A Work in Progress

On Friday I had another clinical at the cath lab. This was pretty good. The nurse I was paired with was a little scary at times. But she was a good preceptor and let me do everything. I got my 1st IV (attempt and success) in 5 months which was pretty exciting. I think I was just as nervous starting that one as I was when starting my first one ever. It had been almost too long. I figured that out when I realized that my hands were shaking slightly when I’d finished. That night I went to a Halloween party at my friends house. I went as a crazy cat lady, which consisted of wearing pajamas, putting my hair in haphazard curlers, and safety pinning numerous stuffed cats to my clothes. I tied for best costume with Andy, who kind of cheated because he looks so creepily like napoleon dynamite, it didn’t take much to complete his costume. Last night I was kidnapped by CJ and Ewing. They made me ride in the car blindfolded to go to a mysterious location. They even had me walk into a store like th...

I have been officially offered and accepted a job. It should be cool. I had a clinical for school with the same company and the unit I was on only got three jobs in 12 hours. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like putting in clinical time with a company you are about work for. It’s a little more difficult as all you can think is “In about a week, I could be getting paid for this!” Oh, well. On Friday I had my required physical and lift test. I had to go back to the same creepy clinic where I got my drug test. Every room I went into seemed to be a storage/exam room with stacks of miscellaneous boxes marked with ‘to be filed’ ‘pregnancy tests’ ‘private patient information’ ‘we’re not sure what this is’ and ‘looks important.’ For the lift test I had to lift a 60 pound box onto a shelf a little higher than my waist 10 times, put that same box on a shelf almost as tall as me, then walk around the room with the box (my new best friend) and walk up stairs with it. Of course, I had to be on my...

This morning started with an interesting phone call. It didn’t come up as anyone in my phone book which usually stops me from picking it up. But I looked at the number and it was local from my hometown so I decided to answer. Me: “Hello?” Other end: “Hi, this is officer ____from the Maryland State Police.” My brain: “Holy crap! What did we do?” My heart: “I'm going to start racing now!” Me: “Hi…” Other end: “I’m your preceptor for your MSP aviation ride-alongs.” My brain: “Whew!…wait…Holy crap!” My heart: “I'm going to keep racing!” Me: “Great!” Needless to say I’ve worked out the details of my first cough-helicopter-ahem ride. (don’t tell my parents I’ll be riding a helicopter, and definitely don’t tell me.) I won’t disclose the date yet. But as I’m riding on the trooper in my hometown, it will be hard for my parents to not notice me come home and then go missing for 12 hours. Today I discovered that my trucks' gas gauge is broken. I watched with horror as the g...

I’ve applied for a job. Yes, a job, me. Hard to believe, I know, but a little petty cash never hurt anyone. I’ll be working for a private ambo transport service (snore!) but I only have to work 12 hours every two weeks, so it’s not so bad. I’ve learned so far that the pre-hire process is really annoying. My last job interview was about 5 years ago and for that job; I applied, was interviewed on the spot, my label maker name tag was printed out, and two days later I was happily greeting customers at my first real job. If only it were that easy for this job. I applied and was interviewed the next day (which was nice, giving me less time to back out of it.) Then I’m told they need a pre-hire drug test, a copy of my passport, a picture of me in a zebra costume, a valid blockbuster video card, a physical, and various other things. Now, about this ‘pre-hire drug test.’ Luckily I read the paper that said that* I had to get it within 48 hours of my interview, or they would make me watch my fav...

Yesterday marked the class’ second sojourn to the cadaver lab. Wow, I really forgot how much fun this is! The weather is turning great here (high of 78 today, ooh that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside). Yesterday I was trying to gauge what to wear by looking at the people outside. The first person I saw was wearing capris and a sleeveless shirt. The person right behind her was wearing jeans and a jacket; both looking quite content. How am I supposed to decide what to wear when I see that?! I ended up wearing my scrubs with a sleeveless shirt underneath. We entered the lab and all the memories of last time came rushing back to me. First, the fact that we have to wear a gown, shoe covers, surgical cap, gloves and the optional face mask. Second, the presence of two dead bodies. Well, it’s not so much that I forgot that, just that I forgot how unpleasant it is until you can get acclimated to the cadaver lab environment. We got right into it, reviewing airways, intubation, and the like....