:( sadness. My mind is going a zillion miles a minute. So much to be excited/ thinking about.
AAAAND I accepted the job in the NICU today :) I'm one very happy and nervous girl!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Ohhhh Washington ;)
so as you know I went to two interviews on Monday, December 8th. My 9:00 interview was in the NICU with the nurse manager. My interview (I thought) went really well. It lasted 50min and afterwards she said "well if you don't mind I'd love to show you around the unit." This I thought was a really good sign because why would she waste her time showing me around if she wasn't into me...right? I left the NICU feeling pretty hopeful and excited around 10:20am. The NICU at Sacred Heart is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous. my jaw dropped when we walked on the unit. It is sooooo new and beautiful. they modeled it after Alta Bates NICU which is known all over for being so state of the art and amazing haha. The NICU is located in the Children's Hospital. The Children's Hospital is as big as the general hospital except its like 10 times newer.
My second interview I met the HR manager in the lobby of the general hospital and he took me up to the surgical unit I was interviewing at. The HR guy told me to go to the next building after my interview was over so we could talk "numbers" and go over the union contract in the event I was offered a job. The hospital is SOOO big and has so many units that the surgical units are divided up based on what type of surgery the patient has had (if that makes any sense) so the unit I interviewed for was specifically for abdominal surgery patients (Bariatric surgery, appendectomy, cholecystectomy etc). There were other units (GYN, renal surgery etc and medical as well). Anyways, right from the start I really felt comfortable and loved, loved, loved this nurse manager. She was sooo nice and was just explaining to me about the new grad program and all that. Then she asked me 3 super easy questions and asked me where I saw myself being happy during my nursing career. I said I was very interested in L&D and NICU.. I was nervous about being totally honest with her in case she didn't like the fact that I wanted to be a med/surg nurse for the rest of my life haha. she was soo nice and understanding and told me that I look like and have the personality of a labor and delivery or peds nurse. She showed me around the unit and said that I would make a great addition to her staff and hugged me goodbye hahaa. I kind of had a feeling that interview went well. lol
So after that meeting I walked about 5 min over to the HR office. I walked into his office and he told me he had just gotten off the phone with the manager I had just interviewed with and she wanted me for her dept. I was sooo shocked and flattered!! But I was still verrrry hopeful that the NICU manager would want me too.
Friday morning I got an email from the NICU manager that said this...
Hi Mary,
I very much enjoyed my time with you on the 8th and feel you would be a good fit for our unit. I have formally asked Bob Hebner in HR to check references with intent to offer you employment. At this time, I have several 30 hour/week openings on nights. You had indicated you were looking for full time (36-hours). If the 30-hour will work for you, let me know. Full time positions open fairly frequently.
Have wonderful holidays! Jean
Ten minutes after recieiving this email the HR manager called me and formally offered me BOTH jobs. So now the dillema....choosing which one. Obviously I want the NICU position...BADLY but its only 30hr/week. and I really don't want to work on the ab surg unit but it is 40hr/week and the manager is great. SOOO what to do?? I'm calling Monday to make my final decision. Is there anyone who doesn't vote NICU???
HELLLLP.
p.s. sorry for THE longest blog ever.
My second interview I met the HR manager in the lobby of the general hospital and he took me up to the surgical unit I was interviewing at. The HR guy told me to go to the next building after my interview was over so we could talk "numbers" and go over the union contract in the event I was offered a job. The hospital is SOOO big and has so many units that the surgical units are divided up based on what type of surgery the patient has had (if that makes any sense) so the unit I interviewed for was specifically for abdominal surgery patients (Bariatric surgery, appendectomy, cholecystectomy etc). There were other units (GYN, renal surgery etc and medical as well). Anyways, right from the start I really felt comfortable and loved, loved, loved this nurse manager. She was sooo nice and was just explaining to me about the new grad program and all that. Then she asked me 3 super easy questions and asked me where I saw myself being happy during my nursing career. I said I was very interested in L&D and NICU.. I was nervous about being totally honest with her in case she didn't like the fact that I wanted to be a med/surg nurse for the rest of my life haha. she was soo nice and understanding and told me that I look like and have the personality of a labor and delivery or peds nurse. She showed me around the unit and said that I would make a great addition to her staff and hugged me goodbye hahaa. I kind of had a feeling that interview went well. lol
So after that meeting I walked about 5 min over to the HR office. I walked into his office and he told me he had just gotten off the phone with the manager I had just interviewed with and she wanted me for her dept. I was sooo shocked and flattered!! But I was still verrrry hopeful that the NICU manager would want me too.
Friday morning I got an email from the NICU manager that said this...
Hi Mary,
I very much enjoyed my time with you on the 8th and feel you would be a good fit for our unit. I have formally asked Bob Hebner in HR to check references with intent to offer you employment. At this time, I have several 30 hour/week openings on nights. You had indicated you were looking for full time (36-hours). If the 30-hour will work for you, let me know. Full time positions open fairly frequently.
