Lessons Learned.

So I MAY have slacked a little on my blog posts. Sorry! I really have been super busy lately though! It's been almost a whole month! EEK! No excuses. This one will be long and strong. I'm gonna discuss some things I've learned since being out of school.

Here's the great thing about being out of school, when I come home from work I don't have to worry about homework or have that residual guilt from not spending every spare moment studying, reading, or doing paperwork. However, even though I don't have all that to worry about, it's still hard to find spare time to do things I always thought I'd have time to do after school. For example, scrapbooking! I have so much stuff to scrapbook with but I have yet to even get it out of storage. And all of those great DIY crafts I've found on pinterest... well I did one. I made a Halloween wreath! That's it though. =/ I have big plans for these things though and I'm hoping those plans dont' just stay plans!

Lesson #2 I've discovered after graduation: You definitely appreciate having a brand new car more when you get older. As I told you earlier, I wrecked my car Lucy a few weeks ago and she was totaled. =[ So I had to start looking for another car which will be part of lesson #3, but we'll get to that. Anyway, when I was 16 my parents got me a brand new car and I loved it! I was definitely thankful and appreciative, but I took it like any other 16 year old would have taken it, "Oh a new car! Cool!" Well, I got a brand new car to replace Lucy, and I've named her Lola.

 

Isn't she pretty? The car of course! Anyway, so driving Lola made me realize that having a brand new car now is a much sweeter experience than when I was 16. The new car smell alone gives me this tingly feeling. It also makes me very paranoid of other drivers, I'm scared they'll hit Lola and I'm constantly thinking, "NOT MY BABY!" Hopefully that part will wear off after awhile because my anxiety is ridiculous!

 

 

Lesson #3? I always assumed shopping for a new car would be awesome... the truth is it sucks! It's so stressful and toward the end I felt like saying screw it and just buy the cheapest piece of crap I could find. But it all worked out well and I'm very happy with Lola.

 

 

So Lesson #4 is finally something new nurse related. One of the most important things I've discovered about being a new nurse is how important it is to have a nurse buddy, or a couple in fact. Not just people you like that you work with, true blue friends. People who have your back at work, people you can rant to without fear of them spilling to others, people you want to hang out with outside of the hospital. Luckily I have a few of those, even one who is a fellow new graduate nurse. I don't even want to think about what my stress level would be if I didn't have my nursing buddies...

 



Lesson #5... you'll get there. When I first started working I had this panic that I would never be comfortable truly being on my own, without that preceptor or instructor backup. I was scared I'd be stuck in that nursing student mind set forever. However, the last month, and especially the last couple of weeks I'm finally finding my independence. I'm getting more comfortable making decisions and having faith in myself that they're the right ones. Now don't get me wrong, I'd probably still shit bricks right now in an emergency, I even have nightmares about it, but I'm getting there and you will too!

I promise I will try really hard not to make my next post take so long! :)

The Art Of Smell

So if you've been a nurse for any amount of time at all, you'll notice that your sense of smell is ridiculously useful. For example, most people know the smell of feces... HOWEVER, nurses know what c.diff feces smells like. For those of you who have never smelled c.diff, then you are the blessed for sure.

Another example is something that I heard yesterday. We had a laboring patient come in saying she was having pains, when we checked her she was 9 and pretty much having the baby. Mass chaotic erupted then and it was less than 30 minutes I'd say before the baby was born. One of the girls was telling me that her vagina had a different smell. A quote, "not your normal nasty vagina smell, this was a different funky vagina smell".  You know that you're a L&D nurse when you can distinguish the smell of hoo-hahs. Turns out the patient tested positive for several drugs, but that's a whole other story for a different post... One day, when I have time to rant I'll discuss how bad the issue of drug head preggo's piss me off.

So anyway, there's another time smell plays a strong impact on your nursing skills, not just assessment either. In the case of extremely smelly vaginas or bodies for that matter, you are more on game with your skills because you definitely don't wanna lag around and experience that smell any longer than necessary. For example, my catheter skills are most on point when I know I'm going to have to hold my breath for an extended amount of time. Not to brag, but I can get a catheter in place in less than 2 minutes without ever breaking sterile field. Just sayin. :)

Living the Eeyore Lifestyle Lately

So if you have ever watched Winnie the Pooh, which I'm hoping you have or you have truly missed out on your childhood, you're familiar with Eeyore. He is the adorable donkey who has this very down and out lifestyle. Everything always seems to be happening to him, even at times a single rain cloud hovering over his head.

