I was fresh out of school with a brand new registry card sitting proudly in my wallet when I went on this call. It's a difficult thing for me to write about, so please forgive me if this is fractured...and if you have questions, please ask them. This is cheaper than therapy. She said she was 20 weeks pregnant, but she hadn't had any pre-natal care except for a positive pregnancy test. This was baby number 5 for her....and at the age of 22, she was swearing it was going to be her last. She ...

*Disclaimer: HIPAA prevents me from disclosing names and places.  Ergo, this istory s merely a conglomeration of events and calls.....or is it?  Names have been changed to protect the innocent and please the HIPAA gods* It's 2300-ish at night and we have been called to a private residence for a female with what we are told is 'altered mental status'.  That's a slightly alarming thing for us; it can mean anything from ETOH (alcohol) intoxication to drugs to a stroke to low blood...

Hey, y'all.  Long time no see.  Well, that's not entirely true; I've been coming here and seeing you, but I don't think that you've seen me.  I've been lurking; flitting about in the shadows and watching from afar. The more things change, the more they've stayed the same.  Some things are radically different, some not-so-much. I am: Back in Illinois Recovering from a shoulder reconstruction surgery Qualified as a medic. Going to the MEPS station this spring ...

I said I wasn't coming back, and, for a while, I meant it.  Today is the first day I've logged in and commented since the start of March.   It would have been my dad's 80th birthday on Wednesday.  I still miss him like crazy.  I want so much to pick up the phone and tell him how I'm doing.... School is over half way done.  I graduate on May 10th, and take the National and State exams on May 22nd, 2 days after mum arrives for her annual holiday (we're paying for ...

I got my college transcript in the mail yesterday. My GPA last semester was a 4.0 . Yeah, I'm bragging.  Yeah, I'm stroking my own ego a little bit.  But you know what? I worked hard to get that score.  I went to school even when I was sick and did some things during clinicals that would have had most people running away screaming in order to get that score. I'm proud of it.  I'm so proud of it that I briefly considered framing it and hanging it on the living room wa...

In the course of our clinical rotations, our class has to visit a number of long term care facilities and local hospitals to put into practice what we learned in the classroom. It became apparant to a few of ues yesterday that we have, until now, been spolied by the excellent standard of care we saw at other facilities.  The place we were at yesterday left us angry and sad at what we saw. The first inkling of things to come was given to us in the lobby.  We gathered there, waitin...

I'm going to be out of a job soon. The little gentleman I look after has decided that it's in his best interests to move into an assisted living facility.  The neurological disease he's had for many years is progressing rapidly (I personally believe that he's got the start of Alzheimers in addition to his other problems) and his savings are dwindling away.  He's going to sell the house that he built with his own hands and move into....well, into a place where there will be someone ...

As those of you who have read my blog in the past know, we have a very good thrift store here on base. Some of the items are consigned and have stupid, stupid prices attached to them.  For instance, there was an evening gown there today.  Circa 1970, made out of horrible polyester and an equally (if not more so) disgusting pale blue-green color with lace ruffles around the neck, on the bib and sleeves and on the bottom hem, it has sweat stains on the armpits and little pills all dow...

I have a test at school this afternoon.   I have to give my lab partner a full bed-bath.  Then, when I'm done and my tutor has graded my performance, I'll have to lie in the bed and let my lab partner give ME a bed-bath. Oh joy.  I guess it could be worse; I could be giving a bed-bath to someone who has Alzheimer's or an other form of dementia and who has decided that their bowel movement is something to play in.  That happens a lot, actually.  It's a common ...

The class was scheduled to start at noon.   I was, as usual, early.   Way early.   Like almost an hour early.   But, it gave me some time to familiarize myself with the school layout, so it wasn’t a terribly bad thing. Despite it being the first day of class, 6 people showed up late, sauntering into the classroom after the first lecture had begun without even so much as an apology.   Why they felt like it was ok to do that I do not know – personally, I felt it ...

It's funny how things just fall into place. Whenever a patient passes away, a hospice RN has to come out (she pronounces the patient deceased, contacts the coroner...there are things that have to be done for the patient and she takes care of them).  I knew the nurse that came out on Tuesday; we'd worked together before.  She asked me if I was a CNA or LPN - based on the level of care that I'd provided she thought I was at least an LPN if not an RN.  I said that no, I wasn't, an...