Have wonderful holidays! Jean
Ten minutes after recieiving this email the HR manager called me and formally offered me BOTH jobs. So now the dillema....choosing which one. Obviously I want the NICU position...BADLY but its only 30hr/week. and I really don't want to work on the ab surg unit but it is 40hr/week and the manager is great. SOOO what to do?? I'm calling Monday to make my final decision. Is there anyone who doesn't vote NICU???
HELLLLP.
p.s. sorry for THE longest blog ever.
Monday, November 24, 2008
life. updated.
OKKKKK so new news to update on.
1. I'm DONE WITH CLINICALS!!!! ahhhh oh my God it feels so good. I was VERY sad to leave my unit and my preceptor though :( I have truly loved my entire preceptorship and wish that they would just hire me right now so that i didn't have to...
2......interview in Washington. I talked to the main HR guy today and I have two interviews lined up for December 8th. AHHH I'm so nervous, excited, scared, nauseated, happy etc about this. I don't know if I can pack up and move to WA all by myself :(
3. my graduation party is on Sunday, Dec 21st. dang you tricia!!!!!!! Be there to eat, drink and be merry! :)
4. I hate Caroline and her fabulous new job!!!
that is all for now.
peace
1. I'm DONE WITH CLINICALS!!!! ahhhh oh my God it feels so good. I was VERY sad to leave my unit and my preceptor though :( I have truly loved my entire preceptorship and wish that they would just hire me right now so that i didn't have to...
2......interview in Washington. I talked to the main HR guy today and I have two interviews lined up for December 8th. AHHH I'm so nervous, excited, scared, nauseated, happy etc about this. I don't know if I can pack up and move to WA all by myself :(
3. my graduation party is on Sunday, Dec 21st. dang you tricia!!!!!!! Be there to eat, drink and be merry! :)
4. I hate Caroline and her fabulous new job!!!
that is all for now.
peace
Sunday, October 26, 2008
"What I know for sure."
In the latest edition of Oprah's magazine she wrote about the things that she knew for sure. My mom went to the O! Convention in SF yesterday and Oprah spoke about them. I LOVED them and thought I'd share. They are definitely words of wisdom I'm going to aspire to live by :)
1. What you put out comes back all in time, no matter what.
2. You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.
3. Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give the power.
4. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.
5. Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you.
6. What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe.
7. If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, that will be enough.
8. The happiest you feel is a direct proportion to the love you give.
9. Failure is a signpost to turn you in the other direction.
10. If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.
11. Trust you instincts. Intuition doesn’t lie.
12. Love yourself and then learn to extend that love to others in every encounter.
13. Let passion drive your profession.
14. Find a way to get paid for doing what you love. Then every paycheck will be a bonus.
15. Love doesn’t hurt. It feels really good.
16. Everyday brings a chance to start over.
17. Being a mother is the hardest job on earth. Women everywhere must declare it so.
18. Doubt means don’t. Don’t move. Don’t answer. Don’t rush forward.
19. When you don’t know what to do, get still. The answer will come.
20. “Trouble don’t last always.” meaning This too shall pass.
1. What you put out comes back all in time, no matter what.
2. You define your own life. Don’t let other people write your script.
3. Whatever someone did to you in the past has no power over the present. Only you give the power.
4. When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.
5. Worrying is wasted time. Use the same energy for doing something about whatever worries you.
6. What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for. You become what you believe.
7. If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, that will be enough.
8. The happiest you feel is a direct proportion to the love you give.
9. Failure is a signpost to turn you in the other direction.
10. If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.
11. Trust you instincts. Intuition doesn’t lie.
12. Love yourself and then learn to extend that love to others in every encounter.
13. Let passion drive your profession.
14. Find a way to get paid for doing what you love. Then every paycheck will be a bonus.
15. Love doesn’t hurt. It feels really good.
16. Everyday brings a chance to start over.
17. Being a mother is the hardest job on earth. Women everywhere must declare it so.
18. Doubt means don’t. Don’t move. Don’t answer. Don’t rush forward.
19. When you don’t know what to do, get still. The answer will come.
20. “Trouble don’t last always.” meaning This too shall pass.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
note to self:
STOP being lame!
haha other than that I'm trying to make as many crocheted baby hats as I can before Caroline my love comes over to teach me to make knitted ones. She's a baby (hat and blankie) making machine.
haha other than that I'm trying to make as many crocheted baby hats as I can before Caroline my love comes over to teach me to make knitted ones. She's a baby (hat and blankie) making machine.
Monday, September 22, 2008
my grandma
found out today that her surgery was sucessful all of the lymph nodes were clear!! All of the cancer is gone :) She'll still need to have 6 weeks of radiation but the doctor said that everything is looking good! I took all of her bandages off for her today and everything looks like it's healing beautifully.
Now keeping my thoughts and prayers with my aunt (my dad's sister) who just had a biopsy of a mass they found in her breast a couple weeks ago.