For whatever reason he was always my favorite, which is strange since I've always been told I have this very bubbly, upbeat personality. Opposites attract I guess. The point to this rambling is that lately I've been feeling very sorry for myself because of everything that's been going on. Very much of an, "oh bother" attitude. I think I mentioned that my landlord is a little rude to me, and by little I mean a lot. Moving to the new apartment has been stressful because of that and also all the extra costs that you don't realize when you're a first time renter. I'm officially broke as a joke. I really haven't had the chance to enjoy my new nice paychecks like I thought I'd be able to. =[ Being a new nurse is stressful! But I still love my job, even though some days I feel like I have no brain left to function with. Also, I was in a wreck on Saturday. Thank God no one was hurt, and the only scratch I had was a chipped tooth from the airbag. It could have been so much worse and I was very blessed. The bad part is though that it ended up totaling my car. I had to say goodbye to Lucy, who I have had since I was 16, and I won't lie and say I didn't get emotional about it. Now I have to somehow find the money in my budget to get a new (more than likely used) car. Then I've had a lot of stress in my personal life too and I'm just feeling very overwhelmed and as if the world is coming down on me from all sides.

Well time to suck it up, Whitney. The world isn't after me and I live a very blessed life. This mopey attitude is officially gone and it's time to get back to the things that mean the most to me. God, Family, Friends, and my Health. Finally started back running and I'm not going to let any excuses get in my way.

So anyway, enough of that. Let's get back to nursing.

I love surgeries. If I could do it all day I would. Thursday was an INSANE day at work. We had deliveries back to back to back to back to back. And then a few more later that day. We're a relatively small hospital and to say this was a hectic day is the big understatement I can imagine.

The first c-section we had that morning was awesome. By awesome I mean bloody and crazy and hectic. I don't wanna give too many details, but this woman ended up bleeding a lot more than expected. The baby got stuck and vacuums and forceps ended up being used. It was crazy to see and the staff handled it perfectly. We did have an "OH SHIT" moment when the vacuum popped off once and went flying. It sprayed blood EVERYWHERE, hit the girl assisting right in the face (thank God for masks and eye shields), there was a PA student observing who had a big splash on her hat that she was completely clueless about... It was great and I was snickering behind my mask the whole time.

I've also had my first 'issue' with a doctor lately. I would like to think I'm good at a lot of things. Since starting L&D though, I'm especially great at catheters. Every patient gets one pretty much, and I've been the one doing them all pretty much. So I've gotten really good and really quick at it. Apparently one patient had some blood in her urine, however she's had a history of UTIs, and happened to have a lot of issues with her birth. When the doctor saw her urine though she said, "She's probably had some trauma, the new girl put her catheter in and she struggled with it a little bit." Excuse me? I think not. I think placing blame on others is ridiculous but it's something I'm gonna have to get used to. My job is to provide great care and be a patient advocate and that's exactly what I'm going to focus on. I love all the other doctors, they're great and really care so I'm just going to brush this off... this time.

Anyway, I work the next 3 so I probably won't blog again this weekend. I finally have internet and cable though so blogging is MUCH easier now! :)

Freaking Out...

There's so much I wanted to write! I hope I remember everything!!!

Let's start with my apartment:

I love it! It's gorgeous and way too big for just me and Harlow (3br 2ba) but I couldn't pass it up. The landlord is a major bitch though. =\ But I figured I wouldn't ever be able to find another apartment like that, that's pet friendly and has such awesome neighbors. One is a fellow OB RN on my shift that I love and the other is one of my OB doctors. Who is a genius, but also reminds me a lot of Ben Stein. "Beuller... Beuller..."

As for how the apartment looks, it's empty. Still. I have my bedroom set and the two ugliest couches you can imagine. And that's it. No, really. That's it! At least my kitchen is pretty and fully prepared. That's the most important room anyway. I'm working on it though, about to make a big purchase in a few hours. A TV. I'm nervous! This is a big deal for me. I'm taking moral support lol.

Also, I'm in love with my job right now. My favorite thing has to be c-sections. The bloody awesomeness of them, how crazy busy/fast paced it is, feeling like I have an important role... I can't imagine ever getting bored of it. I got to help clear the uterus of clots the other day and it was amazing. You stick your fingers up the vagina and then apply firm pressure to the fundus and it pushes all the afterbirth out. Which happens to include giant liver sized clots sometimes! If this sounds disgusting to you, then never become an OB nurse I guess.

I also have been mostly independent lately. I'm really starting to feel like a nurse. I know what I'm doing and I'm starting to gain that confidence in myself.

I actually had two nursing students today and I loved it as well. I can definitely see myself being a nursing professor one day. I love how eager they are and I love seeing how excited they get when things finally click for them. It was super weird not being the one who was the student though!

