A Run A Fire Part II

I ended my last post by saying there was a lot to be considered and decisions to be made.

It was now 0100 and I hadn't been to bed yet and I was to be at the Legion hall by 0900.  The Legion had graciously donated the use of the hall for me to use as a gathering place for the beginning of the run, and a place where I was being joined by members of my local Legion and my support team.  Here I was going to do my warm up and hopefully  to be joined by others.  However, other things needed to be dealt with first.

As I mentioned in my last post, when we left for dinner on Thanksgiving  we had left our two faithful dogs in our home. When father in law initially arrived at our home and opened the back door Ernie our 3 years old Husky/Greyhound came bolting out but not our dear Bert.  Father in law could here Bert whimpering and went into the house to see if he could get him out.  He somehow managed to achieve this and Bert finally made his way out of the house.  With all the activity going on I hadn't had an opportunity to truly check either of our dogs. Our neighbour come over to see if she could help and volunteered to take our dogs to her place for the night, but our companions did not want to leave us.

Once  the ambulance had left and we were in my father-in-laws house and sitting in the living room we had time to assess things.  The dogs being a priority.  Doug determined that Bert needed to be seen by the veterinarian made an emergency call and took Bert to meet her at her clinic.  Doug insisted I stay at my father in laws and try to get some sleep before the run, I attempted to do just that.  It wasn't long after that my father in law came to get me and to tell me I need to go to the vet.  Bert was not doing well.  I arrived at the vet only to be told that Bert was in dire straights that the smoke inhalation was to much for him and that he was suffering.  The decision was made to put our dear Bert out of his misery.  It was the hardest decision we ever had to make.  The vet gave Bert something for pain and then after Doug and I said our good byes, she give him is lethal injection of drugs which put him to sleep.  That is exactly what it looked liked when he lowered his head.  He just lowered it and put his head on his paws as if he were going for a nap and then he took his last breath and he was gone.

It was now 0330 in the morning and in a few short hours I was to start my marathon of hope.

The alarm was set and I was up at 0700 gathering up my belonging, and last minute items. During the preparation period  Doug had got a sponsor to make up T-shirts for the run. Unfortunately, the T-shirts had been in a box in the house at the time of the fire the night before.  Doug managed to bring out the box although soot filled and smoke infested he salvaged what he could and we made the best of it.

As you can tell by now that I decided that I would do the run regardless of the house fire and the loss of Bert.  So much energy had been put into this event that I felt I had to do it.  We arrived at the Legion hall just before 0900.  They had already received news of our fire.  Hugs and tears were bountiful and as much as that was appreciated there was no time for that and I needed to put my head into a more positive place.

The women who owned the gym that I had been training at volunteered to come to the hall that morning and do a warm up.  The turn out was not great but the enthusiasm was high.

The is the warm up.

After about a 20 minute warm up I headed outside to start the run.  This lovely lady helped organize things at the Legion for me.

Me, the two young ladies who ran the first 1/2 of the marathon with me and the trainer.

400 meters to the end of the first leg of the run....23km done!  I was so happy to see that sign...I was exhausted.

The rest stop was 3km from a ferry terminal.  While we were stopped a representative from a news station stopped and asked what was going on.  My hubby told him the story and the guy jumped into his vehicle and got out his video camera and started to interview me and my run was featured on our evening news.  It was great publicity for the run and the cause.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anvdw-Xeppw&feature=youtu.be  This is the link to the news cast, go to 10:55 secs to see the news cast.

Day 2 still to come!

A Run and A Fire Part I

Here we are almost three weeks into the New Year and I am looking forward to all this year can and will bring to me.

Many of you have followed me on Facebook and have read and or heard about my house fire at the end of November.  I am thinking about doing a post on how one overcomes such a traumatic event and the whole rebuilding that comes along with losing your house and a dear pet.  However, this post is about marathon of hope that I ran the morning after the fire.

Last January my brother Mike took ill with what he thought was a cold which turned into an pneumonia.  In February Mike and his wife Arletha had planned a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Arletha's birthday.  Mike had been given the ok by his family doctor to go to Vegas so of they went. During the flight my brother went into respiratory distress and had to be administered oxygen on the plane. When they landed in Vegas there was an ambulance waiting for him on the tarmac and he was rushed to hospital where he spent 10 days.  During that time he went through a battery of test, Mike's insurance company had him flown home to BC where he was hospitalized for the next 6 weeks.  You can read about my brothers story on his blog http://mikeslungs.blogspot.ca/?spref=fb.  Mike eventually was diagnosed with Interstitial Pulmonary Fibrosis. Now without a double lung transplant my brothers prognosis is poor.  He spends his days in recliner and just performing the basics of care leaves him breathless and requiring a large amount of oxygen supplement.  This is a far cry from the man that he was a year ago.  My brother is a husband, father, businessman and was very active in his community.  It breaks my heart to see him in this condition struggling for every breath.

Back in November when my brother was given the news that he might not see Christmas if he didn't get a lung transplant was devastating news for all of us.  I couldn't just sit by and do nothing, but I wasn't sure really what I could do. Then it came to me, I could run.  I could do a fundraiser by running a marathon. 

