Employment!

I've found employment! Woohoo! I finally get to utilise my registration. I firmly pin this on starting blogging again. And not my superb interview skills.

Nursing Shortage? What Nursing Shortage?

Honestly? What nursing shortage?
Since the economy went down jobs have become thin on the ground, nursing included.

Since I returned I have been doing a lot of searching for work.... and finding not very much. Sadly since returning from camp I'm been out of work. Truth is. Wards are short staffed but there is little funding to replace or add staff where needed.

Doesn't help that in this atmosphere having a diploma is not going to get me far.... and no current experience doesn't make that easier.

I'm such a misery, aren't I? Sorry. I do have a new dream though. The camps I worked at... Well they could be doing so much more for those who want to come there. Now I know there are special camps for illnesses and disabilities.... but we have the infrastructure to support more than we do. So why can't we? We don't have the people. And yea I would want that person to be me.

It's good to have dreams.

Hey

Hi guys!
I'm still alive but have to borrow the internet from the camp so I'm keeping a low profile. There's been a few accidents along the way this summer and I've had the joys of experiencing the American health care system from the patient side twice. I *heart* nurse practitioners!

I wanted to post that my registration came through!! And I'm now an Adult Nurse!

Woohoo to no longer being a student, although I thought it would never happen at some points.
Love WardBunny

Florence Nightingale's Museum

I recommend that if you like your history / nursing / history of nursing you need to go to the Florence Nightingale museum.
It has an amazing amount of information on her life and the work she did. There is also an exhibit on Mary Seacole (who is also a total idol of mine!).
We couldn't take photos inside sadly and as I look back over the contents of my digital camera most of the photos really aren't worth cluttering the blog up.

On a similar note the keyring in the photo from the post before is Nurse Bean (it's from a collection). I have a larger one too but I thought since I couldn't be in the photos my keyring could be. That actually turned out better than I thought.

So nothing much more to report. My visa was granted so I shall go to the States!
Only 2 weeks to go!

Sleepy

Someone's put something in my drink. I'm exhausted.
I do have photos.
They are stuck on my camera... except this one.
Did go to Flo's museum - will report on that tomorrow.
Visa was approved so I can go to camp this year!
Right... can I sleep now?

OINK!

My 2 favourite things right now are:

1. Telling people I'm signed off
   and
2. Making fun of Swine Flu

Yea I know number 2 isn't very grown up but to be honest it is Scotland's biggest joke right now.
It's kinda coming to a big nothing. The two people who were the UK's first cases have sold their stories to the newspapers. And the government has produced the most patronising leaflet since the one about disaster preparedness.

The jokes are doing the rounds as well.... We have the one about breaking out in 'rashers'. Of course you can insert almost any 'oink'ment joke as appropriate. Oh and my current personal favourite has to be any poor sod with hay fever, a cold or an asthmatic/COPD/smokers' cough being let loose on a bus or train. Fastest way to get the annoying person sitting beside you to move.

Worst part is I could have saved them millions on the whole message thing. You know; wash your hands, use a tissue, bin the tissue............
We had a strangely similar message going about nearly 70 years ago.......

Who Da Nurse?

Me that's who!
I got signed off!

Me.... Nurse ....... Qualified...... Finished........ *OK time to quit hyperventilating*




Shit.

The Elephant in the Room

THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
By Terry Kettering

There’s an elephant in the room.
It is large and squatting,
so it is hard to get around it.

Yet we squeeze by with,
“How are you?” and, “I’m fine,”
and a thousand other forms of trivial chatter.

We talk about the weather;
we talk about work;
we talk about everything else—
except the elephant in the room.

There’s an elephant in the room.
We all know it is there.
We are thinking about the elephant
as we talk together.

It is constantly on our minds.
For, you see, it is a very big elephant.
It has hurt us all, but we do not talk about
the elephant in the room.

Oh, please, say her name.
Oh, please, say “Barbara” again.
Oh, please, let’s talk about
the elephant in the room.

For if we talk about her death,
perhaps we can talk about her life.
Can I say, “Barbara” to you
and not have you look away?
For if I cannot,
then you are leaving me alone
in a room—with an elephant.

My elephant isn't bereavement but the poem is true all the same.

