Summer in the Cafe

I'm sitting here in the free air condition of the local Starbucks listening to Jack Johnson and others over a venti iced soy latte.  It's nice having a day off from work to enjoy a beverage made by the local barista.  I've made it a goal of mine to get out of my apartment and meet new people.  Both times so far, I have gotten the opportunity to talk to other customers at Starbucks.  I've also decided I should start reading more.  I finally finished Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin, something that took me way too long, as I got sidetracked by The Hunger Games series, which were recommended by my coworkers.  I breezed through those at an unnatural rate for me.  As my job is composed of 90 percent female, I hear banter about the next big series to read: Fifty Shades of Grey, which I will not be reading.  They fantasize about which actor would play the protagonist, suggesting different actors such as Chris Hemsworth, effectively ruining my fascination with the books.  I prefer to remember him as the powerful Thor.

But I digress.  I have started a new book.  Onward, by Starbucks ceo Howard Schultz.  The book discusses how with the rapid expansion of stores, Starbucks lost its focus about customer experience, which it refers to as "The Starbucks Experience," and how quality declined. It references to simultaneous brief closures of all stores nationwide a few years ago, to stress the quality of pouring espresso and steaming milk, as well as  the quality customer experience.  I'll be thinking about the passion that the barista puts in to making each drink as I sip my soy latte.

Reading and enjoying a cool drink in an air conditioned store is probably going to be a regular pastime on my summer days off.  I'll probably be reading, as well as blogging a lot more.  So stay tuned.

Pollen Attacks

The weather here in WV has gone from cold, to warm, to hot in a matter of a couple of weeks and along with the heat, spring has brought the pollen, which has wreaked havoc on my sinuses.  Green waterfalls of snot have begun to roll down, out of my nostrils, giving new meaning to the number 11, which I catch in tissues, and give a frequent good blow of my nose to provide temporary relief to the continuous buildup of congestion.  The constant reaction of my immune system sending histamines around my body manifesting themselves as explosive sneezes and a runny nose.  Allergy medicines have refused to provide my nose any relief from this attack.   WV is supposedly known to be a bad place in which to reside if one suffers from heightened seasonal allergies, like myself.  Hopefully I can build up a high enough level of antihistamines in my body through allergy medicines that relief will begin soon.  Otherwise I won't be enjoying the beautiful weather outdoors, but inside air conditioned locales across the town of Beckley: the hospital, Walmart, and Starbucks.

Night and Day

Wow! Three posts in three days?  Is this a new record?  Anyways, in my previous post about nursing I briefed alluded to the crazy schedule any RN on a acute care unit deals with.  I work days, nights, weekends, holidays.  There was always the knowledge and expectation of working a schedule in that lodged itself in the back of my mind, but I never focused or thought about it in depth until I began.  I'm realizing that it is difficult for me to do the things that I want.

One of the challenges of dealing with a constantly dynamic schedule is being able to consistently attend and therefore serve God at church.  Being a nursing student, I was almost always inundated with studying, classes, and clinicals, but I got most nights and weekends off.  This allowed me to attend church, fellowship nights and music practice on a fairly regular basis.  I miss that.  Over the past six months, I've come to the realization of how many sacrifices I've had to make to pursue this profession.  I've given up the comforts of home, the closeness of family and friends, and a consistent schedule.  I don't expect to sleep every night, only in short hours whenever I can find.

This irregularity of schedule very quickly became clear once I started working and I found a church.  I have found that being able to serve in the capacity which I did back home, in California, has become impossible, which has been been frustrating, even causing some internal turmoil.

As a new nurse and a young person in the profession, I am often asked, "What next?"  People can see that this is just he beginning of a long-term career with a variety of possible opportunities.  During my time here, working a constantly shifting schedule, I have realized that eventually I don't want to be working odd hours.  The extra pay that comes with working weekends and nights is not worth the sacrifice in time and quality of life, which is not measured in how much money I have, but in the way I spend my time and energy.  It has allowed me to contemplate different career possibilites that I would not have considered when I first started.  Such possibilites as working in a clinic or being a charge nurse.  The future is an exciting adventure not yet explored.
 

