Hogmannay

I said I would be back before new year and I'm here. Well no I'm sitting with my parents having a 'q word' new year (I was on holiday this time last year).
I've scheduled a virtual first footing to appear for this little corner of the 'net just after midnight here... That will be fun cos I'll be off getting snozzled on overly expensive Scots beer.

So for those who fancy singing the whole thing...

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my jo,

For auld lang syne,

We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !
And surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pu’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary foot,
Sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d i' the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
And gie's a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,
For auld lang syne.

CHORUS

Or if you fancy slipping into a Scots accent a la Rab C Nesbitt...

Shid ald akwentans bee firgot,
an nivir brocht ti mynd?
Shid ald akwentans bee firgot,
an ald lang syn?

CHORUS:

Fir ald lang syn, ma deer,

fir ald lang syn,

Wil tak a cup o kyndnes yet,

fir ald lang syn.

An sheerly yil bee yur pynt-staup!
an sheerly al bee myn!
An will tak a cup o kyndnes yet,
fir ald lang syn.

CHORUS

We twa hay rin aboot the braes,
an pood the gowans fyn;
Bit weev wandert monae a weery fet,
sin ald lang syn.

CHORUS

We twa hay pedilt in the burn,
fray mornin sun til dyn;
But seas between us bred hay roard
sin ald lang syn.

CHORUS

An thers a han, my trustee feer!
an gees a han o thyn!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie-waught,
fir ald lang syn.

CHORUS

Good luck I can only half pull this off on a good day!

Merry Christmas

Ah it's another year of bad telly, over eating and thinking people for presents that you didn't like ever.
Actually this year the beeb, ITV and the est of them have pulled their fingers out and provided something special. Oh if you live in the UK go watch Rab C Nesbitt on iPlayer. 10 years on and they've brought him back, course he's a new man now. (Here if you have no idea of what I'm talking about) Rab is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with Glasgow.

But at the same time he has a love of the city that some of the citizens have managed to forget.
The clip is taken from the first season (someone has been kind enough to put them up on youtube).
Ironically we were city of culture for 1990 and we're hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games. We don't have a mayor, instead there's a Lord Provost. The building they are standing in front of is the back door the the Kelvingrove art gallery (my mate Seggie hasn't a photo of that yet, wiki has a few though). It was built back to front for the garden party (not the 1988 one when I was 3 but the 1888 one which I surprisingly wasn't around for) and the pictures on wiki are of the back door AKA the non-fancy one.

Sorry went off on a tangent there... I should take you on a photo tour of Glasgow some time... Which is a not so subtle way of me saying I got a new digital camera for Christmas and want to play with it.
Enjoy the clip I'll be back before Hogmannay!

Oh and P.S. yes I do sound like that... sorry.

Merry Christmas in Advance

Placement finished this morning so I'm now off for 2 weeks. WOOHOO! Part of me would have wanted to be there for Christmas with our long term patients. I'll even be 1 year older by the time I get back.
So in case I don't get the time I want to pass on some of last year's cheer in the student nurse's edition of the Night Before Christmas.
I actually posted on Christmas day last year. Don't ask me how I had the time... between all the computer games I received. Tis the season to give yourself RSI playing the DS for hours on end. I averaged about 9 hours a day playing Zelda: Phantom Hourglass last year. No wonder I was baffled as to how I managed to find time to post; never mind talk to my family, or eat, sleep, got to the toilet. Oh now I think about it I didn't.....
Hope Santa is good to you!

O to Z (part 3)

