NursesNotes

I have not blogged for over a year and a half. Much has occurred. My dear husband, MrNurse, passed away very suddenly last year of a massive cardiac event/arrest. i did CPR until the paramedics arrived but to no avail. My darling man was gone at the age of 50. It took me a long time to come to terms with what happened. My kids are my touchstone, my support and my enduring loves. They have all been so great. We have had a lot of sadness and a lot of great memories. My work has also helped me in my new life as "widow" What a concept, being alone and not having that partner in my life. It has been pretty weird but I have adapted to our new "normalcy" I'm hoping to have a little more time to restart the Tblog time I had before and it might help me to regroup with putting my feelings down in writing. I am going to move into another house with the kids and we are all looking forward to new start. Cheers to everyone. NN

Merry Christmas everyone,

I haven't been by for a long time, but had a few minutes on this eve before Christmas eve, and thought I would drop by. Wow, everyone seems to be bailing. I know I did a few months ago. Just no time now, it seems. Anyhow may you all have a blessed and wonderful holiday season.

Merry Christmas and God Bless.

 

NN

I have been back to CT and am now back with eldest daughter in tow. I drove down to see her dance in a recital they put on each year, and then we drove back to  Nova Scotia 2 days later. She is finished her exams for the term and goes back on Jan. 2. The roads were OK on the drive, even though we saw more snow on the way there than there was here. Then, on Friday, it hit. A weather "bomb." Tons of snow. It snowed again on Tuesday night. School was closed yesterday around the province. The schools here in the city of Halifax never close, but parents are to "use their discretion" The kids were all PO'd that we hadn't moved to another part of the province where all the schools close for snow days!

My job is going well. I like it. We had a staff party last night and it was fun. MrNurse has his office party tomorrow night.  All the docs at work have been treating the staff to fruit trays and candy. Oh my sagging hips!!  The younger kids are looking forward to the break over Christmas. We are involved in this new community. It took me a bit of time to figure out how to get around, but now that we've been here for a few months it is all like home now.

We're having some family visit for Christmas. Going to get the tree on Saturday and hope that the snow has stopped for a while! Our neighborhood is having a Christmas party on Saturday and, next week, we get to go and endure the "Holiday Concert" at one child's school and the "Winter Concert" at another.
There's a move afoot to put Christ back into Christmas, and I'm all for it!!

Hi boys and girls,

Nurse Nancy has returned. I don't know what got into me, but it seems that , lately, I'm more tired at the end of my day and have less energy to blog. Maybe it's just the Canadian winter doldrums settling in. It actually blew a little snow today, but this was the first we've seen of the white stuff. It then went up to 12 degrees. That's Canadian degrees, Celsius. Which would be around  54 degrees F. Not bad for the end of November. Friends in Boston have told us it has snowed quite a bit there. The air here is very pure and clean. We are directly on the ocean so I imagine that has a lot to do with it. I have been getting to know our new city and finding new places to discover and explore. The kids are settled into their new schools and are enjoying their music programs and other after school activities. My youngest son has joined Scouts, and is in hockey. One girl is in figure skating and we got a nice coach for her, and the other girl has decided to take dance, like her older sister. My oldest daughter is still at university in CT studying to be a physical therapist, and dancing her heart out. I plan to go down to see her dancing in their Christmas production, then she will come back with me for Christmas. Mr Nurse is busy in his job as project manager for his company, so he works a lot of late evenings. I kind of miss the proximity of family and friends that we had in CT, but are meeting new friends here and get together with neighbors and friends from Mr Nurse's work. We also went out with two other nurses from my work and their husbands, and that was a nice evening too. We have found a nice church to go to and the kids like their Sunday School. I have volunteered to be a substitute  Sunday school teacher, but didn't want to take on the responsibility of doing it all the time, because in my new job I am on call one weekend in 6 for CNS coverage. The other weekends, I may or may not feel like going. We have been going now that it is advent as I so like this time of year in the Christian Calendar. My job is going well, I am liking the units I work in a  lot. I have met many fine medical professionals here. Most are extremely dedicated to their fields and I appreciate having them to work with. There are a couple that don't seem all that dedicated, but I'll have to leave that for another blog!