The Nursing Meme

1. How long have you been a nurse?
I have been a nursing student for 3 years and 3 months.
2. What Dept/area will you never work in?
Outpatients - when the first thing you get told is 'this is where they put the old nurses out to pasture', it really doesn't endear you to the place.
3. What Dept /area would you like to eventually like to try?
ITU and maybe Paeds (but I'd have to retrain for that)
4. What Dept/area are you in?
Surgical urology
5. What is the grosses thing you have encountered?
Nothing really grosses me out. Did once come across a wound I could put my fist into though.
6. What is the weirdest thing you have seen as a nurse?
Glass eyes always strike me as weird, necessary but weird
7. What one piece of advice would you pass on to new nurses?
Take advice that's offered. Ask questions. Don't act like you know stuff when you don't. (sorry that was 3)
8. How would you help retain nurses?
By NEVER saying 'Why are you doing nursing?' to the students
9. Do you have days you wondered why you ever became a nurse?
Yep whole weeks...
10. If you hadn’t become a nurse what would you be doing?
I would probably be a physics teacher

Oh and new blog rec from where this is been lifted - LivingDeadNurse

Brilliant Day

Monday was brilliant. Yes, Monday. Ah when you work shifts it really doesn't matter when the week starts! Not for anyone else really. But it was for me. They relied on the fact that I could take on the appendix and it's 13 theatre list patients and get through the day.

I have been stupendously proud of myself since then. I can take on the world now.

.....

Now I need to go write about it in great detail... for tomorrow.... I'm up at 6am.... baws.

Pecking Order

We have quite a few students now. More than 2 and, say, less then 10. We're a big, immensely busy, ward we can take it.
And so the pecking order has developed. You know it had to at some point. Limited chances at the advanced clinical skills makes it first come first served at time. So it's an event that would make Animal Planet or National Geographic happy. We are essentially animals.

And I'm fighting to be alpha female. We have other students doing care management and they only just have their foot in the door. I've been there for 7 weeks now and I have a previous 16 weeks before that, I'm not going to roll over easily. Course that means whoever makes alpha will essentially be the best.

The year 1's and 2's have been on a bit of a steep learning curve, for some this is their first hospital placement. I've been teaching one or two of them a few skills I can do with my eyes shut. Like measuring pre-op patients for TED stockings. Sexy aren't they?
Who wouldn't fancy you in a pair of those!

I hope the claws don't come out too far. Much as the pecking order will fall into place, we need to remember to play nice while we do it. There were 2 drains to be pulled today and 2 management students. One each huh? Nope only one was there quick enough and the other was removed by the staff nurse. It may get dangerous.

Better go get my riot gear on.

I've Found the Love AGAIN!

For those who are eagle-eyed, sharp of brain and generally better at picking up on problems you might have noticed that when things go badly I don't post. (If you didn't, don't feel too bad. I can never see when my friends get haircuts. That's worse!) You really don't need to hear me go on and I don't want to type it as it happens like a bad copy of Nursing Big Brother.
I haven't posted since the first of the month.... It's now the 14th.
I'll leave you to your own conclusions.

Anyway... I'm back and I've found the love I had for nursing way back in the beginning. Which leaves me wondering if I had a period of burnout back there. Personally I think anyone would consider tossing in the towel after 16 weeks leading to failed placement, to be followed by an episode of 'why the fuk am I still doing this' and hitting the wall of 'too exhausted to function' last week.

Weeeeeee I'm gonna be a nurse!! I will be a nurse! I will no longer have to sign 'Student Nurse' after my name!

I'm back baby!

Pond Crossing Differences

I'm looking for a little input here.
The last post showed that nursing in UK isn't really the same as nursing in the USA, although it's the same job. The training isn't.

So to clarify a couple of things....
In the UK we don't sit a board exam at the end of the course (like the NCLEX) before we are placed on the register.

We do have to renew our registration every year to continue being a registered nurse and able to work.

I can be in charge of as many as 12 patients (in this current placement) (with a nurse shadowing me) per shift. These are general surgical patients (or even the rehab patients from my last placement) and not those requiring high levels of care (2 patients to 1 nurse) or ITU care (1 patient to 1 nurse).

