Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Today I Celebrate the Day My Oldest Son Was Born

13 years ago today, my oldest son was born.  He was a bouncing 8 lbs. 2 oz. 20 & 1/2 inches long.  He reminded us all of a "little papoose" as his Native American ancestry really showed through.  He gets part Inuit from me and Choctaw from his dad, he is also part African American and many European American ethnicities. 

He is an extremely intelligent, kind, considerate, and handsome young man.  He also deals with Attention Deficit Disorder and a speech impairment known as stuttering. 

I become concerned at times that because of his stuttering people may think he is dumb.  He is far from it, in fact he wants to work for NASA.  Learning to articulate his words effectively is difficult for him, but he has an incredible perseverance that I know will help him as he grows. 

He recently learned that James Earl Jones and Vice President Joe Biden overcame stuttering and went on to become successful.  He is a big Star Wars fan so to find out that the voice of Darth Vader once was like his, helped to boost his self-esteem.

I think it is wonderful that people in the position of power, be it celebrity or in the public eye to some degree, are open about things like this. 

Children are so impressionable and they learn by the models of behavior they see around them.  To know that he can overcome this deficit, something that causes him embarrassment and shyness, has given him a new sense of strength.

As he continues to grow up I can only work to be the best mother I can be, support him in his efforts, and just love him for who he is.  I am incredibly proud of him and I know he will go on to do great things.

Is there anything you have had to overcome in your life that has made you stronger?

Friday, December 24, 2010

New Blogging Position

I have had the fortune of being accepted as a nurse blogger with Clear Nursing Matters it is a wonderful site that offers inspiration and advice to nurses and health care professionals.

They have a Facebook group as well that I would recommend joining called ClearMedicalNetwork all you have to do is "like" the page and you are in!

I would also suggest you check out an inspirational group 8pm Warriors.

After all of the activity of the last few days, joining Twitter, Linkedin, and the Clear Medical Network; I am in awe of social media.

I have always loved to write so not only do I get to do that, I get to network with individuals in the same field as I.  People who understand health care and those who dedicate their lives to it.

I am excited about this opportunity and will share more as time goes on.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Job Search Tips

During my hunt for a Nursing gig, I found a few things I would like to share, some "tips" you could say.

#1 - Make a Word document containing Names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of employment, and a brief summary of your duties for each of your past employers.

The Internet is great but by the time you have looked up names/addresses of your past employers 18 times you realize it is just wasting some of your precious time.

#2 - Make another Word document with your references, 3 professional and 2 personal, their addresses and phone numbers as well as company they work for and position.


Nothing would be more embarrassing than having a reference but not their correct phone number, you want to look like you know what you are doing.

#3 - Write a cover letter.


This may seem like a no-duh but this helps because you are not only researching the company you are applying for, but many people do not include one and this helps to set you apart.

#4 - Have a list of achievements ready to add to any online application that has an "other" box.

Companies love it when individuals take pride in their success, shared governance committee attendance, and volunteer work.  Just do not include things like 'I <3 puppies'
 
#5- Find common interview questions and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

A confident applicant who has practiced their answers, not in a way that sounds rehearsed, but in a way that shows they took time and effort goes a long way in saying something about your tenacity.



These are just a few tips, more may follow.  I am still thinking of tackling the big "Tell me about areas you need to work on?" question from employers in a blog.

Any questions? Comments? Concerns?  Please feel free to join in the discussion.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

That Stupid Pharmacist! That Stupid Nurse!

A lot of misunderstandings can occur between members of a team when said members probably don't even realize they are a part of a team. I spent 8 years as a pharmacy technician in the outpatient setting and I can tell you, I heard these words almost daily. Here is where most of the misunderstandings revolved around:

The doctor's handwriting (which has been improved greatly by electronic prescribing)

A piece of missing information on the prescription (DEA # for controlled substances, signature, quantity to be dispensed *hint #1 is not very clear unless it is 1 tab)

A dose discrepancy (we all know mg and gm are very different things)

A medication that interferes with something else or a medical condition the patient has. (The not knowing this one could be any number of reasons)

So instead of blaming the messenger why not realize that in an environment where people are overworked and pressured to be busier than they'd like, be glad you caught the potential mistake and laugh a little we are all human.

The thing that nurses need to understand is that the Pharmacist has to make sure he/she can prove the Prescriber's intent unless they get audited by an insurance company; of whom are happy to take as much money back as possible.

The thing Pharmacists need to understand is nurses entrust the Physician to write the prescription order and focus on the medication and the dose so they can teach their patient proper instructions not whether a DEA # is missing.

