Patient Experience

I am on my unit's "Patient Experience Team." This is a group that gets together monthly to discuss Press-Ganey results and the overall feel of our unit. We are attempting to increase our patients' satisfaction in regards to our care, the unit atmosphere, and the overall experience during their stay. It is hard to admit but our scores on the Press Ganey surveys were terrible. Especially in the courtesy of the nurses category.

We have been busy working on improving these issues but we are only making tiny improvements. I really hope that we can make a difference in the way the patients' view their experiences. I don't want my patients to see the addition of a little one to their family as a bad experience.

Wednesday's Words

I have decided that every Wednesday I will post something interesting or vulgar or funny that a patient or family member has said to me.


Baby daddy: "When are they going to cut the extra skin off his dick?"

Me: "I'll ask your doctor."

Staffing

Let's talk staffing for my unit. We are trying to become "Baby Friendly" which overall means more emphasis on the mother-baby couplet as opposed to them as individuals. I love the concept but it has been very hard to stick to this goal. When I first started working nights we averaged 4-5 couplets per nurse. Then, when the baby friendly movement came along, we went to 3-4 which worked out great for bonding and breastfeeding support.

A few weeks ago, one of our RNs transferred to another unit and another RN from nights transferred to days. This was a hit on our staffing and of course right at this time, our census began being out of control. Being full every night is great but also hard because our ratios are higher. Then, one RN quit! Another punch to the faces of the night nurses. Lastly, one last night nurse was offered a day position. Through all of this, the managers have only hired one new nurse and she will be on orientation for a while.

It is so hard to provide the care that is necessary, especially for the new parents. They need support and education which is next to impossible to provide when you have 5 other couplets to care for.

Recently I cared for a mother who had to take her baby off life support due to multiple anomalies and it was so emotionally draining to give her the attention and support that she needed during this horrible time but even more draining to know that I had many other patients that needed me also.

Speaking of neonatal death... well, I have so many thoughts that it will need to be another post.

Energy

I really wish I had more energy to blog. Well, I wish I had more energy to do anything! I spend most of my days off resting and doing housework and rarely going out. Working 3 nights a week is draining but to be honest, the money is worth it.

Work had been really slow at the end of the summer and early fall but it definitely picked up throughout the holidays and even now its still been really busy. I love being busy, it helps pass the time. Have had some great families lately and some wonderful stories. I love caring for first time parents. I love seeing the joy in their eyes and also the fear. Sometimes it makes me want a baby. Eek! In a few years.

Speaking of, the wedding is 7 months away! We have so many things done but a lot left to do. We have started sending out our save the date magnets which are quite adorable if I do say so myself. Our guest list is ever expanding and is up to 210 right now. We have a DJ, a photographer, a venue and I also booked my hair and makeup stylist. Oh and I booked a block of rooms for our guests at a hotel by the shore. It is coming so fast but I was thinking that after it is over, nothing will really be different. Matt and I will come home and live life like we have been living except with new rings on our fingers. I am really happy with that though. Just solidifying our lives together.

I have nothing else to report at this time. I am going to work out and then go get a manicure and a pedicure. Then working three nights in a row starting night. I really hope I can get the energy to blog more because I follow so many blogs that I feel I should contribute!

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

7 Months Later...

Really? It has been 7 months since I posted! Holy Crap! I honestly log onto to Blogger almost every day and read posts but never post myself. I feel like I have no time! Even now, I know that my laundry is done and waiting to be folded, and I need to start dinner, and tons more stuff. But, that's life, and the laundry can wait.

I just started following a new blog, one of my roommates from college, so I figured that maybe she would follow my blog! No one else reads this though, so who knows if she actually will... Hi Justine if you see this :)


Life updates:

House: We closed on our house on April 23rd and have been living in the house since the beginning of June. We pretty much lived at Home Depot for the first 3 months. We have already done tons of work including designing and building a laundry room, completely gutting the master bedroom and refinishing it, new windows in kitchen and master bedroom (rest of windows to be completed as we work our way through the house), lots of painting, refinishing of wood floors, new doors in the whole house, and lots of yard work.

This house is tons of work and we were not expecting all of it! We had a housewarming party in August and everyone was really impressed with everything we have done so far, especially our realtor! He was blown away!