It was my husbands brainchild that I run a marathon.  Having never ran a marathon in my life it seemed very daunting and I wondered if I could even do this.  Here we were at the beginning of November my brother's condition was deteriorating rapidly and there was no time to waste, so my hubby suggested I do the run at the end of November!!!  November!!!  The date chosen was only 3 weeks away, how could I do this?  The fundraising, the training, getting sponsors the list of things to do was overwhelming.  How could I do this?  My hubby took the bull by the horn and started writing letters and making calls.  Before I knew it the dates for the run were set, the destination was set and sponsorship was already being garner I was committed all I had to do now was train. I was going to run from Bowser to Courtenay BC a two day 42KM marathon of hope we called "Run for the Lungs".

As I said I have never run a marathon in my life, the longest I have ever run was 16km.  This past summer I was running almost every day but again the longest run was 10km once a week and 5km every day or every other day.  So I really had to kick my training up a notch.  I contacted my local gym and asked them if they would sponsor me, and that they did.  They allowed me to use their facility for free and provided me with some personal strength training.  I alternated my run and gym days.  I was running rain or shine, hills and the flats.  During my training I was able to get in two 20km runs and three 10km runs and the rest were 6km runs.  Oh did I mention this run was taking place over 2 days.  Yes, I was realistic, there was no way I could do a full marathon in one day, but over two days I felt would be achievable.

On November 22nd that date might mean something to some of my American friends, yes it was the American Thanksgiving and my hubby and I had been invited to some friends home for Thanksgiving dinner.  We left home by 6pm leaving our dogs Ernie and Bert in the house all comfy on their beds.  At 7:45 pm we get a panic call from my husbands father telling us that there was smoke billowing out of our house.  We were home in a matter of minutes, hubby rushed into the house with hose in hand and started to extinguish the fire.  911 had been called but living in a rural area it's a volunteer department and they got there as soon as they could,but by the time they arrived hubby had got the fire under control but it was to late the damage was done.  During the early stages when we arrived at our home all three of us ran into the house to open windows and doors to let the smoke out...wrong thing for me to do. Due to my asthma, next thing you know I'm wheezing and having a challenging time breathing.  Ambulance arrives and I spend the next 2 hours in the back of an ambulance being administered oxygen.  My father in law and husband were in and out of the ambulance also getting oxygen.  As I sat there breathing in the oxygen I thinking, how am I going to do this run in the morning?  I had made this commitment to myself and to so many others.

There was a lot to be considered and decisions to be made.......

Stress...

Is it me or does anyone else find the use of the word "stress" or "stressful situations" overused and or misused?

If we look in the Miriam Webster dictionary for the definition of  stress we find the following:

1: constraining force or influence: as a : a) force exerted when one body or body part presses on, pulls on, pushes against, or tends to compress or twist another body or body part; especially : the intensity of this mutual force commonly expressed in pounds per square inch b) : the deformation caused in a body by such a force c) : a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation d) : a state resulting from a stress; especially : one of bodily or mental tension resulting from factors that tend to alter an existent equilibrium e : strain, pressure


2: emphasis, weight

3: archaic : intense effort or exertion

4: intensity of utterance given to a speech sound, syllable, or word producing relative loudness

5a : relative force or prominence of sound in verse b : a syllable having relative force or prominence

Let's look at 1(c): a physical, chemical, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and may be a factor in disease causation.

I think we have all used a similar saying "I'm stressed out" or "I'm really stressed"  or "that stresses me out".   So why do we allow ourselves to get to this point?  Is it really stress we are feeling or is it something else?  Exhaustion for example, if we find we are burning the candle at both ends and still find there are not enough hours in the day to do what we want to do and accomplish, we often get "stressed".  However, is this really stress or is it self imposed kaos, and as a result our bodies begin to experience the physical, mental and or chemical tension which alters our equilibrium.

We all deal with these more challenging times differently.  Some of us find more positive ways of dealing with these more challenging times by excercising, performing yoga, and/or mediation. Others tend to over eat or not eat at all.  Then there are others who tend to  increase their use of chemical drugs, alcohol or over the counter medications and prescription drugs. In other words we find other means to help us manage this more "stressful" times.

As an RN I have seen a huge variety in coping mechanisms people have used in order to manage their stress.  Some folks use self meditation to help manage pain, they have told me they try and find their "happy place". Then there are others who can't, and need other interventions to manage simple tasks.

So I ask myself, where does such a variance come from?  Why do some people have coping skills and others don't.  For some using the word "stress" would never even enter their mind, but rather they would consider it a more "challenging" time, and take it as opportunity to help themselves learn new ways to manage the stressful/challenging times.

Have we as a society become so "stressed out" that we can't manage our own challenging times?  Have we become that "stressed out" that we have forgotten how to manage our lives and challenging situations? How did we forget how to care for ourselves and become responsible for our own well being?  Maybe some of us were we never taught those managing and coping skills, or maybe some of those skills are innate?  

