The Barker's

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

IV's

I have been getting lots and lots of practice with IV's lately and I have been having so much fun! (I know...most of you are cringing) I love a good challenge so I'm very please with myself when I get it on the first try! which has been happening the last 5 or 6 times!!!

One patient had one that infiltrated (fluids oozing into the skin rather than into the vein) so I had to replace it. It was inserted by the IV specialist team so I was a bit nervous trying her. She said she was stuck multiple times before they got it and then it went bad. So I tried and got it on the first try!!!! Woohoo!

I even had a patient tell me this week that it was painless!

Fantastic!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Back to reality =(

Vacation was so much fun and I'm sad to say that it's over!!! We both went back to work this week. Working 4 days in a row is not a good idea after being off *lol* I had a Riverside specific orientation on Monday so that work day was great but then I had 2 twelves afterwards and then tonight I go in at 11pm for my last 8hrs of the week! Boy am I ready for the weekend ;) Going from a day schedule for a week and a half to be back into nights was a little bit exhausting but I am doing the best I can!

Tuesday was my first day on the floor and my goal was to take up to 6 patients. I was doing great trying to get my assessments done and get everyone their meds and ready for bed until midnight. I was admitting a person at the same time a "code blue" was happening. (not my patient...thankfully!) but my preceptor sent me to the room (it was on OUR FLOOR!!! yikes) so I could get experience with codes. He was an older gentleman and we tried for over 45 minutes to save him. There were so many Dr's, residents, nurses, respiratory therapists all crammed in the room! We are lucky to have all private rooms on our floor!!! I just stood with the nurse manager and was running to get some of the equipment while they were doing all the lifesaving measures. I was watching the nurses do their job and learning how to run the code! Fun but scary at the same time!

We kept saving him and then he would go back into a deadly rhythm and eventually after 45 minutes, we called his family and stopped! That was hard to see us stop but at the same time, it was hard to keep harming his body with every needlestick, chest pump, and shock. So, I helped clean him up for his family.

After that the night just spiraled out of control *lol* I couldn't keep up with everything. I had some "needy" patients and was having trouble controlling their pain. But I did my best. Amanda (my preceptor) and I got out 45 minutes later. I got home and finally went to bed around 10:30am and had to be back at 7pm that same night! So, I just gave myself a pep talk and was determined to have a better night and I did!!!!

I was on top of it all and was finished with everything and ready for the next shift to take over at 7am this morning!!! My preceptor was so proud of how I handled all 6 patients and was ahead of the game all night!

So, tonight I'm going in at 11pm until 7:30am. We'll see if I can manage everything that I have to do normally in 12 hrs in 8! haha Luckily, by the time I get there, all the meds are passed so I'll probably just take a few admissions and pray that the night goes well!

I have 3 more weeks left of orientation! They extended it a bit since some of those weeks in the beginning I was in a classroom training instead of on the floor!