I know it´s been a while, but just wanted everybody to know that I am still doing great and learning every day. Today I took care of a little girl (on the women´s unit yes) that had parasites. Tape worms I´m pretty sure. I know this because I helped her to throw up into the same trash can that had one in it. Not entirely sure how it got there. So yes, some of the reasons for admission around here are a bit different. Snake bites and spider bites for instance are more common here than in the states. And you would not believe the raging diabetic ulcers I´ve seen. By the time they come to the hospital their limps are headed right for amputation. Its pretty incredible.
I am feeling very comfortable in my role now, just in time to leave in a few weeks. Communication is much better now, I actually understand most all of report instead of just a few words here and there. Its very helpful really. And.... drum roll please... I am getting good at starting IVs, even really hard ones! I am actually the one they send to help the student learn. Its a Christmas Miracle! But most importantly, I don´t think I have ever been happier doing anything in my whole entire life. There is absolutely nothing better than taking care of people, I´m in heaven. I caught a pretty bad cold this week and was too sick to go to work on Monday. On Tuesday the other nurses told me that the patients were asking ¨¿Donde está la enfermera extrañera?¨... where is the foreign nurse? It was so good to hear it! Made my day. Sometimes when I make my rounds I just sit and chat with the patients, and they are so appreciative for the extra time. I of course love talking to them but they just think I´m being extra nice.
Well the most important detail of the day is that me and Brett will be in Belize in one day!! We are both so excited. Our first stop will be Caye Caulker for the beach and some fun diving. We may or may not ever leave. ( : We will be staying at a sweet little house on the beach with a full kitchen, pool, and hammocks. Not going to tell you how much were NOT paying for the place but it´s cheaper than motel 8 for sure. The gringo that owns it already loves Brett and has arranged a private taxi from the airport and a boat to the Caye. It has been raining for three straight weeks here so I am definitely looking forward to some sun. Lots of pictures and stories to come. I look so forward to seeing you all again soon. Muah!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Boo for job aplications
Hi,
So after I promised everyone a blog, I spent the entire weekend applying to nursing jobs. I´m feeling a little hungry and tired right now, so I think I am going to give up on my day at the computer. However, I think I will be able to find some time this week to fill everybody in a little better than this.
As far as the job hunt goes, I have applied to tons of positions at Denver Health where I did my senior internship, and all of the new grad positions being offered at University Hospital. I really have my hopes set on University because I have heard it is a great learning experience since it´s such a big teaching hospital. They will interview all through September so that will work out pretty good for me too. I am also going to apply to Rose, PSL, and Children´s if anything opens up.
I am still in love with being here, working, and learning. I had an amazing experience last night that I just have to share. I was hanging out sharing a few drinks with my mom, sister, and new Coloradoan friend Alex. We were joking and laughing, not entirely sure what happened to all the wine and how quickly it became midnight. All of a sudden I realized that I was speaking Spanish, and not even trying too hard. I had held a four hour conversation with people I love, as if it was the most natural in thing in the world. I SPEAK SPANISH! I have been working so hard that I forgot to notice how far I have come. I am going to finish up the classes that I have already purchased and then spend the rest of my Spanish money on Salsa lessons. I had my first one yesterday and now I´m hooked. Good thing I saved this till the end of the trip right?
The hospital continues to be an amazing experience. One fun thing I will share is the incredible number of shots in the butt I give. Doctor, la paciente in cama numero dos tiene un fevre. (The patient in bed number 2 has a fever). Shoot her in the butt! Same goes for pain, even for patients with IV´s. I haven´t entirely figured this one out yet, but I´m getting really good at those IM injections!
Sorry this doesn´t include all I have to share. Here are a couple of pics, hope they make you smile. Miss you tons!!
People waiting in line for the clinic at 8am
The ¨pyxis¨ Guatemala style
New friend at work
Workin hard! (Sweet hat)
So after I promised everyone a blog, I spent the entire weekend applying to nursing jobs. I´m feeling a little hungry and tired right now, so I think I am going to give up on my day at the computer. However, I think I will be able to find some time this week to fill everybody in a little better than this.