One thing I do know or have at least experienced is that there are many things in our lives that are out of our control and happen to us or around us that we can not do anything about, but does that constitute a reason for stress or to be stressed out?  I don't know.  What I'd like to see us all do is figure out positive ways to manage those times and take responsibility for our own well being and not blame everything on "stress".

What do you think?

A Nurse is A Nurse is A Nurse....

Do you believe that?  I don't.

For most of my nursing career I have been a staunch supporter of my nursing union.  Since the late 90's the union has worked hard at improving the working conditions for RN's. They have worked tirelessly on addressing workload issues and the impact it has on patient care.  They negotiated the largest wage increase nurses have seen in decades.  I was proud to call myself a memember of the British Columbia Nurses Union(BCNU).  Today, I question the direction they have taken.

Over the past few years BCNU has been attempting to bring Licened Practical Nurses(LPN) into our union.  The union says LPN's wanted to join our union.  There has been a lot of controversy over how the LPN's were approached about joining BCNU, so much so that the Labour Board got involved and legal battles insued.
HEU believes that BCNU "raided" their union.  Raiding is the practice whereby a union tries to organize workers who are already represented by another union.  In union terms that is an absolute NO NO and does nothing for union solidarity.  As a result of  BCNU actions they have been shunned by The Canadian Labour Congress and the Canadian Federation of Nurses frowned heavily on BCNU's actions.

I started my post out saying that I used to be a staunch BCNU supporter.  What I think I should have said is that I am a strong unionist.  In union terms what BCNU did in my opinion is fundementally wrong .  I  recently read on the HEU website a review of BCNU position on LPN's.   Since 1996 BCNU took a strong stance against LPN's. The folowing is taken from the HEU website:

Back in 1996 BCNU president was quoted as saying "“There’s no room in the health care system for LPNs anymore. Existing LPNs should be re-training as RNs”

2000: BCNU lobbies Health Professions Council to stop LPNs from calling themselves nurses. “The BCNU disagrees with the HPC’s recommendation that the title ‘nurse’ be granted to licensed practical nurses and thus shared with registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses.”


2004: “We’ve been told they (LPNs) do 70% of our work. That may be true. The 30% that they don’t do, however, is the intellectual work which makes all the difference between a registered nurse and a practical nurse.” BCNU president’s remarks to BCNU convention.

2006: “In most industries, what is happening in health care today would be seen as a dumbing down of the workforce. However, somehow for health care, having overlapping scopes of practice, quote unquote, is seen to be acceptable. As one person put it, when we were out of surgeons, they didn’t call for butchers.” BCNU president’s address to a public meeting on health care reform. (watch the video)

2007: BCNU makes a deal with the Vancouver Jail to replace LPNs with RNs, as positions become vacant.

2009: BCNU successfully fights Fraser Health’s decision to utilize LPNs trained to help carry out immunizations in the community, leading to LPN layoffs.

2010: BCNU publicly blasts Fraser Health’s plan to increase direct hours of care to long-term care residents by utilizing more LPNs. (The Province, September 30, 2010/Abbotsford Times, October 1, 2010 and HEU's response as published in Surrey Now)

And now only 2 years later BCNU is singing  a different  tune and welcoming LPN's to our union.  What changed?   Why is BCNU welcoming LPN's with open arms?

You know that saying " If it looks like a skunk, smells like a skunk, and acts like a skunk, chances are it's a skunk"  Well I smell a skunk.  BCNU's  position is that LPN's wanted to join, and state  that the LPN's felt they would get better representation at the BC Nurses' Union.  On the BCNU website you will find the following statement "At BCNU another nurse will always be at your side to represent you."  Note the generic use of the word "nurse"

So what changed from 2000 when BCNU was lobbying the Health Professions Council to stop LPN's from calling themselves nurses?  BCNU was of the opinion that the designation of "Nurse" should only apply to RN's and RPN's.  I can remember specifically our union campaigning to have all RN's wear buttons identifying themselves as RN's and to always introduce themselves to the patient as  RN.  I recall thinking how silly that was, surely my patient knows I am an RN.  This unfortunately is not the case. I personally have observed LPN's identifying themselves as nurse in the generic ...rather than I'm your LPN.   I can see now how patients get confused about who is providing their care.

I am of the opion that the reason BCNU wanted LPN's in our union was to have them closer at hand.  BCNU is of the opinion that if employers are going to be using LPN's to fill the shortage of RN's then BCNU want to have more control as to how that happens.  I think it's a money grab from our union.  Increased membership = increased dollars to the union.  Increased memembership= increased bargaining strength.

BCNU has just negotiated a tentative agreement with our employer.  It's a 2 year contract where  nurses will find themselves with  a 3% increase in the Spring of 2013, workload language, and an increase in the number of nurses  by March 31st, 2016.    I'm not quite sure where our union or employer believe we are going to find another 2100 nurses by 2016 especially when a lot of the baby boomers will be retiring within the next few years.  Although BCNU states that it will be RN/RPN positions that will be increased, I am not sure what stop gaps will be in place to prevent LPN's from filling the need.  I fear there might be a little conflict of interest on BCNU's part.

