Tuesday marked my return to work. I didn’t miss it, but I like my job, so I wasn’t too bummed about getting back into it.
However, by 8 am, I was ready to take that all back. HA!
My pre-packed work eats included: protein pretz, dried mango, dried papaya, salad, tea, apple, Mocha-walla Odwalla bar, Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif bar, and dark chocolate covered cocoa roasted almonds.
This salad wasn’t one of my finest creations considering all the prep I had done the day before. The chickpeas and BN squash were great, but I forgot how much I dislike raw broccoli in salads. Definitely prefer them cooked. Dried cranz or raisins would have helped to accent the salad with a bit of sweetness, but oh well. Next time…
Work was exhausting, but that’s life why I pack so much food. I got home at 8 and dinner was a no brainer. Curry stew leftovers on spiralized zucchini.
It was even better as leftovers.
If nothing else, I’m definitely keeping the zucchini farmers in b’ness, right?
Thank goodness I already mailed off the winning batch of these agave-sweetened brownies, because the second batch is going f-a-s-t! I had more for dessert, and then a few more for another dessert 🙂
I went to bed with a third trimester food baby.
Wednesday
I again woke up for work at the crack of dawn. At least it’s no longer pitch black though, gracias a daylight savings. I’m definitely in denial about the weather though (I rebelled and wore nothing but my paper thin scrubs…and froze my a$$ off).
I packed lunch eats similar to those of Tuesday, including salad, Honey Graham Z bar, Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif bar, dried pears, protein pretz, apple, and a leftover pumpkin black bean burger.
The salad was better this time with spinach, tomato, spiralized zucch, and steamed BN squash. The black bean burgers have gotten a better (more burger like) texture since I made them, and now they hold together so I can throw them in a plastic baggie to take to work. I was going to add this to the salad once I took my lunch break, but I never got a proper lunch break, so I ate the salad (in 5 minutes flat) at 2:30, and then ate the burger around 4 pm, when I was able to step away from the unit for another quick 10 minutes. Yeah, it was a rough shift.
(Mini-rant ahead)
I am SO sick of psych patients disguised as cardiac patients. Seriously. I can’t take work days like the one I had today. I want to pull my hair out put a gun to my head (and by “my head” I mean “my patient’s” – oops, did I say that out loud?). Ok, I know I sound sarcastic, and callous, and well, basically like a horrible nurse, but it is SO trying sometimes. I can’t even put into words how the insane behavior of one patient can ruin 12 hours of my life with 3 other delightful, pleasant, appreciative patients.
It would take me too long to detail the way the end of my shift unraveled, but basically, I had to discharge the worst, most manipulative person today – a man who was IMPOSSIBLE to please. Regardless of how many times I went out of my way to do little random things for him, he always complained about something else. And when I was with another patient (who had a spontaneous pneumothorax no less), he had the audacity to yell at me for not answering the call bell fast enough to pull his blanket up. Um, I’m a little busy here buddy (with a true emergency, no less). But, like Lady GaGa, I smiled with my poker face, and repositioned his pillows over his face until he was comfortable and silently screamed in my head.
So, back to this discharge. Anxious psycho that he was, I finally managed to ease his concerns baby him into a tranquil state and get him escorted home (with a volunteer escort and private limo). Keep in mind, this guy was not our unit’s typical patient (in that he was 100% stable, ambulatory, and not a post cardiac surgery). Unfortunately, he was crazy in the head, and thought he required his own personal hospital staff. TWO HOURS after he left the hospital, I got a call from the Emergency Room saying he was back.
ARE.YOU.KIDDING.ME!!!
Official diagnosis for readmission: “not ready to be home.” Since when is that a diagnosis? Grrr. As if that weren’t enough to baffle the mind, I found out the hospital policy is that if a patient returns less than 4 hours after discharge, they go back to the same room. Question. What if the room has already gotten a new patient? Um. That’s too bad. Out with the new, in with the old. I’m not the unit clerk, and I am pretty sure it’s NOT in my job description to sort through the hospital’s political BS, and yet, I found myself on the phone with various authorities for nearly 30 minutes (which was time I should have been spending caring for my 3 other patients). And that is how the end of my shift was ruined by the return of a grumpy old man.