Our courses are specific to the area we will be employed in. Cellar Door will be a mental health nurse and is on the mental health branch training (you don't mind being an example do you?). I will (someday) be an adult / general nurse and am on the adult branch. There are also separate branches for paediatrics and learning disability nursing. Midwifery is a separate course altogether.

The majority of nurses in the country are employed by the NHS. Only 25 to 30% are employed by the private sector.

Anyone see any more differences?

The Stethoscope Tag

I was tagged by both Little D, S.N. and Undergrad RN for this one.

Here are the rules:

1) Post a picture of your stethoscope

2) Tell what you love about it
3) Tell what you hate about it
4) Tell me what your dream stethoscope would be
5) Does it have a name?
6) Tag all your nursing friends (Including the one that tagged you) and don't forget to leave a comment on their blog telling them that you tagged them!

So they are both about to have a WTF moment.

We don't have stethoscopes as nurses or student nurses over here. Actually that's a little inaccurate. We do HAVE them. We just don't use them so prolifically.

From what I can tell Student Nurses / RNs across the pond (like we do just not as often) use them for measuring BPs and listening to lung sounds and heart rates. We don't commonly take manual Blood Pressure measurements. For some patients we have to but mostly we use digital machines like Dinamaps. OK mine doesn't have a thermometer on the side but it's just the same thing.

I have done manual BPs but not in a long time. When you have say 12 patients under your care and you need obs on all of them it's not really enough time to do manual BPs.

As for listening to hearts? I've done that. I've heard the sounds of mechanical heart valves. But again we don't do any of this routinely.

Lung sounds? Only in my ITU placement so far and really only then because of the risk of Ventilator Acquired Pneumonia. So there you were checking for air entry into the lungs at the top and bottom and any other noises like crepitus.

If you're looking for a stethoscope on the average ward around here you better start by finding the crash trolley. There'll usually be one hanging off of that.

I remember working the neonatal clinic in an outpatient's department as agency one day when I walked into the consulting room and the docs stethoscope was lying on the desk. He caught me staring at it and I said "That's a tiny stethoscope."
"It's for tiny patients." He replied. See because I'm working with adults most of the day it's easy to forget that we start of as little human beings, who need equally little equipment.

Sorry guys I don't have my own stethoscope. I have a pen torch for doing neuro obs and measuring tape for sizing TED stockings if they count as specialist equipment.

I have no-one to tag I guess. Unless of course Cellar Door has a stethoscope moment she would like to contribute?

I Gonna Do A Cuddy

I'm gonna do a Cuddy on the FY1's tie if he doesn't get a tie clip!

For all those who don't understand there's a scene in House (season 1, episode 4 - Maternity) where Dr Cuddy gets mad at another doc while swabbing the place for not having his tie clipped and well she cuts it off. Granted his tie was trailing into sinks and all sorts of waste. An infection control risk.

Yea I had a moment when, after having spent all day cleaning the ward, I went ape about our poor FY1 and his long sleeves, watch and tie. Poor sod. Sorry doc. I won't really cut your tie off. Well I might if it gets in someone's wound.

And yes I can find a House related moment for EVERY medicine related moment.

Confessions of a Nurse

Anyone in the UK catch the Dispatches documentary - Confessions of a Nurse?
Please tell me you did. Much of it is true, least from what I heard from around the web and throughout my course.
Disturbing.

Patient care

• 42 per cent of nurses and midwives interviewed say they have either been in or witnessed situations where patients have been put in unnecessary danger
• Over half (57 per cent) of the A&E nurses interviewed say they have witnessed situations where patents lives have been put in unnecessary danger
• Almost half (53 per cent) say they have seen colleagues perform medical tasks that they are not qualified to do
• 44 per cent of the nurses and midwives we polled say they don’t always stick to the rules
• Over a third (37 per cent) think that patient care in the NHS has become worse in the past five years

Impact of understaffing and long hours

• Half (51 per cent) of all the nurses and midwives interviewed say that they are exhausted most of the time
• 29 per cent say long hours and exhaustion prevent them from doing their jobs properly
• 83 per cent of the midwives surveyed say they have been in situations where they have had too many patients to look after properly
• 70 per cent say understaffing prevents them from doing their jobs properly
• One third (33 per cent) say they would leave nursing and midwifery if they could

Behaviour of nurses

• 43 per cent say they have seen other nurses shout at patients (13 per cent admit they have themselves shouted at patients)
• 44 per cent of nurses and midwives interviewed admit to calling in sick when not really ill
• 40 per cent admit to browsing the internet when they should be working
• 36 per cent admit to coming to work with a hangover and unable to concentrate on the job properly

We can't care properly for our patients if we are under staffed. There are no great revelations to be had there. Not for those in the NHS anyway.
Bet you the patients will be scared now.
Go watch it on 4od if you can....

