Good Friday

Good Friday.
Have you ever wondered why it is called "Good" Friday?  How could the death of Jesus, the King of Israel, be "Good".
I guess if you stopped at His death...then it isn't a good thing...

I'm sure that on that Friday, so many years ago, there were many hurting hearts.
An innocent man had been killed.
Mary's son was dead.
The disciples had lost a very good friend.
How were they to go to sleep that night?
How were they to get up the next day and face what was to come?
How were they to go on when their hearts were so heavy?

I can only imagine what it must have been like for the people left behind.
We know the end of the story ~ but put yourself in their shoes and wonder what it must have felt like to know that Jesus was dead....



Be sure to turn off my playlist below to watch the video...
And remember - His death is just part of the story.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have eternal life"  John 3:16

Debbie

                

Thanks from a Patient

Today a patient that I had previously taken care of brought me these cool little mugs.

The one on the left is actually a tea infuser (with a holder in it for tea) and the Tinkerbell one will keep a nice cup of coffee warm~

The patient also brought the staff a huge tray of homemade taquitos and guacamole.  Yum!
She just wanted to say thank you.

She is so sweet and we had bonded the day that I took care of her but I never expected any gifts from her.  Some patients you bond with more than others and she just happened to be one of them...yet, I never expected gifts.

She was the one that was hurting.
She was the one who needed care.
She was the experiencing a life changing event.
She was the one who had lost her little girl...
All I did was give her the care that I would hope someone would give my family member during a time of crisis...yet she turned it all around to share a piece of herself and make the staff feel treasured.

She had come in with the complaint of not feeling her baby move.
I so remember trying to find her babies heart beat...to no avail...
I remember the room and the time of day...so does she...
I quickly took down a health history and took some vital signs, then told her that I would wait to do all of the paperwork later for I wanted to talk to the doctor and get an ultrasound ordered so that we could find out what was going on...though we both knew it was bad news.

I left the room, talked to the doctor, got the orders I needed and went back to her.  I needed to get her admitted and get all of her orders in the computer.
With tears in her eyes she said, "please listen one more time...try to find her heartbeat, please."

So, I did.  I put the rest of my tasks on hold and just took care of her.  Did what she needed me to do.
I still couldn't find any heart tones, and I quietly took off the monitor, saying, "I'm sorry, but I don't hear anything".  I went on to finish all of my admission and finished all the tasks that needed to be done.

I later did her delivery and got to see her precious little girl who had already flown in to the arms of Jesus.  I took photos and gathered mementos for her and shed a tear or two with her.  There was just something about her.  She touched me in a way that not all patients do.  I deal with patients just like her all of the time...but something about her got to me that day.  I had never met her before, could probably have just walked away that day and put it all behind me and moved on to the next case.  But she got to me.

I went to visit her the next day and she thanked for me providing her with compassionate care during a horrible moment.  She said that it meant so much to her that I took the time to check that second time for a heart beat.  She said, "I knew she was gone, You knew she was gone, But you did what I needed you to do, and for that I thank you"

We were able to reconnect today when she came to the hospital to visit.  I'm not sure that I could have gone back that soon after a loss but she wanted to see all of us.  She wanted to bring us gifts and say thanks in a tangible way.

She told me that I am like family now and wants to meet again.  I'm sure we will.
It's not that often that you connect with another person in such a way.  We will see each other again and probably become good friends.

It's not often that nurses get any thanks from patients...but I did from this one...and she reconfirmed for me why I do the job that I do.
Debbie

Wedding Madness

With Erika's wedding less than two weeks away we are deep in wedding madness.
Each evening Erika works on things that need to be done for the wedding (table seatings, photos, decorations, her program, etc.)
Today I ran errands for her while she was at work and wrapped all of her bridesmaids gifts.  I keep telling her to give me jobs since I have more days off than she does.

We aren't too stressed...yet...at least I don't think we are.

Erika's cousins are doing her flowers for the wedding so the girls recently went to the flower district in L.A to pick out what they want.

The bride to be, Erika and her sister, Michelle

Cousin Louisa helping Erika to pick the best flowers

Erika said it was fun but there are so many flowers to choose from.  Her cousins are giving her the flowers and helping with the decorating as a wedding gift to her.

Cousin Jessica picks a bunch to take home

 We are so lucky that we have such great family and friends to help us with the wedding.
I know it is going to be a beautiful day...especially with cousins doing all of the flowers.
Debbie

(thanks to sister Michelle for documenting the day in photos)

Top Nursing Blog

My blog was recently voted one of the Top 50 nursing blogs

I always find it an honor to have my blog recognized...really, someone actually reads this thing??

I started my blog as a way to keep my family updated on my life and the lives of my children and over time it has grown in to more than that.

I have met new people through this blog and have been able to promote nursing and mostly I have been able to tell people about one of my biggest passions...perinatal comfort care.

I believe all women should have access to support when they find out that their pregnancy may not end as they have dreamed.
I am glad that programs are developing and people are recognizing the need for programs.

Therefore, I will keep on blogging.

(and hoping that people read my random postings)

Debbie

Free Time??

So I thought that when I finished school I would suddenly find myself with tons of free time...

