Phone tag!!

Ok, so technically this isn't phone tag in any way, shape or form, but I thought it was a good name anyway! Let the games continue!

'Please leave your name after the beep and I'll get back to ya.....'

1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll challenge you to try something.
3. I'll pick a color that I associate with you.
4. I'll tell you something I like about you.
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest/funniest memory of you.
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you.
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on yours (If you haven't already done it).

BEEEEEEEEEEEEP

Yay - I get to stay up!!

I'm up waaay too late tonight but I'm taking advantage of the fact that I have an evening shift tomorrow, so I CAN actually stay up coz I can sleep in tomorrow! I have to go to bed soon though - I still have a few things to do tomorrow before I gotta work!! I'm naturally a night owl though, so this 'going-to-bed-at-9:30-and-getting-up-at-6' thing is getting a bit old!

Hmm, what's been going on with me lately? Not much (Which would explain the lack of blogging - dispite the fact that I actually have the internet!!). I have rotated work places within my post-grad program again. This time I'm at an aged care facility. While most people would think, 'oh yeah, that has to be a bit easier', I'm actually having the most trouble with this one. I DREAD going to work. It's been very hard for me as I'm not an extremely confident person, nor do I think of myself as a leader, and while I am aware that a nurse needs these skills and attributes, I believe they have to be aquired over time, and this is what I perssumed My post grad year would try to achieve. But At this facility I feel like I'm getting all the dodgy jobs just coz I'm only there for 10 weeks and 'all experience is good for you'.

It's harder than being in a hospital, because all of a sudden, I'm the ONLY RN on in the entire building, which means I'm in charge and responsible for every one. People also leave me jobs because they think it's 'good practice for me'. My roster is also a bit of a surprise - IE: in a couple of weeks' time I have 5 nights night duty, 2 days off (including sleep day), then I have to work 7 days straight!!! They think coz I'm younger I'm the Energizer Bunny or something! It may not be as bad as all that but thats how it feels to me at the moment. Some of the staff aren't that supposrtive either. They know I can only go so fast yet the keep throwing more things at me. I know that this is 'real life' but the point of this year is to have support. They say I've always got someone to call but that doesn't help if someone is having a 'funny turn ' and I've got to organise everybody. I will be all by myself (with 2 nurses of course) on night duty next weekand I thought I would be ok, except we have a bit of a moment this evening when one of the residents got chest pain. If I was there by myself, I would have panicked and have know idea what to do (besides the obvious - you know what I mean). I panic too much. I've only had about 30 weeks nursing experience!!!!!!!

Rage, rage, rant rant! As you can tell, I'm having a bit of a hard time of it at the moment. At least now I know I'll never work in aged care. Only problem is, my next rotation is in another aged care facility!!! :(

Ahhgh, all I do is whinge! In any case, please pray for peace for me. I can feel my blood pressure rise and my stress levels shoot through the roof whenever I think about this place!!

Ah well, Spose I should head to bed now. Should get the sleep while I can - night shift in a couple of days!!!

Thanks for letting me rant! Love ya's!


PS If you want a bit of a giggle, excitement and fun, watch 'Pirates of the Caribean 2' - it's awesome......if you like that kind of thing! Jack Sparrow rocks! (totally irrelevent, but I thought I'd throw that in for free!!!) ;p

I have the internet!

I now have the internet - whoo hoo! This now means hours of wasting time instead of doing things I should - what's new?!

Hmm, what is new? Well, I have a new laptop, which means I can chat to people while watching the tv! Unfortunately, I'm still on dial-up so it's extremely slow!!

Work has been hard for me lately. I have just started my mini-rotation of scouting and it's been hard. I'm not quick enough and now matter how many times I say that, they still think I should be better at it, even though I've never done it before. Had a few tears last week. Hopefully this week will be better... :) I guess it's only going to get harder though because then I have to scrub, which is probably one of the most important and challanging nursing duties one has to do. We'll see how that goes! The thing that gets me is that I'm supposed to be buddied, but I always get left to fend for myself at the most critical times, so then I'm running around in a panic, and they're like, 'Come on, you've gota be quicker than that'....How can I be, there's thousands of insrtuments with complicated names and mountains of paperwork to learn!!!! Anyway, that's enough about that. Just pray for peace and calmness for me this week!!

