Only in the south

I was at work the other day, looking at the cafeteria menu, and I thought wow, I don't remember seeing these things on any cafeteria menu before. Things like grilled cheese with tomatoes and bacon, turnip greens, collard greens,and kale. Also lots of smothered stuff and meat with gravy. Of course no breakfast is complete without sausage gravy on biscuits, corned beef hash and baked apples...baked apples, that was a new on on me. Makes me think they are trying to get the staff to become patients with their heart unhealthy diet.
I met a new traveler the other day. I heard from my recruiter that she was coming, she's working night shift. She is living here at the apartment complex I discovered. I think she would have left if she had gone to the hotel they were offering us. It used to be something else and now it's a suburban extended stay...pretty old and dated and no pets allowed. She's really young and it's her first travel assignment. That's what I hate about these travel companies...they don't consider the whole picture. I don't think you should send a young white girl from a small town to an inner city hospital. She was scared to death when she drove up on the hospital...the projects are right down the street. A lot of houses surrounding the hospital are boarded up. She was outside the other night with some other nurses having a smoke, heard what she thought were firecrackers going off...the other nurses put out their smokes and told her to get inside that she was hearing gun fire not firecrackers. Things like that will make her think twice about traveling again. It's a good thing the nurses and other hospital personnel are so nice or she probably would have left by now. Just amazes me how little thought most recruiters put into assigning nurses. This hospital is for experienced travelers who have seen this part of the world before, she needed a little more mellow hospital to start, not the middle of the inner city. Maybe on her next assignment or the one after that this place would have been ok. I'm sure her Mom was not happy about leaving her here after she saw the hospital either. Just glad we found a nice quiet place to live.
Hope all is well in your world....remember first do no harm.

Agency nursing

I am so irritated. Sometimes this agency travel thing just gets to me. I still think it's better than a staff position in the long run but, it can be so irritating. First, this travel agency I am working for seems to be staying true to their word. Just remember to read every line of your contract and you should probably either read it and put it down for a while and pick it back up with fresh eyes or have someone else read it as well. My contract is actually for 14 weeks... I called my recruiter to see if it was a mistake, she said no, it's to help you get all your hours in because sometimes you don't get them all the first week. Well, I did, can I leave a week early? Probably not...so much for this stupid company. They all have their little things, they are all a little different, not always in a good way.
Next, I signed up with Nurse Finders when I got here. I told them where my contract was and they said no problem they had plenty of work for me. I have worked with them one day. It turns out, all the shifts they have are at the hospital I am contracted at and I can't work there for 2 companies. They put me at an adolescent psych facility which is so not where I am qualified to work. Today they called me to work there. I told them fine but I am not going to do a med pass, if that's what they need then I am not going. I don't know if y'all know what a med pass at a psych facility is but let me try to explain. You are locked in a little room with your med book. You have a tray that you put all your cups in and fill them with the meds. So, the checking the name band as a second check and asking their birthday, or even telling them what they are taking is out the window. There is a picture of each person that you put by their cup so you know who to give the pills to. Then you either open a little drive thru type window or open a half of a door and then your announce that it's medication time. They all file up to the door for their pills. Now, they aren't patient, they don't care if it's your first time, in fact, they will mess with you and tell you they are someone else and not take their pills or spit them out just to mess with ya. Also, if one of them goes off and needs a shot or some extra meds, it's the med nurse who administers it. Not to mention the fact that all the doors are locked and you have to watch who is behind you because they will try to escape. So, the agency was not happy with me and won't put me at that facility because I won't put myself in that position. I tried to call and talk with the office manager to explain that maybe they don't understand my position and that I was irritated that they had said they had plenty of work and it turns out that they don't. They said it was my unwillingness to go where they had shifts...I told them I guess I need to find work elsewhere. I am not willing to risk my license for a couple extra bucks.Why didn't they just tell me they couldn't help me when I went there...before they bothered my references, and I spend my time and money to drive to their office and take their tests. It is very aggravating and it seems to happen a lot. It has happened in every city that I have tried to get work except Oklahoma City and Phoenix.
Ok, I'm done, I feel a little better. Just be sure to check the fine print and don't be afraid to ask questions. Remember, the agencies are working for you, you are making them money and don't let them tell you what you can do. Know your limits and stick to what you are comfortable with because they probably won't stand behind you if you get stuck. They are in this purely to make money, we are here to help people and secondly make money. Remember first do no harm.

Life goes on

Hi everyone. I am still here in good old Richmond. The picture above was taken on Virginia Beach last week. The weather was not very good, by the time we got to the state beach, which is the only place we could take our dog, the weather had broken and started to clear up. It was about a 2 hour drive and the state beach was nice. Virginia beach was very commercialized, lots of big hotels and a boardwalk. We were going to try tandem bicycles but the weather kind of killed that idea. A wet butt on a cool beach didn't sound very romantic.

My time at the hospital has keep me sane while I am alone here.My husband went back to Columbus on Sunday last week. The clients are mostly poor or the poor from the nursing homes in the area. A lot of them are in pretty poor shape (otherwise known as a hot mess) and no family or anyone to claim them. It makes code status a difficult subject. It's also hard to decide what all should be done or that really needs to be done...luckily I don't have to make those decisions. I care for all my patients the same. I got a compliment from one of the doctors today on how good my patient looked. She had just been admitted from the ER about 2 hours before. With the assistance of my PCT ,I was able to give her good mouth care and clean and lotion her dry skin. My PCT has taught me just the right combination of things to use on their skin to make them less dry. I also passed on the compliment to my boss and the PCT...give credit where credit is due. I listen to my PCT's and LPN's, especially if they have been there awhile, they know the place and the people better than I do. I know my nursing, a lot of times they know the ins and outs of the hospital and can keep me out of trouble. Not so much trouble I guess as keeping my foot out of my mouth.

I am trying to pick up more shifts but the census is pretty low this holiday week. It's really messing me up having a holidayin the middle of the week. This particular hospital doesn't recognize the 4th as a holiday. They only pay time and a half for Thanksgiving and Christmas...kinda weird.

I pray for a quite time for all you ER nurses, but I know the holiday will bring some interesting times for y'all. Keep the peace and first do no harm.