Yesterday Was Far Better

Never had a day like it... Being told that I'll pass if I keep doing my job that way I am! SCORE!

I love my placement. Placement is now past the halfway point and it flies past. Course working only 3 days out of 7 does make it feel like that. I also feel rather lazy. The eagle eyed might have noticed that I've not done a whole lot of swimming recently. Yea I need to get out more on that front. It might have something to do with the minor factor that I got a monthly pass so the motivation has gone out of it. You know what I mean. All those gym memberships that run for a year but only see a single month of visits.

Anyway I have a range of news stories that have filtered past the news feeds in recent days.

The paramedic who was attacked by yobs throwing fireworks while the woman, who was suffering a heart attack, lay dying. What is the obsession with attacking the emergency services? I really don't get it.

There's an inquest currently happening into the deaths of 10 elderly patients at a single hospital. What got me was the recollection of one patient's son who was told that his mother was there to die. that not the kindest way of breaking something. Even worse he believed that she was there to rehab after a stroke. So why is a woman in rehab dying? Who really knows. However all 10 patients were under the care of the same doctor; who is now under suspicion for over prescribing sedation.

Lastly there was a study done on wither religion makes a difference on patients wanting resuscitation at the end of life. Can't really comment on this personally because I've not really seen it happen first hand. I know for a fact that families have a huge part to play in the resus status of patients. Maybe they should and maybe they shouldn't. Who really knows? A lot of the fight comes from the person themselves and their inner strength. So does that imply that those who are not as religious have less inner strength? Is this evidence to back up some of the claims that religious speakers make?

And in the culture section of today's news announcement I need to get my ass over to Edinburgh. A Turner exhibition starts next week! A selection of his Italian works and his paint box and pallet. Hows cool is that?

Right I'm off to enjoy what may be the best weather Scotland will see all year!

This Ain't Theatre You Know

So I go in to help the doc. The patient is just back from theatre and needs something checking.
Oh then he asks me to wipe his brow.....
There a few words to describe my expression - 'gob smacked' perhaps? Or a classic Scots 'glakit'?

Sorry doctor this is a ward. Nurses here don't wipe brows unless they belong to the patients.

Still stunned by the question.....

Then he tries to wipe his forehead on MY sleeve. Oh no you don't sonny! I will get your fevered brow a paper towel but that is as good as it is gonna get.

I am not your wife / mother / scrub nurse. I will not be your handmaiden. Can I go back to my sick patients now?

Doing Something Right....

I think I must be doing something right. I got stopped by the deputy sister. She was wondering where my obs were..... Ah well you see....
Bugger.
I had a huge pile of things to do (it seemed that way anyhow). Halfway through an admission I stepped out to check the medical notes and one of my other patient's happened to be sick. Well the nurse I was working with was busy. So hmm what do I do? Drop the part done admission and find a sick bowl? Yep that would be it. My patient was OK, in case you were wondering.
So then I get caught with a missing set of obs. I was going to do them, honest. Right after the sick patient was seen to. So she asked me what I had to do (you know communication, team working, etc.) but when I listed everything it was actually rather short. Which I didn't understand. But I had loads to do? No, apparently not. Weird.

I'm going to have to start writing to do lists at work. Well it worked for the SHO on the last ward. I started the day with 7 patients..... I ended the day with 2..... In total 8 different people.





NO! HALT! I didn't hurt any of them! Promise! They were discharged home. Every last one.

Wonder how tomorrow's going to pan out?

Tired...

2 very long days.... 12 and a half hours each.... 4 hours sleep between......
Very, very tired. Sorry folks.
I'll try to get out of bed tomorrow.