A few lessons learned.

1.  Don't assume relationships to the patients.
I had my first foot in the mouth experience at work a month or so ago.  I took morning vitals on this baby and there was a woman sitting in the chair very attentive while I did it.  She didn't speak english, so it was simple convo and that was it.  I came back later in the day and assumed that the lady in the chair was the mother.  So when this young girl came up and was translating as I talked to her I asked, "Are you the older sister?"  To which she replied, "no I'm the mom."  I couldn't believe I just did that and to dig deeper I stupidly replied, "Well you look great for having such a new born."  Well no shit, she was 16.  Turns out the lady in the chair was the grandma.  It made the entire day awkward and I vowed I would never make that mistake again.  So when I walked into another patient's room a few weeks ago, and I was convinced that the man visiting was the kid's grandpa, I asked, "Who this lovely man who came to visit you?"  And the patient said... oh this is my dad.

(Picture picked for you Matt)

2.  Set two alarms when you are sleep deprived.
One day, when I was still training, I woke up for work and noticed light coming through my window and instantly freaked out.  I wake up way before the sun comes up, so I knew, even before looking at my phone, that I had overslept.  I had merely 20 minutes before I was suppose to be at work.  Panic stricken I called the educator that was scheduling me and let her know I was going to be a little late.  There was no way I'd make it in time taking the el so I hopped in my car and drove to the hospital thinking paying for parking was worth saving my butt an extra half hour of being late.  I made it into work only 15 minutes late and was able to relieve the night shift SNA at her regular time.  She even mentioned that she thought I was going to be late.  Which technically I still was.  So I finished my day and went to the lot knowing parking would be expensive, but I had no idea just how expensive.  To park in the garage across the street from the hospital for 6-12 hours costs $45 buck-a-roos!  I probably would have been better off calling in sick or, in retrospect, taking a cab...

3.  Don't go to Bass Lake the weekend before a test.
Last minute I realized I started clinical a week later than I thought and was free, so naturally I scoped out what was going on down at the cottage.  Aunt Neici and Uncle Bob were suppose to help Peachie and Steve work on their garage, so in my head I was thinking they would be preoccupied with that and I can study while glancing up at a great view every once in a while.  Turns out the garage wasn't an all day project and the godparents were out to play.  I may or may not have mentioned that I've never been on a bass lake bar crawl on the golf cart and from there on out the day was shot as far as studying was concerned.  I more or less winged it on the exam and ended up getting a below average grade aka a D.

4.  Don't let life pass you by... even when in nursing school.
The weekend before my second test I went to Apple Canyon.  It was the weekend after Thanksgiving so it seemed justifiable.  I got to spend quality time with my family and experience all that is Diamond Jo Casino.I actually spent some time studying and got an A on the exam which is more heavily weighted than the first.  Come end of the quarter I ended up with a solid B in the course.  That has pretty much become my baseline and I'm not freaking out about it anymore.  Looking at my grade configurations I needed to get nearly 100% on the first exam to get an A (an event that has only been achieved once in my nursing school career).  Im not upset I got a B in the class and Im not upset I got a D on the first test.  It was a great impromptu weekend to Bass Lake and Apple Canyon.

 5.  Cross out Don't go to Bass Lake the weekend before a test.

Learning through practice

In class we had a short blurb about sickle cell disease during our hemolytic diseases lecture .  Pretty much they said it was a genetic disease, predominately in African Americans (8% effected to be exact which is huge) where the red blood cell sickles making it hard to get through small vessels.  See a normal red blood cell is concave and easily squeeze through small vessels, however when they take on the sickle shape they don't bend and maneuver through small spaces.  Sickled cells also adhere to the walls of the vessel causing an occlusion and decreased blood flow which leads to further sickling in the hypoxic (low oxygen) environment and we have a vicious cycle.  Our guest lecturer said, “Treat the pain.  That't the biggest concern” and I thought well that's simple enough.  

