It is my eighth day off in a row!! Tomorrow I go back to work, of course, but I have had a very good little rest.
I spent a bit of Friday sleeping, but tried to keep awake so I would sleep at night. On Saturday morning (the 16th) I lined up at the bookstore with 40 other nutcases to get "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", which I spent the rest of the day reading. Finished it before I went to sleep, of course (only a short book). Then I read it again, over the next couple of days. I've been reading, watching DVD's and knitting! What a life! I've done a bit of exercise; my feet are all ablister!
Now I'm going to waste a bit of time on Harry Potter theories! If you haven't read the books, it'll make no sense. If you plan to, you probably won't want to read on...
I was very impressed with the book! It was completely different from any preconceived ideas I might have had. I was both surprised (with very unexpected plots) and pleased with myself for guessing things right. I even guessed who the Half-blood Prince was, though that was just luck! I knew it was his book from the beginning. I certainly guessed Harry's eventual love-interest, as I had been telling Nathan for years. He thought Harry and Hermione... well, he hasn't finished the book himself, yet, but he's far enough into it to realize what's going on... What happened in the end was necessary, of course, but I think the separation will be as permanent as his "lifelong" ban from Quidditch.
Poor Professor Snape! I am convinced that he is still on the side of good, but now noone believes him. What a sad life he's had so far! Dumbledore made him promise to kill him before Draco could do it, and it must have taken a lot of courage. He had to make the unbreakable vow (with Bellatrix watching) but probably planned to just die. Why did Dumbledore trust him? I'm guessing it has a lot to do with Lily Evans. Slughorn says she was as good at potions as Harry (this year); what if Sev and Lily shared his ideas, his book? And why was the memory Harry saw one of Snape's worst if the war with James and Sirius was an ongoing thing? Maybe because this was the day he insulted Lil and lost her friendship...
As for the locket/fake horcrux that Dumbledore wasted his life getting; that is very unfortunate! I think Sirius underestimated his brother's intelligence; he's certainly the mysterious "RAB". The real locket will probably be the one they found cleaning headquarters, the one they couldn't open. Let's hope Kreacher saved it!
I thought the name Ginny chose for her puffskein was a bit dumb, really; until I realized that Arnold is an anagram of Ronald! I nearly fell out of my chair laughing! She really seems to be able to read Harry's mind; must be a bit of that Life-saving connection going on...
It'll be a couple of years before book 7 comes out; hopefully Moldywart will kick the bucket, Snape will be justified, the Idiot will kiss poor Hermy at last, and Harry will end up as the DADA teacher or something. Happily ever after, and all that jazz.
Well, I'm reading Jane Austen again, now, as it seems silly to read "HBP" again just yet! I'm reading "Emma".
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Friday, July 15, 2005
ZZZzzzzzz
Here I am at work (naughty naughty!). It's almost 2am, and for the first time in these 2 weeks I'm struggling to stay awake! One nurse is on a break and the other is reading the paper. It's quiet. Blessed Peace and Quiet!
It's been an interesting week. I've been feeling increasingly edgy and impatient with everyone! I really am thinking that I need a break from all this. My friend Ruth had a 6 month break last year, then went back to work. That's what I need!
I actually yelled at a patient last night! First time ever… Of course, he wouldn't have heard me if I didn't yell, as he was yelling himself, and I was just telling him to calm down. He was yelling about how we were abusing him and thought he was stupid, that we didn't trust him, that he was going to discharge himself, that we'd stolen from him, etc etc, all because we locked his tablets in the drawer. We're supposed to do that, as any wandering dementia patient could pick them up and take them (or visiting children in the daytime) and such was the nature of the tablets that swallowing a handful could be fatal. But he would not be reasoned with. Indeed, he would not be quiet at all! Sigh! Then at 3 am a girl came up to our ward and cried and carried on like a 3 year old, completely unreasonable and childish, keeping all the other ladies in the room (and the men in the next room) awake. She wanted a shower and didn't like that we said no!
Then there's the main night shift nurse who slowly gets under your skin and drives you CRAZY! She will not stop whinging! And her favorite subject is "All the things that day staff don't do". Honestly, she has not one clue how busy day staff are.
Now I can see myself and hear myself. I'm whinging and moaning quite a bit myself. And I'm driving myself mad. I hate this! I hate the way I seem to have lost my patience.
Well, I have 5 and a half hours to work. Then I sleep half the day and go to Pizza Hut for my brother's birthday. Then I have 8 more days off!!! Hopefully I'll be a bit more patient after that.
Take a deep breath, Tam!