Now I see that BCNU has opened nominations for LPNs to elect LPN Bargaining Committee/Council Representatives. So what does that mean to me?  Well,  next time we are voting for a president for our union it might be an LPN voted in.  Not sure how I feel about that.  I'm still not sure how LPN's feel that by joining BCNU they will be better represented.  The LPN's only had a 69% provincial YES vote, to join BCNU personally I don't think that is a very high percentage.
Please don't get me wrong there is a place for LPN's, but under no circumstances do I believe that LPN's should be replacing RN's.  I certainly think it is imperative that RN's start identifying themselves as such to their patients.

I am still not sure if BCNU is the right union for LPN's.  It will be interesting to see if  LPN's feel same way in a few years and if  they truly believe their voice is better heard.

I have never believed a nurse is a nurse is a nurse.  Isn't that why there are so many avenues for RN's to practise? I have met some amazing and well educated medical nurses but they are not trained to do what I do.  Although my nursing career has been varied I am not trained to be a neonatal nurse, or maternity nurse, or an OR nurse or to do outpost nursing just to name a few.  So no, I would say  a nurse is not a nurse.  An RN is an RN, LPN is an LPN and we should use our titles accordingly and proudly.

SkyWatch Friday

These photos were taken at the same day.  This lake is very popular in summer and gets very busy.  It was strange to see it so deserted, but nice at the same time to have this beautiful place all to ourselves.  If you would like to join in on the fun please check out Sky Watch Friday You can see a large version of the photo by just clicking on the photo.
Happy Friday all!

Did you know....

I just received my February edition of Canadian Nurse.  One of the sections I love to read is the "Feedback".  In this section there were to comments from RN's about our Canadian RN entry-to-practice exam.  This is the exam all nurses must write in order to become a Registered Nurse in Canada.

The two RN's who wrote in talking about these exams and how 10 of Canada's RN regulators selected the U.S. based National Council of State Boards of Nursing(NCSBN) to develop a new computer-based RN entry exam for Canada.  The NCSBN would bring the existing American exam to Canada for the purpose of licensing new Canadian nurses.  Is it me or doesn't this seem a little odd to you.  Why would we want another country to write and control our entry-to-practice exam?

What I find sad is that I didn't know anything about this until I read it in the Canadian Nurse magazine.  So I started to do my own research to find out what this is all about, and what I have found is that the Canadian Nurses Association have come up with a Declaration ensuring a Canadian solution for the RN entry exam.
This declaration only came out in December 2011. 

The CNA believe that by choosing the U.S. based organization which delivers the American exam NCLEX, raises question as to the exam being applicable to Canadian nursing and our health-care system.  I couldn't agree more.  I for one don't understand how an American based company can write an exam which is applicable for our Canadian health care.  This sends my antenna's rising.  I can't help but wonder if our health care leaders have an agenda which they want to keep from the Canadian public.

The CNA have come up with seven principles they feel are essential to any negotiations
(I have copied these from the CNA declaration)
1. The decision must not have a negative impact on Canada’s RN recruitment and retention strategies.
2. Canadian exam data and personal information must not be subject to the USA Patriot Act and must be housed and protected in Canada according to Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
3. The new computer‐based RN entry exam must promote, maintain and align with the curriculum of Canadian schools of nursing.
4. The new computer‐based RN entry exam must reflect the unique character, qualities and values of the Canadian publicly funded, not‐for‐profit health system, including:

•  a focus on primary health care, health promotion and injury/disease prevention;

•  Canadian legislation that affects nursing practice, such as the requirement to report child abuse;

•  respect for Canada’s cultural diversity and societal values, such as the inclusion of the health needs of Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples, social justice and a focus on the determinants of health; and

•  the Canadian Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses.

5. The new computer‐based RN entry exam must reflect 100 per cent Canadian content.
6. RNs from across the country representing all domains of nursing must continue to
participate in the development of the new computer‐based RN entry exam.
7. Canadian francophone RNs must continue to develop 25 per cent of the new
computer‐based RN entry exam questions in French, and must continue to
Please check out the Canadian Nurses Association
.
In the current edition of the Canadian Nurses magazine there is a card that you can sign if you disagree with our Canadian exam being sourced to the NCSBN.

If you do nothing, please at least read about what is being proposed and stay informed.

Sky Watch Friday

Hubby and I had been travelling on the logging roads on Mt. Arrowsmith. The view is looking West towards Port Alberni and the Wild Westcoast of Vancouver Island.

If you would like to join in on the fun check out SkyWatch Friday

Healthy Choices....food for thought

They say life is made of choices. We've all made some good and bad choices.  Some of those choices not only have an impact on us but those around us.  Others are small  but even those small choices can have a ripple effect.

When we think about choices we often think about things like, should I take that job even though it means moving either yourself or your family or moving away from loved one.  Do you buy that house in another province or state?  You really want that car but it's just a tad out of your price range.  Or what about that new suit and those shoes you always wanted should you buy them even though you know it might leave you a bit short on paying your bills this month.  Or you have fallen in love and believe you have met your match yet others oppose the union and you go with it anyways knowing that is could have long term effect on your family relationships.

Yes choices they aren't easy, but we do make them, every day of our lives.

