Thursday, February 21, 2013

The alien has landed!

So for the second time in 3 weeks, THIS is what I woke up looking like yesterday.
Pretty, huh? "Take me to your leader."

My eyes wouldn't open any further than that. Well, yesterday was Wednesday. Wednesdays are clinical days. Clearly I could not be on the floor since I couldn't see unless I was looking down. I had already missed a class day and now I was missing a clinical which I had never ever done. You can only miss one per rotation or you're kicked out. I have 78 days left until graduation. You can imagine the stress.

Also, since our bank account is still (yes, STILL) $2,000 in the red, I could not afford to go back to the doctor. So instead, I became one of those patients I can't stand. With no choice, I made a non-emergent visit to the ER. It was my only option to be seen now and pay later. Luckily they threw me in the MEC so I didn't see anyone I actually knew. But since it was the same hospital I was supposed to be rotating in that day,  I did bring my clinical folder that I was supposed to turn in and met my clinical  instructor. She definitely knew I wasn't faking my absence and said she would do whatever it takes if I should run into any trouble down the road. 

On an interesting note, in the middle of my visit, not only did the power go down in the hospital but so did one of the backup generators. Not good for a Level II trauma center. The OR was completely in the black with patients who were wide open. All electronics were down: charting, PIXIS, etc. So I had to wait awhile on my steroid shot. But at least I wasn't on a surgical table with my guts out in the dark. So there's that..

Today they look much better and I was able to go to class. When this happened 3 weeks ago, they said it was an inflammatory stress reaction.  They didn't seem to think so in the ED though it's not an allergic reaction  because antihistamines had no effect. So I'm a little frustrated because if I don't know the cause, I can't avoid it which means this could happen again anytime, which means more missed school, which means no graduation. We are only allowed to miss 12% of any class. That's a class and a half per semester. So send some good stuff my way please. And don't tell anyone my real identity! (shhhhhhhhhhhh......we have probes, you know)

Monday, February 18, 2013

On the hunt...job hunt that is!

So yesterday I actually got out there and applied for a few jobs. VERY surreal! Especially since all of the apps ask for a license number, etc. which I don't have yet. A girl kind of feels like a fraud ("no officer, I swear my intent is not to practice medicine without a license....as a matter of fact, I'm not sure I'm even ready to HAVE a license!"). I applied with 3 hospices and 1 hospital's level 2 ED. Today (in 30 minutes actually) I have a meeting with our local ED nursing director. I'm going through all the motions but it doesn't at all feel real. I remember our first day of level 1, our Fundamentals instructor said that upon graduation, there would be  some of us wrapped around her ankles screaming "I'M NOT READY, I'M NOT READY!!". Yep, that's gonna be me. I'm already embarrassed for my poor family.