OK, OK, Tblog, I give up! I tried to commit blogging adultery, but I feel so guilty and I just can't make the Blog spot blog work, the way I'm used to. Life just isn't the same without you. I realize now that I should not have tried to cheat on you with another blog, because I can't figure out how to reply to comments and how to comment on my tblog pals new blogs over there. grrrr!! ':cry:'

Please come to call sometime! Find me at http://nursenanny.blogspot.com/" title="http://nursenanny.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"http://nursenanny.blogspot.co...

Apparently, I can still be NurseNancy there, but the URL, "NurseNancy" was apparently taken! Actually I think I did it last year when trying to set up over there and then forgot how to get back in so had to re-create it . Hence "NurseNanny"

Please drop by sometime! :)

I'm shocked and amazed. Go away for a couple of weeks and when I come back, poof! all my Tblog pals have jumped ship like rats on a sinking one!! It seems nearly everyone has headed over to Blogoworld, or Blogosphere or somewhere just as bloggy!!

Some things never change though. I see the racist idiots are up and about,having crawled out of their swamp ditches. :x

I see that porn and drug sales still dominate the recent posts. :(

Many of my old Tblog buddies have vanished into the Blogosphere and I can't seem to track them all down.

Bless you all, wherever you may be!!

ttfn,

NN :)

 

:x Well, I see the hurricanes have dredged some swamp life up and these yellow dog cowards, who hide behind unsigned comments, are back at it!! Must be a slow day in hell. I need to remind some people that I am a fierce defender of what I am and what my family is to me. I will not tolerate or stand for racial slurs and idiotic comments coming at me from the likes of these idiots. Here's an idea for ya, :idea: Go back to your trailers swamp-dogs, and get a life.

*Nurse Nancy fights back and swings a mean sharp needle!!*

NurseNancy has been very busy. I haven't been by for a long time and see that the creeps and idiots are at it again, Butch excluded....( maybe!! ). ':wink:'
Sigh.... I really don't have any time to blog, now that the job is up and running. Because I work in Infectious diseases, we are very concerned about the impending "flu" season. I am having my flu shot on Wednesday!
Have a great day everyone, NurseNancy is thinking about you all, and might go over to blogspot, if I can ever figure it out and if I ever get the time!

ttfn!!

stupid doodoo head tblog. I wrote a brilliant SOC and then Tblog ATE it. Hope it gets indigestion!

Dessert tonight in the NurseFamily house was icecream cones. I noticed that the girls and I like to lick our ice cream, but MrNurse and our son like to bite theirs and eat it in three or four bites. Is this a gender thing? Are you a licker , a sucker or a biter?

Assess your heart attack risk by using the risk calculator here  www.med-decisions.com and assess your stroke risk here www.nhibi.nih.gov/about/framingham/stro ke.htm or if that one is out of order try here http://www.emedical.com" title="http://www.emedical.com" target="_blank"http://www.emedical.com and follow the links to the cardiovascular disease risk calculators
I have started back at a women's only gym. Hoping to reduce my risk factors. 8)

 

Ophelia is now downgraded to a tropical storm, and it is dumping mega amounts rain on Nova Scotia. Calling for high winds,later on,  too.
Time to batten down the lawn chairs!!

I had a great first week at my new job. It seems like it's going to be a good "fit" for me. I miss my old job, and was fortunate to be on a leave from there. In the event we get posted back to CT, I will resume my old job.

But, being a believer in "bloom where you are planted", I want to do well here, get involved with the community and have a job I like. So far, so good!!

If Ophelia doesn't blow us all out to sea, first!!

What's in a name? Well it depends on what name is given to something. I got to thinking about the word "nurse" based on something in Scuba's Blog http://scubadiva.tblog.com" title="http://scubadiva.tblog.com" target="_blank"http://scubadiva.tblog.com. Naturally, as a nurse I am very aware of what is and what is not a “nurse”
So here, briefly, is Nurse Nancy’s glossary of Nurse related terms and definitions!!

A registered nurse is a nurse with a Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree or diploma in nursing. S/he is trained and educated to think critically and make nursing diagnoses for patients in collaboration with or under the guidance of a MD.

A Nurse Practitioner is a RN with advanced education and experience who can diagnose and prescribe.

