Imagine--New Commercial For WMC

I'm a celebrity in a commercial for the hospital :)

Clinical RN-3

So it has been almost 2 years since I graduated from nursing school…. WOW!  Is all I can say…I have accomplished so much is my short time as a nurse!  At WMC there is a laddering system that has different levels of nurses based on their experience and involvement with the organization.  After some research I realized I was already so involved in the organization and met the ladder requirements, all I had to do was fill out the paperwork.  Back in December I filled out the paperwork and pretty much spent a whole day gathering the information and submitted it before the deadline.  Then a week later I was approved as a RN-3 then another week later it was taken away because I hadn’t worked at the organization for 2 years.  So I was upset that I didn’t get the recognition and pay raise that was associated with the clinical RN-3.  Luckily, to my surprise my manager must have appealed it and they decided to go through a loop-hole and actually regrant me the title.

I can’t believe that I have been a nurse for such a short time and have had so many opportunities to be involved and make a different.  I always wonder if I would have had this same involvement and opportunity if I were to stay in the Denver area at a bigger hospital.  In the long run, I am glad I did move to a smaller, rural facility and was able to contribute to the well-being and help increase good quality care for patients.

March of Dimes Nurse of the Year

The corsage the organization let us wear

Last Friday night I went to an awesome dinner/gala where I was nominated for the March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Award for the Rising Star Category. The Rising Star category is for nurses who have had less than 18 months experience in nursing who have shown great strides. 

I cannot believe I actually won because I never win anything.  It is great! I actually feel like I was award for all my hard work at my new job...

Jay all dressed up I should have taken more pictures

My plaque that I got :)

All dressed up

The pretty real flower Jay got for me to wear in my hair

Death and Nursing

The last night I worked I had my first patient pass away on me. He was comfort care and expected so not something serious, but I still was upset and shook up over the death. As a nurse we are taught to help prevent death and do everything we can to stop it from occurring. So it was hard for me to let go and not titrate the oxygen and do measures that are essential for life. But I do understand when enough is enough and with our society today and advancements in medicine it seems that sometimes we do more harm the help. My patient had a comfortable, pain-free, peaceful death that every person deserves. The family was very appreciative of me and helping him get comfort before he passed. And it only took like 30 minutes for him to pass once he fell asleep which was quick! It’s a weird and eerie feeling to see a dead body and my mind plays tricks on me it looked like he was still breathing. I’m glad this was my first death experience and I feel stronger as a nurse to be able to understand a little more about this aspect of nursing. It just makes me love my job that much more, when I can care for a patient in their last hours.

Precepting Nursing Students

1^st of all!

Precepting is HARD! Having a student follow me around for the last 6 weeks is not easy. Being able to train and teach and then still be responsible for all my patients has really taught me time management. Last night was the end of the 6 weeks and I couldn’t be happier. My student was as slow as molasses and just made my job that much harder. I like teaching and showing students the job but I struggled with this student. I just hope he finds an area of nursing he can work in that he will be comfortable in.

I'm looking forward to doing my job and not having to explain it ... and just working alone!

2011

2010. What a year! I accomplished so much last year and if you were to ask me today what I would be doing I really couldn’t tell you. I knew I would be a nurse but what kind and where would be the question. I know for sure I would not say living in WYOMING. I wouldn’t change a thing now. I have a great boyfriend, job and supportive friends in Wyoming. I sad to be away from my family and friends in Colorado but it really is a 4 hour drive which I am now quite use to it not really that bad. Casper is a great little city. It pretty much has everything I need and still has the small town atmosphere.

Whats new in 2011:

I just moved into a house with a room mate J I really haven’t lived with some one for

Buy a Car

Precept a student

Become more healthy.

Horse Back riding lessons

Hiking and outdoor stuff

So I wrote this like the 1^st week of Jan and decided to post it now and then give you updates J on my accomplishes.

In the last 6 months!

All of you know the reason I moved to Wyoming in the first place was for a job. I can’t believe that it has been 6 months since I have moved. I love my job and so happy I went into nursing. I glad I choose to work on the Medical floor as my first job as well. I see so many different problems and types of patients it’s a good base to start building my nursing habits. Also in my hospital it is the most stable floor and we have the strictest manager, which makes a more structured learning environment.

