last day on a 3 straight wordays. Silly me, I thought 3 days work and 1 day off will be ok. 3 weeks into the schedule and I'm already feeling tired, debating about calling in every single day. I gotta have 2 days off....in a row.
I woke up this morning still debating if I want to call in for today. I finally convinced myself to go on ahead and work, since I'm off tomorrow anyway. It'll be an easy day mikee. Or so I thought.
Easy cannot be used to describe what I had to deal with today. It wasn't busy, it's just not easy. First thing I did was wipe ass. The very last thing I did was wipe ass!
For some reason, they always decide to do something crazy at the very last minute. Like being quiet the whole day, very comfortable and then at 2245, decides to get out of bed. She can't walk! If she would have bugged me earlier in the shift, I would have made sure i had a bedcheck, an order for ativan and a foley. But no, no, no......she fooled me bigtime! At 2330, I was in her room, trying to convince her to sleep.
You're off tomorrow, mikee!
Thursday, January 19, 2006
breaktime!
something to look forward to.....I'm off tomorrow!
here's the plan.....
1. Attend an inservice
2. Buy new scrubs
3. Buy new shoes for work
4. Go to bath and body (again!) Last day na ng sale e.
5. Have a foot spa (at home lang)
5. Watch a movie (at home din)
6. Hopefully me project runway replay.
here's the plan.....
1. Attend an inservice
2. Buy new scrubs
3. Buy new shoes for work
4. Go to bath and body (again!) Last day na ng sale e.
5. Have a foot spa (at home lang)
5. Watch a movie (at home din)
6. Hopefully me project runway replay.
Monday, January 9, 2006
simple pleasures
10. A well deserved rest day.
9. Having friends in important places....thanks for the free Caramel Michiato!
8. Bath & Body and Victoria's secret semi-annual sale! Load up!
7. Catching Project Runway reruns.
6. Working full time.
5. The prospect of time and a half and PTO time.
4. A perfect annual evaluation.
3. A salary increase slated for the last week of January.
2. A patient from days ago asking about me and wishing I'll stop by sometime (her wish was granted).
1. A niece (or nephew) on the way.
9. Having friends in important places....thanks for the free Caramel Michiato!
8. Bath & Body and Victoria's secret semi-annual sale! Load up!
7. Catching Project Runway reruns.
6. Working full time.
5. The prospect of time and a half and PTO time.
4. A perfect annual evaluation.
3. A salary increase slated for the last week of January.
2. A patient from days ago asking about me and wishing I'll stop by sometime (her wish was granted).
1. A niece (or nephew) on the way.
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Bummer!
After the most pleasurable Christmas party we had last night, I hit the sack with no more than a "bedroom" voice from still trying to sing with a very very sore throat. I woke up in chills, headache and abdominal and back pain! Full blown flu!
Bummer.
In an instant I found myself crying. Not because I feel self-pity being sick and very cold and not having someone to hug me or make me chicken soup. Not because I'm losing another $--- for calling in. No, no, no!
It's because I'm scheduled to leave for Lake Tahoe tomorrow and I won't be able to enjoy it if I'm sick! Am I going to be stuck in the hotel room while everbody else is off skiing????? No way!
I'm not feeling any better, well, minus the chills. I hope things change by tomorrow..........
Bummer.
In an instant I found myself crying. Not because I feel self-pity being sick and very cold and not having someone to hug me or make me chicken soup. Not because I'm losing another $--- for calling in. No, no, no!
It's because I'm scheduled to leave for Lake Tahoe tomorrow and I won't be able to enjoy it if I'm sick! Am I going to be stuck in the hotel room while everbody else is off skiing????? No way!
I'm not feeling any better, well, minus the chills. I hope things change by tomorrow..........
Friday, November 11, 2005
Lessons of a comprehensive exam
There are a few realizations that surfaced related to the hectic and stringent review schedule for the comps.
First of all, I have two (yay!) loyal readers which I found out when they suddenly clamored for blog updates as an effect of so-so postings during stolen times. I am honored!!!!! (If I had emoticons here you will see a smiley going loco).
