I never thought I would write a blog about this but it's something that I need to get out because it bothers me.
I woke up this morning feeling very good about myself which I have to admit, doesn't happen often. I remember thinking as I was taking off my wedding ring to put on my "substitute" for clinicals that I could never go without my ring because of it's significance of the commitment that I made to my husband before God and my family. My wedding ring, no matter if it's the original or the substitute is that constant reminder of that commitment that I made almost 7 years ago.
So I get to clinicals today feeling very well about myself and I was excited to see I would be working with a particular nurse who was very helpful to me yesterday. I learned a lot from this person.
I got report from him and started my day. I made sure to communicate to him what I was doing with the pt and how the pt was responding. As an RN, I would want my students to do the same for me. I treated this person like I would anyone else.
We had a mistake that was made on the previous shift that the doctor got very upset about and I can't blame him so to see how we would fix it, I went through every step with the nurse. I wanted to learn what I would need to do when I graduate. It was a genuine interest in the process so we went to the kitchen to fix what needed to be fixed and then there is an incident report that needs to be filled out so I asked him to let me know when he got to a point where he could fill it out and I could watch, again to learn from this experience.
All went well with that. This person was working only a half shift and he said he wanted to talk to me about something before he left so I was thinking that he had some pointers or something nursing related to talk to me about so I said OK. If things calm down, I'll come talk to you.
Things didn't calm down and I was in the pt's room doing a bed bath when he comes in (I'm assuming to find me but I'm not sure). As I'm cleaning up, we're talking about work and stuff (I work at the same hospital family where I"m doing clinicals, just a different location) and then he asks me for my number.
I should have known better but at the time I thought it was so that we could hang out some time as friends. You know, like get a group together to just chill. That sort of thing.
Then I'm sitting in post conference with everyone and my phone beeps at me three times. I had forgotten to turn it off in the morning since I didn't carry it in my pocket today. This was odd because normally I carry my phone with me.
Anyhow....I turn bright red and apologize profusely but my instructor told me I could look at it so I did and my heart just sank.
I got a text message (well, actually 3) from this person saying basically that they knew I was married but he thought blah blah blah and wanted to take me out on a date. He even finished it with "I'm not optimistic"
It just dumbfounds me that someone would do this. It makes me totally question their moral character. I remember him asking me several times throughout the day if I was married and I said yes. He even asked me how many years I was married for and I told him. I never tried to hide it because I'm proud of my marriage and my husband.
In my heart I really feel like satan found me at somewhat of a weak point (not thinking clearly) and tried to get me to stray away from God but I wasn't about to falter. This was the first thing that came to my mind.
I talked to a friend after class and she mentioned how as a christian we will get challenged more and I was telling her how I have never had this happen to me before in my 7 years of marriage.
I told her I have only been going to church for about 2 years and maybe that's why it didn't happen before this.
The whole situation just makes me uncomfortable. I can't believe that someone would would do something like this knowing I'm married. That's why I believe satan was at work here.
The nice thing for me to find out is how quickly I turned to God. I didn't even have to think about it, it was second nature. I find peace in that I was able to turn to God so quickly. When I invited him back into my life, I meant it and today I found out just how much it means to me to have God in my life. If it weren't for God, I may have fallen into temptation. Who knows but I know with God by my side and with my ears open to his voice, I will always be led down the right path if I listen.
I'm so glad I listened today.
Quote from a favorite song of mine:
"Joy unspeakable that won't go away.
Just enough strength to live for today,
I'll never have to worry what tomorrow will bring,
'Cause my faith is on a solid rock,
I'm counting on God"
Had my first day of real clinicals today. It actually went well except for the nurse I was assigned to. She wasn't the most friendly of sports. My instructor (and those of us who had her as well) likened her to the word bitch. She was very rude and not so helpful. I'm glad she won't be working tomorrow. Maybe I'll get someone who isn't inconvenienced by students.
I found her this morning and was asking her for report and I had to ask several times and then she got an attitude about it. It was not a good way to start off my day.
So last night I worked on my care plan. These new care plans don't take nearly as long as the old ones from level one. I'm so happy for that. I actually had time to study lecture stuff last night which was unheard of in level one. Yay!
