Comfort and Structure

Helping deliver babies is becoming more enjoyable with each work day.  I know that my time spent on L&D consists primarily of standing/moving and going through my checklist.  To-do tasks include taking baby meds out of our medication cabinet and filling out baby papers.  As well as making sure to grab Pitocin and stringing it up to start running post birth for uterine involution.  Of course there is always charting to stay on top of, and ultimately these odd jobs help to keep me busy throughout my shift.

 

I’m learning how all of the MDs are wired on our unit, including their preferences.  Some MDs want nothing to do with being out at the desk other than to stop in briefly for updates, writing orders, or dictating post-delivery.  These same MDs want very little interaction with the patient as possible.  Then there are other MDs spending most of their day at the nurse’s desk or bedside.  They want to perform all of the cervical exams so they can determine progression exclusively.  They want to watch the strip minute-by-minute especially with deceleration in fetal heart tones, so they can judge the best time to intercede.

I’m learning to feel more comfortable in my abilities as an RN in both approaches, which helps me to enjoy my job more.  I’ve learned that more babies are born in the fall, specifically here in the North, because more couples are conceiving in the winter months.  This sheds more light onto why I felt overwhelmed with my schedule this past fall.  This also explains why I was asked twice last week if I wanted to take low-census or PTO because our unit was slow.

Most importantly, as the holidays are now beyond me, I’m starting to appreciate my schedule as an RN.  I’m happy that at most I work (3) 12 hour shifts in a row before getting a day off.  And about once a month, I get approximately 5-6 days in a row off at a time.  For this I’m grateful, because with our current artic cold snap, I’ve been able to spend more time with my family with school being cancelled, than I did on their winter break.

With the extra time on my hands, I read a blog post written by Hannah over at hb called When 60 Days Could Change Your Life.  Hannah started implementing 6 changes/resolutions prior to 1/1/14.

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This has inspired me to start a structure of sorts in my own life.  It’s no lie I haven’t written a blog post in a while mainly because I was getting used to my new career.  But I’ve also be trying to decide on continuing this blog.  While I love my career and the route I’ve chosen to get where I am, I’ve lost focus on my ambition to write.  I’m not sure what to write about now-a-days, and it seems harder to disguise my experiences with the reality of disrespecting patient confidentiality.  Since I’ve mastered school and getting my degree, I’m not sure what motivates me that I can write about.  I’m taking suggestions if anyone wants to help me figure it out. 

However, I will do my best to keep you all informed of my decision if and when it comes to that point.  For now, I’m taking Hannah’s cue on getting more structured, with a goal in mind.  Happy 2014 everyone!