It's been an interesting week. I've been feeling increasingly edgy and impatient with everyone! I really am thinking that I need a break from all this. My friend Ruth had a 6 month break last year, then went back to work. That's what I need!
I actually yelled at a patient last night! First time ever… Of course, he wouldn't have heard me if I didn't yell, as he was yelling himself, and I was just telling him to calm down. He was yelling about how we were abusing him and thought he was stupid, that we didn't trust him, that he was going to discharge himself, that we'd stolen from him, etc etc, all because we locked his tablets in the drawer. We're supposed to do that, as any wandering dementia patient could pick them up and take them (or visiting children in the daytime) and such was the nature of the tablets that swallowing a handful could be fatal. But he would not be reasoned with. Indeed, he would not be quiet at all! Sigh! Then at 3 am a girl came up to our ward and cried and carried on like a 3 year old, completely unreasonable and childish, keeping all the other ladies in the room (and the men in the next room) awake. She wanted a shower and didn't like that we said no!
Then there's the main night shift nurse who slowly gets under your skin and drives you CRAZY! She will not stop whinging! And her favorite subject is "All the things that day staff don't do". Honestly, she has not one clue how busy day staff are.
Now I can see myself and hear myself. I'm whinging and moaning quite a bit myself. And I'm driving myself mad. I hate this! I hate the way I seem to have lost my patience.
Well, I have 5 and a half hours to work. Then I sleep half the day and go to Pizza Hut for my brother's birthday. Then I have 8 more days off!!! Hopefully I'll be a bit more patient after that.
Take a deep breath, Tam!
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Night Shift
I love night shift! I tend to be unable to sleep until about 2 or 3 am anyway, so my body clock is right for it. And night shift is such a bludge!
Here's what we do: We have Hand-over, where the afternoon boss tells us about the patients. Then the three of us go from one end to the other, checking what needs to be done at 10, which is medications and obs (blood pressures, etc) for most people. We have 23 patients if the ward is full, so it takes until about 11pm. Then we take a third of the charts each and update them for the next day. We record and clear all the IV pumps and do a couple of IV antibiotics at midnight. We read through the patients' histories to make sure we know what's going on. Then we amuse ourselves from about 1am to 5am! We have an hour break each. Through the night we have to check on the patients regularly, answer the buzzers, and chase the dementia patients back to bed :-} but it's normally quiet. The other night I spent 4 hours reading my book!
I only have 2 weeks of night shift, which is 4 nights on, 2 off and 4 on. I'm between my 2 nights off, but I stayed up reading last night because it's easier on the poor old body clock. Got up about 2pm starving, as I hadn't had anything to eat since the fried eggs at 3am.
Last night shift was frustrating, because the nurse in charge wouldn't stop whinging about things the day staff hadn't done. Obviously they'd had a very busy shift, and couldn't get doctors to see patients because the doctors were busy as well. Noone's fault. But I had to bite my tongue to stop from telling her to "SHUT UP!!!" She's the kind of person who is always "right" and everyone else is wrong.
Think I need a break from nursing. All the little things are eating away at my patience and tolerance. I'm getting grumpy and cross with people, and I hate that! The last thing I need is for all my positive attitude to be leeched out just before I have kids. Poor kids!
Here's what we do: We have Hand-over, where the afternoon boss tells us about the patients. Then the three of us go from one end to the other, checking what needs to be done at 10, which is medications and obs (blood pressures, etc) for most people. We have 23 patients if the ward is full, so it takes until about 11pm. Then we take a third of the charts each and update them for the next day. We record and clear all the IV pumps and do a couple of IV antibiotics at midnight. We read through the patients' histories to make sure we know what's going on. Then we amuse ourselves from about 1am to 5am! We have an hour break each. Through the night we have to check on the patients regularly, answer the buzzers, and chase the dementia patients back to bed :-} but it's normally quiet. The other night I spent 4 hours reading my book!
I only have 2 weeks of night shift, which is 4 nights on, 2 off and 4 on. I'm between my 2 nights off, but I stayed up reading last night because it's easier on the poor old body clock. Got up about 2pm starving, as I hadn't had anything to eat since the fried eggs at 3am.
Last night shift was frustrating, because the nurse in charge wouldn't stop whinging about things the day staff hadn't done. Obviously they'd had a very busy shift, and couldn't get doctors to see patients because the doctors were busy as well. Noone's fault. But I had to bite my tongue to stop from telling her to "SHUT UP!!!" She's the kind of person who is always "right" and everyone else is wrong.
Think I need a break from nursing. All the little things are eating away at my patience and tolerance. I'm getting grumpy and cross with people, and I hate that! The last thing I need is for all my positive attitude to be leeched out just before I have kids. Poor kids!
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