Until next time! :)

I'm like an adult and stuff...

I officially have an apartment. My very first one! I'm kinda sorta majorly pumped about it. Right now my drive to work is about 50 minutes. This is absolute torture when you're working 7a-7p and you're not a morning person. I'm pretty much a zombie in the mornings. But anyway, my new apartment is only 5 minutes from the hospital! Yay!

Here's the thing about getting an apartment though, down payments are the devil! Not only is there one for the actual apartment, but then you have water, electricity, etc. I spent more money than I care to discuss. However, I do feel like I should be singing, "all the women who independent THROW YOUR HANDS UP AT ME!" I'm really looking forward to this stage of my life. Not the moving process though. =/ 

I did find out one of my neighbors happens to be an OB doctor on my floor! He's super sweet and his wife is baking me an apple pie as a housewarming gift! How adorable is that?!? My other neighbor is a nurse I work with that I LOVE! 

Here's another thing for all you nursing students, 6-8 hour clinicals go by SO MUCH SLOWER than 12 hour shifts when you're an official RN. Unless we have no patients, work flies by. So since I worked tonight and the next two days, please pray for a constant stream of preggo ladies! 

Short post I know, I promise a better one next time!

The Good, The Bad and the... oh my God what the hell is that?!?

First of all let me say that I know everyone is unique and special in their own way. Okay, now also let me say that there is no reason anyone's vagina should look like some of the ones I saw yesterday. It was obviously national "Gross Vagina for Whitney" day, because if it was nasty and in a 20 mile radius I examined it. Needless to say that when I got home yesterday I scrubbed my entire body for 30 mins straight and then went to bed. This is why you didn't get a post from me.

Anyway, besides the obvious, yesterday was a rough day for me for a few other reasons. It is really hard to keep excellent bedside manner when you want to slug the person you're providing care for. Not only was this one girl "Jane" positive for a drug screen, she was a total bitch as well. I was already perturbed because of the drugs, but I was doing my best to fake it and then she started the flinching and moaning. She flinched and moaned with her IV when I just put my hands on her, NO NEEDLES INVOLVED YET! She also flinched and moaned with the catheter when I was just cleaning her with cotton swabs. It was hard for me to keep my cool but I did and I tried to treat her as well as every other patient I had. But let me tell ya, it was rough.

Then we had decided a c-section an hour before change of shift. I had to stay 40 minutes over, no big deal. The good thing was that this was my 2nd time as circulating nurse in the OR and things went swimmingly. :-)

Today was slooooooooow. As in, no patients on the floor slow. But I practiced scrubbing and donning my surgical gown and gloves about 47294 times. So hopefully, I'll get to assist the next c-section. That looks super fun, with the blood and pulling on the abdominal tissue! I'm pumped! I'll keep you updated. Night guys!

I'm Late, I'm Late!

But it's better late than never, right?

So I was a little exhausted Wednesday, and pretty much comatose yesterday. =/ Sorry! But the good news is I didn't harm or kill a mother or baby! Yay! Wednesday was slow but still crazy. Being a new nurse is hard, but being a new specialty nurse is ridiculous. There's so much to learn, and I'm not talking about the stuff you learn in school. The computer system at my hospital is ridiculous. You chart some things on one system, and other things on a different system. Neither one is easily navigated either.

Then there's the whole doctor situation. Who wants you to call for what situations, and who never wants you to call unless it's necessary. Who is nice, who is super strict, and who's a bitch... This carries over to the anesthesiologists, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, etc. I attempted to learn all the names for the surgical instruments, and although I got it after about an hour, it's still not second nature like it should be. You have your hemostats and Kelley's, whose only difference is about an inch in size, and you have your Allis and Kockers (pronounced Coke-ers, and of course I called them COCK-ers all day), and then you have Penningtons and Bronks. This is just some of the clamps, let alone all the scissors and tweezers you have. Sheesh.

Thursday I actually got to be the circulating nurse during c-sections. That's just gonna take practice, to anticipate what the doctor needs or where you need to be. I did get to play with the placenta though, and the doctor was amazing when it came to taking the time to teach me things. Crazy enough, my first ever c-section patient happened to be an old school friend of mine who had moved away in middle school. It was really cool to share that experience with her and it definitely cemented that OB is where I wanna be. A few more births thrown in, LOTS of IVs and Foley's, and even my first few vaginal exams thrown in pretty much sums up the last two days. Let my clarify that I was the one doing the vaginal exams, not having them done to me. ;) Basically, I've spent hours staring at vaginas as if they're the most fascinating things in the world. Really though, with the things that they do, they pretty much are. And the blood associated with births... I love it!