Second, do not fear if you did not understand anything during regular lectures. You will be forced to understand them at the right time...in this case, the comps. I never thought I would understand the different statistical analyses for every data...nominal, ordinal and continuous data requires different statistical analysis, then you have to determine if the test is for relationships or associations, is it within a group, between two groups, or 3 or more groups. Oh no it doesn't end there......What if your sample is less than 30? What if there are "0" values? And what about multivariate analysis? All these for ten points on a 100 point grading criteria. Whew! Don't let me tell you about the rest. A crying, whining, hysterical smiley here please.
Third, starbucks and library are now synonymous terms as far as I'm concerned. I probably spent 6 hours a day, 3-4 times a week, for 6 whole weeks amidst the wonderful, wonderful smell of coffee and the noisy process of creating my precious caramel machiato and tofee nut latte. That's approximately 144 hours! My body is now composed of 10% water, 40% blood and 50% coffee. I started with a grande caramel machiato and progressed to a grande caramel machiato and a venti toffee nut latte, most especially in the past 3 days. Let's not even go to economics! *new favorite - espresso brownie* and I dare ask why I'm still awake at 6 in the morning!
Fourth, when you go to China Sea (or any chinese buffet for that matter), you can leave stuffed and fully satisfied.....the shrimp, oh the shrimp! But if you order a to go, you can stuff the styrofoam box with all the talent you can muster and you can ensure a daily meal for at least 3 days. the last time we went there, I made sure to carefully segregate each dish so that I can have a daily variety. $8.99 for 3 days, not bad eh? Now, this is a result of all the additional coffee expenses, you have to need to implement budget cuts!!!!!!
Fifth, even if I don't do my laundry for 3 weeks, I'll still have something to wear. And if I don't fold my laundry for 6 weeks, there's going to be piles of clothes at every imaginable area of my room. That meant sleeping in the couch for the past 2 nights.
Sixth, a life cycle of sleep, starbucks, takeout and butt glued to the chair will add pounds.......pounds! Because even an hour spent in the gym feels like stolen time, and all you can do while studying whether at starbucks or at home is sit.
So, what now? here's the deal. For the first 2 weeks, I can concentrate on the other tasks at hand such as folding my laundry, putting away my review materials (for forever I hope), sort out all the things that I did not have time to deal with during the 6 weeks (read:clean my room, do the laundry, wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, rearrange the storage room, etc), and of course....my favorite most exciting anticipated activity of all.....Hang christmas decor! (I miss my Christmas tree, I miss going to Landmark day after day after day trying to decide on my new motif, whether to replicate their decor or compose my own......I'm gonna cry.....sob....).
What happens after two weeks will have to depend upon a letter.........the letter that will congratulate me for passing the comps....or ask me to come in for an oral defense. Now, of course I can say that I can deal with the orals because I won't have the time constraint as with the comps. But I really don't want to do orals anymore. My stress level is still very high and there's no fun in having to deal with that again. But we'll see.
For now, I'm just glad it's over. It's time to relax.
First of all, I have two (yay!) loyal readers which I found out when they suddenly clamored for blog updates as an effect of so-so postings during stolen times. I am honored!!!!! (If I had emoticons here you will see a smiley going loco).
Second, do not fear if you did not understand anything during regular lectures. You will be forced to understand them at the right time...in this case, the comps. I never thought I would understand the different statistical analyses for every data...nominal, ordinal and continuous data requires different statistical analysis, then you have to determine if the test is for relationships or associations, is it within a group, between two groups, or 3 or more groups. Oh no it doesn't end there......What if your sample is less than 30? What if there are "0" values? And what about multivariate analysis? All these for ten points on a 100 point grading criteria. Whew! Don't let me tell you about the rest. A crying, whining, hysterical smiley here please.
Third, starbucks and library are now synonymous terms as far as I'm concerned. I probably spent 6 hours a day, 3-4 times a week, for 6 whole weeks amidst the wonderful, wonderful smell of coffee and the noisy process of creating my precious caramel machiato and tofee nut latte. That's approximately 144 hours! My body is now composed of 10% water, 40% blood and 50% coffee. I started with a grande caramel machiato and progressed to a grande caramel machiato and a venti toffee nut latte, most especially in the past 3 days. Let's not even go to economics! *new favorite - espresso brownie* and I dare ask why I'm still awake at 6 in the morning!