Until I had my first sickle cell patient at work I had no idea how unbearable the pain caused by sickle cell disease could be.  I mean I felt uncomfortable in his room at first because of the pain I had to watch him experience.  My patient was a 16 year old boy who was as polite as could be.  He referred to me as Miss Christina and always answered with a “yes ma’am or no ma’am”  even despite the the pain crisis he was in.  He instantly became one of my favorite patients of the day.  

90% of all sickle cell related visits to the Emergency Department and 70% of hospitalizations are due to pain crises.  The average length of stay to manage the pain is 8-11 days.  Yet there is a catch, you can't just dope them up because the body builds a tolerance to opioids and we don't want to go all out because we are talking about a lifetime of pain crises.  So doctors try to prescribe a dose that will take most of the edge off to make the pain bearable and then we try to use other methods for pain control to get them through.  With this two way attack to pain we A) treat the pain and B) treat the source of the pain, which in this case is decreased circulation.  I always made sure my patients room was stocked with heat packs.  His legs were the greatest source of pain so we'd constantly have heat packs on his knees and ankles.  A simple walk to the bathroom would bring this poor guy to tears and breathless.  

Theoretically the heat should help dilate the blood vessels and increase blood flow, but when I kept doing pain assessments and asking him what makes it feel better or worse he expressed that nothing really makes the pain better.  Another important key is to stay hydrated, because the increased volume with dilate vessels and increases blood flow.  In fact, dehydration is often a trigger for the onset of a pain crisis.   

Now my patient was not drinking his water... or poweraide... or juice so I had to get a little Nurse Ratched on him.  He told me it's hard to drink when he's not thirsty.  I told him thirst is one of the later signs of dehydration.  I knew he knew it was important to drink but I don't know if he knew why so I asked him to explain it (best way to know if someone knows something).  That's when I took the opportunity to educate.  He promised to finish his pitcher of water by the next time I came back to his room.  To which I replied, "well isn't that ambitious considering I'll be back in 20 minutes to take your vitals again."  He was adorable and like aw man I shouldn't have made that promise and the best part was he was smiling :o)  It was the highlight of my day and perhaps confirms that laughter really may be one of the greatest medicines.  I learned so much more through working with sickle cell patients, even as a student nurse assistant, than I ever would in the classroom.  

Under Construction...

Okay so I knew I was behind in blogging, but not until I checked out my last post did I realize how behind I am.  Over break I will be updating the blog so you can be up to par on all my recent learning experiences.  Just bare with me for a few more days and enjoy the holiday.

Love. Charity. Duty. Patriotism.

I can't believe we just had another presidential election.  I vividly remember four years ago stopping my schedule for the day and turning on my classroom's little 14 inch tv so my 8th graders could watch history as Obama spoke in DC after the election.  Boy how time flies.  This year was a little different.  After voting in the we hours of the morning, I headed to Lance Armour Day school for my peds community clinical.  They want us to get a well rounded picture of pediatrics so we have a couple extra clinicals outside the hospital setting.  LADS is a year round preschool for Rush faculty.  I was in the 4's going on 5 room.  Ironically one of my old clinical instructors had her daughter in that class and was coming in to do a little party for her birthday.  Before the party, the teacher went through her morning routine on the rug and mentioned the election.  It was so cute how all the kids knew exactly what was going on.  They knew who both the candidates were and a few shouted that they would vote for Obama.  One little boy told us that "If Obama doesn't win he has to leave".  Not bad for 4 years old.

After observing and working with the class I headed to Nadine's to get a lot of work done and watch the election.  We were able to knock out assignments which made up 15% of our final grade before turning on the tube and devouring a delectable spread made by Brady for the "election party" aka, Nadine, Brady and I sitting on the couch.  We had wings with an awesome sweet and spicy rub and stuffed jalapenos both smoked in the smoker as well as a scrumptious Reuben dip (and Im not just saying that because you're reading this Brady.  It was delish!).  Our friend Mary, however, had a much more exciting night.  She got a ticket to McCormick Place and went to the Rally!  That's where the Nurses for Obama pin pic came from.  She was kind enough to give us some sort of play by play throughout the night.  