What else have I been up to? Not much! I've bought all my household appliances so now I'm actually saving money (only to spend on useless things....like DVDs)!! 10 hour days don't leave me a lot of time for socialising, but I manage my share! I made myself go to church here in Bathurst this morning. It's not that I didn't want to go, it's just that I'm painfully shy and hate going to places for the first time without some sort of support! But I made myself and I'm glad I did, because it was really good. I still love my one back home and will be annoying them as much as possible (!), but it's nice to know I can go here too when I can't make it back home. I've already got an invitation for dinner! It's nice to be made welcome. The only downside is that there doesn't seem to be anyone there my age, but still that's not a real big problem.

Anyway, that's about it. Have a good week guys (or month...depending on when I get on here next!!).

*SNEEZE*

I'm currently sitting at home, dying of the flu. Well, at least I'm not going out quietly!!

It's all been very convienient, getting the flu now, as I am only just going into the 3rd week of being in theatres and I think I'm going to have to take tomorrow off. I'm sure the patient's don't really want me sneezing all over them in recovery. I still feel guilty though - :S

Anyway, work has been ok thus far. Having to get up at 6am everyday is taking it out of me though! I used to be a night person but now I'm lucky if I can make it to 9:30pm! I think the mental stress of working with picky doctors is also taking it out of me. On the upside, when it has been quiet in pre-op (which is where I was first), I've been able to sneek in and see some surgery. I still can't get myself to go in and watch hip and knee replacements though - the saw freaks me out!!

I am due to start a mini rotation in recovery tomorrow, but, as I said, I don't think I'll make it. That should be interesting too, once I get there - seeing the strange things people do when coming out of anaesthetic!!

Oh yeah, another, slightly major thing that happened to me last week was that I finally graduated!! YEAH!! I was pretty proud of myself! And yes, we did have to wear those stupid capes and hats! But it was fun looking so silly! So yeah, now I have that oh-so-important piece of paper saying that I have indeed spent 3 years of my life at uni (and you'd think for that they'd make it a little more exciting, but it's pretty plain actually). It was a little bittersweet though, as mine was in the middle of the week, so I couldn't catch up with old uni mates properly as I had to work the next day (and I was getting the start of this blasted cold). But all-in-all, it's a nice feeling just to be able to say that I am a uni graduate!

Anyway, I think that's about it for now. Work is taking up most of my time, and while I've decided I probably don't want to be a theatre nurse now, I can say it's definatly going to be an interesting experience. I'm actually quite surprised at how I'm handling everything at the moment, as I never really thought I'd actually get this far (I always thought of myself as a bit of a quitter, even though I don't think I've actually quit anything in my life...except ballet!). I guess it all comes down to Phillipians 4:13!!

Surprise!

Ha, I bet you all thoughtI'd dropped off the face of the Earth, didn't you?!

Well, it almost feels that way! All I do is work and sleep - but I guess everyone does so there's no point in going on about that!

Things have been going good so far. There are days when I come home in tears and seriously think about quitting, but then usually the next day isn't as bad, so I soldier on. This last week was horrible (in terms of under-staffing and patient complexities) , but I was ok with it for the most part. It was certianly a learning curve!

Next week I'm presumably trotting up to theatres to start a 10 week rotation there. I say 'presumably' because I'm not on the roster for the ward, but nobody has told me what to do in terms of getting prepared to start in theatres! I finish work on the ward on Sunday and theatres usually run monday to friday, so I'm just hoping and praying that I don't have to work for 9 days straight!! Oh well, whatever happens, happens!

I'll kinda miss working on the ward though. All the staff there were so nice and helpful to me. And I've only just gotten used to the way things work down there - but it's all part of the experience I suppose. Just a little worried that I won't be able to keep up with the pace in surgery :S ! It should be interesting though - but I don't know how I'll handle the joint surgery!!

Anywayz, That's about it. I've been extremely lazy thus far but I will try to do better in the coming weeks!