Phew. Thanks for letting me vent. Shall I move on to dinner now?
Veggie “meat” crumbles + tomato sauce + spiralized zucch + steamed brocc/cauli + vegan parm =
YUM!
Another view because it is oh-so-pretty 🙂
Dang I’m glad I made two batches of these brownies. I don’t want them to ever end!
P.S. I nearly just scrolled up and deleted everything I wrote about my job stress and my patient woes, but then I realized how therapeutic it was to get it all out. It may make me sound like a horrible person (or worse, a horrible nurse), but I assure you, I am SO focused on being the smiling, bright light of optimism for my patients, that I tend to bottle up all my negative feelings, and this blog ends up being my outlet…as a result, sometimes I think you guys may get the wrong idea about how I really feel about my job. I honestly LOVE my work, and I care more than I probably should for my patients…
Just wanted to make sure you know that when I write (overly sarcastically) about my stressed out work days, my feelings are real, but you are seeing a fairly one sided account.
I am going into child life and am prepared for this type of thing. It is hard when the system doesn’t help make your job easier. Ugh obviously he was a lonely grumpy old man! My blog maybe a ventfest tonight too haven’t decided lol
Never hide your feelings and frustrations – let ’em out!! I’m here for ya. **hugs**
i know it may not mean much coming from me, but the work you do is amazing and i hope you know that!
Ohhh boyy… it can be SO hard to keep a smiling face on in situations like that. Good for you for doing it .. and venting was obvi MUCH needed so yes, be glad you did it! You can’t keep negative thoughts bottled up or you’ll eventually lash out at someone…
You have a very worthwhile and extremely important job and you unfortunately had to deal with one of the few people who don’t realize where they’d be without people in your line of work!! Old Man would be havin troubles right now without you haha..
Just keep smilingggg 🙂
Tonite we are having something along the lines of your
Veggie “meat” crumbles + tomato sauce + spiralized zucch + steamed brocc/cauli + vegan parm
It’s just gonna be zuke noods and raw marinara that I made but I am sooo looking forward to it. In fact, time to get busy in the kitch!
Chica, I think your “vent” was graceful compared to how I would have reacted/thrown a hissy fit. I prob would have bl-vented en espanol with lots of gangsta Spanish language, in hopes that no one who reads my blog speaks Spanish. I realize I am not Spanish and thus should probably not know “gangsta” lingo–but I had a 12 year old “little sister” in my homestay in Spain… so I picked up a few thangs haha.
Also, HATE HATE HATE raw brocc in ensaladas. They occasionally seeeeeeeem like a good idea but NO, no bueno.
i’m so sorry about your days in the hospital. just know that i’m sure your nice patients LOVE you to death.
i probably wouldhave bit those people’s heads off. today i was a little snippy. i feel kinda bad, but i was tired, and the people just were not being cool.
I am SO IMPRESSED with your work food prep! You are so healthy and prepared!
I agree with Lyss above — you are an amazing worker. I am actually very jealous of your career. Even when you have hard days, I imagine it must be wonderful to have accomplished so much at your age, in terms of earning a living in which you truly help people, and in which you are truly needed! I’m in law school, and often feel like lawyers just waste the world’s time and I will potentially be a useless parasite once I start working.
And also, I enjoy reading you vent 🙂 nutty people remind me that I’m not nutty
been there, done that. we can only be pushed so far you know?
Wow, that sounds like a stressful day… it doesn’t make you sound like a horrible person at all, it means you’re human! And he’s nuts, but I didn’t have to tell you that, did I?
Steam the broccoli in the first salad, and it’s mine. 😉
<3 <3
Yikes, that sounds horrible!
