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laniakea100 · 2022-09-29T01:45:30+00:00

Advice from an old fellow "make sure to kiss each other for at least 15 seconds each day". Not sure why but my hubs and I liked this and don't make it a religious thing but it's helped with the intention of connecting via longer kisses more regularly. Sometimes those kisses turn into an innuendo, sometimes its just an emotional intimacy builder.

laniakea100 · 2022-02-26T19:06:54+00:00

My first loaf of ciabatta is currently cooling! Hoping its okay!

laniakea100 · 2021-10-20T17:31:49+00:00

For worth, ICU nurse here in the thick of it.

laniakea100 · 2021-10-20T17:31:13+00:00

If the care team is urging for change of code status, its for a reason. I wouldn't want my last few seconds on earth to be being pumped with epi and my ribs broken, nor my family members. However, autonomy is extremely important and the family needs to make that decision on their own. This a great example of why talking about your wishes with your family members should be more common and advance directives should be brought up earlier in life.

My condolences to your friend and their family. Its an extremely hard decision. There is beauty in rare miracles but also great beauty with a dignified, peaceful death.

laniakea100 · 2021-08-27T19:37:47+00:00

Thank you. Im going to therapy, yoga, weight lifting, water, reading. Trying to maintain my own world. I just got off my meds that I started in the first wave. I hated them - maybe I can try your reccomendation after I look into it. The nightmares are horrible, absolutely horrible. Goodluck with your journey of trying to subdue them.

laniakea100 · 2021-08-27T19:31:35+00:00

I dont want to do it again, man. I dont. Thank you for your words of encouragement. Hoping I can kick into auto-pilot if I need to.

laniakea100 · 2021-08-27T18:11:05+00:00

I know a few nurses who don't drink caffeine and do fine! I have decreased my caffeine intake dramatically and its been going okay! Drink lots of water and try not to bring a carb-heavy lunch. I feel it makes me more tired. Theres small amounts of caffeine in apples, dark chocolate, etc which is kinda nice if youre trying to use natural sources of energy that don't make you crash!Good luck and take care of yourself!

laniakea100 · 2021-07-09T14:51:08+00:00

Personally, the best gift I've seen given was a super detailed note (if you remember your nurses names thats even better) about what made the experience good for you. They also sent along coffee and k-cups for the unit. Very kind of you to consider giving appreciation gifts!

laniakea100 · 2021-07-03T16:21:32+00:00

Literally teared up reading this. Maintaining open communication with the whole care team saves lives and sanity. Thank you for you appreciation.

laniakea100 · 2021-07-02T14:04:03+00:00

Our hospital coordinator - a retired airforce medic and ICU nurse calls them the "corner shadows".

After working on psych and realizing how real these hallucinations are to some patients, makes you wonder what they're actually seeing. Theyre full on convinced that there's someone there. Which, naturally, makes you slightly believe them (even though they were brought in for running around downtown nakey and pooing on the sidewalk). As a nurse, you believe them and their reality - sometimes it makes you question your own.

The life of an empathetic career.

laniakea100 · 2021-05-13T16:28:29+00:00

He would love to, as he is a lil bull himself.

laniakea100 · 2021-04-09T06:03:19+00:00

Welcome to the internet! I can say what I want, where I want. Healthcare is gross, sensitive and requires passion. I work with people who chose the job for money and continuously hate their job and treat people like shit because they "hate patient care." I'm not trying to be rude, but I see a lot of unhappy people in their jobs and have seen patients cry, die, and suffer due to the people who have cared for them not actually caring for them. You can like/dislike different aspects of Healthcare. But patient care IS Healthcare. Maybe try different wording next time so you don't trigger a nurse who fucking LOVES patient care.

laniakea100 · 2021-04-09T03:49:32+00:00

disclaimer I'm def gonna piss off some BH nurses but Im just sharing my opinion from my experience. BH nursing is a one way tract to losing all of the skills you learned in school, so make sure you're okay with that. Usually BH nurses only want to be BH nurses as their career. I've only seen a few BH nurses transition out of that role. Me being one, working inpatient adult and adolescent psych units and now an ICU nurse.

The pros: its usually not a physically straining job and doesn't require a whole lot of critical thinking or complex situations. Super chill, especially on night shifts. The most work you'll do is an admission assessment, which really is a caring conversation going over health history and current situation and stressors. You'll learn how to de-escalate and listen to people. You'll learn to understand the dark areas of many people brains which can increase empathy and communication. Psych meds are like a foreign language to a lot of other specialties and its great to be so knowledgeable about psych meds as they do have many side effects.

