I am working too much. I have had to go in on many of my days off for training classes and meetings such that I'm in at least 4 days a week. This week it's 5 days, in a row.
I know what you're thinking. "Most people work 5 days, so quit your bitchin'."
You are right, dear reader. Nevertheless, I am tired and feeling a bit overworked. Work is not so much fun - and on Monday, I walked on the unit (barely on time) to find out I was surprise precepting (orienting) the new hire. Surprise! I thought I could get away without having to precept him again, because I didn't especially enjoy doing it last time. The last minute change to my plan for the day is stressful to me. Additionally, the new hire guy has this "Robin Williams" kind of schtick he does in an attempt to be funny or likable or to deal with his stress or something. It gets on my nerves after a while.
I am looking forward to the weekend. I have 5 days off in a row; a rare gift. Oh. Wait. Make that 4.5 days off in a row. I have to go in to work on my first day off, Friday, for a meeting. Middle of the afternoon. Yippee.
I just want to sew and quilt and enjoy my beautiful backyard right now. Just a little humble fun.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Fall comes early
It seems like fall has arrived early. The weather has been very pleasant in the midwest with cool mornings and warm days. Sunny and clear. I barely got enough heat from the 3 weeks of hot summer to thaw me out from the winter. Yet, here we go again, back to the darkness and cold.
My garden has been delightful. I have had a great crop of cucumbers and plenty of basil and parsley. The tomatoes are few but delicious. Four fat eggplant berries drip voluptuously from their stems. It is almost too late; now is the time to get working on fall crops. I hope to get a few more rows of carrots in, some arugula, and another cabbage. One cabbage is in and it's hanging on after a vicious attack from little green caterpillars. Its partner did not make it - my dog Winnie decided she needed that baby cabbage plant, picked it up (peat pot and all), and carried it across the yard. She tasted it for good measure. It never recovered.
Quilting work has been slow and pensive. I have been interested to work on my "Mom's Quilt" project, a large pieced wall hanging started in September 2001. I remember the exact date because I bought the fabrics over the weekend after the 9/11 attacks. We had gone up to visit Mom and Dad and see a Penn State / University of Virginia football game. Like many public events right after the attacks, the game was cancelled. Instead, we went to Dayton VA and visited a quilt museum and shopped in a quaint Mennonite village. There we found the beautiful fabrics for this wall hanging.
I am terribly remiss in this project. It is 7 years old, after all. I am hand quilting it, and that is why it is taking so long. I got frustrated with marking the quilt for the quilting. The quilting goes along fine. I am so close to done, I really have no excuse not to finish it. Thank goodness I have the motivation to pick it back up. Progress was stalled recently because my dog, Winnie, decided she needed to floss her teeth, and my spool of quilting thread was just the thing.
Detect a theme here? Dogs...
I'm always doing more projects, though. I have more fabric for my "Aunt Millie's Garden" quilt, but I haven't started sewing on it just yet. Much of the prep work is done. Yesterday I bought some yarn for a bulky knitted sweater, thanks to a nice sale at Michael's (an arts and crafts store). It's a nice rust color, in Lion Brand's Thick and Quick wool blend yarn. I haven't made any more blocks for the log cabin bed quilt - I think I have completed around 60 out of the 80 needed. Gettin' there....
My latest whim is learning crochet. It's a little pastime, nothing serious. The look of crochet does not excite me except in certain applications (like edging lace). It's quite easy, so another fun thing to do.
Life goes on. I am neither happy nor sad. I am busy, but I want to be lazy. I want to be home doing my own things. I have indulged this feeling for the summer - if I didn't mention it in a previous post, I decided to quit the singing group after all. It just wasn't fun. More of my time is my time and I am satisfied.
As usual, I dread the coming winter. I need a plan to fight the oncoming depression. More on that later.
My garden has been delightful. I have had a great crop of cucumbers and plenty of basil and parsley. The tomatoes are few but delicious. Four fat eggplant berries drip voluptuously from their stems. It is almost too late; now is the time to get working on fall crops. I hope to get a few more rows of carrots in, some arugula, and another cabbage. One cabbage is in and it's hanging on after a vicious attack from little green caterpillars. Its partner did not make it - my dog Winnie decided she needed that baby cabbage plant, picked it up (peat pot and all), and carried it across the yard. She tasted it for good measure. It never recovered.
Quilting work has been slow and pensive. I have been interested to work on my "Mom's Quilt" project, a large pieced wall hanging started in September 2001. I remember the exact date because I bought the fabrics over the weekend after the 9/11 attacks. We had gone up to visit Mom and Dad and see a Penn State / University of Virginia football game. Like many public events right after the attacks, the game was cancelled. Instead, we went to Dayton VA and visited a quilt museum and shopped in a quaint Mennonite village. There we found the beautiful fabrics for this wall hanging.
