Wow, last night was crazy busy in the ICU.  There were actually four RNs AND an aide with us overnight…all the rooms were filled!  I don’t think I’ve ever seen that.  I was busy from the moment I started, until the moment I left.  I had two vented patients which makes for a lot of hourly charting with our new computer system.  Every hour I need to chart the following: Hourly Rounds (assessing pain, repositioning, personal care…if needed), vital signs (temp, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation), cardiac monitor (heart rhythm), drug titration (any iv medications that we are possibly titrating, such as blood pressure vasopressors, sedatives), and vent support (vent settings).  On top of that, every two hours is fall risk and neuro assessments, every four hours is cardiac assessment, vent bundle, and every shift is shift assessment and care plan outcomes.  THAT’S just the assessments.  Then I also have to chart patient notes on each patient as needed.  And THAT’S just the charting…we’re not even talking patient care  Things like repositioning, bathing, tube feeds, emptying foleys, giving medications, starting IVs, drawing blood, …. you get the picture…it can make for a very hectic night!

But, even though it was busy, it wasn’t bad.  My patients were basically stable and I had no admissions AND one of the nicer docs was on so that always makes it nice.

After coming home to bed and sleeping all day I was up and now it’s almost time to go back to bed!  Kimm and I headed out after dinner (taco soup in the Vitamix…mmm!) to the grocery store for a few essentials and to the library to drop off a book that was due.

Now the plan is to watch a movie.

Tomorrow is going to be BUSY too…I have several things that MUST get done…laundry, GYM, and complete the online portion of my CPR training.  My reward is going to be a long overdue Girl’s Night!  Planning on taking cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, and pretzels and hummus.  I will enjoy myself with the food, but I’m going to try to not go crazy.  I still am hoping to go down another pound before the end of the month, and if I’m lucky two pounds!

Have a good night everyone!

I find it hard to believe that this first month of 2012 is almost over.

I wanted to very quickly review my January goals and brainstorm for my February goals.

January Goals:

Enter all passwords in iPhone–DONE!

Return cans to Holyoke (one trip)–still need to do…? Saturday

Make one trip to Saver’s to drop off stuff we are getting rid of–still need to do…? Saturday

Keep kitchen counter free of clutter–DONE!!

Keep dresser free of clutter–DONE!!

Read a book a week–almost…read three books and am reading the fourth

Eat healthy, exercise and lose a pound a week average–DONE!! (stepped on the scale this morning and have lost a total of 9 pounds so far this month…ahead of schedule which gives me some leeway)

Complete one craft project–DONE! (created Christmas “To:  From:” tags from all of our Christmas cards)

Complete all blogs that I missed from 2011–DONE!!!! (finally finished that today)

From what I could remember those were my goals for January and I feel like I did a pretty good job

Now, on to February…

February Goals:

–create some savings accounts to pay myself first (either 2.5-5% of each paycheck)

–file EVERYTHING!!  (this is a big one)

–another trip of cans to Holyoke

–another trip of stuff to get rid of to take to Saver’s

–a craft project

–continue to eat healthy, exercise and aim for one pound lost/week

–continue to read one book/week

–continue to keep the kitchen counter and my dresser clutter free

–get Izzy’s room set up for a home office for Kimm

–create a study plan for critical care nursing

I think that’s enough for now!

I’m excited for a new month.

I just discovered a new blog via another blog and I think it’s really going to inspire me this next month…it’s called Blog of Impossible Things.  I have a feeling that his posts are not going to let me complain too much

Here I am, enjoying my “day” off (which really meant that I slept from 9 am to 4 pm and now am up enjoying the night!)

First on the agenda…making dinner.  It’s one of our favorites and I’ve finally perfected it so that I can share the recipe.

Tortellini Soup

Makes four large servings

Approximately 1 hour to make (only about 20 min prep time)

Ingredients:

2 Tbsps butter

3 stalks celery, chopped

3 medium carrots, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

6 cups water

5 vegetable bouillon cubes

1 package frozen cheese tortellini

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Salt to taste

To make:

Add butter to large soup pot over medium heat.