Tootle - pipski! ;op

U2 - Discoteque

I couldn't think of a title for this latest post, so I just named it after the song that I am currently listening to while writing this entry!

Lack of sleep has put me in a strtange mood! Had a really good week this week. I moved into my flat last weekend and have spent the week fine tuning the position of my furniture, etc. I have to say I'm quite pleased with it, which is good considering how much rent I pay for the thing!! I thought I would be quite lonely being there on my own but it's actually quite cool. It makes all the difference when you know it's your own space and you can do in it what you will. I'd still like people to talk to, but this week I have enjoyed my peace. It means I can pump up the music as loud as I want! :D And many thanks to the people who have contributed their time, cars, trailers, and appliances for the move and for my use. Your generousity is greatly appreciated!

Work-wise the week has been good too. I had all morning shifts but I reason that, even though I hate getting up in the dark (not fun), I can get off at a reasonable time in the afternoon. And morning shifts always have heaps more staff members to help you out if you get stuck with things. My evening shifts that I did last week were horrible. There was only 3 staff members - and RN, an EN and me. And because I'm still feeling my way around, I was running around in a flap not really knowing what I was doing. As a consequence, I didn't finish work till 12:15 one night (even shift is sposed to finish at 11). By the time I got to bed, it was 1:15. And then my brain didn't shut off coz it was such a busy night, so I got about 3 hours sleep that night. To make matters worse, I had a morning shift the next day (that is something that they affectionally call a 'quick shift' - quick sleep!). Needless to say I was pretty useless that day. Luckily I was saved by the fact that I had an inservice on, so all I had to do was sit there and try and keep my eyes open (not easy!).

Anyway, as I said, this week has been good. All the staff there are so nice. Some nicer than others but I haven't had a problem with any of them. They have now put me on a rotating roster so next week I have 6 days - 3 evenings and 3 mornings. Pray for strength for me to get though that one!!! After that, I'm back to 5 days a week, with sunday and monday off. Not too bad really. At least I get penalty rates for working saturdays!

Had an all-day seminar today on 'advanced care directives', which is a document which allows you to put in what you want to happen to you if you have a life threatening situation and you can't communicate what you want, EG if you don't want to be ventilated etc. I know this might seem a slightly morbid topic (and possibly boring!), But I found it surprisingly interesting. Came away from it with more questions than answers. They had a panel of allied health professionals discussing what they would do it they were faced with a patient who had a directive and in what sort of circumstances, etc. It was interesting to see the ethics involved and people's differences of opinion. As a health professional, it is your job to help treat the patient, but what if the best treatment for that patient was not to give them any treatment at all? It's all very big and braod but it just helped to put into perspective the patient's rights to refuse ACTIVE treatment, even if we think they may benefit for a little while from it.

I know that may be completely non-interesting to you viewers out there but I thought I'd include it anyway!

Well, as nobody wants to talk to me online, I guess I'll be going! See you in the blogging world next time I get the chance.

Take care of yourself and each other... (thabks Jerry Springer!) :op

Sooo tired!

Well, I've just started my second week of my post-grad program. Everything seems to be going fairly well - no tears yet (Which is a major indicator to me about how things are going)!!

I am quite tired though! This getting up at 6 o'clock in the morning really knocks around a person who is used to going to bed at about 11pm!! Oh well, I suppose I'll get used to it!

Anyway, just thought I'd write a quick entry to let ya's now that things are going fine for me so far. They've now added a couple of afternoon shifts to my roster, just to shake things up a bit, so we'll see how that goes!!

Love ya's! ;op

Last day of total freedom!

Well, from Monday on I will become a career woman (of sorts!!). Feeling quite nervous about it all at the moment, but at the same time, a little excited. I hear my friends talk about wanting diversity in their lives and I think how boring I must be coz I just wanna poke around my home town for a while! I've been to uni, what more do I need!

But by the same token, I feel it will be extremely good for me to be in another place on a more permenant basis, as it may help to shove me out of my shell even more!! It'll also be fun to have a little place of my (rented) own to go back to after work. So when I get the keys to the place, every one is most welcome to come and crash my peace! (I will let you know my address indiviually, as I don't want unknown blog-stalkers turning up on my doorstep. Known blog-stalkers are most welcome! ;op )

Well, I guess I better head off and get packing. My entries will now become even more scarce because I won't have my own internet to access, but hopefully that will change in the coming weeks! Wish me luck for Monday (and the rest of the week!) ;op

I have a place too!