We were so thankful for all of the gifts that we received at the party too, especially the Home Depot gift cards. About 2 weeks after the house warming party, our water heater, which had been slowly leaking, decided it wanted to partially flood our basement. So, thanks to all of our loving family and friends, we were able to go right to HD and get a brand new one!

It is sad how excited I got about the new water heater.



Relationship: BIG NEWS... Matt proposed in July! We are getting married in August 2011! I knew it was coming soon, and actually was pretty sure it was going to happen on our vacation to Toronto, but it was wonderful either way. He picked out my ring all by himself and we are so excited to start this portion of our lives! Wedding planning is hard though! We already have a reception location, a photographer, oh and being the shopaholic that I am, I already have my dress ;)


Jacoby: My baby dog is 15 months old! He is such a good boy. He is so smart and so snuggly. He weighs 75 pounds and loves to be held... He and Gracie are the best of friends. They are so funny together. He loves his new fenced in yard and the views that he has from it. He goes to day care 2-3 times and week and has tons of puppy friends that he hangs out with.



Job: Okay, here is where I could talk for days. Still working 36 hour nights. I actually have gotten into the groove of working nights and am no longer scaring my self by falling asleep at the wheel. Yes, it has happened, No, I didn't crash, and no one was hurt but it is so terrifying. I love the group of girls who I work with. We work so well together and can pull together in times of need.

Have had some amazing patients and some terrible patients. Have had horrible outcomes and miracles. Have made friends with patients, people who I know I will keep in contact with for a long time. I have learned so much in the last 11 months working at the hospital and even more in the 7 months that I have been on my own and working nights. I feel like I have so much responsibility and love almost every moment of my job. I know that we as nurses make such an impact on our patients, especially in this special time in their lives.

I can't believe it has been almost a year already. It is so shocking to realize how much time has past and that I've been an RN for 14 months!

That is all for now. Hopefully I will get in the groove of posting more and posting some HIPPA-friendly patient stories.

Life gets in the way of life.

Ever notice that your life gets in the way of your life? What I mean is, what is actually going on in your life gets in the way of what you want to do in your life.

It has been over a month since I have posted. Yet again, I have too much time but no time. Here are a few quick points about what is going on.

Job: Working nights is reeking havock on my life. I feel exhausted all of the time and sleep quite a bit. I actually am feeling quite depressed too. I know it has something to do with rarely seeing the sun and being so tired but I have been pretty miserable for the last few weeks. I was feeling pretty nauseated for a few days also. I heard that was a common symptom of starting working nights. Talking to some of the other nurses helps, as they all went through the same thing. One of them told me it took her over six months to adapt. I think it will be very similar for me. But, that is such a long time!

I am officially off orientation though! I have been on my own for about 2 weeks! It is nerve wracking and exhausting I like it!

House: The house situation is ridiculous. We are still under contract for our new house but the seller is being a jerk. His agent called our agent last week asking if we wanted to break our contract because he "didn't want to move any more." Matt and I were devestated and said that no, we absolutely do not want to break the contract. Now, our loan is committed and we are basically set to close. However, earlier this week, our agent got an email from the seller's agent stating that she had "good news! the seller found a place to live but couldn't move in until April 24th." We told them that the best we could do was April 23rd due to schedules. We had rearranged our schedules to accomodate closing on the 16th. Hopefully things will work out.

Family: My grandmother is doing horribly. She was admitted to the hospital at the end of February for an exacerbation of COPD and was discharged to a short term rehab facility to get stronger. PT at this facility was amazing. They actually had her walking. Everything was going great until one morning we got a phone call from the charge nurse at the facility that my grandmother had fallen face first out of her wheelchair onto the floor and that she was being transferred to the hospital. She ended up rupturing her eye ball due to a previous eye surgery and actually lost the sight in her right eye. She also broke her ankle. She had to have her eye removed and is healing from that. My mom is trying to get her moved home when she heals from the surgery so that nothing else bad can happen.

Dogs: Jacoby is a beast. I love the dog to death but he just won't stop growing. We weighed him a few days ago and he is 67 pounds. He is so good though. He knows all of his commands and is a huge snuggler. His main issue is chewing things that he should have. We are working on it though.

That is the summary of what is going on right now. I bet the next time I blog will be a while from now but I will try to get on here again!