Tomorrow...

Tomorrow I have been assigned to perhaps the most annoying clinic. It's important but over subscribed. We're talking double the number of patients than there should be, well I think so. Still Nothing like a bit of hard work and this clinic is defiantly hard work.

Anyone catch the Royal tonight? 'Tis on the net if you want to watch a bit of 1960's NHS. Anyway they've got the top contender for the world's worst student nurse. She faints at the sight of blood. That would make her rather useless surely? Staff don't appreciate fainting students. Trust me it happens more than people like to admit, usually in the theatre week. Nearly happened to me once actually. We had been sent to 'Big Kick Ass' Hospital to witness a heart bypass. I still don't know what happened but I think it had something to do with the masks and a lack of oxygen for me (not the patient). I had to excuse myself because I was seeing black spots. Heart surgery rocks monkeys!

Photo credit and bypass surgery information.

Nothing To Report

I gave myself an asthma attack while I was cleaning today. I don't usually wheeze but I managed it this time. Good thing I still carry my blue inhaler with me.

Other than that..... stuck a few people with butterflies...

Er no not that kind of butterfly.....
Fantastic for people with 'no' veins. I was quite chuffed with some of the patients I managed to get blood out of today.

Lastly.... I'm a little bored of dipping urine. It's not difficult by any means but the most entertaining thing is guessing what will show up before it has had time to develop. And that my friends is just a little sad.

I Vant Your Blood....

Sorry couldn't help myself. I've been taking blood today.
My tourniquet was finally christened! I've been carrying it around in hopes that this day would finally come. Course this new found love for elastic and plastic clips might be short lived.








Infection control would rather we used something a little more like this...The only problem with these disposable tourniquets is that they pull on the skin. I've already had to dress the skin tear on a little old lady because of a doc and his tourniquet, and that wasn't a strip of rubber. See that's the difference. Of course these are being modelled on a cola bottle. You don't see how the rubber one pulls at the skin.

Still till then me and my tourniquet will be coming after your blood!

Crazy Town Dead Ahead

"I need to get away I little early today."
"Why?"
"I... uh... have to pick up some medicine."
"For yourself?"
"No,... er.... my fish."
Thank goodness my clinic wrapped up early and then I got the one I took over cleaned up fast!
Yea, one of the fish has a fungus. Black moors are notorious for being susceptible to illness. Oddly enough I get laughed at for my 'children' as they have been referred too. A sickly Black Moor (Keppamaki), a Goldfish with half a tail lost in an accident (Nemo), a 'white' Goldfish that has lost it's colour (Truffle) and a one-eyed Comet who was born (er hatched would be more exact) that way (Blinky). I have a sick sense of humour with the names; sushi, a Disney character with a damaged fin, Truffle was brown when I got him and fish don't have eyelids.

Meanwhile in the 'real' world....


This was found to be offensive. What's the worst bit? That some parents (if they caught it when it was on, like only once and no where near kids tv because of the very high fat content) might have to explain to a child why one man may kiss another man? Have we not already realised that children get advertising far more than an adult does. That's why such products cannot be shown during children's programming any more. Stonewall is asking for an ethical campaign. For a boycott of Heinz products... So anyone need a kilo of ketchup? I bought it a week ago.

'Normal' Service

After a nice restful weekend, I'm returning to my ranting. There was a study done of lesbian and bisexual women and their perception of healthcare. (oh and yea it's gonna be one of those posts)

Thing is we've already discovered that the NHS is sometimes homophobic. Towards staff and patients.
Come on, you might not notice it but when you assume that someone is being stupid when they answer that they have sex but don't use contraception, it could be discrimination. I answer questions that way and so do most of the LGBT community.

People, that sucks! Why do we not consider the alternatives? I remember multiple lectures on respecting other cultures and religions. The importance of spirituality.

What about the importance of your partner being ignored when you are ill? Them being locked out of knowing how you are doing? Of being too scared to tell your doctor in case you end up getting second rate treatment?

Remember how I call this one of 'those posts'? Heck that was me making assumptions about what people want to read about. Giving them a chance to tune out before they read anything that would offend them.

What I did like was the recommendations...
1. Understand lesbian health needs:
Yea, I think we could do with some training on that. Even I can't tell you some of the answers, aside from that ALL women need smears.
2. Train staff:
To stop saying things that would offend...
3. Don't make assumptions:
I revert to the point I made earlier.
4. Explicit policies:
So we don't discriminate but they are useless if NO one acts on them.
5. Tell lesbians what they need to know:
Some proper health promotion in this area would be a good start.
6. Improve monitoring:

One in ten lesbian and bisexual women stated that when they did come out to a healthcare worker they were either ignored, or the healthcare worker continued to assume they were heterosexual.

Continued to assume? Now that scares me. By all means be offended, I'm used to it, but please I've told you already, I ain't for turning.
7. Increase visibility:
If the NHS wasn't so homophobic towards staff then maybe you'd find out who I am but I'll be the one not making assumptions.
8. Make confidentiality policies clear:
See 4!
9. Make complaints procedures clear:
And again see 4! One proper definitive policy that covers all the bases.
10. Develop tailored services:
Right the NHS is slightly skint so this could be hard to change but the other 9 would make a good start till the money thing is figured out.