As far as the job hunt goes, I have applied to tons of positions at Denver Health where I did my senior internship, and all of the new grad positions being offered at University Hospital. I really have my hopes set on University because I have heard it is a great learning experience since it´s such a big teaching hospital. They will interview all through September so that will work out pretty good for me too. I am also going to apply to Rose, PSL, and Children´s if anything opens up.
I am still in love with being here, working, and learning. I had an amazing experience last night that I just have to share. I was hanging out sharing a few drinks with my mom, sister, and new Coloradoan friend Alex. We were joking and laughing, not entirely sure what happened to all the wine and how quickly it became midnight. All of a sudden I realized that I was speaking Spanish, and not even trying too hard. I had held a four hour conversation with people I love, as if it was the most natural in thing in the world. I SPEAK SPANISH! I have been working so hard that I forgot to notice how far I have come. I am going to finish up the classes that I have already purchased and then spend the rest of my Spanish money on Salsa lessons. I had my first one yesterday and now I´m hooked. Good thing I saved this till the end of the trip right?
The hospital continues to be an amazing experience. One fun thing I will share is the incredible number of shots in the butt I give. Doctor, la paciente in cama numero dos tiene un fevre. (The patient in bed number 2 has a fever). Shoot her in the butt! Same goes for pain, even for patients with IV´s. I haven´t entirely figured this one out yet, but I´m getting really good at those IM injections!
Sorry this doesn´t include all I have to share. Here are a couple of pics, hope they make you smile. Miss you tons!!
People waiting in line for the clinic at 8am
The ¨pyxis¨ Guatemala style
New friend at work
Workin hard! (Sweet hat)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
I´m alive I swear!!
Hi!
Sorry I haven´t blogged in a while but I want everyone to know I´m still doing great. I´m am absolutely loving my job. I stay so busy I don´t even know what happens to the day. And it´s all 100% nursing, the real stuff! I´ve even gotten used to my 5am wake up. I guess you can get used to everything if you do it every day. I´m still taking a few Spanish classes each week but it´s coming along so much faster now that I have to speak all day. I even started answering the phone this week at work!!! Yay! I have so much to share about my experience at the hospital. I am going to dedicate this weekend to blogging and job searching. If anybody has any suggestions about which hospital in Denver wants to hire a fun, smart, (really cute) new graduate nurse I would really appreciate them! Hope all is well on your end. I miss you all!
Lorell
p.s. I booked my flight to Belize so I officially have a new adventure to look forward too. So excited Brett gets to share it with me!!
Sorry I haven´t blogged in a while but I want everyone to know I´m still doing great. I´m am absolutely loving my job. I stay so busy I don´t even know what happens to the day. And it´s all 100% nursing, the real stuff! I´ve even gotten used to my 5am wake up. I guess you can get used to everything if you do it every day. I´m still taking a few Spanish classes each week but it´s coming along so much faster now that I have to speak all day. I even started answering the phone this week at work!!! Yay! I have so much to share about my experience at the hospital. I am going to dedicate this weekend to blogging and job searching. If anybody has any suggestions about which hospital in Denver wants to hire a fun, smart, (really cute) new graduate nurse I would really appreciate them! Hope all is well on your end. I miss you all!
Lorell
p.s. I booked my flight to Belize so I officially have a new adventure to look forward too. So excited Brett gets to share it with me!!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Primer día
Wow, what an interesting first day. I was almost late though, even though I left my house at six am. The bus took almost 40 minutes because they had to pack it full of all the clinic patients. I was the only nurse on board so I felt kinda special. Maybe I´ll walk tomorrow? Any how I have been placed on the ¨area medicina de mujers¨ or the women´s medical floor. The floor has three private rooms and two group rooms, each with six beds lined up side to side. There are no curtains here, privacy doesn´t really exist. We made our morning rounds stopping at each bedside and talking about the patient´s diagnosis, condition, meds, I´s & O´s all right in front of them. This will take some getting used to I think. The hospital is difficult to describe. It is a public hospital, and serves much of the poverty stricken group that can´t afford the private hospital. There were over one hundred people waiting to be seen at the clinic when I arrived, most will have to come back tomorrow.
