Last Day For a While!

I did it! I survived the work day and now I am OFF!!! I have a couple of doctor's appointments and then I'm off to go camping for at least four days. OOOooohhh, I'm practically giddy!!

On a totally different subject, one of my cats just made an incredible stench in the nearby litter box. I really don't think he covered it well in there.

I had a student CNA with me today at work. That's really a gamble; sometimes you get a good one, sometimes... not so much. I had a student a while back who was TERRIBLE at communicating. She ended up in tears a couple of times. I'm really not that mean! She just got frustrated very quickly. And she had absolutely zero critical thinking skills. She got hyped about a patient who had a trickle of blood that leaked from her IV site... but didn't get animated at all when another patient ripped their IV out and blood was gushing out. Weird.

Today was a good day. No poop stories though. Hm. Maybe that's just one reason why it was a good day...

Where's My Patient??

For the past week or so, I've had a patient who... wanders. This fella has a bit of dementia and really doesn't remember what you tell him a few minutes before. He knows he has a heart problem and that's why he's in the hospital, but doesn't understand why he can't leave. He's very amiable and likes to talk to anybody who will talk back. He's able to walk around safely and is not a threat to himself or others, so we can't really assign him a "sitter" or anything. The trouble is, he keeps wandering around. Usually, he sticks to our floor... but once in a while he ventures off to other floors.

Today we were a little short on staff and I was watching my team plus another person's while he was on lunch - a total of 18 rooms to watch! A few of them were empty, but it's still a long stretch of rooms with some patients who need pretty serious care.

I got a phone call while passing out lunch trays - the ward clerk told me she just got a call from the emergency department, where my patient was walking around. That's on the first floor and we're on the fifth. I had to stop what I was doing to run downstairs. When I got there, they told me he was on his way to the cafeteria. On my way to the cafeteria, I see him walking toward me. I told him I had his lunch in his room and that it was getting cold, so he was more than happy to go back with me. "Let's go!!" He ran off to the elevator.

*sigh*

Got A Gob?

Great day at work... it was a poop day. It just seemed like everybody had to poop and nobody could do it in the toilet. One lady had been enjoying lunch with her husband and daughter when she suddenly pooped. In her chair. She was embarrassed of course (while for me it's kind of an every day thing to clean up), so I told her she would be surprised at how common it is. I helped her to the bathroom where I put the "hat" in the toilet to collect her stool. We needed a stool sample, so it was perfect timing. When she was done, I got a spoon and the appropriate bowl (yes, there is such a thing), and spooned it out. I try to get a lot for the labs because I really don't want to have to do it again. I got a lot.

Another lady was on the bedside commode when she called me in. She said, "I've got a gob hanging on and I need you to knock it off or something."

Oh, poop.

So Many Stories, So Little Time

Being in nursing school has really put a crimp on my writing time! Okay, okay, not that I have been blogging much anyway. Lately I have realized that I have a lot of really fun stories and have not put them down anywhere... and people need to hear this stuff!! Realistically, most of it will be boring with the exception of hospital stuff. Just a warning.

I went to the local Scandinavian Festival recently. Some people go for the dancing and music (HAHAHAHA) and for the tradition. I go for the food. And this year, as I've been trying to exercise and lose weight, the Scandi Fest was my excuse to eat and eat badly!



Oh, sweet funnel cake!! How I love thee!!!