Full study here!

Exams OVER

They went fantastically well. Things I studied came up. Especially liver dysfunction which I spent 3 days on and everyone told me it wouldn't come up too!
Thanks for the support! Now it's just a 3 week wait till the results.
Normal service will resume on Sunday! There's a new study out that I want to gripe about.

Halfway

This is the halfway point.
I've finished Trauma and have the Cancer exam in 2 hours.
This is the eye of the storm.
Goodness knows what the mess will be like after 4.
Good luck!

...

Please excuse me for falling into a pit of panic.
In 12 hours I'll be half way through the 1st exam (also the one I'm most confident about).
In 24 hours it'll be all over. Argh...

*sniff*

I smell.
Well yes a day working will do that to you, but I smell of hospital. You know? Those big buildings full of sick people? Well they are rather successful at creating a stink and mine doesn't even have an incinerator.
I remember turning up for night shift and nearly throwing up at the stench dinner was giving off. Must have been cabbage or sprouts. Anyway it was rank.
My hands smell of the soap and alcohol gels. My uniform of coffee and old paper from the loads of medical records I've been carting about for the consultants, oh and hospec and sheets too.
Worse yet I've been given my own clinic to organise and run tomorrow. God love the patients.
News stories today....
An example of why I want to go into spinal injuries.
and
A comment from the Guardian by the editor of DIVA magazine. About how sexuality is anything but simple.

Off My Game

These exams have me off my game at the moment. For a start I read this yesterday.
The Pink News reported on a study apparently showing that the brains of homosexuals are different to heterosexuals. Excuse me? What? Is this another part of the search for the elusive gay gene? Anyone else think that someone will use this to create a useless test for babies? Find out if your child will be gay? How many would buy into that... Say it with me now, EUGENICS!
Still now the BBC is on to it.

"As far as I'm concerned there is no argument any more - if you are gay, you are born gay,"

2 more words - nae shit. I could I have saved them the radiation.

Moment of the Day - maintenance guy is pulling a toilet out of the cupboard. An honest to god toilet, what it was doing in there I still don't know.

"You know we have catheters so you don't have the carry that around with you."

I think I need a humour injection.

Study

It's a giant pain in the ass right? Studying.
Every minute of the countdown, every break between patients. Roll on Friday already.
I'll be back when I finish female reproductive disorders. Which should be later tonight... I hope.

The Week's End

1 week down, 4 to go....and 2 days to make up.
Love the staff though, think this might turn out alright in the end.
My Finals are at the end of next week (I've put up a new countdown). I'm panicking and that isn't a good sign. Ah well back to studying!

Loaded Question

"What do you want from this placement?"
Well...
"I want a mentor who still remembers what it was like to be a student nurse"
"I want to learn something new"
"I want to be treated as supernumerary and not unpaid staff."
"I want to fit in"
"I want to be busy but not exhausted"
"I want to get out alive"
"I don't want to be told 'Why are you getting into this?' every fifteen minutes"
"I want to be inspired by greatness but not squashed for trying to change the status quo"
Reality?...
"I just want to try everything I can here"

Morning (Not Necessarily Good)

Well I'm awake stupidly early. Without drinking anything it seems something curled-up and died in my mouth over night, yuck.
It's stupidly warm too, 14 degrees C and it's what my mother would refer to as 'close'. I think that might mean the humidity is up... yep my hair's gone fuzzy, must be damp out there.
Have I mentioned I hate the first day of placement? It always messes with my sleep even if I'm not getting up at 5:30 to start an early shift. It's just a shame I'm starting at 9, cos I'm bang on time for a start in the ITU.

Hmm

New placement... Outpatients. I've heard some really mixed reviews of this kind of placement area. The main problem being that although I'm expected to be in on consultations but in reality I'm at the bottom of the pecking order. Somewhere way after the medical students.
I don't mind, I'd just rather be on a ward being somewhat useful.

101st Post

Hey who would have thought I would have gotten this far?
I feel I should offer something.
Counselling probably. Although with new research showing that apparently we should no longer talk about our traumas because we'll deal with it better maybe I should just offer you the option of reading one of the many better blogs listed down the side (helpfully arranged by department!). On a side note read the comments at the end of this Times article. Way I see it if you want to talk about it then carry on, I tend to bottle things. When I do eventually vent I get told I'm an angry person. Oh wait you already knew that.
I did my bit for someone by giving a pint of blood (between one thing and another I can only give occasionally). Hope none of you have my blood type!
There have been rumblings in the blogosphere which may drive nurse bloggers further underground. Mousie might have been outed. A cruel and unnecessary kind of punishment having been somewhat outed myself in a different way. What followed was an outpouring of support. Well deserved I think for she is one of the best around but at the end of the day blogging isn't going to pay the bills. Good luck, Mousie!
You'll have to wait till tomorrow for what I really wanted to most tonight but I have these classes (I think they might be important) and sleep (well it wouldn't be the first time I've given that up in exchange for watching TV or some less than important task).
Night folks.