I'd like to talk about those health choices we make.  Most of us I think have a pretty good idea of what a leading a healthy life style means.  I think if we are savvy enough to be able to access the Internet, read blogs, post a blog and the myriad of  other things we do on the Internet we should be able to access information that would help guide us to leading a healthy life style.

Being a nurse I see folks everyday that as a result of their "choices" of life style have brought them to the hospital. The hyper or hypoglycemic diabetic patient, the alcoholic, the drug addict, the over indulgent overweight orthopedic patient, the type "A" personalities and their increased risk for cardiac events.  Some folks fall into all of these categories.  And I bet that every one has a reason or excuse for why they are in the state that they are in, most of them not taking responsibility for the life style choices they make.

We are all human, we innatley make mistakes or bad choices.  I would like to think that we could learn from our mistakes or bad choices and move forward to making positive good choices for ouselves.

We've just come through the overindulgent season of Christmas.  All the parties, the sweets, the snacks and huge dinners, the being pressed for time and not being able to excercise or plan a wholesome meal.  Ah it's easy to slip into the "oh I'll just pick something up at the fast food store", it's quick it's simple and little clean up.  How convenient.  However, there does come a time or should I say I hope there comes a time when we just have to say ENOUGH.  It's time to get back on track.  Why does it take a visit to the hospital to give people a wake up call about taking responsibility for their health issues and the choices they make.

Back in the later part of October I watched a movie it was the opposite of "Super Size Me". It was an Australian fellow who was morbidly obese and realized he had to change his ways.  Long and short of it, he lost his weight by going on a Juice diet.  Along his journey he helped countless others do the same thing.  The wonderful thing about this movie was that he just asked people to try it for a week.  One week, I think most of us can do something for one week.  I was hitched.  The next day I started.  I lost 6lbs in my first week. I was estatic with the results.  I continued and lost 10lbs.  I'm now eating solid foods and I have lost 18lbs. and I feel fantastic.  Now this isn't about me and my weight loss it's about taking control and being responsible for the food choices I make in my life.

I have changed my diet completely and I have seen the increased energy and I thank myself for making positive choices for ME.  Sure I am human, I still like sweets and I do eat them occassionally, but then it's time to get back on track.

Let's acknowledge the choices we make good and bad.  What I'd love to see is more folks taking responsibility for their own health and I'd love to see a lonely quiet ER one day as a result of it.

SkyWatch Friday

This photo was taken last weekend.  Hubby and I decided to travel up some logging roads.  I just loved the clouds.

If you would like to join in the fun please check out SkyWatch Friday

She entered my life....

She entered my life only briefly.  She lay there quietly resting, only speaking when spoken too, yet in those brief moments of interaction her simple words, gentle smile and a quick retort touched me more than she will ever know.

Have you ever been touched by the gentleness of another?  They completely unaware of the impact they  have on your life?

I experienced that yesterday.   I had admitted a patient who had undergone a very large bowel surgery for the removal of cancerous tumour.  This patient had already had her share of cancer and surgeries having undergone mastectomy for breast cancer and esophageal cancer.

It makes me wonder how one person can undergo and withstand so much and still be positive and bring joy and happiness to others with their simple smile.

Her quick wit and soft sweet smile touched me.  She never complained and never asked for a thing, she was just simply appreciative of the care she was receiving.  She spent a good portion of my shift in the recovery room.  There were many things that needed to be done for her before I could send her to the ward.

When she was ready to go and the porter was wheeling her away  she thanked me.  I wanted to say no Thank you I didn't know how.  I don't think I realized until I got home the impact she had on me.

She of course was not my only patient and as I went back and forth from my patients there was such a contrast in coping skills. I wondered how does someone find that place of acceptance, and control.  Some have better coping mechanism than others.  Maybe she was one of those people.

It was a great day to be a nurse.

Patience

They say that Patience is a Virtue.  Well I suppose it is.  My husband often tells me I am not a very patient person. I tell him I beg to differ.  I tell him spend one day walking in my shoes and  then tell me I am not a patient person.

In nursing school they taught us about compassion, caring, empathy, and therapeutic communication just to name a few.   Yet I don't recall them teaching us about having patience.  Which one would think they would as that is a number one skill you use every day in your nursing career.

Maybe it's one of those skills you innately have.  I don't know.  What I do know is that you won't survive very long in the nursing profession if you don't have it.

There's the times when your unit is running short staffed.  You have a heavy patient assignment and you are trying to juggle getting patients fed, bathed, medications dispensed, orders reviewed and processed, assisting with other health care professionals who are working with your patient, changing dressings, answering questions of family members and if you are lucky holding the hand and spending some time with your dementia patient.

You have to have patience in order to and achieve any of the above with a certain amount of  empathy, caring and compassion.  It's not easy some days.

In the recovery room you have to have patience.  You have to patiently wait and assess patients for the effects of the anesthetic to wear off.  Assessing pain levels and medicating frequently and evaluating outcomes, being on the alter to change the course of action when the desired outcome is not achieved.  Then throw in the juggling of Operating Rooms and sometimes having to put them on hold, lack of beds to move post operative patients to, and of course the unexpected cardiac or respiratory arrest.

