On My Own: Day 2

Today was my second day on my own. Today made yesterday seem like a blissful day in heaven. I can pretty much tell you about my day by telling you my lunch break was at 5pm and I only had time to eat a granola bar.

Yes that is right. Today I arrived at work at 6:30 am, took 5 minutes at 5pm to avoid slipping into a coma, and clocked out at 8:46pm. My sweet, sweet husband met me at Amigo's for 75 cent taco night. I self medicated with a Dr. Pepper. That seemed to take the edge off. ;)

I had six patients today. I felt like I was in a tornado. Hard to explain. It's like one of my dreams when I have a ton of patients and they all need me and I can't get to them. I have to stop myself and say: First I will go to my pt with a blood sugar of 35 [no seriously, this is a true story] and once I pull some Dextrose, give it, and make sure my patient doesn't go unconscious, I can go to my patient that is having chest pain at a level of 9 out of 10 and give him morphine. Then I can go to my next patient and explain why her MD discontinued all of her pain medicine. FUN! Then I can start my assessments (which is what I was supposed to be doing this entire time) and maybe chart some.

But really, I am loving my job. I truly love to help people. And I hate to pass up my patient with horrible sharp chest pain to help another patient, but I am really only one person. I don't like days like today because I feel like I don't get to do everything I need to do for my patients. I don't get to teach them about their condition, I don't get to talk to them about their concerns, I don't get to talk to them about their family, and I don't get to walk with them in the hallway. I just do what I can. One day I hope to eat at normal times, have bathroom breaks, and be able to spend time with my patients....is that too much to ask?!? :) Probably. :)

I had a great day at work today. It seems like I'm always talking about work. I just want to remember how I was feeling during my first year of nursing. I'm getting more and more comfortable with the idea of being on my own. Which is a good thing because tomorrow is my last day of having a preceptor. Yikes! My preceptor has been great. He has taught me a lot and doesn't make me feel like a complete idiot.
I made my first medication error a few weeks ago. I gave 8 units of Insulin instead of 4. I knew what the blood sugar was that i was covering; I was even looking right at the sliding scale. But somehow my eyes drifted to the next level and I gave twice as much. It was horrible. Well....the mistake ended up not being horrible. Her blood sugar only dropped to 131. But I was so mad at myself. I am so careful when I give meds. I was so upset that it happened. I was holding back tears until Michael, my preceptor, was trying to tell me it was no big deal. Then I started crying. I'm not sure which was more embarrassing...making the mistake or crying in front of people. I had to file a report online, and tell my shift leader. Of course everyone was telling me that everyone will make mistakes, but it didn't help.

Anyway, so on Aug 15 i start on my own. I'm not as nervous as I thought I'd be.

We have a lot going on right now. Lots of youth events, a few weddings coming up, classes through the hospital, and a trip to Indiana in a few weeks. I hope I can start blogging more often.