Work Doldrums

Well, I am trying to keep my promise to write more this year and here I am again...I am sure many of you feel when does the work day end and when can I go home and soak my self in calgon to get me away from it all... typicallly I don't feel this way. I have learned to handle the stress of my job creatively and productively...I come home kiss my husband and sit down and relax to a good home cook meal..maybe accompanied by a glass of wine,...then prop my feet up and do some mindless reading or knitting in the winter or gardening in the summer...for the most part I look forward to work..but this week was not so...first of all I am really hating winter...Southeast PA has had its share of weekly snow or ice storms; secondly (as I mentioned before) running solo at work without help on these snow days hasn't helped my morale...then I was sick last weekend into the beginning of the week...I hate being sick... no kidding...my job is taking care of sick people all day...why do I want to feel the way they do...not...so I was really feeling low and under...to the point I told my husband ...not sure how much longer I can do this....so, I thought, what are my options...Well I can retire in 3 more years...but I still have to work...and if I still have to work what would I do...I know nothing but health care. If I retire and have to work...I want nothing to do with health care...and if I work I want to work part time like 2-3 days a week from 10am to 2pm....I did toss around going for my certification in laser hair removal...but do I really want to go back to school again and learn something else...not...do I sound like I am winning because I am....What other options do I have....well when I came to this point ..the weather finally turned around and we had a 60 degree day and a 70 degree day...all of a sudden I wasn't thinking of options anymore but back to lovin my work...there is one thing I have learned when I do get down and out at work not to take it out on my patients or their families...this does take a lot of patience and indurance...I want the best for my patients and I don't want them into my mind where they feel they are making me this way....after 12 + years of being an NP this has taking sometime and self training to do...so come on warm weather...I nee a healthty dose of Vit d to help my happy thoughts to keep me in the work mode for a longtime...at least another 6 years!!!

Winter Coldness andLoses

Well, we are certainly in the midst of weather in southwest Pennsylvania. Thankfully, Phil predicted an early spring. My winter has been very busy at work. Not because the weather has been bad or the flu season is here. I have been working solo on the worst snow days... My co worker has decided not to come in on snow day because of the distance to work which leaves me holding the fort....Actually it has been ok....thankfully I enjoy my work...despite the busy unit I work on I have found solitude and enjoyment in my patient load. I do have one patient I would like to share of my experience during these months. He was a very challenging patient when he first came to me in September. He literally damaged his mind and body from cocaine. He drained all of his finances and laid in his bed agitated confused and angered. He required 1:1 nursing 24 hours for almost 2 months. Psychiatry saw his patient everyday..The nurses did not fear this man but worked hard to bring him to the point that he would recognize us and cooperate with us. He learned to communicate effectively. Sometimes with choice words and foul language ...but by the time Christmas came around he would wheel himself in his wheelchair and sing Christmas songs with the visiting musicians. He was more social and would even have an attention span long enough to play tic tac toe with one of our nurses....We grew very fond of him but his time was growing short with us and was medically stable to move to a longterm care unit.... that day came he we said our good byes...I knew deep down inside he would soon return....for one thing that I have learned in my years as a nurse and nurse practitioner ...this type of patient can easily become sick and not get better....one month after we transferred him he returned...sick and more demented...I knew as much as I tried to help him he would never be the way I remembered him singing the Christmas songs...I worked closely with his family and many discussion occurred and the family decided to make him hospice...he died within a week of going to hospice unit...Although I was sad to hear this, I knew he lived his last months in a sheltered environment, comforted, in no pain, and around people and family that loved him and cared for him...His family and children are beautiful people and have grown up to love him very much...I did tell him that before he went to hospice..he looked at me and I knew he appreciated me telling him this. The day he died his family came to thank me for all I did.....I was only doing my job and I knew if this was my loved one, I would want the same thing for them that I gave to this patient.