

092009 Black Bean Taco Casserole Mmmm fresh out of the oven!

092009 Black Bean Taco Casserole (3) My slice with some tomatoes and green onions on top!

injured reserve

Took another day off from running.  It hurt while walking around at work and going up and down stairs, so i figured another day would be a good idea.  Maybe tomorrow…

I’ve thought about getting a foam roller…maybe that would help loosen me up a bit?  No clue.

randomness

Sorry about the randomness of my posts lately…I kind of like the variety, and I hope you do too!

12 comments:

  1. Gah, I love black beans! Luckily I have good veins and have never had a bad experience getting blood work done or anything (knock on wood). I've heard a lot about people using foam rollers, but don't have one and haven't ever tried one. I'm really curious though! Thanks for your comment the other night, it helped a lot reading it. Quarter life crisis going on over here for sure!

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  2. I DVR'd Mercy tonight and am looking forward to watching it! Dinner looks great! And I love the randomness:)

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  3. I NEEEED to get a foam roller. We had them where I worked this summer and I used it oh so much. It was the most amazing/painful few minutes of my weekly routine. Rolling out my shins and IT band=ACK!!! Rolling out my neck and back=amazing! The only one we have in our school gym is 40 years old and is brown (orig. white). Anyways, it's like an inanimate masseuse.

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  4. yummm that looks delicious!!

    get a foam roller!!! they are the BEST :) speaking of which, I should go roll right now!

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  5. i WISH i was an IV master! congratulations on 100% -- that is impressive!

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  6. I used to be an IV master as well...all the hard sticks on babies came to me...now, not so much!

    I totally chuckled when you mentioned your patient asked about stuff he saw on TV because that happens to me ALOT. People ask me about the wierdest things they saw on HOUSE or ER or something and then wonder if it's possible they may have the similar thing. Ah not really...

    Missing your running updates so get well soon!

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  7. The casserole looks good!

    You should be my nurse. :) I always get stuck and poked looking for veins. I'm sure you have a much nicer touch, haha.

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  8. I am happy you had a better day at work :)

    I hope your shin starts to feel better soon! Did you find anything else out about what kind of shoes to wear at work?

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  9. Yum that casserole looks good! I wish I had the motivation to cook delicious things like that! Sorry to hear about your not being able to run. Foam rollers usually help me. They're no fun, but they tend to work.

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  10. I actually interviewed for one of those positions in a surgi-center. If I could work day shift, I'd be ALL over that.

    I watched Mercy last night too. The main character's self-destructive husband-cheating behavior is so much like Nurse Jackie on Showtime - it was like watching the same show (complete with funny sweet graduate nurse).

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  11. I watched Mercy too and was once again disappointed in television with their portrayal of nurses and medicine. I loved how in the beginning, a patient codes and they don't even bother with cpr, they just "shock" him once and then wheel him down the hall because he was all better. yeah, who needs air? The other thing that irks me about all these medical shows is the fact that all the nurses have doctors as bosses. Um, no. In every hospital in the US, nurses have bosses who are NURSES. It is so ridiculous!!!!!lol

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