Yes you MUST have patience in order to survive your day.

So I started to think about what my husband has said to me, and I think, maybe he's right.  Maybe I don't demonstrate a lot of patience when I am at home.  Maybe that's because I have used it all up at work!

I remember reading on another nursing blog, where the nurse said that before she goes home she almost has to desensitize herself from the work environment and put on her mom/wife hat.  Some days it's easier said than done.  Some days  your family have no idea what your eyes have seen and what you have experienced, nor in some cases do you really want to share that with them.  I think what I need to remember is that I am only human, I can not be everything to all people at all times. I have to start to use some of that therapeutic communication on myself and be a little kinder and gentler to myself and then I think the patience my husband says I lack demonstrating at home just might come out.

I was on Facebook today and I noticed one of my colleagues had posted a video from YouTube titled Being a Nurse. In this video they say being a nurse is 90% and 10% job, I think I would agree with that.  I went and checked out other YouTube videos about nursing and what it is like to be a nurse and the one I linked to below title To Be A Nurse really kinda of spoke to me.
To Be A Nurse

Sky Watch Friday

I love clouds. I love how the take shape, tell a story, predict the weather.  I love how they just seem to magically take me to a happy place.

If you would like to join in on the fun please check out Sky Watch Friday

Happy Friday All!

Did we not explain ourselves?

As a Recovery Room nurse, not only do I recover patients who have had major surgeries, but I also work in our Ambulatory Recovery room.

In the ambulatory recovery I am recovering patients who have had primarily IV sedation for colonoscopies, gastroscopies, bronchoscopies, eye surgeries and general sedation for ECT's.

It's the IV sedation patients that I want to talk about.  Prior to their procedure they are told that they MUST have a responsible adult driver to take them home post procedure or alternate arrangements made for going home, ie taking a taxi.  The driver must report to the recovery to physically escort the patient to the car and ensure that they take the elevator and NOT the stairs.

When these patients come to the admitting area I know the clerk asks the patient who is driving them home.  She also asks for the persons phone number, or will that person be staying or do the nurses have to call for their ride. The clerk also advises them that the person who is providing the ride MUST report back to the unit to come and physically pick the patient up.   The clerk diligently writes this information down in the chart, so I as the recovery room nurse know what arrangements have been made for this individual person to get home.

It never ceases to amaze me how many patients still think that it is ok for them to drive home post procedure, and never follow one thing we tell them NOT to do.

Let me share with you some simple stories.  We had a husband and wife in. Both were from out of town, both were having a procedure that required IV sedation.  When they were coming around we asked about their ride and if there ride has a ways to come so we can give the individual enough time to get to the hospital to pick the patient up.  This particular couple's idea of having arrangements being made were to take a cab to the pub where they were to meet their friends. Hmmmmmmmm.

Another patient tells us that her husband is at the Pub and to call him there to come get her.  Sure enough we call the pub and the waitress tells us that well she doesn't see him at the moment but his "beer" is still on the table.

Another, a young fellow says he didn't realize he had to have someone drive him, we tell him we can't let him go until someone comes to get him.  He gets on his cell phone to get a hold of a friend, someone eventually shows up, the patient doesn't take the elevator as instructed but rather walks down the stairs, then once out of sight(or so he thought) he jumps into his vehicle and drives off.

Then there are the patients who have arranged a drive and the person who comes to pick them up appears to be in worse condition than the patient.  Sometimes the person arrives being short of breath and on home oxygen, so they are dragging their oxygen tank beside them.  Others have their ride arriving walking very slowly either utilizing a cane or a walker. Many many patients rides think they can just wait in the car, even though they have been told they MUST come to the unit to pick up the patient.  You can't imagine all the stories we get regarding patients rides, I think I could write a book on all the excuses or stories.

My point is that all of these folks are told prior to the procedure that they will need a RESPONSIBLE, capable and able adult to get them home.  We tell the patients that they are legally impaired, we tell them not to drink alcohol and the list goes on.  But I guess human nature being what it is, they will do what they want to do regardless of being advised not to do something.

I don't tell patients these things to ruin their day, on the contrary there are risks involved when you have had IV sedation and I must make ensure they are aware of these risks.  I personally would think that one would want to take those precautions.

Just a few things that just make me shake my head.

Appropriate Care in the Appropriate setting....fact or fiction?

I'm sure you have heard the saying "It's only a matter of time before something happens", and don't you hate to  be the one who says "I told you so".

Two weeks ago an elderly female dementia patient was admitted to a small community hospital.  This woman was placed in a co-ed room. At the time of her admission there were 2 males and another female in the room.  A few days later this changed and a young 43 year old drug addict male was admitted to the room..  This young male sexually assaulted the elderly female dementia patient. You can hear more about it on this news clip.

 http://video.cheknews.ca/services/player/bcpid1011606683001?bckey=AQ~~,AAAA4mHNTzE~,ejlzBnGUUKY1gXVPwEwEepl35Y795rND&bclid=975107450001&bctid=1365974421001 

The hospital administration initially was trying to point fingers at the nurses for not keeping a closer eye on the patients.  With hospitals running at over capacity and working short staffed on a regular basis, it becomes difficult to observe all patients at all times. The nurses union for sometime  has been telling the administration that co-ed rooms are a recipe for disaster. It's unfortunate that it took an incident such at this for the administration to realize that they needed to do something about how they were assigning beds.  My heart goes out to this woman and her family. To me they are a casualty of part of the health care crisis.

