Finally...a full-fledged APN!

I feel like I have been an unofficial APN for awhile now.  I have the degree.  I have the certification.  I have the job...technically.  But I haven't been WORKING at the job.

Hence, unofficially an APN.

But that all changes...tomorrow!  Tomorrow will be my first day as a full fledged APN.  Masters degree prepared, certification holding, working as an APN- APN!

I am SO excited.  And nervous.  And a teensy bit scared out of my mind!  But mostly, SO excited!

I'm sure all these feelings are normal.  And some may be well warranted...you just never know what may happen in the PICU.

But I guess I'll find out....TOMORROW!!!

Just when you think it can't possibly get any more ridiculous...

It apparently can in the PICU!

Parents have said crazy things to me. They have said things that make me laugh, make me want to scream, or cry, or do all three at once! And they do crazy things. Things that illicit the previous emotions...and sometimes more!

But today my patient's mother said something that made me want to laugh, scream, cry, jump up and down, and quite possibly knock her over her head just to make sure she was aware of what was coming out of her mouth!

My patient's mom walks into the room and wakes up her sleeping 3 year old.

If there's 1 rule in the PICU, it's DO NOT wake up a sleeping baby...or toddler!

Especially if said baby has a breathing tube in that barely hangs by a thread when he wakes up because he is CRAZY! He's a thrasher and apparently only wants to be on his stomach when he's awake.

So after she wakes him up by shouting really silly nicknames in his ear I tell her (half joking/half serious, but definitely laughing to make it nicer) "Well, now that he's awake again, he's gonna try to flip over, climb out of the crib and do somersaults in bed...which doesn't fly with the breathing tube...so you get to hold him down and calm him!"

She spends about 3 minutes and then gets frustrated (don't worry, I was right by his side... I don't trust tubes with anyone else!).

And then she picks up her purse and says, "Oh, I'm exhausted. I have to go...I have another baby I have to go home to take care of."

This is as she is putting her hands on her stomach. A stomach that has her 6 week "other baby" in. Apparently, the 6 week old fetus can't be cared for in the hospital room, where her 3 year old child is currently residing. Her very sick 3 year old child.

So baby on the outside world gets 3 minutes of attention. Baby on the inside world gets much more time...23 hours and 57 minutes to be exact. (And no, there are not any other children at home...both parents have said this numerous times)

So yeah, just when I think it can't possibly get any more ridiculous, it clearly can.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to the most amazing, wonderful, fun, loving, affectionate, good looking, talented, patient, and incredible husband a girl could ask for!

So much has changed since your last birthday...and yet so much hasn't at the same time. I look forward to all that this year brings for you!

My hope and prayer is that ALL your birthday wishes come true this year : )

I love you!

And then we wait some more

So apparently it takes more than a week for certain people to get 3 signatures.

That's seriously ALL we're waiting on to start my job!

Despite being told that she would need one week to gather all the signatures, apparently that wasn't enough. Even though I saw one of the physicians who needs to sign the document at work every day last week. And the other two have offices just doors down from hers.

I'm pretty sure I could have whipped those 3 signatures out in a few hours, but for some reason I'm not allowed to do that.

And so, I wait some more!

Grr....

On another note, my estrogen level today was 776 (baseline I sit in the 50's at this point in my cycle)!!!! This could perhaps explain my increased frustration about the whole job thing...and my outright craziness last week. Oh my poor husband!

So hopefully this week my estrogen will make its steady decline back to where it usually resides, and the 3 signatures will be obtained so I can start my new job...and then we can all live Happy Ever After!

The End.

People CAN change!

Despite my last post not being optimistic about my last few shifts at the bedside, I was way wrong!

Yesterday was chill and such a nice shift.

But what really blew my socks off (wow, there's the grandma coming out of me!) was my patient's mom- who I'm sure you're growing more and more fond of because of all the wonderful things I've said about her- was actually NICE to me!

And dare I say, a little pleasant to be around!

WHAT!?!?

I almost felt like I was in the twilight zone. At one point I may have even pinched myself to make sure I wasn't just hallucinating a pleasant interaction with this lady. But nope! She was really there.

And for the two whole hours that she was present (she was going for a record on that one!) she was really very chatty...about happy things! I think I even laughed once or twice with her there!