Add chopped celery, carrots, and onion.   Cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes until vegetables start to soften.

Add garlic to pan and stir for about 15 seconds, or until fragrant…QUICKLY add your six cups of water (you just don’t want the garlic to burn!)

Add the veggie bouillon cubes.

Bring the water up to a boil (takes about 10 minutes).

Add the frozen tortellini.  Cook for about 25-30 minutes until tortellini is tender.

Add the nutmeg and stir.  Add salt to taste (I usually add about 6 pinches).

This soup is DELICIOUS!!!!

While the soup was cooking I took a nice hot shower…felt so good.  Ate dinner, did dishes and then while Kimm watches the hockey game I set up a “mini-office” in the living room.  I’ve got my computer, a handwritten calendar (trying to figure out when I want to take vacation this year), my craft project for the month (which I REALLY need to get a move on), my food tracking notebook, and a book.  So far I haven’t made it past the computer

But it has been a very relaxing night.

Thankfully the Canadiens are winning (currently 6-0 in the second period) which is GOOD news since they haven’t done so hot this season.   This is good because Kimm is not swearing too much

Afterwards is snack time (I’m thinking Triscuits and celery with hummus) and another episode of Grey’s Anatomy…we’re almost done with Season Two!

And best of all, I get to enjoy another 1/2 day off tomorrow before heading to work.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic night!

What a gorgeous day!  Sunny and warm–50s!!

It’s melting all the snow into a wet mess!

Today I accomplished something that has been on my “to-do” list FOREVER.

I finally finished putting all of my passwords into my password protector on my iPhone.  What a chore.  Having to go to each site, make sure the username and password work, changing them if necessary, updating information like address and email…Let’s just say I’m extremely glad to have this done.

Now my reward is to read on the couch before going to work!

Here we are at the 3rd week of the month.

As far as the weight loss goes, I lost one pound this week.  But I am STILL not down to the lowest I’ve weighed in this month.  But I AM only three pounds away from my 5% goal.

So I am okay with this.  I am eating well, snacking smart and going to the gym.  I’m trying to get enough sleep and hydrating.

I will keep trying and that’s all I can do.

In other news, last night we watched an excellent movie…The Debt.  I  highly recommend it…very suspenseful.

Today was just a normal day, nothing special.  Read blogs in the morning, caught up on writing some blogs, went to the grocery store for a few things, went to the gym, dropped off books and picked up a few at the library, stopped at the vets to get Izzy’s medicine, made dinner (stir fry) and read a bit.

Tonight we’ll watch another movie.   Tomorrow it’s back to work…this is my week of on/off.

Well, last night at work was pretty shitty and amazing all at the same time.

Shitty because I found out that I did not do something properly regarding a nursing technique with the patient I had last night (I can’t go into too much detail but it had to do with a piece of equipment that wasn’t correctly put together).  This made me SO mad for two reasons…one–I felt incompetent as a nurse because another nurse pointed this out to me and acted like I should have known this…and two–because the reason I didn’t know this was because my training in ICU SUCKED!!!  Really makes me so frustrated.  And of course, what do I do when I get frustrated??? Yep, I cry.  I didn’t want to cry, but I did and now I just feel worse because I don’t want to be known as that nurse that cries all the time!!!!  I just think that when it comes down to training in the ICU, you should get more than 3 1/2 weeks.  But on the other hand, I know that I need to take responsibility for my learning too and I guess if I’m going to know anything, I’ll have to do it on my own.  Anyways, I’m over it now.  I’ve learned what I need to know from that night and believe me, I’ll NEVER make that mistake again.

The night was amazing though as well, because I got to actually go into the OR for the harvesting of the organs from the patient that was brain-dead and the family consented to organ donation.  It was truly a miracle to see organs being removed (they were only able to take the liver and kidneys) and preserved, knowing that they were going to be given to someone else who was very sick, so that they would have another chance at life.

