Pajama Fancy

Working in the PICU that I do, it's not uncommon to see parents come in late at night with the craziest things on! Or in some cases, a crazy little amount of things on!

Oh who am I kidding....these people come at any point of the day or night wearing these things!

We frequently get younger parents that live in sweatpants with words on the butt. It can be quite interesting seeing the things that are spelled out on the bums of some of these pants! And for whatever reason these butt word pants are always paired with a super skimpy, one size too small, spaghetti strap tank top! Nice!

Then there's the parents that come in wearing a dirty t-shirt and jeans with holes all over them...and not the stylish ones! And then they stay in this lovely outfit the entire stay. Even when that's a week! And even when we offer scrubs...because they stink! Gross!

But this week, we had a mom come in wearing pajamas like I have never seen. Maybe its because we don't see the "high society" people quite as often as I thought. Or maybe it's because most people have better sense than to wear this get-up to a PICU.

Either way, this mom was fully decked out in silk pajamas: silk pajama pants with a silk pajama tank lined with lace, and a floor length silk robe. All in a wonderful gold, blues and greens paisley pattern. Her hair was what I would call "perfectly coiffed" if I knew what the word "coiffed" meant. Oh, and instead of slipping on tennis shoes or flip flops like most people keep near the door, she put on her plush slippers.

Her entire pajama outfit probably cost more than what I spend in an entire year on my wardrobe. *Yes, I'm aware this is slightly cheating, since I mostly just thrift! But still!!!

I didn't even know people wore this stuff to bed! Or kept it handy enough so when their daughter has a medical emergency in the middle of the night they would be good to go! But this woman did...does!

And let me just tell you the looks that this mom got. From other patients, families, and even staff!

Now in all fairness, I'm sure there was some snickering when the patient came in at 3 am. But at 3pm when the mom was still wearing these beauties despite being brought a posh rolling bag of clothes, it was an all out snicker-fest!

And I have to say, I was one of them! I mean, really!?!? It made me want to bring her child's medications on a silver platter. Or pure gold. Or whatever the really fancy people get served on!

But I just brought them in my gloved hand like I normally do. Real classy, yes I'm aware.

Hey, what can I say...I'm a nurse. I'm here to serve! And the fact that my clientelle may range from having "Juicy" butt sweatpants to fancy schmancy silk is besides the point!

What I think the point is...or should be...is both the juicy and the silky keep us laughing. And really, at the end of a long 12 1/2 hours shift, what more could you ask for!?!?

What I will NOT be doing today

The day after thanksgiving holds many traditions for many people.

I would NOT be one of these people. In fact, there are more things that I will NOT be doing today than things I will actually be doing!

For example, I will not be doing this:

I wasn't lying when I said that I was going to eat my weight in all things potatoes yesterday! And my scale wouldn't even be able to say "Help"- standing on it today would probably squash the life out of it!

I will also not be one of these crazies:

I don't understand all you people out there that stand in line for hours, camping out for a camera...or a toy...or anything for that matter! But if you were up in the wee hours this morning being one of "those people" I hope you scored some great things!

And finally, I will not be making my house look like this:

Partly because I don't have a fireplace (oh so sad!). And partly because I don't like teddy bears...or stuffed animals for that matter (yes, what kind of kid nurse doesn't like these things!?).

But mostly because I think the day after thanksgiving should be reserved for sleeping in, drinking that extra cup of morning coffee, eating biscuits with tomato gravy (again, with zero regard for the scale!), staying in the pj's for a long time, playing games, and maybe taking a nice long walk in the sunshine.

With all of the things that I will NOT be doing today, this list seems like a perfect day to me!

What will you be doing...or NOT doing....today???

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Once again, this PICU nurse gets Thanksgiving off thanks to my "Year of Jubilee" which I think I have referenced in about 17 posts, so I won't bore you with it again!!!

There is seriously nothing better than not having to work on a holiday. Can I get a "what, what!?" from the other medical professionals out there!?

So this Thanksgiving, I will eat my weight in things that have the word "potato" in them, laugh with my family, drink some good wine, and just enjoy the time off while reflecting on the things that I am grateful for.

*Quality time with my family

*Extra snuggle time in the mornings with my man

*Nursing my hot cup of java in an oversized mug

*My mom's mashed potatoes....these are serious folks!

*Laughing HARD late into the night with my sister, hubby and brother in-law

*A great glass of cabernet

*My 2 incredible boot finds recently at the thrift store

*Comfy clothes

*Pretty earrings

*Best friends that you don't have to "try" with

*Football

*Great interval workouts

*Christmas music on the radio during long road trips to grammys

*A fall candle that makes my house smell SO yummy (thank you CL!!)

