My Frustrations

It had been 3 months since my last post.It's quite long. I had been busy for these past few months. I am working as a nurse's aide in one of the Norton Hospitals here in Louisville. Working as an aide is a good start for my nursing career. It gives me an idea on how the US hospitals work. Although I'm done with my Nursing degree at Philippines (MSH-CMAFI), I still find my job so frustrating. Goshh... I'm ALWAYS praying that I'll survive my night in the hospital..

This a little background of my job. I'm working on night shifts (7pm-7am) in Transitional Care Unit (TCU). TCU is a step down from ICU, so I'm expecting to have total care patients. My average number of patients is 8. And mostly, my patients are in their 60s-80s. Aides do the vital signs every 4 hours, empty the foley catheters every 4 hours, check the patient's blood sugar level, draw blood, give 2 complete baths every night, turn complete patients every 2 hours, charting, sending specimens to the labs, empty the trash cans, empty the needle boxes in every room (if full), make sure that all glove sizes are stock in patient's room, and pass fresh ice waters on pitchers at the end of the shift.

Anyway,I really find these things frustrating:

Blood drawing! 

Goshh.. I'm not good in sticking. And I really hate it. I'm working in TCU, and almost all of my patients are old. They don't have good veins. And blood drawing is a part of my job. So whether I like it or not, I still have to draw blood. Honestly, I've been drawing blood for about 40 nights, but until now, I am still not good at it. I still spend more minutes to assess and look for the veins. And I always missed a vein every night. Isn't that frustrating? The most frustrating part in there is that, I have to tell the nurse that I missed.. Shheess.. It's a little embarassing.

Giving a Bath!

Every nurse aide in our floor is required to give 2 complete baths every night to help the day shift aides (complete bath means that the patient can't do it for themselves, so I have to give them a bath). Giving a bath is not a problem. The problem in there is that "Who to give a bath?" Good thing if I have confused and total care patients coz I wont have any problem on that. This problem occur when my patient and their relatives refused. Most common reasons are: "I don't feel dirty" , "I'm tired", "I wanna wait till day time". Anywayz, can't blame the patients. They just don't want to be disturbed during night time. If I can't find someone to give a bath, I'm just hoping that one of my patients will have a bowel movement so that I will have a reason to clean them.

Dealing with confused patients!

It's hard to do something if the patient is non-cooperative. They just don't want anything. They don't want me to take their vital signs, empty thier drains, touch them... Shheeessh.. The nurses will be calling for thier v/s and I still don't have it. Sometimes, they are trying to hit me.. : (

Communication!

This is funny. I know how to speak english and I also understand english. It's just that sometimes, I can't understand what my patients are asking for. One time, the watcher ask me for a recliner, and I don't even have any idea what a recliner is. I asked her, "I'm sorry, but what do you want?" She answered me many times, and I still didn't get it until she said "A recliner, a chair for me to sleep on... It has an extension thingy". And then I said... "Aaahh... Recliner..." In my mind...??? "Ohh.. That is what a recliner is.." That was really funny. And one time, my patient after using the potty asked for toilet paper. And all i can see a facial tissue, so I gave it to her. Then she said "A toilet paper", the next thing i saw was the tissue for the food and I gave it to her. Then she said, "That is a napkin". Ohh my! Ohh my! I kept looking around, and finally, I saw the toilet paper... You know what she said then..? "You know the difference, right?" I said "Yes, I'm sorry". I was just holding my laughter on that time. I just feel so dumb.

Emptying the drains!

Emptying Foley catheters is not what  mean. I had been emptying JP drains and Gastric tubes, and had not found any problem with it. My only problem is the colostomy bag. I'm not good with it. Imagine! I spilled some poop on the patient's boxers. Gosh... My heart just skipped a beat. It was so embarassing. The guy is still in his early 30s, and his wife was there. I couldn't count my sorrys on that time. I just asked his wife to get more toilet papers, and I changed his linens again. Good thing, from that moment, I never had him as my patient.

Battle with Time!

Our floor has a standard routine that we have to follow. But sometimes, there are unexpected happenings such as patient having a bowel movement, vomiting, patient asking for something to eat and drink, and so on... As I worked now, I have my own routine. And my goal is to finished everthing before 6:30 in the morning. There were few nights that were really hard. I just cursed those nights.These really happened: I had not taken my break, I had been running from door to door coz the patient had a bowel movement, all of my patients needs to be turned every 2 hours, blood sugar test every 4 hours. And it happened together in one night. And I cant help it but cry. I cried on that night. I was still new on the floor, and they loaded me with the hardest team. But then I survived. The nurses are so kind. They even helped me clean my patients. THank God for that. I survived. : )

Taking the NCLEX!

Everyone has been asking me "When will I take the state board?" My answer? "I DONT' REALLY KNOW". Honestly, I'm tired. I just don't feel like opening and studying the book. I'm so lazy. And what I hate is that even the chief nurse is asking me when will I take it... *SIGH* Maybe, I'll take it next year...