Hushpuppy

   I entitled this post hushpuppy because in my childhood, I was told that hushpuppies got their name when cooks would throw pieces of dough to the dogs to appease them for a while. Then they'd say "hush puppy!" I have no idea if that is true, but I know it's been a while since I have blogged, and I feel like motivation is a little harder for me to find, but I'm still posting and want you to keep reading, and I wonder how many times you can use a conjunction before an English teacher will attack you.

    In order to tell this story, I have to paint you a picture of my nurses' station. My unit is generally a circle with the station located in the middle. There are two entrances on either side. In the station, there are approximately 14 computer stations with people walking in and out. During a normal shift, there are approximately 7 nurses, 3 aides, a secretary, a case manager, a social worker, and whatever doctors or other random people who go in and out. It's a crowded place.

  Anyways...enough babbling. Here's the actual story. It was towards the end of the shift, and so most of the aides and nurses were in the station. A patient came to the station and asked for one of the aides. She was at the other side of the station. Somebody pointed to her, and tried to get her attention, but it was really loud. They asked him if they could help him with whatever he needed. He proceeded to tell her that he was on a "super secret special mission". Then he started marching through the nurses' station. Let me make something clear. Walking through the station is like walking behind a cash register at a store. It's not outright forbidden, but it's not something that you normally do. In addition, he was carrying a full urinal. Instead of stopping or engaging him, all of the nurses just kind of watched as he sauntered through and placed his very full urinal at the aide's desk. He then confidently made his way back with everyone trying to figure out what had just happened. It was so odd and so unexpected, that nobody had any sort of reaction time, so we just watched. Apparently he had been told that we needed a sample, and he was under the impression that it was urgent. I'm glad that he was able to complete his super secret special mission, but he also provided us with a good laugh.

That's all I got for now. I'll be back soon.Thanks for reading.
-C-

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Want to know something that I've discovered? Even though nursing is considered one of the most difficult undergraduate degree to attain (not actually proven. yet.), I believe that once you get through school, you can get away with not doing a whole lot. I don't want to scare you, but a nurse could actually do very little and still 'do their job' adequately. I don't want to downplay what a nurse has to do, but there is a sizeable difference between a good nurse and a great nurse. I'm gonna give you a good ol' fashioned comparison chart to help you visualize this. ( I just utilized my coding knowledge to make the table! First time I actually used it in real life! Yay for hobbies!)

Good Nurse	Great Nurse
Complete paperwork for patient's admission	Listen to the patient, get the story, be thorough, and address all problems
Perform an assessment that can complete required charting	Assess beyond what needs to be charted. Really look at the patient
Address needs for the shift	Look ahead and address future needs
Pass scheduled medications	Know why medications are ordered and connect them to patient's condition
Call about critical labs	Understand why labs are off and address the underlying problems
Perform nursing tasks	Explain expectations, reasoning, and procedure to patient
Answer assigned patient's call lights	Answer any call light or other needs
Get through the day doing assigned work	Contribute to the team and help others
Talk to patients	Listen to patients
See the person in the bed as an assignment	See the person in the bed as a human being who is hurting and scared and vulnerable
Do what doctors tell you	Know what you need before the doctor even shows up. Be prepared.
Rely on current knowledge	Continue learning and growing and using critical thinking skills
Discharge patient with handout	Actually educate the patient about instructions and medication schedule
Focus on current problem	See the big picture
Do your job	Find your calling

  I want to be clear that I am not claiming the title 'Great Nurse'. There are days where I feel like I am on the ball and know what's up and bring it on and you can't touch this. Other days, I am tired and lazy and don't want to go back in that patient's room. These are just observations I've made over the past 2 years. It's hard to keep up the motivation to do what's necessary to be a great nurse. Some patients are really mean and doctors sometimes yell at you and nurses have a life outside of work and healthcare is really complicated. However, if every nurse tried to be a great nurse, our healthcare system might be very different. I could keep going and adding to the list, but it's late and I'm tired and I still have things to do tonight. I'll see ya soon!

-C-