My favorite part of the live broadcast was when they painted the state on the ice at Rockefeller Plaza.  It was just such a detailed process and I only felt secure that at candidate got the electoral votes when the ice state turned red or blue.  I mean we know our news has had incidents in the past where they call it too early.  They can just say oops and fix it, but I guarantee it's not that easy to change the color on the ice, so they better be sure ;o)  I headed home after the election was called but early enough that I could catch the speeches before going to bed.  To no avail I fell asleep and missed both Mitt and Obama's speeches that night.  

Today however I had some time to catch them and I must say I appreciated them both.  Im not one to shout red or blue or go on political rants, but I want to say my piece just this once so bare with me.  I enjoyed that both Mitt and Obama mentioned togetherness and a united states.  I hope citizens can now get off their donkeys and elephants and embrace this concept that their candidates, win or lose, still stand for.  I feel so many people are quick to judge our political leaders for the state of the nation yet, have simply sat on the sidelines waiting for change to come.  Obama mentioned in his speech that we are a group who asks "not what can be done for us, but what can be done by us" yet I question how many citizens live each day with that mentality.  I hope both Mitt and Obama spoke honestly about working together and making strides in the future.  I hope Obama's campaign becomes a reality and we do move forward as a nation.  Yet I know the Depression took something like 12 years to get out of so patience it critical.  

Also, the massive campaign spending needs to stop!  A New York Times article stated that Obama and the democratic party spent 852.9 million on his campaign and Mitt and the republican party spent 752.3 million.  My blood boils thinking of all the better causes campaign money could have gone towards.  There needs to be a cap on political campaign spending and there is no argument to that.  Ohio doesn't need 1400 commercial ads PER DAY to make a decision.  I love that Brian Williams kept putting in a side comment that that money could have really helped in other areas, like I don't know... healthcare!  It's just a waste and Illinois Rep. Tammy Duckworth proved that you don't need money to get the votes by beating her competitor whose campaign funds were 10 times her own. Now to end on a positive note.  Here is my favorite part from Obama's speech on Tuesday.  You don't have to like him, but you can't deny that the statement below is inspiring not just for our country but within our own personal lives.

I have always believed that hope is 

that stubborn thing inside us that insists, 

despite all the evidence to the contrary, 

that something better awaits us so long 

as we have the courage to keep reaching, 

to keep working, to keep fighting. 

Well said Mr. President...

My Favorite Holiday

Halloween is one of, if not the best holiday of the year.  I started getting ready October 1st, well maybe it was September 30th, but whose counting.  It was a nice day out and I didn't want to freeze while decorating outside.  I set up a grave yard, hung some bats and a skeleton on the porch and adorned the inside with cute little ghosts and pumpkins.  While we were a house divided on the decorating issue, I appreciate my one roommate letting me have this month to do as I please with the house (Thank you, Matt! Christmas is all yours :o).

Last weekend Tyler went to a pumpkin patch and bought some beautiful pumpkins for us to carve.  I was going to look up ideas on the internet when he said he wanted to do Jack's face from Nightmare Before Christmas so I decided to go with the theme and do the cover scene with Jack walking on the cliff in the moonlight.  It took us over two hours from start to finish but the pumpkins turned out great!  I also made special pumpkin seeds this year.  One batch with cinnamon and sugar and one with sea salt and cayanne pepper.  The cinnamon and sugar were to die for.  Tyler took about 10 pictures adjusting the dimmer switch to capture them in the perfect lighting.  I'm glad he did because I came home the other day and my Jack was already starting to wilt.  