I have been a patient in the hospital where I have been placed in a co-ed room.  I can tell you that I do not like co-ed rooms.  My last experience in the hospital and I had to share a room with two men and another woman.  On my second day in the hospital the woman was discharged and another male was admitted to the room.  The only redeeming thing was that my bed was next to the door and I kept my curtains closed most of the time for privacy purposes.  I had no problem with my male room mates but it was more a sense of not having any privacy and I was forever having to lower the toilet seat in our shared bathroom.

As one of the people in the news clip says, hospitals have been running at overcapacity/disaster levels for sometime now and there doesn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel.

I was watching the news yesterday and heard about  another hospital on the mainland.  This hospital is one of the major trauma hospitals in BC and is very busy.  Last year this hospital made the news because it was caring for patients in the adjacent Tim Horton's restaurant.  Now we are hearing that nothing has really changed and that once again staff are having to care for patients in corridors and make shift units.

Almost simultaneously I watch a documentary about  patient placement, and  in particular seniors who they identify as "Bed blockers".   This story coincides with my last post about how we have patients in hospital who are in the wrong setting for the care they need.

In the documentary the journalist spoke to the chairperson of the committee who was faced with the  task of looking at  health care and seniors.   This committee came up with many recommendations none of which the  Federal or Provincial governments have initiated.  This documentary focused on a family who's husband/father had dementia and had been in an acute care hospital for 6 months waiting placement.  It was an inappropriate environment for this man, but because there were no resources in the community he had to stay in the hospital until they found him appropriate placement..

The governments have known for a very long time that they need to put resources in the community but they don't.  Why?  I think because they are on a mission to destroy the publicly funded health care system.  destroying the current system would open the doors to private health care.   They can fix this if they really wanted to I'm not convinced they do.

Can We Talk about Health Care?

In my years of nursing I have seen many things.  Some of these things make me laugh, some make me cry, some make me down right angry and some just leave me shaking my head.

Our governments are trying to feed us the line that our Canadian public health care system is no longer feasible,and that we must introduce private health care.  I say phooey on them.  The public system is sustainable what we need to do is look at how and where the monies are being spent and start to get some kahunas and make some real hard ethical decisions on how health care is delivered.

We are all going to die, that is inevitable.  Some of us are going to die sooner than others.  Heart breaking as that is, it's just the basic and simple truth.  So why do we as a society insist on prolonging something that is inevitable?

I know this topic is going to get some folks backs up, but really, we have to look at some of the things we do in health care to prolong life.

Let's look at one area in particular.  Dear beloved grandma or grandpa who is 80, 85 or maybe even 95 years old who have severe dementia have fallen and fractured their hip.  They are rushed to the hospital and now put in a very strange environment, they become increasingly more confused and in some cases combative.  The surgeon tells the family he can fix grandma's hip and of course the family go along with what ever the surgeon says.  So grandma under go's surgery, oh did I mention that grandma also has severe cardiac issues and COPD?  Yes well grandma goes and has her surgery and comes out on a ventilator, the doctors tell you oh that it will only be temporary, but grandma now has to go to the ICU.  Do you really think this is what grandma wanted?  Grandma makes it off the ventilator and out of the ICU, but she is by no means ready to go back home.  She goes to a surgical ward and then a medical ward, where because she is now demonstrating that there is no way she can go back home she sits in a hospital bed waiting for placement.

Not long ago the health care system would have just given grandma medication to keep her comfortable.  Yes she might have been bed ridden  but she would be made comfortable.  Think about this, grandma had to have surgery and so did the young 48 year old who fell off a ladder while working and got a head injury...he came into the hospital hours after grandma but grandma took the last ICU bed so now what?

WE as a society have to start making some tough decisions on where we will allow our health care practitioners to take us.  Ethics enters this arena. When you become a doctor you take an oath to sustain life at any cost.  Well I think it is this oath that has skewed how care is delivered.  Again, please don't get me wrong but I look back 25 years ago  when my sister went into premature labour at 5 and 6th months. Three times this happen to her.  She endured labour like any other woman but the outcome was not the delivery of a healthy child.  In those days it was unheard of for babies to live at 23 or 26 weeks.  Now days they are saving babies some as young as 20 weeks gestation.  Mom's and dad's are thrilled that the technology is there to save their precious bundle, but what about the long term effects?  Research is now showing us that even though these babies are being saved the long term health effects are huge and hence a cost on the health care system.

So let's ask ourselves, where do we draw the line, when do you say enough is enough, when do we allow nature to just take it's course?

I have never spoken as blatantly about this as I have today. I have eluded to this topic when I posted about Living Wills and Code status.  We as a society need to take a good hard look at where we draw the line. It's not an easy decision or topic to talk about but we have to.  Death is part of living, we know at some point we are all going to die.