Aw man, sorry to hear about the troubles at work. I hope things start looking up soon (aka psych patients disappear from your shift)
As much as I love broc, I can’t really take it raw either!
That last dinner looks phenom. Holy moly, I think I stared at your 2 pictures for about 5 minutes…yum.
Also, I can totally relate to the blog venting. I make light (or make fun) of many of my work situations/students…when in reality, I care deeply about education and my beloved class of 8 year olds. But, it’s very nice to have a place to just “let it all out”
Vent on…
I need to get a spiralizer, you make the most delicious looking dishes with spiralized zucchini! And it’s actually really refreshing to know that other people get annoyed/frustrated at work… I too love my job, but I also complain sometimes and it’s nice to know I’m not the only one. I hope things get less frustrating for you… 🙂
I honestly don’t know how you keep it together as much as you do. In those moments I would so badly want to lay into the patient, and perhaps escort him to the neonatal ICU or perhaps the cancer ward. While he is “not ready to be home” he is taking time and resources away from truly ill and suffering people. Vent away girl, you are far more patient and compassionate than I could ever be.
Honey – you are SO NOT a horrible person. You do a job every day that would crumple most of us in a morning. You are a human being and that situation sounds HORRIBLE! I thought I had a crappy day full of incompetents but my day was nothing compared to yours.
Every day you do your work is a miracle. *Big hugs* from here. You rock! Brownies and all!
I think this is my first official comment on your blog. My husband has been a nurse for 12 years, so I didn’t sit here thinking you’re a horrible person, I sat here thinking you’re a good nurse. Really. Nursing is many times a thankless profession, it’s not an easy job, and people certainly don’t go into it for the money. So cut yourself a break, okay?
…and I’m totally making those brownies.
I am so glad you didn’t delete your venting. I can’t believe the stuff you go through with some of these patients. You are an angel.
An angel who makes delicious looking brownies 🙂
Aww it does NOT make you sound like a horrible person, it makes you sound HUMAN! Caregivers are under so much stress, it is good and necessary for you to vent!
It is also necessary for you to eat all of those amazing brownies! They look DELICIOUS!
I HATE raw broccoli too! It has to be cooked in some way or I will not eat it. Bleh!
Sorry about your rough shift at work! Feel better!
Oh my god I probably would have ripped that guy’s head off! 😉
Haha I just realized that I wrote almost the same thing like traynharder23. I couldn’t agree more with everyone else though! I’m really impressed of how you deal with the situation.
You could never sound like a horrible person! We all need to vent, and I think we all know you are being sarcastic and that you would obviously never harm your patients in any way and that you just need to vent! Vent away 🙂
That spiralized zucchini with the broc and cauliflower is making me SUPER jealous–it looks so good! I think I am gonna have to make something similar for dinner tonight. Is it odd that it is 7 am and I am already wishing it were 7 pm so that I could eat my dinner?!
Courtney
I hope you liked the box of caffeine 😉
Anyhizzle, “not ready to be home”?! What the hell?! Vent away! That would have driven me insane as well. The good thing about my job? People who are annoying me get to feel my wrath. Ick. I hope that seeing Kim’s craptacular performance on the reunion and seeing the blonde and orange ladies from the OC helped your night.
“NOT READY TO BE HOME” I would have punched him straight in the baby maker. Seriously post as much stuff about work as you want dude, no judgement hur! If it’s theraputic you have gots to get it out there 🙂 You are a saint in my book. Just because if it were me (one of the reasons I can never be a nurse) is I would have called a taxi and put him back in it and see ya lataa
haha also goes along with reasons why I’m a terrible person.
