My RRT experience

I am finally posting an update.  Thanks to my friend Stephanie who enjoys reading my bizarre and disgusting posts about hospital life.  She has encouraged me to continue posting. 

In April I finally started orientation for my RN position.  Last week was my week on my own.  On my second night, I asked to be work reduced to have a night off.  They called me off work but put me on call from 7pm-3am.  I woke up at 2:15am and I thought I was in the clear.  I was wrong.  The phone rang at 2:55am and it was our house supervisor asking me to come in.  It was an easy night as I ended up being a float nurse and helping out everyone. 

Two nights ago was my 3rd night on my own.   It was going rather well, but one of my patients with a diagnosis of pneumonia & hypoxia was getting restless and hallucinating.  He thought his grandson drowned in a pool accident and he thought he saw golf balls in his room.  None of them were true...thankfully.  Well about 6am I noticed a change.  He was agitatied and his O2 sats were not staying up so I increased his O2.  I called the MD to get a chest x-ray and Arterial Blood Gasses (ABG's) which can show his pH, Co2 & O2 levels.  I was denied the order and he said to put a mask on and soft wrist restraints.  His urine output was 200ml in 12 hours and the MD said have the day shift MD take care of that issue.   By 6:45 I had to call Rapid Response Team (RRT).  I gave him 4 doses of Romazicon  to reverse the 2 mg Ativan IV given earlier in the shift.  He was non-responsive and we got a chest x-ray and ABG's.  He was in respiratory acidosis, with a pH of 7.16 and CO2 of 76.  The only option was to transfer him to the ICU.  Of course this was all happening at the end of the shift.  He ended up getting intubated and mechanically ventilated in the ICU.  I was very upset that the MD didn't order a simple blood test when I asked It was a busy and crazy end to my shift.  I am so grateful I had a great bunch of nurses to help out and assist me.  I work in such a supportive environment.  I love it!

I'm back and updating my blog

Well, after taking a very long hiatus, I have decided to log the interesting things that happen in the hospital. There is usually never a dull moment...although I wish there was sometimes. As I write things that go on, I will keep patent's information anonymous...thanks to HIPAA, I wouldn't want to be in violation. :)

Here are a few things that happened last night:

1. A very confused 87 y/o man asked for a pony blanket. I told him we don't have pony blankets in the hospital, and he started getting agitated and mad.

2. I was assisting a patient in changing his colostomy bag. He was draining it and said, and I quote, " Oh, looks like dinner." Seriously, no joke. I couldn't stop laughing, unfortunately the putrid fecal smell was invading my nostrils in a not so pleasant way. The hospital must literally be serving "crappy" food.

3. I went into a patient's room who has a brain degenertaive condition similar to Lou Gehrigs disease. While I was changing him, he spanked my bottom! Apparently he does this to everyone he comes in contact with. Next time I went in there I told him, "No hanky-panky business."

Job update

I started working at a hospital on the Telemetry (cardiac) floor on Dec. 7. I am working 3, 12-hour shifts a week from 7pm-7:30am. I was hired with the intentions that I would be hired on as a RN soon, unfortunately they didn't have a RN job at the time, so I am working as an Acute Care Assistant. That's a fancy name for nurses assistant. I get to deal with the patients, their vitals, and all their crap. Literally. I was hoping I'd start as an RN in late Jan/early Feb. After pinning my asst. mgr down I got a guesstimate start of Mar/April.

I really should be grateful I have a job, and working at an amazing hospital. I really enjoy it, although some nights can be very long and hard. I take up to 9 patient loads, but those nights are absolutely crazy! I hope they get their acts together and find someone to orient me and hire me soon. I've already started applying to other floors hoping they'll pick me up sooner. We'll see. There are absolutely no new-grad RN openings anywhere in the Sac. area. I didn't realize that when I graduated that I graduated in the right profession at the wrong time. In the meantime, I am working and waiting patiently and anxiously. I'll give an update when I should be training as an RN when the time comes....hopefully soon.