Nurses and AT hikers, UNITE!

So, this is kind of a delicate subject. I was poking around on whiteblaze the other day, dreaming/obsessing 4 years into the future, when I had a thought: What do women do that time of the month on the trail? I mean, it's a 4-6 month hike. I'm going to be 50 so the Pill is out. The thought of managing tampax and cramps while hiking 20+ miles/day doesn't sound fun. Well, it turns out that a lot of women do just that. "Pack them out" in ziploc bags until they get to a place where they can be thrown away. Again, doesn't sound like much fun.  THEN I saw input from some hikers talking about this thing called a Diva Cup. I read all the posts about it and it sounded intriguing so I checked out their website. It's a silicon cup that fits like a diaphragm only it's not as wide and is longer. It only has to be taken out and cleaned twice per day. It has a little pouch to carry it in when not in use. Yeah, it sounds a little messy but so does packing out used tampons...yuck.

Then I got to thinking about it from a nursing perspective. Ask any nurse you know and she'll tell you that during a 12 hour shift, you're lucky to get 2 pee breaks. If you're an ER nurse during flu season, finding 30 seconds for ONE is a God-send! This doesn't work well during that time of the month. Tampons generally are not okay with waiting 12 hours..."oh no, I won't leak, don't worry about it." Yeah, right. So I thought if I ordered a Diva Cup, it would work great for both. So I did. It came today. I inserted it according to the instructions and I can't feel a thing. I'm going to practice inserting and removing it for the next week before I'm due start but will keep you posted at how well it works during the critical period (ha-ha). Oh, and a plus side...something about the silicone is supposed to get rid of cramps. How awesome is this invention?? I'll keep you posted!

Clinical Nerves

So after being on break for eight weeks, I hit clinicals again this week, which  means skills, skills, skills. I'm nervous as hell.  I haven't even SEEN an IV in 2 months, have yet to start one and am in the ICU, SICU, ED, and telemetry units over the next 7 weeks. So today I'm going to watch hawknurse videos on YouTube to try and increase my confidence with some review. I'm not normally nervous about clinicals..they're my favorite part of the nursing program. But I anticipate not much sleep tonight or tomorrow night. It's also our first full rotation which means we're there from report to report. Basically 0600-1900. Hopefully I won't do anything wrong that can't be easily undone. And hopefully I'll nail my first IV to help boost my confidence. I know I won't get them every time but the first time would be great! Wish me and my patients luck!

Bears and okra

Ever since I have committed to hiking in 2017 and have been voraciously devouring all things AT, I have had this recurring dream about bears. It's always the same. I'm hiking and look down and there's an adorable cub. But I'm smart so I'm not captivated by it's cuteness, I'm terrified and try shooing it away (yes, it's not a mosquito but you know dreams). I know where there's a cub, there's a mom. So I look up and sure enough, mama bear is coming down the hill, charging me at top speed. I'm scared to death when it stops short of me and is in my face. But I offer it some raw okra and it and the cub eat it and leave. So pack some okra when hiking. =)  p.s. For the record, I hate okra and would never have it on my person or think to bribe a bear with it. But you never know....

Welcome to my inner world...I'm constantly entertained.

Viginia Blues...

There is a phenomenon (if you want to call it that) when hiking the Appalachian Trail that happens to a lot of hikers in the state of VA. Virginia is the longest hike state on the trail and it's where the majority of the hikers who drop out leave the trail. They call this The Virginia Blues. If your goal is to get from one state line to the next, this makes sense to me. But if you're out there to enjoy each step, prove to yourself you can finish this monumental undertaking, get closer to yourself or your higher power, then what do state lines have to do with anything?

Today I find myself with the Virginia Blues of a different kind. I'm stuck inside this weekend doing school work, trying to save virtual lives on an interactive website where I have to run codes, and try to get into the groove of the final semester of nursing school. But outside, the sun is shining, it's 45 degrees and in my heart, it's May and I'm hiking in Virginia. I find myself missing a trail I've never stepped foot on yet. Maybe I need to lay off the AT books and journals until graduation. Everything in me wants to hit the trail THIS March, not four years from now. Impossible yet the desire is there.

So for now, I'll have to live vicariously through Jordana and hope my mind doesn't wander to the trail while I'm giving virtual chest compressions to a patient who doesn't exist. I have to say, even though it's not real, I get such anxiety doing those drills!!

"The mountains call and I must go." -John Muir

CLEAR!

Sometimes you run across medical terminology that has changed in a hilarious way. Sometimes it's for political correctness, sometimes I think they just want to make things seem more complicated and to seem to know more than Average Joe. Here is today's example, so my medical followers can get a chuckle and non-medical followers can sound important.

"Increase biphasic energy doses"

interpreted is:

SHOCK 'EM HARDER!

Consider yourselves educated/tickled for today.

Level 4 Orientation and dreaming

1 word: painful. Okay that was actually 3 words. Well, NOW I just blew it completely. Seriously, how do they stretch out rounding (yes, the kind you learned in 4th grade - if it's 5+, round up; below 5, round down), dilution, a syllabus and schedule into 8.5 hours?? And that's just for Pedi. I get to do it ALL over again tomorrow for MS3. Kmn...is it May yet??

On a more fun front, I spent most of yesterday stalking AT peeps on whiteblaze and the good badger. Can't wait for 2017!

I think there's a pattern here. Maybe I need to learn to be more present. Okay, here it goes: I'm presently looking forward to the future. That's the best I can do today. If you had been with me since 0800, you'd totally understand. Seriously though, I generally love life and look forward to another day above ground tomorrow, God willing. Have a great week, everyone. Or the 1 that is reading right now. =)

Back into the fray...

Well, today is the last day of break. I'm spending it wisely, in jammies in front of movies. My marridiv partner and I had breakfast together this morning, grabbed some movie treats and appropriately zoned out for the afternoon. After six weeks of continuous drinking, I face a few nights of difficult sleep sans wine. My first clinical shift should take care of that. But first, a few days of endless no-cheating speeches, "be flexible" rants and "we don't like this any more than you do" tirades. Like we haven't been through this THREE times since last January already! I'm sure I'll be taking down a small rainforest in paper this week too. The waste in nursing school is obnoxious and I'm a plastic bag WM shopper. 16.5 weeks and I'll be treated like a grown up again. It really is weird going back to school at my age...being older than many of my teachers yet they can reduce me to 13 with the word "contract". I shouldn't bitch. I've really loved just about every minute of it. And I'm so blessed and grateful to be able to make this dream come true after so long. And I'll have a way to support myself if this marridiv goes to divomar over the next 6 months, without having to go back to the monotony of the IT world (even though the bank is better). Looking forward to what the next several months hold. Hang in there everybody...it's quite a ride, isn't it?