I think we all need to start talking about this, don't you?

Lest We Forget

This Friday November 11th is Remembrance Day.  A day dedicated to our war veterans.  A day where we take a moment  to remember those who lost their lives to keep our country safe.  My daughters grandfather is a WWII veteran.  He was in the navy.  My father in law is a Korean veteran.  Both of these men put their lives on the line for their country, and for that I am thankful and thanks doesn't seem to be enough.  How many of us would voluntarily sign up for something when you knew you might not return?  I don't think to many.

On Friday my father in law will attend our local Remembrance day celebration and lay a wreath in remembrance of his fellow soldiers who lost their lives in the Korean war.

Thank you Bill and Reg for your service and dedication to your country.  We will never forget!

Happy Birthday Big Guy!

Today it's my sweethearts Birthday.  I won't say how old he is because....well he is younger than me and he takes great pleasure in reminding me of that.

I chose this Birthday header because I am actually making him a cake for his birthday.  It's a recipe I haven't used before and I am hoping it turns out(picture to follow).

It's been a busy work week and I haven't finished my gift for him either, I'm hoping he will get his silly butt out of the house and go do what he said he was going to do so I can get on with finishing his gift.

 So  honey please get your butt moving so I can finish what I should have started a week ago!  Here's to you hun....hope you have a super terrific.  Love you!

Humour Thursday......

This being the last Thursday before Halloween I thought I would do my Humour Thursday with a bit of a Halloween twist.  I've also decided to throw into the brew a little Halloween political humour...enjoy!

Do the Clothes really matter?

A while back I was reading a post done by one of my favourite bloggers StorytellERdoc his post was titled "He is Loved".  It's a must read if you ask me.  I believe the Doc was trying to demonstrate the old saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover".  In my comment to the Doc I said his post was heartfelt and it reminded me of a paper I had written when I was working on my degree.

My paper was titled "Do the clothes really matter".  It was a reflection on how the nursing uniform has changed from the time of Florence Nightingale.  It posed the question on whether wearing a uniform makes for better nurse and or nursing care.  While doing my research for this paper I came across many articles written about the patients perception of the nurse and the care they received or would receive.  One of the papers I read  the author had interviewed psychiatric patients and asked them their perception on whether they felt they would receive better or worse care dependant on the nurses attire.  Their response was that they appreciated the nurse wearing a uniform as it distinguished them from others in their environment and they knew that would be a person they could go to.

Today as you know it can be difficult to identify your nurse and I think we have become a little lack in what is acceptable.   I am not sure it is the lack of uniform to blame but rather a lack of identification.  At the facility I work the official identification card lumps RN's, LPN's and RCA's all under the title of "Nursing".  So from a patients perspective they don't know who they are dealing with unless the individual identifies themselves. I remember when I was in nursing school my instructor always said to us  that when we go to a patients bedside we should identify ourselves i.e. Good morning Mr or Mrs ..... I am .......and I will be your RN for today.  That has stayed with me and to this day even with my barely conscious patients I tell them who I am and what my name is.

This brings to mind another topic on clothing and attire.  Multi coloured hair and tattoos seem to be the norm.  Not a very professional look if you ask me.  Don't get me wrong I don't have a problem with either, but I do think it looks less professional.  I have seen RN's and other healthcare providers with tattoo "Sleeves" and almost rainbow hair.  Do these interfere with their care....I would hope not, but from a patients perspective they might feel a little put off and wonder about the care they are receiving.

Maybe I am old school, but we certainly have come a long way from the white uniforms and caps.

What are your thoughts.....Do the clothes really matter?

Password

Do you remember the 1960's game show called "Password" with host Allen Lunden?  It was a game show where celebrity guests would give a word clue to a contestant and the contestant had to guess the word.

That game  is what came to mind yesterday when I am trying to remember my password and secret reminders for one of accounts.

It seems that  with all the computerization, ATM's, chip cards, now days a  password or code is required.   Now I don't know about you but I can only remember so many of these passwords and codes, especially if they aren't ones that I use very often.  I appreciate the security aspect of all these codes but boy is it making it difficult to remember them all.

At my work  I have a password to log into the computer, every three months we have to change our password....pain in the butt.   It's not a simple password either, the password must contain a capital letter, small case letter and number and it is case sensitive.  Ok so I do this....now on our internal job positing which of course are all on the computer you have to have a different password and a different log in name...geesh.

So yesterday, as I was saying I was trying to log into this account online, an account that I generally get sent to me in the mail, but my hubby who is a computer whiz thought I should have all my accounts online so I could have immediate access.  Well of course that sounds all well and good until such time you have to remember the Password!  Needless to say I ended up locking myself out of the system because of my "3" failed attempts so off to customer support I had to go.  I spoke with two agents who of course were very helpful but still all the numbers they had me enter and screens I had to look at was all a bit mind boggling, but I did it.  The funny thing was at the end of my tutorial with the agent, he said to me if I had an iPhone or the likes I could access my accounts via my cell phone... are you kidding! I just laughed