While I much adore dressing up, I wasn't sure if I'd have time with school and the new job to think up and make something because there is no way I'd ever use one of those generic out-of-a-bag costumes.  I'd rather not dress up.  But then I get a voicemail from my friend Austin one night and it goes along the lines of this... "So we were thinking of ideas for Halloween.  We're doing Pinocchio characters and it turns out you have to be Jiminy Cricket.  Call me. Bye."  Of course I got excited because I knew I could do this one spot on after a little research.  That weekend we went out shopping and I snatched a red sweater and hideous pseudo-suede pants from a thrift store.  Then I was able to get a top hat that I could spray paint blue and put a tail coat on hold to rent for the weekend.  Last stop was Joann Fabrics for some finishing touches since I love to pay attention to detail.  The costume came together rather quickly and I was so excited to get dressed up Halloween weekend.  Our group consisted of Pinocchio, Gepetto, Jiminy Cricket, the fairy godmother, the boy who turns into a donkey, the whale and Cleo (a real goldfish).  I must say, Geppeto, Jiminy and the donkey boy were the front runners.  Im still trying to get my hands on a group pic so stay tuned.       

A Fierce Competition

Where it all began.  Just wait to see what
these become....

Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons.  One of which being the mother/daughter apple bake-off!  This was our third year baking and we decided to do coffee cakes.  Everyone gathered at my moms in the morning with baking gear in hand and we headed to Jewel to "pick" our apples.  Since it was such a poor growing season, we didn't even bother going to an orchard, plus there was a full day of baking ahead of us.  Coffee cakes are no joke.  My mom told me she had a recipe, but by had a recipe she meant she had a barely readable copy of a recipe and was going to pretty much wing the entire thing.  I just went with it..  With apples in hand and snacks to graze on all day we headed back to get our bake on.  After a friendly champagne toast, it was serious business.  We baked for hours.  Around 3 or 4 our judges started to arrive.  We had pre-printed score sheets for them to judge on the following categories:  Appearance, Crust and Filling.  It came down to a tie with Angie and her mom missing it by 1 measly point.  Since my mom and I won last year we let Carla and Lee have the apple this time.  Next year it's already decided that Apple Cakes will be next...  

Apples picked and ready to roll!

Angie made this beautiful cocktail beverage
to toast off the cook off.
We had all things apple that day 

When the apples don't pour out,use your hands.
Besides, we're all practically family...

Lee can hold his own in the kitchen

Team work at its finest and yes, we have matching aprons!

Carla pretending to do something....
jk, her and Lee were a great team

Lori is a true baker and so knowledgeable too!

Trying to put our vision together.

So maybe I should have drained some juice before
I dumped the apples onto the crust. 

I don't know if this is Carla peeing in her pants because of
the excess liquid from my apple mixture or the effects of her
coffee cake rising ..

you be the judge... does this coffee
cake look like Jabba the hut?

Mar was kind enough to make two crock pots full of
chili for everyone.  It was soooo good!

The fruits of our labor.  Appearance can sometimes make
or break first place.

Judges getting ready.  This is kinda a big deal.

While a tie, we handed the trophy over for the year.

Angie and Lori didn't go home empty handed.  They may
have gotten the best awards in my opinion.

"Where kids come first"

Lurie Children's slogan is more than just a slogan, I have come to find it is a work ethic and a mission that the staff take very seriously.  I seem to be fitting in with that vision too.  I've been working for almost two weeks now and I am just shy of obsessed with my job.  When talking to my mom and aunt brina about my first day on speaker phone last weekend, aunt asked "Do you think you found your calling?" and I think I just might have.  My job description as a student nurse assistant is pretty simple and the same as any SNA at another hospital:  check vitals, change beds, help kids wash up, measure I & O, stock rooms for new admissions and strip rooms after discharge.

What I love about my job is my clientele.  The kids are amazing!  I love that I have to check in with a patient before I leave for the shift because he wants to show me another magic trick.  I love that I get to bring a crying girl a popsicle after the IV team put a new IV in.  I love that I can teach a 4 year old boy that his name starts with the letter N.  I love that I can have a mini dance party to make a 9 year old smile before transport comes to take them down for a procedure.  I love that I can sit and rock a 2 1/2 year old to sleep because he cries when left alone in his room.  I love that I can relate to a patient's Justin Bieber fetish.  I love that I can boost the confidence of a wheelchair bound child by commenting on their "guns" and how strong they are.  I truly love my job!