O - OBSERVANT - What's around you right now? What do you see?
Christmas decorations, our fiber optic tree, my flatmate watching Home and Away and this week's Nursing Standard, all cluttering up the living room.
P - Who are the special PEOPLE in your life?
My family, my new-ish nephew, my friends / flatmates, the people I work with in placement, past mentors, the guys I worked with at camp, one or two of my lecturers (you can see where this is going right?).
Q - Any Little QUIRKs About Yourself:
Can't stand people who eat with their mouths open, oh and I WILL tell you the truth if you ask me a question.
R - What do you like to do for RECREATION?
Well I blog apparently. I also play computer games, fix my flatmate's computers, draw and write short stories and fan fiction.
S - Do You SING in the Shower? In the car? For your friends?
I sing everywhere, including placement. Staff hate it, patients love it. I'm really not the best singer but sometimes songs get stuck in my head.
T - What's at the Top of your TO DO list?
Well I still have some writing up to do for placement and some study. But in reality I still have Lost in Blue and Professor Layton to finish. I'm entering the RSI phase of my Christmas mania (I'll explain later).
U - Any UNUSUAL Experiences
We currently think the ward is haunted but I've not seen anything personally.... Can't think of anything sorry.
V - VEGAS, Vienna, Venice, Vladivostok... How far have you traveled? What's your favorite City?
How far? I've been to Canada and the US. Closer to home: Amsterdam, Malaga, and all over Scotland and England. Favourite city? My home town... East, West, Home's Best.
W - WINTER, Spring, Summer, Fall... What's your favorite season? What makes it special?
Summer, although around here you can't really tell the difference between summer and winter (it's all rain).
X - EXes - Things You Don't Do Anymore (but did, once (would you, again?))
For a moment I thought this meant ex-boyfriends / ex-girlfriends and my advice would still be don't go back they are ex-es for a reason.
Y - Any secret/deep YEARNINGS?
To finish the course? Aside from that I would like to write an novel or get my comics in the Nursing Standard (I don't aim high do I?).
Z - ZERO to ZENITH - Where are you in your life? Still growing? On an upward (or downward) curve? Just skating along?
Ironically I was saying the other day that I don't think I know enough to be qualified. Then the reply came back that even after 10 (something) years she still thought that she didn't know enough and she spends more time studying than me right now (I'll never be half the nurse she is). So I'm still growing and I guess I always will be.

I thought I would just throw the whole lot in together so it's all done for you and I can go back to ranting.

Shopping With WardBunny

They say there are 2 kinds of shoppers in the world. Lets just refer to them by gender...
Female - Spends hours wandering around shops looking at everything and anything. May buy nothing or perhaps the thing that wasn't actually being looked for.
Male - Goes to one shop, buys the item required, goes home (perhaps via pub).
Now I'm not saying that you can't shop outside of your gender stereotype or for that matter refuse to confirm. I don't. I refer to myself as a power shopper.

I know what I'm looking for and I might as well go myself. This of course might have something to do with the minor fact of my favourite 3 shops being GameStation, Game and Waterstones; and my friend's favourites being clothes, clothes and shoes. I can't stand waiting around while someone else tries on 50 different outfits. It's at this point that I should point out that shops in Britain seem to come in 3 types; young and thin, middle-of-the-road, and out-sized. It's true, go look next time you're on the high street. I'm not thin enough for all these young and thin places (suppose I could get 2 and sew them together though), so I tend to shop in the middle-of-the-road places because I can afford them and they come in my size. Of course no-one my age would be caught in them but that's not the point. Also the out-sized places while they come in my size, cost an utter fortune and I don't have the cash for that.

I live in jeans (I'm not counting my uniform or PJs which I wear about 80% of the time).... I also mostly live in gaming t-shirts. Sometimes you might catch me all dressed up, never in a skirt mind (I've not worn a skirt on over 4 years). I have some very dyke-y outfits but I love them anyway and more importantly I love the looks people give me when they don't know but they outfit is making them wonder.

So yea, for the sake of your health don't come shopping with me. Even food shopping...

WHY when it's still a week before Christmas does everyone feel this incredible need to run other people over in the supermarkets? I was black and blue when I left Morrisons on Saturday. See I only need to shop for myself so I just go for the items I need. That's why I shop in the same place every week when I do have a choice (like I want to suffer ASDA). People go some kind of insane at this time of year when it comes to shopping. I mean really you do not have to run people over to get at that non-existent bargain. So how do people think that it is acceptable to do that? Seriously my ass is not that big that you can't go around it.

I still haven't bought any Christmas presents, for all those that keep asking at question. Don't plan on buying any till after Christmas. See in past years people called me a cheep-skate for that, buying presents in the January sales but with so many credit crunch sales happening now no-one will care. Besides I'm unlikely to see some people till after Christmas anyway. Stop asking already, if I am ready for Christmas. In past years I have spent WEEKS sorting everything for other people. This year I cannot be assed and do you know what, I don't think I'll be able to spot the difference!