Everything in the hospital including beds, wheelchairs, desks, bed pans... everything was manufactured sometime before 1970. All the medicine, including narcs are just kept in drawers or bins. It is such a different world it´s difficult to explain. However I think the Surgical Clinic I participated in last fall prepared me some. Generally, there is one RN on the floor and two LPNs that work together each shift. The work together to care for all of the patients and are not assigned to any number of them. Med pass is a whirlwind of mixing meds, hanging antibiotics, and passing pills. There are just little cards with the patient´s meds written on them and then you initial the chart later. (yikes). If med errors occur here, and I´m sure they do, there would be no real record.
WARNING: If you are not comfortable with death or dying, do not read the following...
On a sad note, I actually lost a patient today. The other RN and I were talking to a patient´s family today when some ladies quietly came up beside us. They were patently waiting but seemed anxious. So I asked what they needed and they asked me to come check on a patient. Ummmmm... yes, the patient´s color was terrible and she didn´t have a pulse. So I called a CORE (yelled down the hall), or as much of one that exists here. We´re not really sure what happened, or how long she had been gone. The resuscitation seemed to me more like practice for the medical students, and no one really seemed to know exactly what to do. Maybe I´m just used to the well oiled machine that works in the PVH NICU. But I was the one that grabbed the CORE cart, was heaving ET tubes, and showing them how to work the defibrillator. (It wan´t plugged in and they couldn´t put the leads on because they got caught in the cart wheel). So after three rounds of epi, and five minutes of CPR we gave up. Quite an end to the day. I think I was most saddened that the patient didn´t have any family around and it was visiting hours. She was very old, and I was okay with her death but I wanted her to have some family there, someone to cry for her.
I wan´t sure if I should include all that, and certainly wouldn´t if I was working in the states. But I wanted to share the experience. Love and miss you all. I´ll try to keep my morbid stories to myself in the future.
Everything in the hospital including beds, wheelchairs, desks, bed pans... everything was manufactured sometime before 1970. All the medicine, including narcs are just kept in drawers or bins. It is such a different world it´s difficult to explain. However I think the Surgical Clinic I participated in last fall prepared me some. Generally, there is one RN on the floor and two LPNs that work together each shift. The work together to care for all of the patients and are not assigned to any number of them. Med pass is a whirlwind of mixing meds, hanging antibiotics, and passing pills. There are just little cards with the patient´s meds written on them and then you initial the chart later. (yikes). If med errors occur here, and I´m sure they do, there would be no real record.
WARNING: If you are not comfortable with death or dying, do not read the following...
On a sad note, I actually lost a patient today. The other RN and I were talking to a patient´s family today when some ladies quietly came up beside us. They were patently waiting but seemed anxious. So I asked what they needed and they asked me to come check on a patient. Ummmmm... yes, the patient´s color was terrible and she didn´t have a pulse. So I called a CORE (yelled down the hall), or as much of one that exists here. We´re not really sure what happened, or how long she had been gone. The resuscitation seemed to me more like practice for the medical students, and no one really seemed to know exactly what to do. Maybe I´m just used to the well oiled machine that works in the PVH NICU. But I was the one that grabbed the CORE cart, was heaving ET tubes, and showing them how to work the defibrillator. (It wan´t plugged in and they couldn´t put the leads on because they got caught in the cart wheel). So after three rounds of epi, and five minutes of CPR we gave up. Quite an end to the day. I think I was most saddened that the patient didn´t have any family around and it was visiting hours. She was very old, and I was okay with her death but I wanted her to have some family there, someone to cry for her.
I wan´t sure if I should include all that, and certainly wouldn´t if I was working in the states. But I wanted to share the experience. Love and miss you all. I´ll try to keep my morbid stories to myself in the future.
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