AND FINALLY, I got my very first paycheck yesterday! It was only at my base rate (no shift differential), only for about 26 hours (because of my orientation classes), and almost 100 dollars in taxes and 401(k) taken out, but still! It's pretty nice to have my first big girl paycheck. I literally have a list on my phone for things I want to buy!

Later guys!

One Week Down

Yep, that's my special, super duper, awesome and all powerful ID badge...

Well I'm officially done with my first week! All of the orientation paperwork is done, thank goodness! I'm pretty sure if I had to sign my name and the date one more time I would have lost it. Or developed carpal tunnel and I'm pretty sure I don't qualify for worker's comp until after my first 90 days. =[ Anyway, all of the stuff was boring but my hospital really tried to make the last 4 days as bearable as possible. I'm sure every hospital will make you do this, but at least you're getting paid for having your eyes gloss over and drool slip out the side of your mouth.

Today was like the rest, except I had a fetal monitoring class for 2 hours. I was intimidated going into it, but after a little bit I discovered it was everything I already knew. Actually, I felt like a real nurse for the first time because I knew exactly what the doctors were talking about and anticipated some of their responses. :) I also got my first experience of a nurse-doctor 'misunderstanding" at this hospital. Things got a little heated, and I was left exchanging "awkwarddddd..." faces with the other new girl. It was resolved relatively easily though.

I start on the unit Wednesday, and the nice thing is my director gave me everyday off until then so I can be on the right rotation! That's right, 5 whole days of being utterly useless is in my immediate future. I met my preceptor today as well and she's about as nice as I could have imagined! So excited to work with her and from what everyone has said she's a fantastic nurse! If there's one piece of advice I can give you it's to get a great preceptor. That applies to nursing students as well as baby nurses. I was blessed to have the best NICU preceptor you could possibly imagine in school and now it looks like my new one is going to be awesome as well. If you don't have a good preceptor, then let your director (or instructor) know! They can switch you around if you honestly feel you're not getting a good experience. Your preceptor is setting the tone for you and it's really important that you start off with a good experience! Be your own advocate as well as your patients'!

I'll be spending the next 5 days doing nothing, so I'll update y'all Wednesday after my first day! Have a good weekend! :)

First Day!

Oops! I almost forgot...

So... My first day started off great! Someone surprised me with breakfast in bed! 😃 I spent the night with my friend, because he lives 45 mins closer to the hospital than I do. Then I go downstairs this morning to discover that my curling iron and my straightener are both at my house, and I have NOTHING to fix my hair with. PANIC! Boys will not understand the severity of this, but I know the girls will. It's your first day at a new job, you want to look your best. Also, my badge photo was to be taken today and how can I have bad hair on the thing that will be hanging from my scrubs for all of eternity? Besides that, I had photo ideas of myself in my scrubs, with my new badge, etc. to post on Facebook. Somehow, I managed to make my hair look somewhat presentable and made it on time!

Here's what they don't teach you in nursing school: how to make life decisions about 401(k)s, insurance, and tax deductibles. I fully believe there should be a class about this because I was definitely unprepared for the onslaught of decisions and paperwork I had to do today. I wish I could tell you something really exciting happened, but I can't. I spent 8 hours today filling out forms and signing my life away. The next three days are all apparently worse. :( Pray for me...

Big Girl Job

Hey y'all! 

This is my very first blog and I'm hoping that I keep up with it, but fair warning now I make no promises. ;) 

I graduated nursing school with my BSN in May, passed my NCLEX in June, and I start my very first job this coming Monday on the OB unit and I'm FREAKING out! First off, for all of you who are still nursing students or are considering becoming a nurse, let me be honest with you. When you hear people say it's a piece of cake to get a job right out of college, those people are stupid and you should throw rocks at them. Yes, I'm sure it's tons easier to get a job as a new grad nurse than a lot of other professions, but let me be clear when I say that it's still not easy. My advice now is to get a job as a tech somewhere to get your foot in, or start putting in applications months in advance of your set graduation date. 

Now that I've scared those even newbier than myself, let me also say that I'm feeling extremely blessed for my job. My heart has always laid in OB, and especially the NICU once I done my preceptorship there, but I knew that getting a job in this unit straight out of school is almost impossible. However, thanks to a great friend who talked me up a lot more than I'm sure I deserved, I'm lucky enough to start in OB on Monday! =D

I started this blog because everyone says your first year of nursing is the toughest and you quickly figure out that there are tons still that you don't know. I hope that by writing about my new nurse experience maybe I can help in any way at all other new nurses. Or possibly just bring others amusement at my trials and tribulations! Have a good weekend and I will update y'all on Monday about my very first day!