All in all, the day wasn't so bad. I got a lot done and the tech that I shared a patient with today was super super helpful! I got to talk to two of the techs and they were both really really nice. I was very thankful for that.
I'm skipping another workout today. For some reason both of my ankles are sore and I don't want to put myself out with an injury. I believe I over did it with my speed workout on Tuesday.
If I learned only one thing this year about running and injuries....that is to take a few days off at the first signs of an ache no matter how hard it is to to take those days off because it will save you a lot of hurt and frustration in the future. Unfortunately I had to learn that one the hard way but I'm done with not listening to my body. I didn't listen after my last marathon in November and ran 10 miles the next week while I was still supposed to be recovering and then I kept going and ended up having to take almost two weeks off in January because of (SURPRISE!) an injury. I feel like I'm still making up for that lost time. No more. I'm done with not listening! :-)
Pretty much sums it all up.
Got a new job and I'm nervous. I got a nurse extern position at the other big hospital here in town (I work at the other big one). I'm excited but I feel off at the same time. I really like where I work now but they don't have nurse extern positions so I had no choice but to look other places which sucks. I was really hoping to not have to do that but it is what it is.
I'm still apprehensive about it though. It sounds like I'm going to be a floating tech, more or less. I figure I'm going to try it for a while and if it's not working out, I'll quit and go back to working my usual schedule at the usual place. Even if it does work out, I'm still keeping my position at the usual place. It's a good thing because I'll have a foot in at each place which opens up more opportunities for me when I graduate. The new job pays quite a bit more than the other job and if I stay at the new job, the education benefits blow the other place out of the water by a looonnnngggg shot!
We'll see. I don't start for another three weeks because I needed to finish some things up at the other place so my start date is July 13.
Another good thing is that I'll be able to wear printed scrubs. There is no color coded dress code. It's a good and a bad but I'm excited because I'll get to wear something different. I'm going to go pick up a few things here in a few weeks since most of what I have is monochromatic. I definately need some new pants and I may end up buying a few tops as well just because.... :-)
OMG! We had probably the worst lecture ever today and we have to endure it again tomorrow. I'm so not looking forward to going. If it's as bad as today's lecture I'm going to pop out the book and just read my book in class.
The lady who lectured today is terrible! She's very very s l o w in speech and sounds like Ben Stein (monotone) but to top it all off......she's literally trying to teach us all stuff that we have had already! I got nothing new out of the lectures today! None of us did!
One of my good friends sits in front of me and she's normally more attentive than I am and even she was squirming in her seat!
I retorted to coloring with my highlighters. Maybe tomorrow I'll bring colored pencils! Ha!
I have no clue what we were supposed to get out of this lecture except a case of severe boredom!
OK, I feel better.
I am going to go do my speedwork tonight at the store since I had atest this morning and of course it's really really hot so it will be an interesting workout. Oh well. I'm planning on buying this super cool bright orange shirt there so that's something to look forward to. Plus I get to see my friends. Yay!
I'm amazed at how I've lost my running legs. I did 7 miles last Saturday while my group did 5. My legs gave out way before my lungs! I never used to have this problem and it really threw me for a loop!!!!! The good news is that cardiovascularly, I'm in great shape! Now I just have to get my legs back on board which I'm thinking will happen here soon.
I'm supposed to run 8 miles this Saturday and then the week after that is a recovery week so I'm thinking I'll see some difference in my legs then.
I really need to get signed up for my next tri and soon since it involves staying in a hotel! I also need to sign up for the Denver half marathon but I still have some more time before that comes around.
I finally got my first magazine for my Oxygen subscription! yay! I'm so excited! I totally heart this magazine in an awesome way! The models they show are so inspirational. I like to daydream and visualize myself looking like they do! IT does absolute wonders for me when trying to lose weight. Plus there are workouts and food ideas to go with it.
It's always good to start a week with a run. A good run nonetheless. :-) Today was supposed to be speed work but I kept getting woken up by leg cramps last night so I figured that it wasn't a good idea to do speed so I swapped workouts and did my easy run today instead. I will follow it by an easy swim after school.