Fourth, when you go to China Sea (or any chinese buffet for that matter), you can leave stuffed and fully satisfied.....the shrimp, oh the shrimp! But if you order a to go, you can stuff the styrofoam box with all the talent you can muster and you can ensure a daily meal for at least 3 days. the last time we went there, I made sure to carefully segregate each dish so that I can have a daily variety. $8.99 for 3 days, not bad eh? Now, this is a result of all the additional coffee expenses, you have to need to implement budget cuts!!!!!!
Fifth, even if I don't do my laundry for 3 weeks, I'll still have something to wear. And if I don't fold my laundry for 6 weeks, there's going to be piles of clothes at every imaginable area of my room. That meant sleeping in the couch for the past 2 nights.
Sixth, a life cycle of sleep, starbucks, takeout and butt glued to the chair will add pounds.......pounds! Because even an hour spent in the gym feels like stolen time, and all you can do while studying whether at starbucks or at home is sit.
So, what now? here's the deal. For the first 2 weeks, I can concentrate on the other tasks at hand such as folding my laundry, putting away my review materials (for forever I hope), sort out all the things that I did not have time to deal with during the 6 weeks (read:clean my room, do the laundry, wash the dishes, clean the kitchen, rearrange the storage room, etc), and of course....my favorite most exciting anticipated activity of all.....Hang christmas decor! (I miss my Christmas tree, I miss going to Landmark day after day after day trying to decide on my new motif, whether to replicate their decor or compose my own......I'm gonna cry.....sob....).
What happens after two weeks will have to depend upon a letter.........the letter that will congratulate me for passing the comps....or ask me to come in for an oral defense. Now, of course I can say that I can deal with the orals because I won't have the time constraint as with the comps. But I really don't want to do orals anymore. My stress level is still very high and there's no fun in having to deal with that again. But we'll see.
For now, I'm just glad it's over. It's time to relax.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
from one jungle to the next
Sept. 6th is my release date from Ortho.....soon I will join the exciting world of Telemetry. I'm excited, as well as scared. I've always been a med-surg nurse and this is a big leap. However, reality is, I can't forever be a med-surg nurse. There's such a thing as moving forward, y'know.
So why tele, I ask myself. I've never been really fond of cardiac monitors and ecg readings. Hell, I took a 3-day telemetry course and I'm not sure I actually learned anything. Blame it on the trainor....hahaha!, who told us "flutter" is pronounced as "flur". Guess how many eyebrows raised in unison.
However, professional growth will not come to me if I don't pursue it. And that's what I'm doing. It'll take a lot more effort since I'm practically a newbie in this area. But I survived my 2 years of being new to the culture and practices, didn't I? I'm pretty sure I'll survive this one. And it will all be worth it!
So why tele, I ask myself. I've never been really fond of cardiac monitors and ecg readings. Hell, I took a 3-day telemetry course and I'm not sure I actually learned anything. Blame it on the trainor....hahaha!, who told us "flutter" is pronounced as "flur". Guess how many eyebrows raised in unison.
However, professional growth will not come to me if I don't pursue it. And that's what I'm doing. It'll take a lot more effort since I'm practically a newbie in this area. But I survived my 2 years of being new to the culture and practices, didn't I? I'm pretty sure I'll survive this one. And it will all be worth it!
Thursday, July 28, 2005
life after burnout
Pasintabi...tagalog muna at baka masilip ng mga di dapat makasilip....mejo premature pa e.
Yun, nagpulong kmi, lunes ng umaga. Same old, same old. Mejo mas mahaba lang ang pakikinig nya ng reklamo, pero ang suma tutal, tumataginting pa ring "NO" ang sagot nya sa mga hinaing namin. Minsan gusto kong turuan ang effective communication e....mukang nakalimot na.