P.S. If you ever find a red haired, big-boned, too-old-for-computer-games, scruffy dressed female sitting outside a changing room with a DS in her hands, spare a thought, it might just be me sitting there.

Norovirus

Lets make this really simple huh? If you have had vomiting and diarrhoea, and if it stopped less than 48 hours ago, then don't come NEAR your local hospital! Got that?
According to the BBC 3 million people came down with the bug. There are currently 13 trusts in England alone that are reporting outbreaks! Although I think it's more than that now and that isn't including Scotland and Wales.
So for the sake of the immunocompromised, the very old, the very young, and the staff DO NOT bring it in with you when you come visit! Got that? Good.

And while we are on the subject of D&V... Enough of X-Factor Christmas hits already! I don't watch these shows, if only because I really don't have the time, but why must we suffer this crap year after year? Has Britain got no taste in music? Apparently not.

FOS

Yea... I am working on a decent post before I start the mind melting week of night shift. (I don't DO night shift. They make me feel like death.)
But of course how many times have I said that to you guys?
FOS is one of those delightful acronyms that are not meant to fill up medical records. Like TLC and the Departure Lounge... Actually I know of a hospital were the Discharge Lounge is routinely called that. Honest it was the sign on the door at one point. Why someone thought that was a good idea I don't know.

Memo to self:
Shopping list
A to Z part 3.....

Sometimes You Just Get Days Like That

Today was hell.... An interesting hell but hell none the less.
So many discharges = lots of admits to fill the empty beds.
Patient going 'off' in medical, who needed surgery, and no they don't talk to each other.
Cannula going weird at the sight of a bag of FFP.
So yea..... Having a busy day.
Still got the headache that started the minute I walked through the door. Apparently I'm not the only one having an off day, Chinese Girl Gets Kiss of Deaf. Wow kissing causing deafness.... bring on the hearing aid.


On an up side tomorrow is Day Without a Gay. I would call in to placement gay but I think Sister would have a small problem with that. Not the gay bit just the calling in for a day off bit. My windows vista sidebar magic 8 ball says 'go for it' but I think I'll be getting up in 4 hours anyway.

E to L

The second instalment commeth....
E - EATING - what's your usual snack?
My usual drink is Diet Cola or Starbucks coffee. Snacks..... mmmm chocolate, mostly I guess. I have a real sweet tooth... teeth (well the ones that are left).
F - A Few of your FAVORITE Things
My laptop / DS / PDA. M*A*S*H and SVU and Holby City and Casualty and House and all the other TV shows. My life.... I very much like my life just the way it is. (Cop out!)
G - GIGGLES! What (or who) makes you laugh? Do you have a good sense of humor?
'Staff Nurse I really get on with', Jack Dee, other bloggers, Twitter.... I have a 'broad' sense of humour... I can laugh at almost anything.
H - major HOT Button:
People who do not pull their weight. Right now it is the mess in the flat that keeps setting people off.
I - I am ______________
"Super Student" - Can I do it? Yes, I flaming well can!
J - There isn't a J. I don't know why but NO I won't jump if you ask me too.
K - Also KNOWN As... Aliases? Screen names? A non de plume perhaps?
Well since this is an anonymous blog you can easily assume I do have a real name. I also have another screen name which most of my fan fiction is written under. Yea bad question to ask really.
L - I LOVE ...
My laptop, my job (sad, maybe), Christmas..... many things.....

That'll do for now I guess!

Do Tattoos Reflect Professionalism?

So there we were sitting around on Twitter shooting the breeze with 140 characters of less when Nurse Connect released this article into the world.
This is somewhat a bug bear for me. I do have a tattoo but even now it's covered by my clothes and is never seen when I'm in placement. You also have to remember that this is the UK and we are governed by the almighty NHS and a simple search of google for 'nhs uniform policy' yields loads of documents from multiple NHS trusts on their specific uniform policies.

Basically it boils down to this.... (only taking into account nursing / other clinical staff)
You get a uniform. Normally navy blue is reserved for Ward Sisters (manager), Deputy Sisters, Specialist Nurses (they are in the same band as the management). White with blue binding is for are the general plebs. Theatres, cath labs, ITU, paeds, etc. will have different uniforms / scrubs. OTs, Physios, Speech and Language Therapists (SaLT), etc. have similar uniforms but different colours for the bands (e.g. our SaLTs have gray, OTs have green). Our student uniforms have the uni's name embroidered on to it (this is quite common though so it's not just us), however it is similar to the Healthcare Assistants (HCA) / Clinical Support Workers (CSW) with plain white tunics, so we get easily confused.