California Food Checklist

As I'm sitting here, waiting to make my frozen pizza for dinner, I'm getting hungry, looking at pictures and recipes of food online.  It got me thinking of all the different places to eat when I'm back that I need to visit.  Here's a list I've come up with, which is not at all complete.

In N Out
Five Guys
Shanghai Dumpling House
Little Shanghai
Pho Saigon
Jersey Joe's
Crepevine
Bucca di Beppo
Old Town Sushi
Cheesecake Factory
Kara's Cupcakes
Chiptole
Cha Cha Cha
Quickly's (Gotta get that boba)
Pacific Catch



That's quite a list for just over the two weeks I have to visit in California.

Six Months In

Ok.  It's been a bit longer than six months that I started work as a nurse at the Beckley VA Hospital.  There's been lots of good times, as well as challenging times.  I know I haven't written too much about my work.  Some of it is because of privacy laws and respect for patients and their families.  Some of it has just been events that would gross out people without the stomach of a nurse.

As an nurse, I see people at their worst, their sickest.  I perform procedures and interventions that are very intimate, to put it politely.   I aid people in normal body functions they cannot perform on their own, because they are too sick, or too weak to do so.  We take our body's normal functions that we perform on a daily basis for granted.  Being able to breathe, walk, feed ourselves, remove waste.  Our body's ability to fight infection.  Procedures I perform to help heal someone, often cause pain.  Placing an IV, foley catheter, NG tube.  Suctioning a patient, or disimpacting someone.

There are times when patients scream, yell, complain, or swing at me.  But it's all worth it.  For those good times.  Appreciative patients.  Those who are thankful, give a smile.  For those people I can help by providing effective relief of pain, physical or emotional.  A woman who I got to sit and spend an hour with, listening to her story.   Knowing I provided some form of comfort, of hope to someone is what keeps me going after the long hours and odd schedule (More on that soon).

Six months in, I've learned a lot, and become somewhat more comfortable with being a new RN.  But I'm starting to realized how long it's going to take to really feel comfortable, and it's difficult to see when that day will come.

Cheesecake Filled Strawberries

Many of you may know of the scrapbooking website, Pinterest, where people "pin" pictures of things that look nice.  Some of you may know I am an occasional pinner.  One picture I pinned to my FOOD board was the cheesecake filled strawberries.  They're an easy, small item list recipe: strawberries, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and graham cracker crumbs.  Here is my try at them.

 The hardest part was standing them up.  Strawberries don't like to stand up straight on their own.

Thanks for your appreciation

A few days ago I was at work, when a patient and his wife who had been there before, greeted me by name.  This wasn't the first time this had happened to me.  I knew his name because I had his paperwork, but I didn't really remember taking care of him before, prior to seeing his face.  This made me think, wow patients and their families remember me, even though I don't remember them.  It's made me think about how my care towards patients and their families have a profound effect on their hospital stay and their perception of the quality of care they receive.  It's little gestures of amiability like this, as well as the "thank you's" that make working as a nurse worth it.

Some days are good.  Patients are appreciative and understanding.  Other days, not so much.  On occasion, I silently question myself, "why am I doing this?"  When patients give me dirty looks, or question my ability to perform tasks.  It's those days I try to block out from my mind, and focus on all the love God has allowed me to show these people through this job He has generously provided.  So to all of you.  If you're ever in the hospital as a patient or as a family or friend of one, remember, saying "thank you" means the world to us.

My locks need some love

Today I finally manned up and went to get my first West Virginian haircut.  I had been putting it off, but when the hair started going around my ears, I knew it couldn't wait any longer.  So I went to the local salon, AKA Walmart.  I couldn't just sit back and relax.  Having a stranger massage their fingers through my locks is a terrifying experience, then snipping away, not knowing what the result would be is an uncomfortable experience.

Well, I survived, but let's just say, it doesn't look exactly right.  I miss my regular hair dresser.  There's nothing more comforting than what's familiar.