On the other hand I’m not a fan of raw broc either. Gotta get mine a little softies TNWSS haha (that’s not what she said) haha
Deliciously appetizing! Hey, you’re lunch is very yummy but I’m just curious if the taste was getting affected by the plastic ware? Especially at times when you put your food inside the container while it was hot and if you’ve covered it, it will create moist and the food will absorb the odor of the plastic that can cause plastic like taste once you have eaten it. Have you encountered that? If so, why not try switching to stainless steel tiffin boxes? I’ve known that stainless steel containers are made to be an alternative to all plastic type ware. And the quality and safeness is set on high. I know a very extraordinary stainless steel – Happy Tiffin (http://www.happytiffin.com) It was manufactured with high qualiity stainless steel food grade. And is very eco-friendly, reliable and affordable. You can guarantee its food safety, there is no harmful effects that may transfer to your lunch packed.
Clearly you have a stressful job and it’s good to get your feelings out.
You can bitch about your job all you want! I’ll listen 🙂
Girl, you are human – vent away! I can only imagine how crazily trying your job must be. I would totally snap in two seconds and scream at everyone! haha.
Luckily your food intake looks heavenly. LOVING the brownie action.
Oh, E!!! Lo siento chica! I hope you’re having a better day today. Your photos are absolute deliciousness…I’m jealous for sure! Love your wed night’s dinner. =)
Ughh that does not sound like a fun day. Yesterday we had a psych patient that came into the ER and was refusing to leave so the hospital police had to come and literally DRAG her out! Oh the craziness of the medical world….
Vent and rant all you need to!! Getting it out of your head is always helpful, and I must say, you are in no way out of line on things like this. Working with people (especially sick ones) IS totally trying. You would be superwoman if things didn’t get to you sometimes.
Keep your head up, and TGIF! 🙂
Hi Elise,
I just passed my NCLEX today (finally!) and now I’m ready to get into the workforce. I love when you blog about nursing b/c I’m always looking for some insight into nursing (although I understand that you’re ranting).
I just wanted to write concerning confidentiality – now I know that you had no concrete identifying factors of this patient, but you do have your picture up on this blog, and I’m just a bit concerned that somehow someway what you write might be traced back. I guess I’m drawing up horror HIPPA/confidentiality scare stories that I heard about in nursing school. I’m probably just being paranoid though.
P.S. Do you know any good nursing blogs that you’d recommend to me?
Plus, this might be of interest to you …
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/442/index.html
I totally understand your frustrations… but not all Psych patients are bad! I swear! ~ Your local Psych Nurse
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don’t worry, not only have i never mentioned any names (or reasons for hospitalization), but i’m often gender neutral in my descriptions. im well aware of the hipaa laws (which is two a’s, one p FYI…) so i appreciate your concern, but nobody at work even knows about this blog, and if any patients are doing internet sleuth work after their care, i am 100% sure there would be no link to this blog. im not sure if other nursing blogs exist. seems like if there were such a thing, devoted only to nursing, THAT would be violating confidentiality!
anyways, good luck in nursing! im glad you enjoy my peep holes into the biz 🙂
haha, i thought of you when writing this! i know, i know 🙂
Hmmm…i don’t think the plastic affects the dishes. I don’t cook anything in them, that’s for sure! Are you a Happy Tiffin sales rep? Because that was QUITE the sales pitch…haha. But seriously, I just checked out the site, and I’ve gotta say, those products look like the most wonderful, hippie friendly products! Love it. A few questions: How heavy are they, because I do love the fact that I can just chuck the tupperware in my backpack and the weight isn’t an issue (I’m a nurse, I have serious back issues). Another concern is the way they latch. Do those for sure stay closed in travel (say in a backpack). I’m too much of a storage reusing cheapskate to buy something new, as opposed to simply continue to recycle the same tupperware. Sure, I’d love to have such a wonderful collection of those goods, but for now, $$-wise, it’s not int he cards. A girl can dream though right… Thanks for the info!
I think you are phenomenal. I have no idea how you do it. I’d lose it. When I get pissed I cry (so confusing?!), so I would have been a sloppy mess. Your work is amazing and offers more to the world than most of us do. Venting is perfectly natural and acceptable. Thanks for being sups honest with us. Love you. See you in two weeks!!!
HAA! But I have to say— psych patents on medical units are def not a pleasant thing to encounter. It;s much better if it is just one or the other!