Clinical Nurse Specialists are registered nurses who have advanced education (usually a master’s degree) in a clinical specialty. (This is what Nurse Nancy has)

LPNs or LVNs are Licensed Practical Nurses, or Licensed Vocational Nurses. Generally have education in nursing and provide bedside nursing, medications, dressings etc. Their course is shorter and is not a degree program. Critical thinking and decision making are important aspects of any nurse's job but at the LPN level not required as much. (Hopefully I am not alienating all the excellent LPNs out there without whom I would be lost!!)

Care Aides, CNAs, etc. are minimally trained individuals trained to provide personal care to patients. They don't generally give medications, or if they do it is usually under supervision of a LPN or RN. They are NOT nurses.

The asshole rude person who is behind the desk in the clinic and is wearing a uniform is not a 'nurse", although they may think they are. Unless s/he is wearing a name tag with the letters RN, LPN, BN, BSN etc.. They are not nurses. Neither is the nice lady in the white uniform that comes in to clean the hospital room every day and empties the garbage can. She works in the environmental services department and is just as freaked out by blood and guts as you are......

Some jurisdictions have laws that prevent people from calling themselves "nurses" unless they are a licensed RN or LPN. The nursing profession is working very hard to remove the designation of "nurse" from such job titles as "nurse’s aid" or "nurse’s assistant" because these people are NOT nurses.

Wannabes maybe, but not nurses.

Unless graduated from a recognized nurse’s education program, these folks aren't nurses. They might think they are nurses, they might say they are nurses, but they aren’t nurses!!
And, by the way, nurses don't always know how to spell unless there is a spell check, which Tblog doesn't have!

 

First day was A-OK!! Nice place, great colleagues. Everyone is friendly and the staff are valued for their knowledge and the contributions that they bring to the workplace. Awesome! :) ~ how I feel!! :)

Of course, I'll wake up one day, realize that my orientation is over and I'll be in the real world. I am grateful, though, to have obtained employment in an area of my expertise. My years of experience and my educational credentials are actually valued! Since I signed the standard confidentiality clause upon employment, I won't be able to blog much about work, but may reach back to my not so distant past and bring out some juicy Ms. Beech stories. I heard from a friend yesterday, that she has "moved on" and has gone beyond reason! stay tuned!! :wink:

I found out on Friday where I will be working. Mostly in areas where there are patients with infectious diseases. I have applied for one of the positions as an education nurse, too, but in an unionized environment I may not be the accepted candidate. I met a lot of the docs I'll be working with and some of the staff. All seem very welcoming and friendly. The facility is not as modern as the one I worked in before but, all in all, the level of care seems to be at a very high standard. I have spent the weekend reviewing the policies and procedures for the facility. Definately a learning curve, that's for sure!
I'm excited to be starting my new job-in an apprehensive kind of way! :?

I kinda feel like a little kid on her first day in a new school! :)

My paper work has finally come through! I start my orientation on Monday!! Yikes, now that it is a reality, I'm suddenly nervous! I go tomorrow to fill in some paper work at human resources and to have a tour of the units I'll be responsible for working in. I was hoping that the papers would finally show up, but now that it has I'm torn. I kind of liked being at home, getting settled, meeting the neighbors and looking around our new home town.
Then the mail arrived with a whole load of new bills! Yup, it's time for Nurse Nancy to pull on her latex gloves and get lubed up to return to the job of nursing people and helping them to get better or, if needed, helping them ( not literally) die a peaceful and comfortable death.

Since Butch was so ornery, I haven't been in practice of giving any good enemas lately, so need to get back into the swing of things, STAT!

Well, the first day of Canadian school started. The kids are intrigued and captivated by the school their new friends and teachers. Busy time ahead, that's for sure!!

