kapachino

Tag: nursing

  • I’m Actually Going To Do This Nurse Thing!

    Well there’s one less thing on my mind now…

    I was hired yesterday at The Methodist Hospital as a graduate nurse on the oncology unit. I am SO excited. It’s perfect for me: oncology, eight-hour day shifts, and a great company (#10 on the Fortune 100 best companies to work for). I start June 2! Of course, I have to graduate first.

    I think it was the easiest interview of all time. In fact, I’m pretty sure they knew they were going to give me an offer before I came in. The manager asked me one question (why do you want to do oncology?), told me about the unit, and gave me the job. I told her I would talk it over with my fiance (because I’m all grown up like that) and call her back later in the day. I accepted, and I’m so glad I did.

    In other exciting news…

    • Decisions I’ve made about the wedding in the last two weeks: 0
    • Hours I’ve had to relax during “spring break”: about 4
    • Recent overdrafts on my checking account: 2
    • Clinical trials I’ve enrolled in to bring in some extra cash and prevent future overdrafts: 2
    • Bird flu vaccines received: 1

  • Another Reason

    As part of my clinical experience at The Methodist Hospital this semester, everyone in my class who is assigned there comes together every other week for a conference. During this time we have a lecturer on a specified topic, and then 5-6 students per week discuss an issue they have encountered during their time there.

     Today’s lecture was on end-of-life and palliative care. This is something I am extremely passionate about. I remember when we had to watch the movie Wit in class a year ago, and I had to keep myself from completely losing it. I think I’ve written here before that for some reason I am drawn to the patients who are nearing end-of-life or who are dealing with serious illnesses. I feel that they are so often overlooked, neglected, and not given the chance to die with dignity. I want to help change that.

    Our lecturer was a member of the palliative care team, and she began with a skit that brought up so many things, things that people are uncomfortable talking about, like intimacy at end-of-life. She told this story:

    “I was called in to consult on a patient in the CVICU, a younger man who was dying. His wife was there with him, and she asked me what she could expect with all this. I went over things with her, and then I asked, ‘Would you like to just curl up in bed with your husband and hold him one last time? Because we can take care of the equipment and make that happen.’ Tears sprung to her eyes and she responded, ‘I didn’t know I could do that.’”

    And I was weeping in the conference room. I don’t know how everyone wasn’t. It’s little things like this that will make all the difference. That’s the kind of nurse I want to be.

  • The Job Hunt Begins

    I heard on the radio this morning that nursing is the #2 most wanted profession in the U.S. So surely I will be able to find a job that I like, right? Right?

    So far I have applied to three hospitals: St. Luke’s, Methodist, and M.D. Anderson. They are all in the medical center. Let me tell you a little something about the medical center. If you live in Katy, it SUCKS.  This is my drive right now:

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    This will be my drive once I’m married and move in with David:

    View Larger Map

    I fill my tank up with gas about once a week already. And that road that I drive down? Is an expensive tollway. Not to mention the fact that parking in the medical center is ridiculous.

    Sigh.

    But I had a phone interview with M.D. Anderson last Friday, and the starting salary is more than double what I’ve ever made in my life before. I know that they are calling all of their applicants to screen for which ones they want to come for an on-site interview, but I was still excited because it was my first response from anyplace I’ve applied. Of course, the place that I really want to work, Memorial Hermann Memorial City, requires a much more extensive process and I’m waiting on a recommendation letter from my preceptor before I can be considered. And I’m looking into some Katy hospitals, but I don’t know if they have any graduate nurse positions that offer a training program – which I NEED.

    So I’m sure it will all work out, but this could be seriously stressful.

  • Super Tuesday?

    In the weeks leading up to “Super Tuesday”, whenever I heard the day spoken of in such a way I would smile to myself because the day happened also to be my birthday. I liked to think that that was the real reason it was super.

    As I mentioned before, I’ve decided to give up sweets for Lent, which starts today. That made Super Tuesday Fat Tuesday as well. My plan was to basically wallow in chocolate the entire day. I figured that would be a good way to celebrate.

    Unfortunately I needed to take advantage of the opportunity to work a clinical shift yesterday, so instead I spent the day in the ICU sucking out churned-up stomach contents through a tube and then putting it back into the patient.

    I also had a headache the entire day that I was barely keeping at bay by gobbling ibuprofen, but when I got home it came at me in full force. Boyfriend David had done so many sweet things for me that I couldn’t even appreciate fully because I was just so out of it. What made me the most sad was that he had bought me a piece of chocolate cake and ice cream, and I couldn’t even eat it.

  • Thirteen Things

    1. My day in the ICU yesterday was kind of boring. Both of my patients had brain aneurysms. They were awake, alert, mobile, and for the most part independent. That means there wasn’t a whole lot for us to do for them.

    2. One of the patients was a woman from Baton Rouge, a really sweet lady, and I loved her Cajun accent. She hugged me when I said goodbye to her.

    3. The other was a nice man who would have talked to me all day long if I’d let him. Once he found out that I majored in Christian ministry for my first degree, he told me his whole life story. It was very interesting, but for the sake of time I will just say that he was the founder of this ministry.

    4. There was a job fair at my school today, where I talked to four different hospitals. I was then inspired and went ahead and applied for the graduate nursing program at all four places. The application for the one I really want, though, is a little more extensive than the others and thus I am not finished with it.

    5. Luckily I know a woman who worked at that hospital for most of her life who agreed to write me a letter of recommendation.

    6. I have decided that I am mostly interested in working in the areas of critical care and oncology.

    7. I am really proud of my indoor soccer team, because we had an awesome come-from-behind win tonight.

    8. However, I do not appreciate the fact that there were no female subs, meaning I had to play the whole game, and thus I am utterly exhausted. (It is a coed team and three girls are required to play at all times – six players on the field total.)

    9. Tomorrow I have a clinical for my community health class. I make home visits to senior citizens for the Meals on Wheels program. I don’t like it a whole lot, but it’s not too bad.

    10. My birthday is next week. I will be 26 years old. The celebration begins this Saturday and ends a week later.

    11. I am giving up sugar for Lent this year. Lent begins right in the middle of birthday week, so I am going to stuff myself with cookies, cake, ice cream, brownies, and every kind of chocolate I can get my hands on before then.

    12. I need to shower in a bad way. Sometimes showering is such a chore, like when I’m tired and just want to go to sleep. When I was younger I used to skip it if I didn’t feel like it, even if I had played a soccer game that night. I guess sleep has always been my priority.

    13. But I don’t do that anymore!