Now keeping my thoughts and prayers with my aunt (my dad's sister) who just had a biopsy of a mass they found in her breast a couple weeks ago.
my first couple days in the NICU
Thursday was the first day of my preceptorship in the NICU at Kaiser Santa Clara. I met my preceptor and I reaaaally like her. We had two patients both grower/feeder type babies, they were soooo TINY I was in love :) She walked me through assessments and helped me with a couple feedings both gavage (tube feedings) and bottle. One of my patients was a twin born at 27 weeks and is now 32 weeks. She was having desats all day but otherwise was totally healthy and normal for her age. My other baby was a term IUGR baby whos gender was unidentifiable in utero. The baby was born with microcephaly, micro-penis (actual term), CNS hyperactivity therefore making him extremely hypertonic. So interesting. The baby was so hypertonic, his neck and back were arched at all times, he was unable to lie flat and when he was not bundled up tightly would shake constantly, looked like a really drawn out Moro reflex. The doctors did a work-up of chromosomal and endocrine studies and found that the baby was in fact a male and that the cause for many of his problems were most likelydue to his complete lack of growth hormone. His microcephaly was so severe that he was unable to produce GH. The day went very quickly and my nurse was so great about answering questions and explaining different things to me about the unit and also different patient conditions. After my nurse and I went to lunch that day she and I walked through the L&D unit so she could say Hi to some of the staff she knows. When we walked infront of the nurses station I saw my favorite nurse in the world, Stacey, and immediately she said "Mary, omg are you working here??" I couldn't believe she remembered me I was so excited! I told her how L&D was my first choice but a couple other students got it and I was really bummed. She told me she's been thinking about me and when the manager asked if she wanted to precept a student she was hoping it would be me. I wanted to CRRRRYYYYY. I was so sad. She told the charge or assistant manager or whoever was sitting there how I was her best favorite student she's had and asked if I was slow in the NICU if I would be allowed to work with her for a day (I know I'm probably not allowed but it made me feel so good that she asked!!)
Friday I showed up on the unit and my nurse was scheduled to be team leader (charge nurse). I told my nurse and the assistant nurse manager that I wasn't supposed to work with my nurse the days she is scheduled as charge. They both agreed that I should definitely stay and watch a code that was going on, on the unit. The code was for a term baby born on 9/16 and at birth suffered a stroke. The baby was stable but was immediatly taken to the NICU for observation. The next morning the baby began having seizures throughout the day and developed a cerebral hemmorhage. In the middle of the night/early in the morning the baby suffered a heart attack and developed pulmonary hypertention. The baby was intubated and put on INO (nitric oxide). When I got there the baby was so critical she was assigned to 3 nurses. The doctor had not left the bedside the entire night. The baby was on epinephrine, dopamine, dobutamine and a bunch of other drips and IV fluids. About an hour the doctor was concerned about a possible pneumo-thorax and decided to insert a chest tube (which was really interesting but sad to watch.) Throughout the morning the baby's sats were in the 30s-60s. They then decided the baby needed a Broviac in addition to the IVs and umbilical line she had in place. The pediatric surgeon came to the unit to place the Broviac and told me to pull up a stool and explained to me everything she was doing and the anatomical landmarks she looks for when inserting a central line. While doing the Broviac procedure she noticed that the baby's lymph nodes were enlarged and she and the neonatalogist agreed she should remove one and send it to pathology to determine if they reason for her declining health was due to an infection they had not yet detected. The baby was also oozing pretty badly even though she was having platelets transfused and the doctors were also determining if she may possibly had DIC.
I learned, saw and experienced SOOOO much in just my first couple days. Even though I didn't get L&D I think this will be an amazing learning experience and a way to boost my confidence working with critically ill patients.
Friday I showed up on the unit and my nurse was scheduled to be team leader (charge nurse). I told my nurse and the assistant nurse manager that I wasn't supposed to work with my nurse the days she is scheduled as charge. They both agreed that I should definitely stay and watch a code that was going on, on the unit. The code was for a term baby born on 9/16 and at birth suffered a stroke. The baby was stable but was immediatly taken to the NICU for observation. The next morning the baby began having seizures throughout the day and developed a cerebral hemmorhage. In the middle of the night/early in the morning the baby suffered a heart attack and developed pulmonary hypertention. The baby was intubated and put on INO (nitric oxide). When I got there the baby was so critical she was assigned to 3 nurses. The doctor had not left the bedside the entire night. The baby was on epinephrine, dopamine, dobutamine and a bunch of other drips and IV fluids. About an hour the doctor was concerned about a possible pneumo-thorax and decided to insert a chest tube (which was really interesting but sad to watch.) Throughout the morning the baby's sats were in the 30s-60s. They then decided the baby needed a Broviac in addition to the IVs and umbilical line she had in place. The pediatric surgeon came to the unit to place the Broviac and told me to pull up a stool and explained to me everything she was doing and the anatomical landmarks she looks for when inserting a central line. While doing the Broviac procedure she noticed that the baby's lymph nodes were enlarged and she and the neonatalogist agreed she should remove one and send it to pathology to determine if they reason for her declining health was due to an infection they had not yet detected. The baby was also oozing pretty badly even though she was having platelets transfused and the doctors were also determining if she may possibly had DIC.
I learned, saw and experienced SOOOO much in just my first couple days. Even though I didn't get L&D I think this will be an amazing learning experience and a way to boost my confidence working with critically ill patients.
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