I've had patients aged 7 weeks old to 21 years old so every day is something new.  I've worked on a neuro floor, a respiratory and infectious disease floor and a transplant floor.  I've caught on pretty fast and this week the CNA that proctored me said while he's trained about 100 nurse assistants, I was by far the best and was going to be an awesome nurse.  He kept saying I saved him that day because he had a heavy caseload with kids that needed vital checks every hour and some every two hours.  Today, when I was making my final rounds and saying goodbye, a patient told me she didn't want me to leave because "I was so nice and funny and pretty." She might be a slightly delayed, but she's got enough going on upstairs to see my true colors!  Next week I hit up the hem/onc floor (blood disorders and cancer) which people keep telling me is where the sick, sick kids are.  I am looking forward to seeing if that is where I really want to be after experiencing a week in the life of...

The Beauty of Birth

I am coming to the end of my OB experience and I must say it has touched me in a way I never thought it would.  I was able to witness two births this week during my labor and delivery rotation and it was indescribable, but I'll do my best to try.  It started at 8 am when this lovely couple came in for an induction for their second child.  We got them settled and acquainted to the room.  Mom was really nervous about labor and delivery because she vividly recalled her first delivery where she was in stage 2 labor (10 cm dilated and 100% effaced to delivery of baby) for three hours which ended in a forceps vaginal delivery with lesions to the perineum and the epidural wearing off.  She came in and we started her on a slow pitocin drip.  She had been 3 cm dilated for 3 weeks now and after a few hours on pitocin she had only dilated another cm but contractions where now 3 minutes apart.  The doctor was notified and because he was busy with another surgery he said decrease the pitocin because he didn't want her delivering until 4 or 5 that night.  It was a little disheartening to turn things down when the couple a) had a horrible first labor experience and wanted to get it over with asap and b) had told their little preschooler that she could come see her sister after school.  These are the things we never tell the patients, we just make the best of situation and see where things go.  I told her that the pitocin jump started the process, but we wanted to see what her body would do and hopefully their daughter will have a sister by the time she got out of school.  She had a hunch we were working on the doctors schedule and when she mentioned it, I just kinda smiled at her.  Since we were slowing things down and she was still only 4 cm dilated I went to lunch.  No kidding, 30 minutes later, my instructor was rushing into the cafeteria saying your patient is about to give birth.  I rushed up stairs and when I got into the room, the babies head was already out.  It literally took 3 more pushes and she was out.  Total time in stage 2 labor.... 15 minutes!  Her doctor wasn't going to make it in time so they had to use the "doc in a box" or better known as the on-call doctor.  After getting APGAR scores and vitals we wrapped the baby up and handed her over.  The couple was still teetering on two names and asked me, of all people, what I thought she should be named.  I had to plead the fifth.  That is no decision for a student nurse to make.

After that my clinical partner's patient had a sudden decrease in fetal HR. She went from 120 to 60 bpm for six minutes.  Everyone was rushing into the room, the pediatric recover team was called for resuscitation and the NICU was notified that they'd be getting a new patient.  There was an army in the room already so I just stood at the nurses station staring at the monitor hoping either that the HR would increase or the baby would deliver so they could start reviving him.

FHR Monitor Strip

(Teachable Moment: a fetal heart rate monitor will tell you the baby's heart rate (the top graph on the monitor strip) and when the mother is having a contraction (the bottom graph on the monitor strip), but it doesn't show the intensity of the contraction.  You need to feel the mothers stomach during a contraction to know how strong it is.  If it feels similar to what it feels like when you press on the cartilage at the tip of your nose it's weak, like your chin it's medium and like your forehead it's considered a strong contraction.)  Now back to the story.... The baby came out floppy and not making any sounds, but everyone was there to start interventions and within five minutes of delivery things were looking promising.  Still the baby was brought to the NICU for close watch.

