Sometimes in life you get screwed, and there's nothing you can do but grin and bear it. This weekend was a prime example ...
I was scheduled for my usual nights shifts (7 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.) all weekend and didn't realize until Friday that this was the dreaded "Fall Back" time of year for daylight savings time. If you've never worked a 12.5 hour hour shift and then been FORCED to relive 2 a.m. AGAIN - you seriously don't know what you're missing. It happened to be a particularly slow night for me anyway since I had an easy two baby assignment so it was completely excruciating. I know that it's only one extra hour, but seriously, I felt like time had stopped. I was wishing Hiro would show up and teleport me to the end of the shift ... instead I just had an extra helping of caffeine.
Then of course the stupid dayshift staff come in and talk about how they "tried to sleep in that extra hour, but woke up anyway." Like I want to hear about the extra hour YOU were given to sit in bed and read your Sunday paper. Have you no humanity?? I had to whack myself in the head to stay awake for my 13 and a half hour shift, so just shut it!!
While we're on the topic of work - I'll just say that IVs are the bane of my existence. I'm a really bright girl and I think I'm a damn good nurse. I can spot a change in my patient's condition, have a fairly good idea about what needs to be done about it, and even sometimes talk the idiot resident (OK, they're not ALL idiots ... probably about half ..... or maybe three-quarters???) into trusting my instincts. We'll just say that in the past, there have been some fairly life-threatening crises averted due to my gut instinct and hounding the doc until I got the x-ray or diagnostic test that was needed. When it comes to putting in IVs ??? I suck.
As a new grad, I worked at a hospital where our patients always had great access in place so it was rare that I had to even need to try to stick for a line. After about a year or so and having very few successful IV experiences, it started to become one of those things I'd obsess over because I knew I wasn't good at it. When I started traveling, I didn't worry too much about it because there's ALWAYS someone around who rocks at IVs, and every now and then I do have some luck. Unfortunately I'm now working at a hospital where it's less common to have a patient with what I'd consider *good* access (PICC line, Broviac etc), so I'm needing new IVs all the time. Last week, it was god awful and almost every patient I took care of had IVs that went bad, and had shit for veins since everything had already been stuck. Of course it wasn't just me, even the kick ass IV starters had troubles which certainly made me feel a little better, but didn't stop me from thinking "Jenn, you suck!" So I decided that instead of cringing every time I need a new IV, I will welcome it as an opportunity to try to improve. I mean seriously, you could probably teach a chimp to put in an IV ... though they wouldn't look nearly as cute as I do in my scrubs!
3 comments:
Jenn Jenn Jenn--All I have is basic combat lifesaver training and I can put in an IV. Plus an IV is really when when you are hungover. An IV and a hit of oxygen--makes your day a whole light brighter.
Alright smarty pants! It's MUCH easier to stick a massive adult vein popped up at the surface waiting for you. My patient population however tends average between 1 and 2 kg, and let me tell you, baby veins are not as easy to hit :)
Yikes, that does suck. I don't know how you stay awake, even without the dreaded time change!
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