Awake at Oh-Four-Hundred
Sep. 19th, 2009 06:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hillarygayle1. If there was one thing about your body you could change, what would it be?
Belly pooch. The abdominal flap I was left with post-Ganon makes it hard to fit into jeans. The belly pooch is not at my waist, it's below, so when I get jeans that fit my waist the pooch is kind of in an awkward spot.
2. Would you rather lose 10lbs or 10 points off your IQ?
What kind of question is this? I'd rather lose 10 lbs. I'm happy at my current weight, but I'm happier at my current level of intelligence! (I don't have the first clue what my IQ is, as a point of interest.)
3. When you look in the mirror, are you happy with what you see?
Yes, actually. I'm a little irritated with my current haircut, but it'll grow out. The stylist was a bit layer-happy in the back and now my hair won't flip up the way I want.
4. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes! Several times with temporary die. I currently have a bottle of "Red Rum" semi-permanent from Hot Topic just waiting for me in the bathroom. Gotta get some gloves first.
5. How often do you weigh yourself?
I never weigh myself. I don't see the point. I fit in my clothes, I can move around easily, I'm a healthy person. I don't care what arbitrary number gravity applies to my plumpness.
At the moment I'm awake. I've been awake since about 4am. I suppose it'll take a while to unravel my schedule after a week of working nights.
I like the night shift, by the way. At night, the hospital is run by nurses & techs. No administrators, no physical therapists. There isn't a huge crowd around the nurse's station, surgeons stealing your charts, everyone fighting over the computers. It's slower paced (not SLOW, just slower) and more laid back. We get up to goofy things at the nurse's station, like eating Honey Bunches of Oats while listening to German "funeral metal" on Night Nurse Brian's iPhone.
I'm learning better time management early in the shift. I had 5 patients on my own for the first time, and I had gotten complacent with 4. I realize that I'm going to have to give up eating sometimes if I don't want to get covered up with work. What a profession: where you choose between getting work done and eating food.
I've noticed a major problem around shift change: if a patient needs something right then, BOY is it easy for stuff to get lost in the shuffle! And if it requires more than one nurse, holy CRAP. Like trying to herd cats. Yesterday I needed some major help with something and I refused to leave my patient without having accomplished it. Shelby mentioned that she'd seen a bunch of LPN students from ASU Tech in the hallway, and I ran. Spotting more than half a dozen students in the hallway, I bounded up & asked their professor if I could have them. She seemed pretty delighted to let me have them, so they followed me down the hallway. That was kinda fun. I felt proactive.
This song makes me want to kiss Jeff Coffin. Nobody makes me love the sax like that man. SAXGASM. He's utterly amazing at the flute, as well; please see song "Chennai" from Béla Fleck & the Flecktones "The Hidden Land" for proof.
Ganon still loves going to Ms. Carla's. She's awesome with kids. He's getting way more attached to Bryan these days, too; always concerned about what Daddy is doing, curling up beside Daddy in the recliner, etc. It's really cute. I also like his opinions. "You don't want to go to work," he told me Thursday night. "You want to stay home with ME."
Well. Now that I have time to type all the big-fat-entry I want...I can't think of much to say. Here are some pics I took around the hospital!
I used TiltShiftGen on my iPhone for this photo. This was taken from the corner of Carson & Matthews, next to the cemetery where everyone goes to smoke. Neat shot of the building, I think. Those windows are the waiting areas/lounges on the southeast corners of the East floors: 1, 2, 3 (all cardiac/telemetry floors) 4 (med-surg & pediatrics), & 5 (labor & delivery) East.
This is the view from the nurses' station on 2 North, my floor. Magazine filter from CameraBag applied.
Same view, only with 1962 filter applied.
Work phones! Each nurse on the floor has a St. B issued cell phone. We write these numbers on patient whiteboards so they can get us if they need us (the call light works, so most people use that; this is just a patient reassurance thing for the most part). Most of all it allows the unit information coordinator (UIC) or other nurses to contact us if we're needed for something major.