Later that day I saw a c-section.  The baby had a heart condition where the doctors felt he wouldn't handle the stress of a vaginal delivery.  Rather than taking the chances they scheduled a cesarean section.  I was able to talk to mom in the OR as everyone else set up and did counts.  She looked petrified, so I thought small chat would mask some of those emotions.  Now one might think a c-section is the easy way out.  You cut, you pull out the baby and voila!  Oh no.  You cut a little bit and then you pull and tear and stretch the abdominal muscles.  Pulling allows for a quicker recovery than cutting.  Then after getting through the  fat and muscle and fascia they finally reach the uterine muscle.  With one little slice from the scalpel fluid comes gushing out.  The residents forearm literally disappeared into the incision and fished around for a while.  Then a leg came out.  It was just one leg out for a while and they tugged and pulled on that leg a lot.  I thought babies just slipped out with c-sections, but I was wrong.  It reminded me of the dairy farm video Aunt Gam has where the calf was stuck in the cow.  After a couple more twists and tugs, the baby was out.  It was a crazy day, but Im glad to have this experience with me forever. However, I still can mark this off my list... OB nursing is a no go!      

Run Chicago Run!

October 7, 2012 was an exciting day in Chicago.  It is hard to believe, considering I've lived in the city for a while, but I have never gone out and watched the marathon until this year.  My pathophysiology instructor is has been on the head medic team for a few years and a while back she made an announcement to our class to volunteer in the medic tents.  It sounded like an amazing experience so I signed up.   As did 20+ other nursing students from our cohort.  

Since I had to be at Grant Park at 5:30 am, there was nothing exciting on my agenda for Saturday.  Anne wanted to make posters for the runners and they had a little cheer group for Team Bear runners.  I love crafts and glitter so I was in.  We made a nice dinner had some glasses of wine and went to work.  The toenail and balls posters are my works of art.  

I didn't think they'd take that long to make, but I ended up heading to the marathon with only 4 hours of sleep.  As I was getting up and ready for the big day, Tyler was texting me to see if I was home because he was going to have people come over after going out.  I appreciate the consideration for my sleep, but how sad...he's just coming home and I'm already getting up for the day.  I had to chuckle as I was walking to the red line and the bar staff was still cleaning up from the Saturday night crowd.  Now any other weekend I would have opted for a cab at 4:45 in the morning, but marathon weekend the el is filled with runners and supporters.  It's a very positive, non-threatening environment and you could already sense the energy and excitement even before the sun came up.  

I made it to the volunteer village and there was already a vast crowd of people standing around.  I suppose a 45,000 person event requires a lot of volunteers.  I picked up my "all access" medic team badge (oh yes I said all access), and free nike marathon jacket and hat.  The other Rush nurses and I stood in the line for breakfast with no idea of what the day would bring and what was expected of us.  It was a little unorganized in my opinion and didn't get much better.  We went to the main medic tent that we were assigned to.  It was on Balbo at the end of the race.  There were three sections:  Critical Care which is easy ache and pain stuff, maybe some ice, General Care, where we had cots laid out and vitals would be checked, IV starter kits were available, warming blankets etc. and an ICU section where we would bring the extreme general care cases.  I was assigned a general care position.  After we got the scoop on how the day would go they allowed us to go see the start of the race.  Since we had our all access passes we were right up next to the runners.  I couldn't believe the clothes that were left behind when the runners got the cue to advance to the start line.  The street was literally covered with sweatshirts, jackets, pants jars of vasoline, garbage you name it and the regular volunteers would go pick everything up and throw it to the side before the next corral advanced.  It was comforting to know that all the clothes would get donated.  We were cheering and and giving high-fives as they jogged by the start line.  One guy was running his third marathon without shoes on and says he never has a problem.  