All I kept thinking about was Kimm’s father and how he has had his heart for 12 years now and that before he got it, another person had to die and their family had to give consent.  And he functions at a normal level now because of it.

Organ donation truly is the gift of life for many.

I know I’ll never forget my part in caring for this patient so that her organs would be in good condition to give.

And my interactions with the New England Organ Bank have made me even happier to be an organ donor.

What a night.  SO busy.

I was working with a patient who was declared officially brain-dead and who the family consented to organ donation.  Let me just say, I didn’t realize all of the work that was involved in taking care of a patient that may be utilized for organ donation.  They make it look so easy on TV.

I think the combination of the procedures, doing something I was unfamiliar with, and the loads of documenting and keeping information organized made for a very long, tiring and stressful night.

I was so glad to leave this morning.

And then of course what do I walk out into, but a winter wonderland.  The snow was falling fast.  I’ll have to get up early to shovel before work.

I’m SO done with snow!!!

Not much else to say.  I’m ready for bed and can’t wait for my two days off.

Oh, HOW did it get to be 2/3 through this month already???

I believe I forgot to mention that the other day, the 16th into the 17th, we got our first snow of the year.  Of course I was working that night.  It was only a few inches, but STILL.  I don’t like snow!

I came home and shoveled since I still don’t know how to use that darn snow blower we bought.  I will have to learn this week I am thinking.

Anyways, it was not fun shoveling.  The snow, though minimal, was wet and heavy.  My neck and back were killing me afterwards and the next day.

And then last night, while we were at Kimm’s parents house it snowed again, another couple of inches.  Thankfully this time it was much lighter.  I shoveled when we got home since it was slowing down and I didn’t feel like getting up in the morning and shoveling.  I’m smart, right

So I’m glad I did that since there was really not much accumulation after that during the night.

But now I see that we are due for more snow tonight and tomorrow…tonight approx 1 inch, and up to 4 inches on Saturday into Sunday.

I guess I really DO need to figure out how to use that snow blower!

The morning today was spent writing blogs (trying to still catch up from last year!) and entering passwords in my iPhone (not so thrilling).  This afternoon will consist of reading my book  Much more fun.

I’m due to work two  nights and then off for two before starting an on/off pattern.  By the time it’s done this month will almost be over…

Spent a good portion of the morning getting bills paid.

Do you ever wish we didn’t have to deal with money?  Or just that you had more

Anyways, the day is trucking forward and I want it to slow down!!  I don’t want to have to go to work again tomorrow.

I’m posting early because tonight we are going to Kimm’s parents for dinner and a movie and I’m sure I’ll be tired when I come home.

Today was a good day so far–a fair amount accomplished.

Besides figuring out finances, I put a few more passwords in my password protector in my iPhone (takes longer than one thinks with having to check each of them out and determining if I still need that password), did a load of laundry, made lunch, did the dishes (with washing the animals bowls and the stove pan drip catchers (know what I mean??), and cleaned out some of Izzy’s room to get ready to make the room into Kimm’s office.

Now my plan is to relax and read for an hour, take a shower and head over to Kimm’s parents for a feast.  I’m just so excited I won’t have to do dishes tonight!!

I didn’t mention much about weight loss this week, seeing as THERE WAS NONE!!  In fact there was a slight gain, which is of course is always disappointing.

HOWEVER, I am okay with this.

I know that my weight fluctuates a lot during the month, especially with hormonal changes.  And I ate whatever I wanted on my birthday…which I am COMPLETELY okay with…life is to be lived after all.

And I did lose 8 pounds!  That’s freaking crazy and great.  And my goal this year really is only a pound a week.  So, when you think of it that way, I’m so ahead of the game

So changes I’m making regarding my diet…

…continue eating lots of veggies

…add in more fruits (an apple a day)

…adding in small amounts of carbs (ex: brown rice, whole wheat rolls, whole wheat crackers)

…drinking more water

And I’m hoping that these things, over the next few weeks will allow me to lose some more weight.

I’m trying to remember that it’s about the journey, not the destination.