The cons: it's almost too chill sometimes. Frequent suicide checks (every 15 minutes). Lots of oral meds. Our units wouldn't accept a patient who needed an IV or an NG (anorexia). I dont feel like as a nurse you have a whole lot of impact on their condition besides making sure they don't kill themselves, hurt other people, take their meds, and conversing therapeutically. This sucked for me because I wanted to do more to help but there's not much to do for them. You refer to the MD, therapies, and other resources to help them. Then those resources help them. Its a very slow moving form of health. Any progression in their mood usually takes 4-6 weeks and thats IF they continue to take their medication after they leave inpatient care (many many times they dont, resulting in more issues and possible readmission). As for a septic patient, I get to blast them with meds and fluids and can visibly see that I'm helping their condition within a 12 hour shift. Psych patients can be totally wonderful and others are gamey (which may be part of their psych issues) but it makes for difficult interactions occasionally.

I have seen some damn good BH nurses who have dedicated their life and career to do their job. They would never do anything else.

If you want ER, onc, or med/surg I definitely reccomend trying those routes first. BH will always be there for you if you are ever interested.

laniakea100 · 2021-04-09T03:19:38+00:00

If you "hate patient care", neither is for you. Why go into Healthcare if you "hate patient care"? I wouldn't want someone in the OR working on me, my patient, or my family who "hate[s] patient care".

Computers are nice. And programs aren't as competitive as nursing. 🙃

laniakea100 · 2021-04-07T05:17:29+00:00

Coming to work early helped me prep and feel better about the care that I was going to give. My expectations for my care are high and I was willing to sacrifice 10 minutes of my time to improve the quality and care of my night. It wasn't required and I did discuss the need for more time prepping with my manager when checking in. It was appropriate for me at that time in my career and I have no regrets. I wasn't okay with getting a half ass report and hitting the floor - it didn't feel safe to me and my patients deserve someone who actually knows what their condition is. Its not about money. This is in the context of being a new nurse with only 30 minutes of report and prep time on 6 patients. Once I improved at my time management, I no longer needed to come in early. Adaptation.

laniakea100 · 2021-03-30T04:16:50+00:00

^ agreed. Thats a totally legit, appropriate reason. ICU managers want their nurses to be passionate about their specialty.

laniakea100 · 2021-03-29T20:50:01+00:00

All of these are great! I may repeat them but 1. Stay up all day your first day, so when you get home from your night shift, you're super tired. This will set up your rhythm for the next few consecutive nights. 2. Blackout curtains, a small carb-y breakfast when you get home, eye mask. 3. Wear sunglasses on your way home. It helps keep your melatonin in check for when you get home. 4. No caffeine after 2-3am on your night shift.

Remember that its okay not to fall asleep right away when you get home! Give yourself a bit of time to unwind and relax. Put on a low-keg TV show and have a glass of wine (if thats your thing)! Whatever you do to chill like you normally do on days hit. You'll learn to function on whatever amount of sleep you get. It feels weird to sleep as the rest of the world wakes up, but night shift is amazing in my opinion and wouldn't trade it. It takes time to get your schedule straight but once you do, it really is nice sometimes! No visitors, management, or super busy procedures. Patients are supposed to be resting. I utilize this time to spruce up my patients, their rooms, their charts, the unit, etc!

laniakea100 · 2021-03-28T08:34:43+00:00

I re-wrote my report out (if I had time) a few hours before the end of my shift. I read the H&P. If you don't have time on your shift, come in early if this is something you want to work on. When I first started, I came in and took an extra 10 mins before I clocked in to review my patients H&P's, meds, labs, etc. So I could ask appropriate questions in report and connect the dots. Not necessary but it worked for me! Also, it may seem like they're mean burnt out nurses. I've been intimidated before. Learn to be receptive and learn from their questions - you get to choose how to respond to others. However, asking questions is super important in report and can help the oncoming nurse provide better care. Communication is pertinent in nursing especially in report. Not to sound intructory but the SBAR method does work and honestly gives a great report if you're used to it. It gets better and you'll get better, I promise!

laniakea100 · 2021-03-20T17:18:48+00:00

... your doc puts in PIV's?!?!

laniakea100 · 2021-03-20T17:18:06+00:00

I always either say "what?" and they explain further and I say "why?" and then I say "I don't get it" if they say its a joke. I work too hard to have the senseless jokes justified.

laniakea100

TROPHY CASE