Time for another post...!

I went flat- looking with my mum yesturday as the days leading up to my new position in Bathurst become less and less! I was a bit worried (well, really worried actually!) about finding a place at the moment as it is also the time that all the uni students start panicking and start grabbing at any flat that becomes avaliable!

I had a few rental lists and had a bit of a look on the internet on Sunday to see if I could find any that I wanted, and I found the perfect one for me - air con, carport, and a little enclosed yard! Unfortunatly, when we rang up the real estate to book an appointment, she told me that it had already gone. To say that I was upset could be somewhat misleading to how I actually felt at the time (if you want details, ask my mum!!). And when I actually viewed the first couple of places that were still avaliable, my mood did not improve!!

While I was wondering moodily around Bathurst I found another real estate agent and decided that I should try my chances in there. Luckily they had a free space in the afternoon so we grabbed it. They had a few places I was interested in, but when we got to the last place, I went - 'I have to have that one' (The agent said he knew I'd like it! He saved the best till last!). It was a little out of my price range (ok, a lot out of my price range, but I figure I've been living on vertually nothing so far, so why not do it for another year?!!) but it was very nice - 2 bedroom (so heaps of people can come to stay at any time!!) , huge kitchen and a lock up garage. Plus, I have a strip of lawn (when it gets too high, I can cut it back with scissors)!! I also thought that if I have to live by myself, I may as well have a place that I actually like coming back too!!

So tentitively, I put in an application form for it. I wasn't sure of my chances, having not rented before (and not actually having started the job yet!) but the agent didn't seem to think that I had anything to worry about. Anyway to make a long story slightly shorter, I got a call today to say that the property owner approved of my having that flat so, Yay - I have somewhere to live!!

I don't get the keys till about the 23rd, so I'm staying at a friend's place till then. That's probably a blessing in itself as I have someone to whinge to during my first weeks at the hospital!

Wow, I guess I've got blessings coming out of my ears!!! ;op

Grrr!

I did my 50 Questions survey thing the other day but saved it. When I went to publish it today, it posted it two days ago and I can't figure out how to change the time stamp to get it to be the first post! Grr! Anyway, if you wanna read it, scroll down a little ways!

I got it!!!

Hi!

Well, I had my interview on Monday, which went quite well actually!! Thank you all for all your support and stress-relieving activities!

Anyway, after spending the day in Orange today, I got home to find a message on the phone to ring the head person back about my interview. So I did and got the shock of my life when she said 'Congratulations, you've got the job if you want it'! I got the job at St. Vincent's in Bathurst! I'm a bit blown away by it all at the moment, as she said I did really well and would love to have me on the team! That's a boost to the confidence, I can tell you! :)

I start on the 13th February, which only gives me a little over two weeks to prepare, but I have people to stay with there if I don't get a place organised quick enough. I keep thinking about it and get a bit panicky at times, but then I think at least I'm in Bathurst where I know the area and some people, and it's not too far from home! :) Plus, the hospital looks like a really nice place to work in.

Thank you all for your prayers - God really does know what he's doing, even when you have no idea what's going on!!

Anyway, that's my excitement for today! Whew, what a relief that I don't have to go to Katoomba now! Will keep you updated next month when I get some more internet credit! ;op

Hey, venting on your blog does work!!

Hi again!

Well, it just goes to show that having a whinge on your blog can really do things!!! I got a phone call this morning from the hospital in Bathurst saying that I have an interview there on monday (23rd) at 11:15am!! YAY!!

