monday blues...

Im tired and i don't feel like working at all today. For two days i have been the charged nurse at pedia ward and take note no regular staff nurse. I hate it so much because we are volunteer nurse and not relievers that in case a regular staff nurse is absent, we have to take over. But excuse me, it's not part of our contract as volunteer nurse. Full of crap! I feel like they are abusing the nurse volunteers. We get to work and do their job while they get paid and we don't. It really is unfair. This is the reason why i don't feel like working today. Im just so tired and pissed by the way we are treated. The staff nurses can take any day off they want because they know that there will be nurse volunteers to take over their job. The senior nurse should sit down with the staff about their absences. It's not fair to us.

wazzup Doc

I had a funny encounter with this young male Ob-Gyne Doctor at City hospital last night during my shift. I've already seen him a couple of times mostly at the OB nurse station coz it's just located next to our pedia ward station. So all i know he's a doctor but i don't know his name or family name. So last night, around meal break, he came to our pedia ward station and asked if he could eat there. So i said sure. Suddenly out of the blue, he asked me if i graduated from Corpus Christi. So I said yes doc , not knowing why he asked. He then blurted out " dah lage, Ka batch man siguro ta". I was puzzled and i thought to myself he must have mistaken me from somebody else coz i really don't know him and he's not familiar to me. So i asked, Sure ka Doc? He then asked me what year i graduated from Corpus and i told him i graduated 1995. He then told me, " grabeh wala daw ko ka remember sa iya. I tried hard to recognize him and i even made a mental scanning of every pictures found in my yearbook but to no avail. hehe. He then asked me if i know Cherry Pink. So i replied yes doc, barkada mi. He just laughed and i was pretty embarassed already. Just then a nurse came and asked for doc Emata. Bang! So it's him. Brian Emata. I hardly recognize him at all without those thick glasses which he used to have. He was the nerdy type way back highschool and looking at him now, boy he sure has changed. Gone are the the thick glasses, no longer skinny infact he looks quite dashing. He then started to mention names from our batchmates. He then asked me how come i know everyone but not him. I just laughed and told him i didn't recognize him without his glasses. He just laughed out loud. After that funny encounter, i just couldn't help but smile. It's been what 13 years already and much have changed. I guess some people may still look the same after 13 years while others dont.

a thief in the night!

They say "Death comes quietly like a thief in the night." Last night, i had my afternoon shift and that's from 3pm til 11:00pm. When i arrived at the Pedia ward, there were only two patients admitted on our care. There were 3 of us nurse volunteers and 1 head nurse. Because of that my senior nurse asked me to help the medical ward since they had 14 patients to care for and 2 of which are on the critical watch. I didn't want to be assigned there because i have not yet been oriented there and i didn't know each patient's case. Even though i hated to be assigned there but as a dutiful nurse i had to do what i was told to do because im a nurse and my service was needed. I had to help with the medications. One of our critical list was a 26 yr old male, who was admitted for alcohol intoxication. He had seizures and we had to keep an eye on him every now and then. I have never seen such case in my entire student life and i was kind of shock at what i saw. I never expect to be that worse. Poor guy, i said to myself but what the heck had he done? He's struggling from his life. So anyway, the night went smoothly until the health attendant came to the station reporting to us that a patient whose family named Sultones had a fall as he was on his way to the comfort room and he could not be awaken. His Blood pressure according to the health attendant before the fall was 80/50. Then the patient's watcher came crying to us and asking us for help. So we got there and assisted the patient back to his bed. We thought he was fine. So we went back to the station but a relative of the patient came again asking for help. So i went to look for the attendant coz she had the BP apparatus and the Stethoscope. So unfortunate that this hospital has only one BP apparatus for each station. I went to the male ward and found the head nurse and so i reported to her what happened. She then asked me to change the tubing set of the patient with catapres side drip while she checks on Sultones. After changing the tubing set, when i got out from the female ward there were already commotion at the male ward where nurses and health attendant came running here and there. The doctor was already doing CPR. The emergency supplies had to be pulled out from other stations coz the equipment of the emergency kit are not complete. We had to get ambu bag from other station, and i had to run to the female ward to get the extension wire for the ECG. We had to get gloves from the ER and there was no Oxygen tank on standby and we had to call for the attendant to supply one. I didn't know what to do. My mind was like floating or drifting to some place. It' s like i never wanted to be there and to be into that situation. After all efforts were made, the doctor pronounced him dead. I was numbed and i didn't know how i should feel. So we quietly gather all the equipments and left the room while i could hear the gentle sobbing of the patient's relative. He wasn't on our critical lists. Infact he was to be discharged today. We did not expect he'd go. He went as quietly into the night. He wasn't struggling nor was he in pain. He just closed his eyes and left. When i got home, i was exhausted but i could not sleep. My thoughts were recounting the events that happened during my shift. What a night it has been for a volunteer nurse like me.

debutant

Last April 12 my dear cousin Jinky celebrated her 18th birthday. She had a party at her Lola's house. My cousin was pretty as ever. How time seems to fly so quickly. I remember this cute little chubby curly haired baby that i use to cuddle and play with. She was adored by everyone in the family. Now she's all grown up. She's still the same jinky that i've known. Sweet, loud and pretty.




