Right there!

Adorable, pleasantly confused patient: "I'm hurting!"
EC: "Oh? Tell me more."
APCP reaches around EC with both hands and grabs just below the hips. "Right there! That's where I hurt!"

Direction

Wondering what direction to take this blog.

A lot of funny things happen at work, but there is that whole HIPAA thing, so I don't want to get too specific, and when I take out the necessary amount of details, the stories lose their humor.

Perhaps we'll stick to toddler stories?

Like how the other day, when I was scolding Sweet Pea for something or other, she said, "Stop looking at me like that!" Nice to know my Mom Look packs a bit of a punch.

At a youth group meeting, as I was tickling Sweet Pea, the director asked her if he could do some tickling. She said, "Yeah, sure! You can tickle my mom!" What a helpful suggestion, thank you.

I have been amazed the last few weeks at how big she is getting. She can reach things I remember lifting her to before (certain sinks, water fountains, etc), and can climb up parts of the playground that I would have guessed she would need help with.

...And she is awake, for the first of her many nightly trips to the bathroom.. Better go help.

RN

I'm sorry for neglecting the blog.

Since my last post, I have passed boards to become a registered nurse, and am off orientation on my unit.

Exciting and intimidating all in one!

Graduated

It is official. I am done with nursing school! Still waiting to take boards.

I have started my new job, orienting on my unit as a graduate nurse. I have had a couple days with patients now.

Day 1:
-Three patients to start
-One patient with out of control pain, worked with my clinical coach to address her pain. Worked through all the options we had available, then called the doctor to obtain more options. One hectic hour later and the patient was resting comfortably, finally. Rewarding to see the results.
-Overall, felt like I had forgotten everything I had ever learned. Points that were strong in nursing school or even as an aide? Fled my mind when it came to day 1 as a nurse. Overwhelming. But at the end of the day, all my patients were alive, pain was under control, and they were all happy (relatively speaking).

Day 2:
-Three patients
-First 4 hours of the shift FLEW by. The rest went pretty quickly too.
-Got surgery consents signed for one patient who was going to OR the next day. (The next shift can thank me later. ;) )
-Finished up nearly all of my charting on time.
-Kept everyone medicated.
-Stayed mostly on the good side of one cranky patient.
-Got a lot of practice with skin assessment, staging pressure ulcers. Discovered a stage I.
-Survived my first physician call (called to clarify conflicting orders).
-Overall, day 2 was much smoother than day 1. I was able to work more independently (though my clinical coach was always close at hand). I had a better sense of the big picture.

I had been worried about the transition from aide to nurse, but so far it seems to be going well. I have a good sense of what the aides do, and how their work fits into that big picture, and I can appreciate it even more.
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In completely unrelated news, Sweet Pea is suddenly making great strides in potty training. I'm very proud of her! She wears diapers only at night now, and even so, is waking up dry sometimes. Woot!

Big Girl Bed!

The time has come. Today, I took one side off of Sweet Pea's crib, converting it into a toddler bed.

She LOVES that she can climb into it all by herself now!

I took the railing off just before naptime, and let her explore her "new" bed for a while before proceeding with our normal naptime routine.

Naptime went fantastically, and getting her down at bedtime wasn't too tricky either.. but we haven't made it through the whole night yet! Time will tell whether she stays in bed or ends up elsewhere by morning. We will definitely be putting up the gate at the top of the stairs.

She and I had a conversation about her new big girl bed ("big girl" is a phrase we've all been using quite a bit lately), and how big girls stay in their beds all night, and that when she is ready to get up, she can call for us and we will come get her.

*fingers crossed*

Potent Quotables

As we drove by a river, Sweet Pea told me she was a fish. I asked her questions about what kind of fish she was (color, size, etc), then asked if she was the kind of fish I could catch and eat. She responded in a "duh, Mom" kind of voice, saying, "No, I'm for swimming!"

Rocking before bed, she was asking me questions about my glasses and whether I wear them when I go to bed. I told her they were to help me see her, and that at night time when I was sleeping, my eyes were closed and I could take them off.
"You love seeing me?"
Yes, I love seeing you.
"I love screaming at you."

"Don't hold my hand, Mommy."
But Sweet Pea, I love you!
"No, I'm busy!"

"I need to take my shoes off."
Oh, do you have something in them?
"Yeah, I have dirt and chipmunks in my shoes!"

(As R was tickling her)
"No, Dad, it's not funny."

Life After Graduation

Things are looking promising for an RN job on my unit as soon as I'm done with school. They can hire me even before I take the boards.

Ah, weight off my shoulders!

Countdown to graduation: <5 months!