I am terribly remiss in this project. It is 7 years old, after all. I am hand quilting it, and that is why it is taking so long. I got frustrated with marking the quilt for the quilting. The quilting goes along fine. I am so close to done, I really have no excuse not to finish it. Thank goodness I have the motivation to pick it back up. Progress was stalled recently because my dog, Winnie, decided she needed to floss her teeth, and my spool of quilting thread was just the thing.
Detect a theme here? Dogs...
I'm always doing more projects, though. I have more fabric for my "Aunt Millie's Garden" quilt, but I haven't started sewing on it just yet. Much of the prep work is done. Yesterday I bought some yarn for a bulky knitted sweater, thanks to a nice sale at Michael's (an arts and crafts store). It's a nice rust color, in Lion Brand's Thick and Quick wool blend yarn. I haven't made any more blocks for the log cabin bed quilt - I think I have completed around 60 out of the 80 needed. Gettin' there....
My latest whim is learning crochet. It's a little pastime, nothing serious. The look of crochet does not excite me except in certain applications (like edging lace). It's quite easy, so another fun thing to do.
Life goes on. I am neither happy nor sad. I am busy, but I want to be lazy. I want to be home doing my own things. I have indulged this feeling for the summer - if I didn't mention it in a previous post, I decided to quit the singing group after all. It just wasn't fun. More of my time is my time and I am satisfied.
As usual, I dread the coming winter. I need a plan to fight the oncoming depression. More on that later.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Fatigue
How can I be tired? I get plenty of rest. I eat well, and I get exercise. Yet today, I am tired. It is my 5th day off in a row so I should be well rested by now.
Last night, I was awakened by a blistering headache. It was about 2:30 AM and I was awake for about 1 hour. At first I tried repositioning. I got up finally and took some Ibuprofen. My muscles felt achy so I tried massaging and stretching my shoulders and hips. Next, I got up and did some gentle yoga stretches on the floor next to my bed. I could not believe how sore and tight I felt. Slowly, the ibuprofen kicked in and I was able to relax and go to sleep again.
I slept in late! Until 8:15! What could have made me so tired?
Yesterday, I got a lot done, including walking the dog, cleaning out the back yard after the new fence had been put in, and mowing the lawn. I called it quits before running the weed-whacker and using the blower to clean off debris from the driveway and sidewalks. In the afternoon I completed a number of errands and shopping. Complete the day by cooking dinner and doing a few chores after dinner.
Sounds like a busy day to me. You'd think 8 hours of sleep would be enough. Guess not.
Last weekend, a friend from the east coast came to visit for a few days. We had a grand time - busy with sight-seeing and visiting. No chores done so I have to catch up on them on the days following.
When I feel so tired, I get concerned. I wonder if it's something monumental in my health. A nighttime throbbing headache makes me fear that it's a burst aneurysm, and now I await the loss of consciousness. Should I wake my husband, so I have some hope of being saved from my brain bleed?
Eh, it's probably just a headache.
The fatigue makes me wonder if something silent is lurking within - ovarian cancer? Pancreatic cancer? Brain tumor? Worse yet, old age?
Logic usually saves me from my fear. Where logic fails, faith kicks in - well if it's my time, so be it. I'd rather go than be prolonged in a semi conscious state.
Last night, I was awakened by a blistering headache. It was about 2:30 AM and I was awake for about 1 hour. At first I tried repositioning. I got up finally and took some Ibuprofen. My muscles felt achy so I tried massaging and stretching my shoulders and hips. Next, I got up and did some gentle yoga stretches on the floor next to my bed. I could not believe how sore and tight I felt. Slowly, the ibuprofen kicked in and I was able to relax and go to sleep again.
I slept in late! Until 8:15! What could have made me so tired?
Yesterday, I got a lot done, including walking the dog, cleaning out the back yard after the new fence had been put in, and mowing the lawn. I called it quits before running the weed-whacker and using the blower to clean off debris from the driveway and sidewalks. In the afternoon I completed a number of errands and shopping. Complete the day by cooking dinner and doing a few chores after dinner.
Sounds like a busy day to me. You'd think 8 hours of sleep would be enough. Guess not.
Last weekend, a friend from the east coast came to visit for a few days. We had a grand time - busy with sight-seeing and visiting. No chores done so I have to catch up on them on the days following.
When I feel so tired, I get concerned. I wonder if it's something monumental in my health. A nighttime throbbing headache makes me fear that it's a burst aneurysm, and now I await the loss of consciousness. Should I wake my husband, so I have some hope of being saved from my brain bleed?
Eh, it's probably just a headache.
The fatigue makes me wonder if something silent is lurking within - ovarian cancer? Pancreatic cancer? Brain tumor? Worse yet, old age?
Logic usually saves me from my fear. Where logic fails, faith kicks in - well if it's my time, so be it. I'd rather go than be prolonged in a semi conscious state.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Discipline of Blogging
I want to become a better writer. One of my motivations for creating this blog was to practice writing. Part of the discipline of writing is to write when you may not otherwise feel like writing. So it is today.