While I am quite excited about this, I am also very scared because I've only ever done one interview before and, as I've said, that obviously didn't turn out too well because I got Katoomba for a post-grad, and that was at the bottom of the list!! In any case, this week end will be full of studying, preparing, and lots of praying! :)

It's annoying though, because as I feel I don't have any real basis on which to get the job on, I want to appear to be professional and have everything run smoothly - which, of course, it hasn't!! It's probably not that bad but I'm just stressing about making a great impression (as you can probably tell, I don't have a great amount of confidence within myself. Hopefully that will come though!!). Plus at the moment I'm very tired. When she called this morning, she actually woke me up, as I was sleeping because I had done a night shift last night. When you have just woken up and are functioning on approximately 1 hours sleep at an awkard time of the day, it's hard to appear professional and dignified when you're speaking to them and trying to suppress yawns at the same time!!! They know when to catch you at your best, don't they? Oh well, hopefully I will make such a great impression at the interview that they will forget all my rushed jobs and ramblings of the past!!

Anyway, just thought I'd keep you updated and tell you all of the great job you're doing at boasting my confidence! We shall see what happens next!

Cheers!

I'm waiting...!!

Ugg (I can use that because it is now trademarked to the original Australian Ugg Boot!!! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!!!! :p )

Ahem, sorry...in a strange mood today! Anyway, on to what I was originally going to say...!!

Ugg, I am sooooo sick of waiting for this apparent never-going-to-be interview for the job in Bathurst! I mean, I would just like to know something!! I rang them the other day and they said that they were running late and that all interviews would be pushed back a week, but I would still appereciate knowing that they were actually looking at the applications or something....ANYTHING!!

As you can tell, the pressure is starting to build as the job is proposed to start on the 6th February, which doesn't give a person a whole lot of time to adjust to things if oe actually did get the job! Aggghh!

Anyway, I've vented now and I can feel my blood pressure slowly creep back to normal (which is a bit high for me anyway!!)

Thanx for listening.

So what's new...

Ok. I thought it was about time I did another blog as I have been leaned on slightly by aanother member of the blogging community who thinks I don't blog enough! Not really, but's a good excuse to make me write something!

Well, there's not much to report about on the Post-grad front because they haven't told me anything! From what I gather, they may be just as lazy as me as I got a letter in the mail today saying 'Thanks, we got your application and we will be processing it in the next few days'. What does that mean?! The interviews were supposed to be held in Orange on Monday! Oh well, maybe this is good news for me. If they are running behind in things and can't get organised then maybe this really is the place for me!! :OP Anyway, pleaze keep the prayers up! :)
If I don't even get an interview then I know I really did a bad job at talking myself up! My Dad's been really helpful on this front too, saying things like 'oh, you'll be lucky if you get it cause I bet heaps of new grad nurses around here have applied for it'! Thanx Dad, I already know that. could you try something a little more positive (see where I get my outlook on life from?!)?

Anyways, besides that, not much has been going on in my little world. I just finished my first shift in a series of up coming ones at Rosedurnate, which is, for those of you who may not know, is an Aged care facility here. It was the plesently short shower shift 7-10am. I still managed to leave there at 11 though (I always forget to sign the time sheets, which is bad coz then I don't get paid! ) I have a few more of those coming up, which is good for pocket money, except all mine is going on car rego :( They are good, except for the fact that they are 'shower' shifts...if you catch my drift. But hey, I'm fairly used to that by now, except for the fact that it was soo hot and humid this morning - I think I was as drenched as they were!!

Anyway, that's enough rambling for a while I think. Catch ya's soon :OP

Hi again!

It's been a while since my last post, but that's mainly because I used up my month's internet hours in about 15 days! But it's a new month so look out for more ramblings!

Well, Christmas has come and gone. Hope everyone else's was as good as mine! I'm still trying to find places for all my new pressies!

Best wishes for the new year too. Besides Christmas and new year's, not much has been going on of late. I am in the process of applying for a post-grad position at St Vincent's Hospital in Bathurst and I plan to send away the papers tomorrow, so between now and the 16th January any prayers for the job will be greatly appreciated!! ;op

Ok, that's about it. Keep cool!!

Grrr

Man, I cannot work this thing out!! All my posts are all over the place and my 7 things answers aren't actually with my 7 things title!! What is going on?? Anyway, Hopefully I will learn to navigate this thing and make it more ordered and understandable for you guys! Obviously I can only blog in the presence of the professionals (IE Katie, etc)!