I’m considered one of the “stronger” nurses on the floor and the other day one of the physicians stated he wasn’t concerned about his patients when I worked and believes me when I think there is something wrong. Which I feel is a huge compliment because just being 6 months out of school and helps me feel more confident in my job.

In like 2 weeks I actually start precepting a nursing student for 6 weeks. I’m a little concerned and scared since I’m actually going to be teaching a person and help shape the beginning of his nursing career. I would like to someday become a nurse educator and a preceptor for new nurses so this is a good way to see if I actually do like teaching and training.

Other achievements that I have accomplished in such a short period of time is: I’m the Co-Chair to my floors Unit Council which is an elected position that get to do other exciting things other nurses on my floor don’t, like create the schedule that has it’s great advantages when it comes to my own schedule and getting what I want J . As well as, creating plans on our floor to help with productivity and job performance. I have been floating to other floors and able to work successfully. Which makes we want to consider Float Pool some day because of the different variety of patients and nursing I get to experience.

All in all, I’m glad I decided to make the move to Casper to Wyoming Medical. It is not nearly as big as the Denver hospitals but it’s a great place to start and to advance my career.

Why I'm Happy!

Happy first day of fall! I think fall is one my favorite season next to spring. The Aspen trees up on the mountain this fall are a pretty color orange and yellow (sorry no pictures of the orange ones though). And I love the smell in the air. The smell of decaying plant….LOL I know that sounds morbid but I do love that smell! I went for a hike on

Monday and a bike ride yesterday. It has been an awesome last couple of days of summer! And last week, Jay took me to this old crystal cave up on Casper Mountain that was pretty interesting.

Anyway, more important things to talk about would be me living in Wyoming for 3 months now! I do really like it here so some high points are: I have a great job that I’m getting better at everyday, finally found something that I’m great at and LOVE! Also, I was scared that I would sit in my apartment bored all the time because I would have no friends or things to do. Lately, it seems like I’m away more then I am home. I haven’t watch TV in 3 months which is great because that seemed to be a weakness for me and it would be the only thing I would do. Now if I have a show that I want to watch I’ll just go online (like tomorrow night Grey’s Anatomy J) and watch just what I want to watch there. I have some pretty good friends here and dare I say a boyfriend (that I actually like). I have been better at working out and eating better (Lost 3 lbs already), not eating out nearly as much.

It seems like moving here was a good change for me. Casper seems like a pretty good town and almost provides everything I need. I DO really miss my family and friends in Denver though L but at least it isn’t that bad of a drive. Plus, I think a couple may becoming to visit me soon (hint, hint). Starting next week I think I’m going to start taking horse riding lessons, I have been waiting till my health insurance started so if I do get hurt it wont cost as much. Also, I really need a hobby now that I’m not in school anymore and only work 3 days a week I do have plenty of time on my hands where I need to fill it with something productive. I need a hobby that is fairly cheap! Anyone have any suggestions?

All in All, I seem much happier for some reason and this is just what I needed to pull me out of the rut I have been in the last couple years.

Nurse Code

Today at work I realized that nurses and medical personal say a lot of interesting sayings/phrases that don’t really make since to non-medical folk. We have all our medical jargon and talk that we spend years on learning and understanding which totally confuses most people at times. But there is the little quirks and phrases that are used sometimes that totally throw people off as well.

So I had an older patient today who totally almost gave me a panic attack twice today as well as influencing this post. I was texting a friend and said: “I almost had a patient fall on me today”. Then the response I got back was “that sucks I hope they were skinny and not 400+ pounds.” Which is what I totally didn’t mean. So I ask a co-worker what I meant by my statement and she knew that my patient almost fell on to the floor today. But I can see how it was misconceiving. J Another phrase I noticed nurses also say a lot is: “The patient is on (or back on) the floor.” Which means that the patient is on the medical unit not the actual floor. I can’t help but laugh because it seems like we are talking in code.

One of my favorite sayings is: “That’s my kryptonite” meaning I can pretty much deal with everything but that. In my case mucus, ugh…makes me gag just thinking about it.

Anyway, are there any more phrases that nurses or medical people use that I’m not remembering? It seems like I just say these things as a second nature instead of stopping and thinking about it.

It could be a Staceyism but I think I’m on to something…

OHH and don’t forget about the initials: FLK J