Arrrgh to tblog! I did a wonderful post and it got eaten up by blogging gremlins!!
We have done a little exploring by going for a drive yesterday, as much to escape the CNN coverage of the disaster as to explore a bit more. We drove west and came to a lovely area full of farm markets, roadside vegetable  stands and came home with a veritable plethora of fresh vegetables, eggs from the farm and a fresh air appetite.
Today I watch and weep at the destruction going on down in the Gulf coast. I want to go and help out, but can't for the time being. ( Just moved, kids start school on Wed. MrNurse going on a business trip etc.) I'm hoping to have my visa and credentials organized before too long so that I can go back to work. I have been offered a job if and when all the paperwork gets processed. Our budget needs me to contribute as life is expensive. I spoke to my daughter in Hamden yesterday. She's been back to class since Aug. 29 and is busy with her dance company and her activities. Her dorm is putting on a fund raiser for Katrina victims, so sounds busy and happy.

We as a family have made a donation to the Red Cross and have included the victims in our family prayers. God knows they need them. The one thing I noted, however, in all the mess at the New Orleans convention centre, could the people not have organized a garbage locale? why all the crap everywhere?

Latrine areas should have been organized as well as garbage areas. Why they sat in filth for so many days is beyond me. Even in such a desperate situation you would think that someone would take the lead? But, then again, I have never been in a traumatic situation like that so don't know what it was like. I do know the images of the corpses in the water will haunt me for a long time.

Well the last box has been unpacked and the cardboard relegated to the recycle center. We are settling in to our neighborhood well. I have gone walking with a couple of the gals in the neighborhood and gone over for coffee a few times. We have started exploring and are really impressed by the natural beauty all around us. There are some stores open on Sunday here,such as corner stores and drug stores and a few tourist type shops,  but overall it is against the law to shop on Sunday here! We thought our neighbors were kidding us when they told us that.

Nope, you are not allowed to shop on Sunday here!! how quaint is that? I wonder if I will get used to it. In the mean time we have been looking  for a new church home. On Sunday we are going to attend an Anglican cathedral downtown that reminds me a little of the church we attended in Hartford.

We just got back from a wonderful day near the ocean. We went to Peggy's Cove and enjoyed the big waves and some Nova Scotia scenery.

We went with  people from MrNurse's work place and I enjoyed meeting some of the members of his team here.

Then we all went to a seafood restaurant and I stuffed myself with clams, chips , shrimp, scallops. Ummmumm! It was so good,but now I'm going to  have to go lie down! We ate about 4 hours ago, and I'm still full!!

Peggy's Cove is awesome. Very beautiful and the rocks and waves are majestic.There's a memorial for the Swissair plane that crashed there in 1998.Very moving.

Gotto lie down now, folks, all the fresh sea air is more than I can take!

Thinking about the folks in the path of the hurricane. God Bless.

 

BRENTWOOD, N.H. -- Emergency workers helped a New Hampshire man out of a difficult situation over the weekend after a friend apparently locked a padlock around his testicles.

According to the Portsmouth Herald, police reported that the 39-year-old man was intoxicated when they arrived at the scene on July 30 at about 3:40 a.m. The man, who was not identified, told them that he had the padlock around his testicles for two weeks.

The man said that a friend put the lock on while he was drunk and passed out. When he woke up, the friend was gone.

"Never in my 13 years have I seen anything like this," Cpl. H.D. Wood told the Herald.

The man told police that he tried to remove the lock with a hacksaw because the key had broken off in the lock.

He was taken to Exeter Hospital, where a locksmith removed the padlock. He was treated and released, and the hospital said he had no lasting injury.

Police said that they did not know the motive for the incident.

Sort of puts new meaning on taking away your friends keys when he's drunk.....

I'm finally getting most of the stuff put away. We had  our BBQ with the neighbors. About 20 of them came, with loads of kids and I think most everyone had a good time. I met a couple of gals ,from a few houses down, who walk together and they invited me to join them. I met another gal from down the street who is a nurse practitioner at the same facility I have applied to. She said she will try to expedite my application. With two kids who have finished college, one in second year, one looking at college in 2 years and two more behind her, it's going to be imperative that I work.

I have been busy getting Canadianized by my awesome next door neighbor, Carla. She has introduced me to the Canadian custom of having coffee from Tim Hortons, every day. A large double-double is just what the nurse ordered to kick start your day! ( that's a large coffee with double sweet, double cream) Apparently Tim Hortons is starting to open up in the USA,so be on the look out for it. It's like a working guys Starbucks!!
The kids are all ready to start school, we went out for the supplies on the list provided by their new schools. They are looking forward to getting to school and starting to make new friends. Although there are a lot of kids in this neighborhood, because we are close to the schools, it's a nice desirable area. A fair amount of diversity is apparent, amongst the neighbors, too, so we are not the token mixed race couple in the 'hood!!