Belly pooch. The abdominal flap I was left with post-Ganon makes it hard to fit into jeans. The belly pooch is not at my waist, it's below, so when I get jeans that fit my waist the pooch is kind of in an awkward spot.
2. Would you rather lose 10lbs or 10 points off your IQ?
What kind of question is this? I'd rather lose 10 lbs. I'm happy at my current weight, but I'm happier at my current level of intelligence! (I don't have the first clue what my IQ is, as a point of interest.)
3. When you look in the mirror, are you happy with what you see?
Yes, actually. I'm a little irritated with my current haircut, but it'll grow out. The stylist was a bit layer-happy in the back and now my hair won't flip up the way I want.
4. Have you ever dyed your hair?
Yes! Several times with temporary die. I currently have a bottle of "Red Rum" semi-permanent from Hot Topic just waiting for me in the bathroom. Gotta get some gloves first.
5. How often do you weigh yourself?
I never weigh myself. I don't see the point. I fit in my clothes, I can move around easily, I'm a healthy person. I don't care what arbitrary number gravity applies to my plumpness.
At the moment I'm awake. I've been awake since about 4am. I suppose it'll take a while to unravel my schedule after a week of working nights.
I like the night shift, by the way. At night, the hospital is run by nurses & techs. No administrators, no physical therapists. There isn't a huge crowd around the nurse's station, surgeons stealing your charts, everyone fighting over the computers. It's slower paced (not SLOW, just slower) and more laid back. We get up to goofy things at the nurse's station, like eating Honey Bunches of Oats while listening to German "funeral metal" on Night Nurse Brian's iPhone.
I'm learning better time management early in the shift. I had 5 patients on my own for the first time, and I had gotten complacent with 4. I realize that I'm going to have to give up eating sometimes if I don't want to get covered up with work. What a profession: where you choose between getting work done and eating food.
I've noticed a major problem around shift change: if a patient needs something right then, BOY is it easy for stuff to get lost in the shuffle! And if it requires more than one nurse, holy CRAP. Like trying to herd cats. Yesterday I needed some major help with something and I refused to leave my patient without having accomplished it. Shelby mentioned that she'd seen a bunch of LPN students from ASU Tech in the hallway, and I ran. Spotting more than half a dozen students in the hallway, I bounded up & asked their professor if I could have them. She seemed pretty delighted to let me have them, so they followed me down the hallway. That was kinda fun. I felt proactive.
This song makes me want to kiss Jeff Coffin. Nobody makes me love the sax like that man. SAXGASM. He's utterly amazing at the flute, as well; please see song "Chennai" from Béla Fleck & the Flecktones "The Hidden Land" for proof.
Ganon still loves going to Ms. Carla's. She's awesome with kids. He's getting way more attached to Bryan these days, too; always concerned about what Daddy is doing, curling up beside Daddy in the recliner, etc. It's really cute. I also like his opinions. "You don't want to go to work," he told me Thursday night. "You want to stay home with ME."
Well. Now that I have time to type all the big-fat-entry I want...I can't think of much to say. Here are some pics I took around the hospital!
I used TiltShiftGen on my iPhone for this photo. This was taken from the corner of Carson & Matthews, next to the cemetery where everyone goes to smoke. Neat shot of the building, I think. Those windows are the waiting areas/lounges on the southeast corners of the East floors: 1, 2, 3 (all cardiac/telemetry floors) 4 (med-surg & pediatrics), & 5 (labor & delivery) East.
This is the view from the nurses' station on 2 North, my floor. Magazine filter from CameraBag applied.
Same view, only with 1962 filter applied.
Work phones! Each nurse on the floor has a St. B issued cell phone. We write these numbers on patient whiteboards so they can get us if they need us (the call light works, so most people use that; this is just a patient reassurance thing for the most part). Most of all it allows the unit information coordinator (UIC) or other nurses to contact us if we're needed for something major.
