Are you trying to get me to hit you?

Short, sweet, and to the point....things you should never do to the triage nurse:

1. Return to the triage window after you have been discharged to yell at me "your doctors here suck" when you don't get the drugs/treatment you wanted. By the way, much MUCH classier when you do it in front of the patient I'm currently triaging. Thank you SO much.

2. Expect the triage nurse to drop everything to take report on your ambulance patient that lives two blocks away and comes in every two weeks for yet ANOTHER infected PICC line. Yes, you ride on an ambulance. That does not mean that every person you bring to me requires the Trauma Team Reception. Sorry I'm not terribly concerned that the pink/warm/dry middle-aged person with a patent airway needed to come in via EMS instead of the local taxi service. Frankly, I could have gotten a better report from a cab driver. You're in triage. Wait your turn.

3. DO NOT stand your uppity, snooty self--as the visitor, not the patient--next to me and state that I do not care about what your significant other is telling me, especially about their medical history. If I didn't care about, or need, the information your boyfriend was telling me, I'd say so. I'm a big girl. Therefore, keep your snide remarks to yourself. Or better yet, keep yourself parked in the waiting room. I didn't call YOU back.

4. If you are unable to get your loved one out of the vehicle you drove them to the ER in, maybe you should have considered the EMS route. They are quite adept at transporting patients that can't move very well, due to an EMERGENCY. DO NOT expect me to pull a bed out of my pocket, throw my triage nurse cape on, and single-handedly lift your loved one out of the car in 2.3 seconds. It takes me a minute to round up some reinforcements and equipment. Patience.

Thank you. Keeping these little things in mind may keep the evil, eye-rolling triage nurse at bay; replaced instead by a warm, kind-hearted, fully-understanding angel of a healthcare servant....yeah, right. That'll be a cold day.

Plodding forward

As I write this, lounging in my jammies at a quarter-to-one in the afternoon, I'm reflecting on my nursing career and recent decision to remain in the ER. Weighing this decision against the knot in my neck, vague belly pain, and recently recovered migraine from last night, my better judgment screams against it. However, compared to the interview I had with oncology, these aches and pains are a walk in the park.

Maybe it was the way the unit manager described the "oncology" floor: it's an oncology unit, with outpatient radiology and inpatient/outpatient chemo, coupled with short-to-long term stays for cancer patients for a myriad of reasons. Of course--here's my favorite part--"we are a general medical overflow, and we get all of the recovery patients from ENT surgeries, and a lot of ortho surgical patients..." My enthusiasm for the interview effectively dropped to a negative number at this point.

If I wanted to suffer a mundane, over-worked, underpaid floor position, there are 8 other floors I could have applied on. And I don't think that the 1:6 nurse to patient ratio, or the fact that the only position I could get was a 19-07, made the offer any more attractive. So, instead of embarking on a brand new venture in the pseudo-oncology world, I decided to stay the course in a full-time 19-07 position in my comfort zone.

The way I see it, I would rather do a night shift with people I already know, respect, and can count on, instead of trying to muddle my way through learning a new way of nursing all on my own. At least I know that there is an unspoken vein of commisseration in my cozy little world....and it validates my adrenaline-junkie status.

So, my new goal is to get my CEN by this time next year, and try to further my understanding of emergency medicine, since it is painfully obvious that this is where I'm going to stay. And I'm going to stop looking at that green grass on the other side of the fence, because I get tired of posting on my latest career venture. From the mouth of a very wise man: "let's just accept the fact that you're going to stay in the ED, quit fighting it, and move forward." One foot in front of the other. (Thank you, my love.)

Another niggling thought

So, I have an interview with the oncology department on Wednesday. I guess I'm testing the waters again, or something. Maybe it's my undiagnosed ADD flaring up, or melancholia creeping back into my mind, but either way I'm going to see if it's something I'd be interested in. Barring any serious differences in pay, or sudden gut feelings against it, (or the possibility that they don't offer me the job...) I may well try it out and moonlight in the ER. There's something about considering leaving the ER for good that makes me shake inside. Kind of like how I feel when I think about quitting smoking (picture large anxiety attacks coupled with withdrawl symptoms). I really hate loving the ER so much, and knowing in my head that no matter what happens that day and how many times I say I hate it, tomorrow I'll be ready to do it all over again. It's kind of like being married to an abuser, I think. I hate what it does to me, but I love it so much that I stay. Ugh. To be continued....

P.S. Welcome to the newest blogger on my list--RedHat6. An impressively intelligent man with many witty, sarcastic things to say; and a talented EMS medic to boot. I miss ya, but this shall help with the lonelys. Glad you're here!

When a prayer becomes your reality

Happy happy happy day! It's my first anniversary and I love my hubby! I can't believe it's been a year already; I have experienced so many wonderful moments in this past year that I feel like its been a dream. All I can pray for now is that the rest of our life together is as wonderful as this first year has been. Thank you my love, for making my dream come true; and thank you Lord, for listening.