Anyways.....pagtapos ng pulong, naisipan kong dumaan sa isang Pilipina na parang nanay na namin dito, nasa magandang posisyon na sya, manager ng isang unit, pero mukhang hanggang dun na lang sya. Kahit na anong galing nya, di na sya mabibigyan ng pagkakataong umangat pa, kasi ng pinoy, hindi puti. Yun nga, dinalaw ko sya, bigla ba namang nag print na ng request ng paglipat ko at tinawagan ang manager ng telemetry.....instant na interview. Take note, naka-maong at running shoes ako ha! Pero nangyari na ang nagyari, tanggap na ako. Kinahapunan, bumalik ako para mag-duty. Kinausap pa ako ng amo ko, nag request na mag 16 hours ako sa Sabado dahil walang pwedeng mag-charge sa umaga. Pumayag naman ako dahil di ko na kailangang pumasok ng Biyernes. Ayos, 4 na araw ang bakasyon ko! Saya. Bago ako umuwi kinagabihan, nilagay ko sa box nya ang request ko at di na ko nakatulog magadamag sa kakaisip ng reaksyon nya. Unang makikita nya pagpasok nya ay ang hangarin kong iwan na sya. Naghintay ako ng tawag-wala.
Kanina, ipinasa ko naman ang sulat ko para mas maintindihan nya kung bakit ko naisipang umalis. Sabi ko, professional at hindi personal ang rason ko. Charing! At syempre itinaon ko na wala na sya sa opisina. Mamaya, ako na naman ang sisira sa araw nya! Pero sya naman ang nagsabi, pag iniwan mo ang prutas sa lamesa ng isang linngo, o isang buwan, mawawala ang freshness, tuluyan ng masisira - parang trabaho din. So, me valid reason na ako, di ba?
Sa ngayon, hintay lang muna ako ng sagot ng amo ko. Buti na lang nung evaluation namin, wala naman syang reklamo sakin, maliban sa call in. Aba, karapatan ko naman yatang magkasakit no! Isa pa, tanggap na ko e, Nauna na ang build-up sa akin ni Cris.
Yun lang po muna, salamat sa mga concerned calls, emails and comments...di naman ako nag suicide, nagpahinga lang.
Yun, nagpulong kmi, lunes ng umaga. Same old, same old. Mejo mas mahaba lang ang pakikinig nya ng reklamo, pero ang suma tutal, tumataginting pa ring "NO" ang sagot nya sa mga hinaing namin. Minsan gusto kong turuan ang effective communication e....mukang nakalimot na.
Anyways.....pagtapos ng pulong, naisipan kong dumaan sa isang Pilipina na parang nanay na namin dito, nasa magandang posisyon na sya, manager ng isang unit, pero mukhang hanggang dun na lang sya. Kahit na anong galing nya, di na sya mabibigyan ng pagkakataong umangat pa, kasi ng pinoy, hindi puti. Yun nga, dinalaw ko sya, bigla ba namang nag print na ng request ng paglipat ko at tinawagan ang manager ng telemetry.....instant na interview. Take note, naka-maong at running shoes ako ha! Pero nangyari na ang nagyari, tanggap na ako. Kinahapunan, bumalik ako para mag-duty. Kinausap pa ako ng amo ko, nag request na mag 16 hours ako sa Sabado dahil walang pwedeng mag-charge sa umaga. Pumayag naman ako dahil di ko na kailangang pumasok ng Biyernes. Ayos, 4 na araw ang bakasyon ko! Saya. Bago ako umuwi kinagabihan, nilagay ko sa box nya ang request ko at di na ko nakatulog magadamag sa kakaisip ng reaksyon nya. Unang makikita nya pagpasok nya ay ang hangarin kong iwan na sya. Naghintay ako ng tawag-wala.
Kanina, ipinasa ko naman ang sulat ko para mas maintindihan nya kung bakit ko naisipang umalis. Sabi ko, professional at hindi personal ang rason ko. Charing! At syempre itinaon ko na wala na sya sa opisina. Mamaya, ako na naman ang sisira sa araw nya! Pero sya naman ang nagsabi, pag iniwan mo ang prutas sa lamesa ng isang linngo, o isang buwan, mawawala ang freshness, tuluyan ng masisira - parang trabaho din. So, me valid reason na ako, di ba?
Sa ngayon, hintay lang muna ako ng sagot ng amo ko. Buti na lang nung evaluation namin, wala naman syang reklamo sakin, maliban sa call in. Aba, karapatan ko naman yatang magkasakit no! Isa pa, tanggap na ko e, Nauna na ang build-up sa akin ni Cris.
Yun lang po muna, salamat sa mga concerned calls, emails and comments...di naman ako nag suicide, nagpahinga lang.
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