As the race started it kind of resembled herding cattle, but again with 45,000 people running you need a good system.  I think it was a 2 hour process to start everyone which is kind of funny because as the last runners were leaving the start line, Kebede of Ethiopia was finishing with a course record time of 2:04:38.  By then we were back at our station in the medic tent just waiting for runners.  The people that finish first rarely have medical issues because their bodies are trained to do this.  It's the ones that wake up one morning and say, hey I'm going to run the marathon this year that we mainly see.  I think because we had optimal running conditions, things were kinda slow, but there were a few good cases I got to get my hands on.  The worst was a guy who came in shaking uncontrollably, feeling like he was going to pass out and hardly able to walk.  They put his feet up and started their assessment with basic vitals.  Because we need accurate information and fast, we only take core temperatures and for those of you who don't know what that means it means we put a thermometer about an inch up your butt.  Just an FYI for you runners out there.  Well this gentleman instantly had a temp of 103F.  We grabbed bags of ice to put on his groin and neck, they prepped him for fluids by starting an IV line and they drew blood which I rushed to the lab station to get electrolyte and blood gas levels.  Before I could even get the lab values back he started to have mental status changes so they took him into the ICU tent for more aggressive treatment.  I don't know what happened to him from there.  

Most of the cases were not that intense though.  I had a guy who ran his third marathon and got a PR but cramped up all over at the finish.  He ran his first marathon in Japan.  Another patient was a doctor at Rush actually, who was running for asthma until his cramped up and lost his breakfast three times at mile 17.  Good thing charity donations are not contingent of finishing.  I loved hearing everyone's running stories but I didn't forget that I needed to get the PQRST for their charts.  It's an assessment tool nurses use to get a good picture of the pain patients feel.  Here are a few examples for each category.

• Palliate/Provoke:  Is pain relieved when I do this?  What makes it worse?
• Quality:  Describe the pain:  sharp, shooting, dull, aching etc.
• Radiate:  Does pain travel anywhere or is it isolated in one spot?
• Severity:  Rate pain on scale of 1-10
• Timing:  When did it start?  Does it come and go?

While exhausting it was a great day and it would be a pleasure to do it again.  Im looking forward to next year, especially because Chelsey said she'd volunteer to be a massage therapist too!

Bound for the Looney Bin

I just finished my first week of work.  It's pretty official now.  I am an employee of Lurie Children's Hospital and I have the ID badge and key fob to prove it.  I had orientation Monday which was pretty generic and very lackluster.  It was for all new employees and I mean ALL from head chef to security to finance to shipping to research to interns to gift shop to nurses and everything else in between if you can imagine.  We went over benefits and insurance plans which I have come to terms with the fact that I will never understand.  Orientation went from 8:30-4:00 so I had to miss both of my classes that week and to top it off we had a test so I needed to make that up.

Since my weeks are very hectic it only worked out that I could make up my test on Tuesday.  Im telling you I am getting pretty good at this balancing act.  I started my day by going  to Children's early to sit in the sky lounge and get a last minutes study sesh in before day two of orientation.  Day two was a little better because it was more interactive.  We had to sit through this "diversity training" class for the morning and then met with our managers and nurse educators in the afternoon.  I had to skedaddle after lunch go to Rush and make up my test (which I was 10 min late for because the el was taking forever).  My teacher was like take a breath and then put your stuff down and she gave me ample time to finish.  I didn't really study and showed up late for the test yet did 10% better than the first test we had.  Perhaps this should be my new approach to tests for the rest of the program.  I think I wasn't over thinking or second guessing myself on this one.

That didn't end my day though.  As soon as I finished my test I had to turn around and go back to Children's to meet with Ann, the nurse educator, because my first day on the floor was saturday and that was the only time she could meet before then.  We went over scheduling, policies, the computer system, and many other things.  Because I had clinical up in Evanston at 7 in the morning the next day, she didn't want to keep me too late and pretty much went over the "need to know" info on the floor.  I knew how to clock in and where to go, the rest I'd just learn on the job.  Ann didn't seem too concerned though.  She said my biggest challenge was going to be shutting off my brain and assuming the role of the nurse assistant, not the nurse.  That's okay with me though.  I have no problem sitting back with less responsibility and learning from the nurses on the floors.

I keep telling myself there is an end in sight and I am so lucky to start doing what I think know I want to do while still in school.  This job will open a several opportunities and I will forever be able to write Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, a nationally ranked pediatric hospital, on my resume.