• Ladies' Tunic with trousers
  
• Men's Tunic with trousers
  
• Or the rather rare dress usually worn with a belt.

So right beyond the uniform that you may or may not have to launder yourself.... you are expected to....

• keep long hair tied back (and off collar)
  
• keep nails short and clean (no nail varnish)
  
• wear no (visible) make up
• no jewellery (except a plain wedding band)

They have all but told us when to breathe. This is all in the production of a professional appearance.
Some of the policies I have come across cover tattoos as well.

Inappropriate tattoos must be covered at all times. The head of service/department will be responsible for determining whether a tattoo is inappropriate or not i.e. any tattoo with offensive language is deemed offensive. It is acknowledged that some religions/cultures use henna to decorate their bodies at certain times and this is acceptable.

NHS East Kent

Visible tattoos are to be discouraged....

NHS 5 Boroughs

Considering what we have to put up with this all seems acceptable. I wouldn't want to be looked after by someone with swear words scrawled all over their arms (I would assume that back, chest, legs, etc. would be covered by our uniforms). In this area would a Celtic or Rangers FC tattoo be considered offensive? There is a massive rivalry between these 2 teams in Glasgow, this offers a background. But I guess it would be up to the nursing management. However a Celtic tattoo would be offensive to a Rangers fan and vice versa. So I guess it would be.

As a side note there is a policy of non discrimination when it comes to union affiliation / orientations / etc. So when I came back with the mention of my gay pride badge on my uniform I know that nothing can be said to me about it. We are allowed to wear a certain number of badges proclaiming our union or the school of nursing we graduated from.

My point was that as much as that little proclamation of my pride in who I am on a uniform the same as everyone else's is a reflection of my personality, a tattoo is a reflection of someone else's choice in life. (No I'm not saying my orientation is a choice by the way) So why shouldn't people be able to show off a little bit of their personality by way of body art so long as it isn't offensive?

DONE!

It gone, finished, handed in!
And a little over the minimum word count.
Now I'm off to bed because I am too tired to move any more!
I promise to put up the good post later.

Nearer to the End

I'm past half way!
WOOHOO!

A to D

Karin RN has been following the A to Z meme (The outline is here).... and since I've not done enough of these things I'm going to clog up a few posts in case I'm not around to fill the gaps in person.
So....
A - If you were an ANIMAL, what would you be?
I would be a... oh good question. I would like to be a goldfish but I would not like being stuck in a tank needing care from someone else all the time. Maybe that says something about me.
I would dearly love to be a wild horse, running free all the time. Than again people will call me a sloth for not moving very fast or doing anything with speed.
Nah I'll be a wild horse!
B - BOOKS: What's on your reading list?
Simple look down to the bottom of the posts and take a look at the bookshelf. Or go to my Shelfari page.
C - COMPULSIVE about anything?
I wouldn't say I was compulsive about anything. I used to clean the fish talk all the time but since the algae has balanced out it isn't so bad. I think I'm too laid back to be compulsive about any one thing in particular.
D - DREAMS - Do you ... dream in colour? remember your dreams? keep a dream journal?
Hmmm yes I do dream in colour and sometimes I remember them. After one (equally weird) shift that night's dream was that I went around killing people with oxygen cylinders (not killing patients BTW, I remember killing a staff member) (oh and I was beating them not blowing them up). I don't keep a journal because only the really weird ones stick the morning after.

That should to for this instalment. See you guys next time.

Smile

Hey look 600 (ish) words!
Went to bed at some time after 6am (here). Not really tired but had to sleep at some point. Need to work more tomorrow though.
Expect some posts to just appear.... If I'm not totally around.

After the Calm

Comes more storm... well it does in my life sadly.
As the ticker shows I still have most of the essay to do. And I've been taking the night off... well it's both Time-of-Doom AND I have a cold (like everyone in both the flat and my placement [that includes patients]). I'm tired but I'm off from now till after the essay goes in so it can't be that bad. I still have time.

Lets see how this one pans out, huh?