Cyber Monday a new TV and rabbit food

The holiday long weekend went by so fast, but I did get a good deal on a new flatscreen TV. The one that I had previously was about the size of a laptop screen and it served its purpose well, especially when I was a travel nurse.
However, even though I only get a few channels and don't watch much with school, I was tired of trying to see it across the room or use a remote control that an old girlfriend's pet rabbit had chewed all the buttons, leaving them flush with the case.

I can't blame the rabbit she had warned me several times to watch her while she was out, but I hated seeing it caged up. So being thick headed I let it out often and learned that everything is fair game to a domestic rabbit, like wooden baseboards and door trim, remote controls, computer keyboards, power cords and anything randomly left around.  This TV should be safe, well from rabbits anyway.



People of the Year 2010?

So what do Kim Kardashian, who has never accomplished anything more than showing off her ass and making a sex video, Lebron James, who makes $15 million a year playing a game, and ex-boy band member Justin Timberlake have in common?
No, it's not that none of them have more than a high school education, but that NBC chose them as some of the most influential people of 2010.
I'm not going to begrudge their success, but what about the people who have actually made a difference in the world?

There have been scientific medical discoveries in cancer research, stem cell use and countless other treatments of diseases.Teachers and university instructors who actually benefit society by educating students to injustices and wanting to make the world a better place, and healthcare providers of all types changing people's lives.

It just gets frustrating to constantly see people getting recognition and tens of millions of dollars for actions that contribute nothing to making the world a better place, while people who actually make a difference in the world are constantly bent over and taking it for the sake of others.

Please float me back

I do not float to the critical care units very often, but it happened this past weekend. Maybe it was karma after complaining about being sick of work and needing a change. I'm not ICU trained, but working in the float pool you go where they tell you. It was low census so they probably could have sent me home, but instead gave their nurses an extra set of hands.
No direct patient care, okay so actually I was their gopher, bitch or whatever you want to call it, but I liked it. Just run between the units and letting people take a break or help with whatever they needed.
Really anytime they want to pay me to socialize, transport patients, assist nurses and docs without the responsibility of charting or other BS I'm there.

Burnt out

Getting to that point of being sick of working again. Even though every day is different and they float me to different floors with different patients and staff, I'm burnt. It probably has more to do with school and the papers and projects that are all due in the next few weeks and the fact I am so ready to be done with this part of the journey. Then again it could also be the cold and rainy weather that is always depressing.

Before driving north this morning to meet with a lawyer I was trying to clear the cobwebs from my head with some coffee and The Today Show in the background. They commented on Ann Curry's birthday and I always thought she was attractive, but missed her age. Being online and curious I googled her name, sometime it is too easy having all this information at your fingertips. Anyway, I just have to say she looks hot for turning 54. Just saying.

  

Don't get Old

If you were to ask the two things I hear more than anything else in the hospital from patients, it would be easy to answer.
Almost every shift a patient is guaranteed to do their imitation of Oliver Twist saying, "Please Sir, can I have some more", not referring to porridge, but their favorite friend, Dilaudid.

The other thing, because the majority of patients you work with in the hospital are older, they feel compelled to tell me about being old or something to that effect. Getting old sucks, just wait until you get this old, and usually when I'm helping them, they simple tell me not to get old.

Truth is I really only have two choices, but Bless their souls anyway, well most of them.



University Online

Well, the place is clean and I've talked to several family members, so that must mean I'm procrastinating on writing papers that are due next week. Sometimes I think I could just pay somebody to take my ideas and do it for me, but that's the problem, my ideas are so scattered I need to write them down several times just to get a rough draft.

It makes me wonder about some of these online schools, how do you know who's doing the work? I'm sure 99% of the people do their own work, but how do you know that another family member, friend or source is not doing it for them?

With the recent happenings on Wall St. maybe someone taking an online business or banking degree is encouraged to cheat. Is there an accountability factor, or do they just trust people to be honest, because we see what that means in today's society. How does the University of Phoenix or other online schools monitor who is doing the work?

Hope my health care practitioner had some real hands on experience.

Be Somebody, so what I'm a Nobody Now?

Really, your business is to help people and this is the best you can do at naming it?
How about something inspirational or up lifting, people are looking to change their lives and move forward, but I guess they can just settle and be somebody.



UCF Cheaters

Yahoo posted a video link to ABC news in which a professor at UCF in Florida exposed approximately 200 out of 600 students had been caught cheating on their mid-term.. I guess somehow the answers had been acquired and were passed around prior to the exam. It was pretty interesting because computer software caught the cheating, and he was willing to give them another chance if they admitted to it. However, that was not the most interesting part of the story. They did a couple of random interviews of other students and although most were against the cheating one of them, Konstantin Ravvin, made this brilliant statement.

"This is college, everyone cheats. Everyone cheats in life in general,” Ravvin told ABC News. “I just think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone in this testing lab who hasn’t cheated on an exam. They’re making a witch hunt out of absolutely nothing, as if they want to teach us some sort of moral lesson.”

He was not even a part of the original story but because of his statement and philosophy about college students he has probably hurt himself more than he even knows. Now if anyone Googles his name he was on national television telling people that he thought it was fine to cheat. Good thing he's in Florida because he sounds like the right type of person to sell timeshares.

Cheating Students Article

STDs in the Morning



  Checking my email before work this morning and WebMD had these lovely slide-show pictures of STDs. They are pretty nasty looking and a good reason for contact precautions outside of work as well. The chlamydia actually looked the best bathed in a blue and not the usual scary body part discharge pictures.

Health care as a basic human right, not in this country.

Not even 12 hours after the elections and the Republicans are calling to repeal the Health care Reform bill, this bill was not all that great to start with but it was a start. Proven research shows that there is a huge health to wealth discrepancy in this country, in other words the more money you have the longer you live.

They said on the news that the last big change of seats like this happened right after President Roosevelt got Social Security passed. Imagine if they tried to get rid of Social Security now, riots of seniors in the streets.
I don't think people will let pre-existing conditions or limits on care be taken away, but what about all those students and unemployed with no healthcare?  

I said two years ago that I was becoming an NP not only for personal reasons, but for my family and friends, because health care will continue to be screwed up in this country as long as profit comes before people. 

Emergency Department as Primary Care

Walking in and out of work I usually take a door that goes by the Emergency department, and look to see how many people are in the waiting room, which gives me an idea of how busy the shift will be, on whatever floor they send me to that day. My shift starts late morning and if it is standing room only the docs will be writing patient discharge and admission orders, and the nurses and aides will be running around trying to get it done, which describes most days.  Then when I leave the ED always seems slower, just one of those optical illusions I guess.

Anyway, many of the patients using the ED are not here to be admitted, they are here to use it as a primary care visit for themselves, or their kids. If they had some kind of insurance they could go and see their general practitioner, get their prescription for ear drops or whatever, and be on their way.

Why are we clogging up the Emergency departments and stressing the staff with people who should be seen in a clinic, or as I remember a little office with a little waiting room and old magazines?