So there ya have it. I guess people CAN change. And while I hope this change lasts at least 2 more days (this weekend while I work to be specific!) I'll take the 2 hours.

Here's to taking what you can get : ) And to a happy Friday the 13th!

Refreshed

There are some weeks (and weeks and weeks!) in the PICU that can really start to drag you down.

Whether it's because you are consistently taking care of a patient who's parents just suck every last drop from ya. Or because you are taking care of a terminally ill child, which can be so draining emotionally. Or because after caring for the same kid things can just seem dull...dare I say boring in the PICU!?!?

I think that's how I was feeling the past 4 months and just realized it yesterday. I've taken care of the same kid (mentioned numerous times recently) since the day after Christmas when he was admitted.

He progress has been painfully slow. And his mother has just been downright painful to me!

And because progress was so slow, it seemed like I'd go in day after day and it was the same old thing.

After coming back from a ten day stay-cation, I forgot to sign up for my kid...so I was in a totally different assignment yesterday.

And let me tell you, I didn't complain...I didn't ask to change assignments. And I'm SO glad I didn't because it reinforced why I love what I do. It brought back to me the passion that I have for bedside nursing...which I was losing quickly and couldn't count down the minutes until I was an APN fast enough!

It was just a refreshing day!

My patient was a teenager with downs syndrome, recently diagnosed with ALL (a common form on leukemia for kids with downs), who got a nasty virus which turned into pneumonia which turned into her not being able to breath on her own.

And this turned my day into sitting beside the bald headed cutie and laughing when she would throw her stuffed animals across the bed or just roll her eyes at me because she was frustrated that she couldn't talk around the breathing tube.

But it was her parents that really clinched the "Yes, I DO love being a bedside nurse!" deal for me.

They were lovely people. Wonderful people! They were there my ENTIRE shift and not once did I think, "Ugh, I wish these people would take a break and leave!"

They were grateful for the care I was giving their daughter. They were helpful when her adult sized diapers needed changing. They helped promote a calm, quiet and healing environment in the room, which so rarely happens! And they were just a joy to be around.

So I'm grateful that I had one more week as a bedside nurse. I think had I gone into my new job without this wonderful experience, the last four months would have left me with less than pleasant memories.

While my last two shifts will be spent taking care of a patient with parents not quite as grateful...or helpful...or lovely...at least I can go into it feeling refreshed. And knowing if it gets really bad, it's only two more shifts : )

Snippets of Stay-cation

Last weekend I mentioned that it was the start of a week long stay-cation. After saying that, Jon and I realized we've NEVER taken a stay-cation before! We've certainly taken complete advantage of our time off and vacation days, but never by taking advantage of the great little town we call home!

The week went by WAY too fast though!

Before I knew it, our staycation was OVER : (

And now its back to real world and getting ready to go back to work. Unfortunately that means pulling those scrubs back out that I put away (as discussed here) since my DEA # didn't come in time.

Are all states THIS slow!?!? Everything about this process has been painfully S.L.O.W.!!!

So one more week, and I wait. And am HOPING (and praying...and crossing fingers...and legs, and anything else that may help to speed up the process just a bit!) that it will come in this week, in enough time to apply for temporary privileges so that I can actually start next Monday.

Who would have thought going from RN to APN would be such an ordeal. A timely, paperwork overload ordeal!

But before I head off to what I hope is my last week as a staff nurse (again!) I will leave you with some highlights of our stay-cation:

We went downtown to see some sights and enjoy a bit of the beach.

Succeeded in being productive: replaced our old, builders grade kitchen faucet with an amazing new one! This bad boy makes a HUGE difference! And by "being productive" I mean Jon was...I just helped at the very end hold onto the faucet so he could make sure everything was secured tightly : )

Did a little bit of catch up on a book I've been reading and some magazines:

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And finally, to celebrate Jon's 31st birthday (a bit early) I made this cake...and it was AWESOME!!! Kinda a long process to make, but so worth it...especially when your mom helps do a majority of it! Either way, birthday man said it was the BEST cake I'd ever made! *Note: if you use the recipe as listed, I didn't have cake flour...so I used regular flour and just took out 3 Tbl from the recipe. Couldn't tell a difference.

So here's to a new week, starting fresh after a great stay-cation! And also to (*hopefully) the end of one great RN era, and the start of a new APN era!