I'm glad I did this. I woke up this morning to no sun at all which is really unusual for being in the high desert. It was also unusually humid.
I hit the road at about 0700 and got back before 8. I took it super easy today. I was going to use my HR zones keeping my HR between 60% and 80% of MHR but my HRM wasn't picking up my HR this morning so I had to run it by feel and I'm OK with that. I kept it all super easy and actually ran the whole 3 miles with no walk breaks. I did have to slow down twice for traffic but that's it.
One of the goals I set at the beginning of May was to be able to run my easy weekday runs with no walk breaks and I finally made it! I didn't even have to think about it either. Normally I would take a walk break at every mile like we do with Albuquerque Fit.
So as I was running this morning I was thinking about what I was going to blog. Several things came to mind and they were pretty cool but, as things have it, I completely forgot about them when I got home.
It's amazing how quickly things are forgotten when on a run. I think that's why I run. It's an escape for my mind. When I run I have this uncanny ability to completely clear my mind and just think about the task at hand. Sometimes I don't even think about that (like today for example).
I could tell you the route that I ran and the turns I took and the hills that were involved (there are two doozies!) but other than that the only thing I can tell you is that it was more humid than usual, overcast with a slight breeze blowing to the east.
Oh yeah.....and I feel great and ready to face my day!
I have the test review at school today so I'm going early for that. I can't wait to see what I did wrong so hopefully I won't make those same mistakes again. I am really studying well and trying to make up for my last exam. The more I talk to my fellow classmates, the more thankful I am that I passed the exam. There were quite a few who didn't pass. The other nice thing is that we have a total of 5 tests so I can still make up for it. I'm aiming for a B. That way I can still keep my PTK memebership (it's a greek honors society).
I hope you have a blessed day and God shines down on you!
Well I survived test number one. Barely. Really I squeaked by with a passing grade but it wasn't good at all. I have never done so bad on a test and it's embarassing. This is not normal for me. Now I just need to go to the review to see where I messed things up at. I really have no clue what I did wrong (besides answer the questions worng) so it should be interesting.
I studied my rear off for this test and I feel I had a really good grasp on the concepts and the signs and symptoms of the abnormalities that we had to know. Oh well.
We found out where we are going for clinical today. I'm going to one of the farthest sites from my house. I have a site that is within walking distance from my house and they send me across town to.....get this...................
ANOTHER SKILLED FACILITY!!!!!!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! I'm so aggravated with that. Next semester I'm going to tell them that I spent 2 semesters in a skilled facility and I'm not doing it again. I feel like I miss out on so much here because these patients are stable and recovering. They get OT, PT, and ST and that's about it (at least that's how it was at the last place I was at). Ugh!
Our instructor seems pretty alright though. She's going to see if we can get out of there and see different parts because she realizes the problem with this as well. I really hope it works out because she wants to put us with different specialties such as wound care and case management. She even talked about trying to get us to the ICU and I asked if the ER would be a possibility as well. So overall there is opportunity here and I can make the most of what I've been delt. I'm thinking it's a good thing that I work in critical care now so at least I get that experience that I can carry over to school.
Tomorrow we have our lab testing. I'm not too stressed about it but I'm going to review tonight before I go to bed. There are a few new things that we have to know like different injection sites for IM's and syringe and needle sizes. I was worried at first but it's all coming together now. I also get out early tomorrow. 0930!!!! Yeah! That leaves me a lot of time to study since I won't be doing that Saturday. :)
Saturday is the 50 mile bike ride that I've been working toward. It's not a race (not timed) so we're just going to go out there and have fun with it and whatever we ride it in, we ride it in. I'm looking forward to the support/food. Yum! If things go on this ride like they did on the 44 mile ride I will be able to eat a horse and then some after we're finished. That's what's nice about this. Yes I'm dieting to lose weight but when things like this come up, I can have a little wiggle room (ok....a lot) and not feel guilty about it. Of course I don't go overboard but if I want a fried something or another, I'll go for it. I'm really looking forward to margaritas and maybe some Sadie's after. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...............I love Sadie's!! It's my favorite place to eat! Chicken tacos with double papas no frijoles!
Now I did it. I'm salivating on my hands. Ha!