the debutant in white. pretty huh? it runs in the family..heheh

TGIF

Yepee...TGIF! Tomorrow is my day off from work. Not that i hate my job infact im enjoying my work now coz i'm learning each day but i guess it's not bad to take some time off to unwind, have time for yourself and love ones...(ahem) heheh. Next week, On the 16th i will be on PM shift from 3pm til 11 pm. For me the Pm shift is the longest shift. I like Morning shifts coz time seems to fly so quickly. Although morning shift is the busiest coz it's the time new orders from the doctors have to be carried out but the more busy you are, the more you tend to forget the passing of time and before u know it; it's already 3Pm. yehey..heheh. Oh well, tomorrow is also a big day for me and my BF. FYI, tomorrow will be our 1 year and 3 mos..wohooo...hehe. our plans for tomorrow? not sure though coz he has work. huhuhu..i'll ask later when he get's off from work. heheh.. miss him so much....

goodbye angel

It's back to work for me today after my 2 days off. As i went to look at the pedia ward, i did not saw little boy Jamis which was admitted during my shift last sunday. I talked to Aira, the night nurse volunteer and she told me that little boy Jamis died at her shift 1 am monday due to cardiac arrest. I was shocked and at the same time i felt sad. At the time of his admission his medicines were given late because his parents had no money to buy the prescribed meds. The little boy was having difficulty breathing and he was on oxygen via facemask and he was really restless and he kept crying and pulling his oxygen mask and even his IV tubings. His mother on the other hand kept spanking him and scolding him. Instead of showing love, care and concern to her child who is sick, she kept on scolding him and she was a little harsh on the child and kept saying that the boy is very "Maldito" meaning mean and bad. Finally a doctor came to reprimand the mother's behavior. Aira told me how the mother was hysterical when little boy Jamis was pronounced dead. Thoughts then ran to my mind, " was the mother feeling guilty that she did nothing to soothe the pain her child is going through by giving the child love, attention, understanding, and care. Did she regret laying her hands on her child when he was restless and in pain? ". I felt sorry that the little boy had to endure the scoldings of her mother when all he wanted was his mother's love and care. I know the little boy is no longer pain now. So i bid my little angel goodbye.

Sonnet 116

I love this sonnet by William Shakespeare. It is one of the most romantic pieces of Shakespeare.

It is commonly interpreted as the view that true love is unchanging, despite changing circumstances, such as the loss of beauty with old age--or even the loss of the other's affection. In this sense, the sonnet can be seen to be a commentary not only on romantic love, but on unconditional love, which does not depend upon reciprocation for its continuation.

Love Is Not Love Which Alters...

William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments, love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come,
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom:

If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Sonnet #116.

Student nurse VS. Registered Nurse

I remember how tough being a student nurse is. We have to work at the hospital and study at the same time. Before our shift starts, we have to do patient visit to read the charts, check on new orders from the doctor and do assessment of your patient. Then after patient visit, we have to make our requirements such as our NCP or Nursing Care Plan, Drug study, Physical assessment. No requirements means no duty and no duty for 1 day would mean 3 days extension duty. What makes our work load more heavy is having this Toxic Clinical Instructors who loves to see us physically and mentally drained by giving us quizzes. Plus they want their student nurses always at the patients bedside. By the time our shift ends we were all exhausted. Now that i'm already a registered nurse and working, i can tell the big difference and it's not as tiring as it was when i was still a student nurse. Being a registered nurse entitles you to sit and chat for awhile without getting reprimanded by CI's. hehe. After our shift ends, we can go home to rest without worry of having to do some requirements or some studying to do. This morning on my shift there were Liceo students on duty and i can totally relate to them coz i've been there, done that. Some of them were a little nervous, afraid of making mistakes and some were just too tired or too lazy to do their assigned task. I've been through all that and i could empathize with them.

free day...

After working for three straight days, It felt so good to be off from work even for just 1 day. I did not have to wake up early and i didn't have to miss breakfast. I also spend more time in bed. heheh. Well, tomorrow is back to work again but my day off allowed me to have the much needed rest to help me deal with the physical & mental demands from work. I think i'm enjoying my work so far. It's kind of rewarding after every shift knowing i've learned something.

Feeling better

Glad that i was feeling a lot better when i got up in bed this morning. The medicine which i took last night was effective. Although, my legs were still a little weak and other parts of my body are still aching but nevertheless i was set to work. My 2nd day of work was not as stressful as my 1st day. Maybe because i was already acquainted with the medicines i had to give. So for this day i had two admissions. I also did some charting under the supervision of my head nurse. By 2:30, my work was done. My boyfriend showed up at the hospital. It was his off from work so he came to fetched me. I was very happy to see him and it's been a long time since we get to spend time together and so we went to Limketkai to grab some snacks at greenwhich. We strolled for awhile and we went home. I was in high spirits when i got home. I was tired but not much but happy. I guess being with my boyfriend is like visiting with a masseuse. heheh. It's like, suddenly all my body pains were gone. My energy level was revived somehow and most important my satisfaction level zoomed up....hahah. But seriously, I was happy to see my bf.