I used to write more in my previous jobs - they were technical documents, such as system specifications and design documents. I wrote more email. In nursing school I wrote copiously - papers, care plans, study guides, and other assignments. I never thought I'd miss writing because I used to dislike how much writing I did. Now, I find a do miss it a little.
As a hospital staff nurse, I don't write much at all. I write notes on patients' charts, yes, but that writing is extremely functional, curt, and efficient. There are some creative aspects of the writing - using the fewest words that stuff the most information in. Creativity cannot outweigh functionality and I see the only real purpose of creativity is to demonstrate that I actually thought about what I was writing. This would be creativity in stating the same thing using different words and adding little personal bits that show I was talking about this specific patient. I must not include opinion or speculation and to the best of my ability, I must defend all my actions legally with these words. The words must prove that I followed the hospital's standard of practice in the unlikely event that I will have to defend myself (and the hospital) in court.
I hope I never end up at a deposition. It will be scary, embarrassing, and it could end my nursing career.
The only place I (consciously) indulge in opinion in my notes is when I write discharge notes. I want to write all my notes in the computerized charting system, yet one part of our nursing documentation remains on paper. It is called the "Interdisciplinary Plan of Care," or IPOC. Supposedly, all disciplines within the hospital are supposed to consult this thing and document on it. In reality it's a piece of paper there for the regulatory boards benefit and for the pleasure of the executives of the hospital. Nurses fill out this paper on admission, and it is here that we are to document every time we teach something to a patient. Thus, when we go over the patient's discharge instructions, we are "teaching," and we document it on that sheet.
As a result, I have to write two notes on discharge: one on the electronic record, one on the paper IPOC. I resent having to write on the paper. In the electronic record note I usually write something like this:
It's a moot point, because who the hell reads my charts and my notes after discharge? No one.
But maybe one day, if I am unlucky, someone will read it. On that day it will give me personal satisfaction and hopefully not impact the deposition.
On a related topic, I was recently reading Oprah's magazine, and in it there was an article about Ben Affleck's recommended books. He recommends Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style." I haven't looked at that book in ages. I think I should look it over again. I feel rusty and out of practice. I certainly don't think Ben Affleck has the answers to life's questions...his article merely reminded me what a good resource it is. Who couldn't use a little reminding not to write too much?
I used to write more in my previous jobs - they were technical documents, such as system specifications and design documents. I wrote more email. In nursing school I wrote copiously - papers, care plans, study guides, and other assignments. I never thought I'd miss writing because I used to dislike how much writing I did. Now, I find a do miss it a little.
As a hospital staff nurse, I don't write much at all. I write notes on patients' charts, yes, but that writing is extremely functional, curt, and efficient. There are some creative aspects of the writing - using the fewest words that stuff the most information in. Creativity cannot outweigh functionality and I see the only real purpose of creativity is to demonstrate that I actually thought about what I was writing. This would be creativity in stating the same thing using different words and adding little personal bits that show I was talking about this specific patient. I must not include opinion or speculation and to the best of my ability, I must defend all my actions legally with these words. The words must prove that I followed the hospital's standard of practice in the unlikely event that I will have to defend myself (and the hospital) in court.
I hope I never end up at a deposition. It will be scary, embarrassing, and it could end my nursing career.
The only place I (consciously) indulge in opinion in my notes is when I write discharge notes. I want to write all my notes in the computerized charting system, yet one part of our nursing documentation remains on paper. It is called the "Interdisciplinary Plan of Care," or IPOC. Supposedly, all disciplines within the hospital are supposed to consult this thing and document on it. In reality it's a piece of paper there for the regulatory boards benefit and for the pleasure of the executives of the hospital. Nurses fill out this paper on admission, and it is here that we are to document every time we teach something to a patient. Thus, when we go over the patient's discharge instructions, we are "teaching," and we document it on that sheet.
As a result, I have to write two notes on discharge: one on the electronic record, one on the paper IPOC. I resent having to write on the paper. In the electronic record note I usually write something like this:
Patient discharge teaching completed. See IPOC for details on individualized teaching topics.This is my way of saying "I did the teaching, but nyah, nyah, you have to go look at the paper chart to find out what that teaching was. If I can't document it here conveniently with the rest of my discharge documentation, then I'm not going to make it convenient for you, the reader, to get to it either."
It's a moot point, because who the hell reads my charts and my notes after discharge? No one.
But maybe one day, if I am unlucky, someone will read it. On that day it will give me personal satisfaction and hopefully not impact the deposition.
On a related topic, I was recently reading Oprah's magazine, and in it there was an article about Ben Affleck's recommended books. He recommends Strunk and White's "The Elements of Style." I haven't looked at that book in ages. I think I should look it over again. I feel rusty and out of practice. I certainly don't think Ben Affleck has the answers to life's questions...his article merely reminded me what a good resource it is. Who couldn't use a little reminding not to write too much?
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