It has little to do with intelligence and more to do with respect. In the end the patient deserves to leave the hospital or clinic and go on about their business quickly, not waiting for phone calls back and forth to clarify this or that. If you find your office taking a lot of calls for a specific doctor due to their missing something on the script, talk to the nurse manager or someone who can get to the root of the problem.

We are all a part of the team in the health of our patients, it is up to us to ensure positive outcomes. The extra stress I saw in the pharmacy only added to the discomfort and it is one thing I think we all can team up to fix.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Which Came First? The Conundrum of Dual Diagnosis

In Mental Health it has been known that many with mental illnesses will self medicate, some of the people who do this then develop addictions.  Some practitioners view the addiction as a side effect of the mental illness that will magically go away once the mental illness is treated.  This is far from true, however.  The problem is many view addiction as a weakness in morality rather than a true medical illness.  The new school of thought is that we are to treat both of these conditions equally, as primary diagnoses.  I tend to agree with this as the evidence supports negative outcomes when you treat just one or the other instead of both equally.
12-step programs are designed to look at any drug as negative, even if prescribed by a physician so they are ill-equipped to treat someone with addiction and Bipolar Disorder who does need to take antidepressants and mood stabilizers to live a productive life.  Sure you may treat the addiction to heroin but you leave the person with grappling with shame and guilt if they do take their psychotropic medications.  If the person does decide to go cold-turkey on the medications that work to help them cope with their myriad of symptoms, you risk a very high chance of hospitalization due to the symptoms of Bipolar Disorder.  The chances of relapsing then on the drug addiction is high because the person is in a very vulnerable state.  I'm not suggesting there isn't room for Alcoholic's Anonymous, I am suggesting we need more programs for those who have Dual Diagnoses. 
Once someone has developed an addiction, something that has a myriad of causes, is it even necessary to ask "why did this develop?"  In some respects it is, if you can get to the heart of the matter and fix it, you may end up having a better chance of recovery.  But for certain individuals, ones with mental health disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Schizophrenia it may be better to try and get them on the road to recovery of both at the same time.  In that course of treatment, teach those individuals to use medications and hospitalization as tools to manage their illnesses.  I think we see Mental Health treatment as for the weak and "crazy" and therefore it becomes a form of punishment.  During my Advanced Practicum we studied the Recovery Model, it is very promising, in my opinion, for the future of Mental Health.

Cross posted here

Why I Would Love to Work in Psychiatric Nursing

During my last semester, I spent my Advanced Practicum in the Mental Health setting.  I found it personally fulfilling as well as a more comfortable experience than the hectic atmosphere of a Medical/Surgical unit.  I had been told by nurses I worked with on medical floors that they never had a chance to really talk with their patients.  I got in this field to make a bigger difference than that and with shorter hospital stays and more responsibilities being given to nurses on the floor, I see being a positive change in the personal lives of patients less likely in a medical hospital setting.  I think about how I had my first child and that I don't remember any of the nurses who cared for me in the hospital, but I do remember the visiting nurse and the advice and help she gave me all those 13 years ago. 

I believe Gandhi said it best, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."  I deeply want to work with adolescents and children.  I firmly believe children react to their surroundings and are not "bad" inherently.  I see these children growing up into adults who never got the help they needed and were never able to cope with whatever trauma fate had handed them.  I always said if an adult in my life had stepped in sooner things may have been different.  See I was a teen mom who just was looking for love like most people, just far too young and without the proper role modeling at home.  Things precipitated those actions and events and I feel  if I can help empower and embolden people to take control of their lives, realize they are worth only the best, and help them make better decisions for their lives, I will have fulfilled my purpose. 

Nursing is not just about following through with doctor's orders, nursing is about caring for the individual that  has been entrusted to your care on a physical, emotional, and psychological level. 

The Purpose for this Blog

I have blogged many, many times on personal and political viewpoints but now that I have attained my degree in nursing, I felt it time to share this information and put it to good use.  At this point I am still job hunting as there is not a shortage in the area that I live, Milwaukee, WI, so to keep up my knowledge base and feel like I am doing a service at the same time, I am going to maintain this blog.

I encourage anyone of any stripe to participate, I love answering health questions, commenting on current research, and discussing various topics.  Being a newly minted nurse, I understand the struggles a student nurse is facing at this moment and I still have a lot to learn. 

So I ask anyone, please ask a question, suggest a topic, anything and we will see where the discussion takes us.