I PASSED!!!!!

My university released our semester results today and I PASSED!!!! That means no more uni FOREVER!!! ;op
Well, I think I passed anyway! We were supposed to get a message in our ebox thing but I still have nothing in there, so I went the long way around and finally found my transcript which had updated the results to include the sping session I just completed. Long story short, it's there. It clearly states on my transcript that I got a pass and a credit for my last two modules, which means I PASS! No fails for me!
This is all made particulary surprising as I had actually failed my last assignment. My lecturerer (only through God's intervention I'm sure) allowed me to resubmit it and then I never heard anything back, so naturally I assumed I failed again. If I failed again, that ment that I wouldn't pass the module and that I would have to do it again and wait another year before I was able to get registered. But through God's grace and provision for me, it appears that I have passed and am able to travel up to Sydney next Tuesday to get registered! I also worked out that overall, I managed to get a credit average - 11 credits, 5 passes and 4 distintions! Yay for me!

Sorry for rambling on but I honestly did not think I would pass! I'm a graduating student now - wow, that's scary! Now I have to fill out endless forms and apply for jobs closer to home! It's pretty scary when I think about the responsibility that I have to carry now - I don't actually think I can do it (confidence level is through the floor) but obviously God thinks I can do it because there is no other way I would have gotten through! No one can tell me there is no God!

Just gotta remember: 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me' Philipians 4:13 (Donut Man version!)

Well, that's about it now. Slowly coming down from my natural high. I will keep you informed about what's happening and how things are progressing. Thanks for listening!

7 Things

My blog thing has gone a little weird and has given me all this space at the top of my questionnaire thing so I guess I'll have to find something to fill it up with! Hmmm...ok, here are some random questions for you to think about: If tin whistles are made out of tin, what are fog horns made out of? Why do they put the words 'do not turn upside down' on the bottom side of a product? Why is 'abbreviated' is such a long word? Why doctors call what they do 'practice'? Ok, that took up the space so on with the show!!

I've no idea!

Blogs really aren't my thing apparently! I tried to do a new posting last night but I couldn't do it for some reason. Now, I've just spent the last few minutes going nowhere with the thing. I thought I remembered how to do it, as Katie had instructed me to, but still nothing. Then, I was discussing the problem with another friend, Zarna, and I was just fiddling around and doing all the things she suggested, when it dawned on me that perhaps I had just gotten my login name wrong (because it's nothing I would ever normally use - see Katie, told you I'd have trouble ;p). Well, I fiddled with that and now here I am - yay! The purpose of this blog was not to paint me as some sort of technically-challanged idiot, but lets face facts shall we...!
Anyway, thought I'd share! Have fun guys!

Monday, December 12, 2005

It said it was my birthday!

When I posted my first thing, the date came up as 11 December, which is my birthday! In actual fact, in this brilliant country we live in known as Oz, the 11th was yesturday! :S
I have since changed the settings to MY time and all is right with the world again. I thought it was amusing at the time.
As you can tell, this blog will probably be one of the strangest things you'll ever read...!

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Introducing...

I was inadvertently tagged by Katie and Zarna so I guess I better do one of these things too (Plus, it fills up space...)! Seven Things I want to do before I die 1. Have a family (how boring is that?!) 2. Travel to Europe 3. Travel around Australia 4. Actually bring myself to get on an areoplane to do the travelling 5. Go to a Delirious concert (fairly achievable but it's co-ordinating work and travel around it, etc). 6. Actually figure out if nursing was a good career choice 7. Eat as many chocolates as I can in one sitting!! (and not care about the horrible consequences!) Seven things I cannot do 1. do a handstand 2. Walk on my hands 3. Read a chapter out of any text book without falling asleep at least once 4. Bring myself to go bungee jumping 5. Get out of bed in the morning in a happy state (especially before 8am) 6. speak any other language fluently (I have enough trouble with English) 7. Bring myself to kill anything other than insects (I have a hard enough time with spiders, even though I hate 'em) Seven things that attract me to my best friend Don't actually have 1 best friend, but all of my best friends have these qualities: 1. Good sense of humour 2. Are all crazy in one way or another 3. Enc

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