*Sparkling water

What are you grateful for this year!?

I hope you enjoy your holiday, with family, friends, laughter and good food this year! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Just another reason

As if I needed another reason to love my job, here's another!

It's not very often that we get to take care of kids that are "well" enough to do things like sit up in bed or talk to us or draw pictures.

But this little cutie was able to do all of the above....and HOW MUCH FUN!!!

And just in case it wasn't clear who the picher (ahem, picture) belongs to, this was also included on the back:

Awww, thank you super cute PICU patient! You make days like today just fly by. And it's days like today that make the days where we don't sit down at all, don't pee, and barely scarf down a snack seem just a bit more bearable.

Order Entry

When I was in grad school....

*wow- I say that like I've been done for 20 years. It's been 2 months people!

Anways, when I was in grad school, one of the things they teach you is how to enter orders into the computer system.

Some order entries simply require the click of a button because the order is already in the computer system as part of an "order set."

Other orders require the provider to actually type in what they want.

Which is where problems like this can happen:

Apparently this resident didn't read what he wrote. Or he read it and didn't think anything was wrong with it. Which is a much bigger problem!

Now for those non-medical people out there, "PO" essentially means "by mouth"...AKA: to eat or drink.

*Here is where my hubby is going back to the picture to re-read...and then get's it...and then scruntches up his face which makes me laugh. Every time! Love it!

Now that everyone is up to date....can we all say "EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!" Lets NOT make our patient drink their urine output as replacement!!

Thank you!

And to make matters funnier, the nurse taking care of this patient went to the resident and said, "You know, the patient is just NOT being cooperative. No matter what I do, I cannot get her to drink her urine output! Should I put an NG down to feed it to her?"

The resident didn't think it was funny.

But all the nurses did. And really that's all that matters!

Oh I love my job!

11*11*11

Ohhhh! 11 has always been my favorite number! I don't say "lucky" b/c I don't know that I've ever really won anything with 11 in it!

But it's definitely been my favorite. And it was my soccer # all the way until college.

So Happy 11-11-11 to you all!

I will be celebrating 80's style for a friends birthday. Because clearly a day like today requires a throwback to the 80's : ) It will be filled with crimpy hair, lots of makeup, off the shoulder shirts, and even leg warmers!

I think it's safe to say we all are hoping the 'stash is NEVER coming back!!! And I think it's also probably safe to say that it's a good thing it's 2011 b/c clearly I only have one picture face in the 80's!

Dance Central Baby!!

80's: "Like, this girl is like, totally awesome!"

11-11-11: My bestie....my BFF : )

So Happy 80's style 11/11/11 to you! How will you be celebrating this momentous day!?

Oh....not so momentous to everyone? Alright, well happy Friday anyways! Like Totally!!

Freedom!!!

SO many people the past few months have asked me what it feels like to be done with school!

In fact, I pretty much feel like every conversation at work starts with "Soooo....how's being done with school!?"

Which I don't mind, b/c I love being done! Like, REALLY love it!!!

It feels like freedom!! Which reminds me of this: Only I'm a nurse, not a warrior. And people would be concerned for my health if I painted my face blue...blue is NOT our favorite color in the PICU! And I'd probably get fired if I swung around a metal stick at the patients. But you get the point!

*On a total side note, I love how in this picture everyone is trying to be so manly and warrior-esque...except the smaller man in the lower right corner who's just smiling away! Apparently he didn't get the memo! He's more like "Look at me mom, I made the movie!" Ohh, or how sad if this IS his best manly warrior-esque face!

Wow- totally digressing!

Anyways, back to the "How does it feel to be done with school?" question. That is the easy one.

The question that ALWAYS follows is "So what are you going to do now?"

To which I want to reply:

-Nothing...I'm going to do nothing. And I like it!
-Umm, just stay in this PICU forever, b/c I love it!
-Go home and drink a glass a wine...and not think about what I am going to do!
-I have no idea!!!

So you can see the theme above. It's almost as if I pretend I don't need to/want to find a new job as a nurse practitioner, then I won't have to do it.

But someday, I will start looking.

Just not this week. Because really, I love where I am at. And because I won this. So who wants to be the newbie at a hospital and get stuck working ALL the holidays when I don't have to!?!?

Glad you agree with me!

So here's to some more procrastination (which goes against EVERYTHING I have EVER believed in up until this point in my life!). What have you been putting off lately!?