Day 2 of My Boring Life

This blogging is kind of fun. Have been thinking all day of what I would write. But being that my life is boring, there is not much to write.

I spent today teaching our non-licensed staff to pass medications in our group homes. I work with Adults who are DD (developmentally disabled) and most of which are physically disabled as well. This is truly the best job I have ever had! I had just shy of 14 years in a large hospital in St. Paul. Out of nursing school and into the hospital in a new grad program. Worked Med-Surg, Oncology, was a Nurse Clinician working with physicians who saw the patients admitted to the hospital from their large clinic and even did a stint as a nurse recruiter in HR.

My current job is great, the variety of working with the residents, training staff and also teaching is right up my alley. For the past 6 years I have learned to really know my residents. That is something not every nurse can say, especially when working in the hospital setting. I have learned who is prone to what problems and work to prevent hospitalizations and illness by training staff on what to look for and to report to me, as the consulting nurse. Sometimes the symptoms are as vague as refusing to eat a favorite food. What is really interesting is that it often comes down to a "gut" feeling that this resident is just not right. I love a good mystery novel and my residents often are a mystery to be puzzeled out, because they are not able to communicate in conventional ways. The patient interview is out the door with this group and a physical exam is not always helpful to determine pain. I am fortunate to work with a fantastic physician, and his support staff, who is the primary for 99% of our residents. We have built a relationship of trust and that makes things so much easier.

Well, on a more relaxed note, I just finished a book late last night...okay, early this morning. I love to read and really require fiction, mindless, don't have to think about it recreational reading, at the end of my day to relax and go to sleep. Sometimes I just can't put a book down. Anyway, just finished "Fearless Fourteen" a Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich. Yes, there are 13 previous books and I have read them all. Stephanie is a bounty hunter who has a crazy guntoting granny and gets into all sorts of situations that cause her policeman boyfriend to have a virtual heart attack. The writting is easy to read, and full of understated but wonderful humor that had me snorting with laughter. Hope you check it out.