Well, the Nurse Family has MOVED!! And, yes folks, it was a moving experience! We got a three day head start on our actual moving date as the houses all closed at the same time and we were ready to go.
After all the last minute flurry of decluttering and junk removal, the packers and movers arrived and over a two day period got us packed, loaded and on the road!
We left early in the morning and took the "Cat" from Bar Harbor to Yarmouth in Nova Scotia. this is a high speed catarmaran boat/ferry. It's huge.
It took about three hours to travel across, and was very comfortable. It had nice lounges, restaurants, casino games  etc. The kids got to go up on the bridge to see where they "drive" the thing. I just sat with a good book and tried to relax. I'm pretty tired.
We got to our new house in Halifax about 4 hours after we got to Yarmouth. It's very beautiful here in Nova Scotia. Lots of little farm areas, small  towns and beautiful ocean views,practically the whole way to Halifax. Halifax is the capital city in Nova Scotia. It's not a really large city, compared to what we are used to, but it seemed nice and clean and quiet. Then the first night we were here, there was a double murder not too far from where we live! All the neighbors were talking about it, apparently it's not too common at all here. Our new neighbors are so nice. They came over to welcome us to the neighborhood and brought some cookies. After the moving van left they invited us over for a BBQ. We're going to have our Nurse family BBQ next weekend and have invited all the neighbors. The kids made invites and took them around to all the houses within a five house  on either side and across the street area. If everyone comes it will be up to 50 ppl! Maybe no one will come, although the new neighbors say it is a "fun" neighborhood. The kids are meeting kids their ages and are enjoying doing so. They still have their old friends in Hartford on MSN chat etc, so aren't too lonely, yet. I'm faced with a mountain of unpacking to do,and finding places for all the stuff we could not live without, in a much less capacious home!
The weather has been very warm, but with a nice ocean feel to it! We went to the harbor area and saw all kinds of street performers there. It's an annual street festival called the "Buskers" People come from all over the world to perform and &nb sp;spectators  throw money in their hats! Saw some terrific talent there though. We strolled all around, saw some pretty shops and went into a big hotel that has a casino beside it. We sat down at a street cafe and had a beer. It was good too! Apparently the Canadian beers are more potent than ours ever were! I felt it with one beer! Woo, Canada!
All in all it's been a hectic past week. School starts here on Sept. 6, and I'll be looking for my paper work to allow me to return to work soon after that!
Right now, I want to sleep! For the past two days I've been getting things like drivers licences etc. organized.
Plus, getting the cable vision in and the computer hooked up!
I mean, first things first, right? :)

The basement is all cleared out. How did we manage THAT? A lot of stuff was cleared out, sent to charity, to the dump or sold in the yard sale we had. I can't believe that people would pay me money to take my old crap away! Oh well, one man's junk.... and all that. I have finished my job. A lot of sadness and mixed feelings over that one, I can tell you. We are on a bit of an adventure now. Two weeks to moving day, then we drive to Maine and travel to NS on a cataramaran, It's called the "Cat", surprising, isn't it! The kids are excited, it goes pretty fast and we will be in NS within a few hours of leaving. Then it is about a 4 hour drive to our new home.
The next area to pack up is the living room. We have a moving service packing and doing the move, so I have been mostly supervisiong the job. Kids are at camp this week, so I can throw out stuff without the ubiquitous  screams of "MOM!!! I NEED that"

Overall it's been a fairly smooth course of events. MrNurse has been commuting back and forth. Once we get possession of the house next week, he can take a load of stuff the next trip. I'll make sure that the essentials are in place in the new place so we can at least make coffee when we get there.
By the time the movers arrive, it will be just the really big stuff to move. I have been busy and finished up my college course and can continue it via distance once I move. I have the school transcripts for the kids, and my nursing credentials have been sent so I can register in my new home. I hope to be able to work, we are still working out the visa stuff.

I'll update more, as I have time, and until the computer gets packed up!

ttfn!