Beary Busy

So I feel like Im at a point where I am stretching myself thin again.  I have a habit of not being able to say no and over extending myself.  After this week I will start orientating at Lurie Children's and that will trump these volunteer opportunities I've been extending myself to.  Not that I don't want to do good out in the community but there is only so much a lady can do.  From here on out I am narrowing my focus:  School, Work, Bear Necessities, and SNA.  That is more than enough to keep me busy.  Before then there are a few obligations that I was happy to volunteer to fulfill.  

Yesterday I worked a Flu Vaccine Clinic at Rush.  I probably gave 180 IM injections to students, doctors and staff and that's no hyperbole. I had a ton of fun and loved prepping that vaccines, giving the patient a quick hello and then a shot and then having most of them tell me that was the most painless shot they even had.  Now I'm not going to lie, some flinched and said ouch, but I attribute that to their sensitivity not my skills  ;o)  One lady was petrified of shots and insisted that I tell her when I was going to stick her.  I was like okay I'll give  you a 1-2-3 count.  The anticipation of the shot is the worst so I stuck her on 2 and was pretty much done by 3.  She said that this time wasn't bad at all.  Come Sunday I will be working the medic tents for the Chicago Marathon but after that, I am done with the volunteer work. 

Bear Necessities has had a lot of stuff going on in the past month and I've loved being a part of every minutes of it.  I am a member of the service committee, which focuses on events for the families and children that are faced with pediatric cancer.  Late September we had our Annual Teddy Bear Ball at Lincoln Park Zoo.  We rent out the pavilion and give families a chance to relax and enjoy time with each other in a non-stressful environment.  It was our biggest year yet with 35 families and over 100 people.  There was a face painter, games, a DJ and a plethora of crafts.  I of course woo-d all with my crafty abilities.  One kid was making a web out of pipe cleaners so I made him a spider.  He thought it was the coolest and kept finding me to teach him and make more.  By the end of the day he had a mom spider, a dad spider and a ladybug wrapped up in the web for their dinner.  The kid was a hot mess, shoes untied, hardly wore his jacket and had snot running down his nose continually, but is was a day not in the hospital and I could see in his mom's face how happy she was that that day he was able to just be a kid.  All the kids were all full of energy and had a blast.  This year was exceptionally special because we also gave away laptops to children that won a contest when they wrote about their story.  I can't wait for next year with anticipation that it will just get bigger and better.

laptop winners

These kids were so cute.  The little girl was adamant about
getting a bulldog face painting.

The spider kid

A huge success

You should have seen this girls excitement when the DJ
instantly played her Taylor Swift request.

We also just had the 18th annual 5K run/walk out in Algonquin.  It was a beautiful sunny morning and the perfect temperature.  I of course walked opted to walk it and my friend Brook brought her dog Clementine along for the hike.  I came in 26th in my bracket, which happened to be 500th overall.  I like to look at it as I beat over 100 people.  I was very disappointed when they only gave out metals to the runners and not the walkers since I anticipated adding to my collection, but I quickly got over it.  There was a pancake breakfast to follow and touching speeches from children and parents.  There was a team that walked in honor of their 9 year old son Jake who passed away 5 months ago.  They raised over $3,000 for Bear Necessities.  I remembered this kid from our public service announcement because when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up he replied, "a good dad" which I thought was the sweetest thing ever (give the link a click).  It was hard to fight back the tears as his mom gave her speech.  It was another amazing Bear Necessities event and it is unfortunate that this is the last year they are doing it.  It pulled in over 600 people this year and it's great to reach out to the suburban crowd, but the volunteers are just burnt out.  I am hoping aux. board can pick it up in some fashion.

You won't find me in this picture.  I was way in the back.

Jake's parents representing Team Jake

Next wednesday we are having Oktobearfest.  I am really looking forward to it and hope it pulls in a big crowd.  I have spread the word and hope everyone who says they're coming does to make this another successful event.  If you aren't busy and want to come on out to the Bird's Nest I guarantee it will be a good time!