10 Ways for Nurses to Unwind and Veg Out

Nurses are everyone’s caregiver, from seniors to expectant moms to patients in the ER to sick kids to surgery patients. But who’s there to take care of you when you shed your scrubs and head home after a long day – or night—of work? Whether or not you have someone to come home to, here are 10 ways for nurses to unwind and veg out after spending hours patching other people up.

1. Treat yourself to a manicure. Have someone else buff, paint and trim your nails. Having someone else look after your physical needs is a real treat, even if you know the manicure won’t last long at your regular job.
2. Head to the movies. It’s one of the few places that’s dark, quiet and you don’t have access to your pager.
3. Watch nurse and hospital shows on TV. No matter how bad you’ve got it, you most likely didn’t have to deal with a burning school bus, a helicopter crash, a tornado, and a murdering nurse’s assistant on the same day.
4. Burn your scrubs. If you’re planning on throwing out a pair of scrubs anyway, go ahead and burn them. It just feels better.
5. Challenge yourself to avoid using any kind of medical lingo in everyday conversation. It’ll be hard at first, but you’ll feel more like a regular human.
6. When someone calls and asks for help, just say no. On your day off, it’s okay to stop being the hero every time someone needs one.
7. Go out with friends who aren’t nurses. You’ll finally get a chance to talk about things other than your job and free yourself of the everyday stresses that plague you.
8. Go out with your nurse friends. Every once in a while, have a party or go to happy hour with your nurse friends to rant and vent about the little things no one else will get.
9. Sit by the window. If you’re locked up in a hospital all day, you may not get a chance to monitor the weather or even tell if it’s day or night. Spend as much time outside or at least by a window on your days off.
10. Go shopping. Go shopping for clothes you can’t wear to work, and then plan out the trips and activities you’ll wear them to.
This post was contributed by Kathleen Baker, who writes about the ultrasound tech school. She welcomes your feedback at KathleenBaker3212 at gmail.com

Change of Shift

Change of Shift is up over at RehabRN. Boy am I a little behind! I need to start writing again!

What Part of Heart Attack Don't You Understand?

Too often I have patients who show up to the office with reports of symptoms that have been occurring over several days, weeks, months, and even years. With the amount of medical information that is blasted over the television and on the internet, it still is amazing how much patients still do not understand about certain medical conditions.

Patient X shows up to the office and reports having chest pain, sweating, nausea, pain radiating down the left arm but didn't think that it was REALLY a heart attack and just wanted to come see me to make sure. The pain had stopped by this time.

I asked the patient why they didn't call 911 during this episode. "I thought it would just go away."

Hmmmm. Yep. You almost "just went away yourself!" Now go to the hospital and get your enzymes checked to see if you are finished with your heart attack and get a cardiac cath preferably by ambulance from here.

"Oh I can't go right now. I have too many things to do!"

Are you too busy to die? What part of having a heart attack don't you understand?

Sigh....

Nurse Practitioner Has Some Awesome HomeGrown

What???
Oregano, basil and thyme of course. You certainly didn't think that I was talking about marijuana, did you? Jeez... I started a victory herb garden a while ago and am reaping the benefits. They smell so good and I'm experimenting with the best way to dry them. I also have some yellow squash, banana peppers, and tomatoes growing as well. It's been years since I've dabbled with a garden and my hubby and I are loving it.

Other news on the home front is that there is another grandson on the way and is due in October from the oldest son and his wife. I can't wait! The first grandson William is walking now and is just the cutest thing with his big blue eyes and blonde curls.

Work is going well and busier than ever. I am eagerly awaiting electronic charting so that I can stop taking charts home to work on otherwise I would be drowning. We are in the process of merging with a fellow federally qualified rural health company making us the largest in North Florida. I'm looking forward to seeing how it helps my patients and how it may benefit me as an employee of the practice.

I did find out while trying to sign up for student loan payback on the federal level that you can't have accepted a sign on bonus. That really blows because I did when I signed a three year contract. Unless I can find a loop hole, I'm pretty much out of luck. Anyone know of any other programs or changes? Let me know.

Till the next time, keep up the great work as primary providers and mentors to fellow health care providers be they MA, CNA, LPN, RN, ARNP, PA, or MD.