Boy was I wrong!!
I seem to be lost in the "pace of life" game ~ just can't seem to get on top of things.
Hence my absence in the blog world.

I'm a big believer in living life before blogging life...and I am purposefully trying to be more 'present' in the things that I am doing versus thinking about the next blog post or checking facebook or texting or reading, etc.  Therefore, I just haven't found the free time to blog.

Life has moved forward.
Forward at a faster pace than what I would like it to.

I have been:
~ working lots
~ watching Lily
~ teaching perinatal comfort care to other nurses
~ attending a March of Dimes conference
~ presenting our comfort care program at the March of Dimes Conference
~ trying to organize things at my house
~ going to pinning planning meetings at the school - (so I'm not totally disconnected from school)
~ presenting our PCC program to local nursing school programs (Asuza Pacific, CSUF, Vanguard)
~ planned a wedding shower for Erika
~ enjoyed Erika's wedding shower
~ meeting my school buddies for dinner once a month
~ walking my dog more
~ checking out MSN programs
~ thinking of taking the new certification exam for perinatal hospice care...

So you see, life has been full.
I actually sort of miss school - as weird as that sounds.  I guess I enjoyed the stimulation of learning and enjoyed being with my classmates and instructors each week.

The one thing that I have enjoyed more (since I no longer have homework to do) is going to the library and reading just for the fun of it.  I can't tell you how many books I've gone through in the past month or so.  I have always enjoyed reading and this has been a nice little treat.

Maybe I will never find that free time that seems so allusive to me.  Yet, life is good and full and I will keep on trying to be present in the moment.
Debbie

Glad That is Over

Taxes...

Ugh...

Getting our taxes done gives me heartburn every single time.

I know it is just one of those things we all have to do every year, but I find myself holding my breath each time we go in to get our taxes done.  I organize all of our write offs, I try to keep meticulous records and try to save every receipt.  But when I sit in that office, I just can't wait to be done and get the heck out of there.

We try to make a little date out of going to our tax appointment. 

We drive up to Burbank then go out to dinner on our way home...we either drown our sorrows or celebrate just a little bit.

Will we owe more than we already had taken out of our paychecks?

Will we get anything back?

What can I do to get a bigger return?

Oh my, I hate this appointment. (though I do like our tax man...it isn't him...it is the thought of having to pay more taxes).

I'm glad to say we survived the torture again this year. 

We came out ok and are getting a little bit back.  Now mind you, Dear Hubby and I both claim "single" so you'd hope we got something back but you never can be too hopeful!

Thankfully we were able to enjoy our dinner date ~

And on another note...look what I picked up earlier today:

Now it seems real.

I actually have a BSN!

Going to get this little piece of paper framed!!

Debbie

Growing My Own

There is a common saying in nursing that you cannot retire or quit until you "grow your own".

It would be nice if your own daughter, niece, or granddaughter would choose to go in to nursing.

In that way the profession does not die out and you have generations of nurses in one family...

So the other day, Lily was supposed to be practicing her letters.

When we looked this is what she had drawn:

When I asked what it was she told me it was a heart beat.  Duh!!

Now, I've never taught her this so I was surprised that she actually drew it and it is a pretty good rendering of an EKG.

Of course, I got all excited and told her that I thought she could grow up to be a nurse.

If she already draws such good heart rate rhythms then she could be an ICU nurse or 

even a flight nurse.

I told her that I always wanted to be a flight nurse so maybe she would like that.

How exciting would that be?!?!?

Her response to me:

"NO Lita! I want to be the carpet in the Aladdin show!"

 So much for growing my own.

Guess her gymnastic lessons will be put to good use....

Debbie

What am I Doing?

I became a labor and delivery nurse because I like these:

And love these:

I wanted to be able to care for women in labor and hopefully provide them with the best possible delivery.  I wanted to see new life and watch families get off to the best start.

Lately though, I have begun to wonder what I am doing.

Am I really doing what I am passionate about?

Am I making a difference?

More and more of my time is spent nursing one of these:

I spend more and more of my time time on the computer.

It has to do with "meaningful use" and electronic medical records.

It has to do with Medicare / Medicaid payments.

Hospitals are being forced to transition to computerized documentation and physician order entry.

If hospitals do not go to computerized charting then they risk loosing tons of money and potentially being forced to close their doors.

Yet, I am not liking all of these changes.

I honestly see so many more mistakes now then what I used to see.

And I feel as if I do not have the time to actually take care of my patients anymore.

All because I have to spend so much time on a computer....

Now don't get me wrong.  I like technology.

I have a facebook account, a blog, and I love making power point presentations.

I have a MAC computer and a PC.

I check my email every day.

I have a smart phone.

I am not against technology.

I think it is quite useful in caring for patients on the most part.

It is easier to diagnose things when you can see inside the body by using technology.

And I want to know how my patients babies are tolerating labor (though I do prefer intermittent fetal heart monitoring as long as the baby is ok rather than continuous monitoring)

I'm not against using technology to care for my patients....

But I really want to be with my patient...not sitting in front of a computer.

I want to be able to talk to my patient.

I want to be able to provide emotional support.

I want to provide a moment that they will remember.

I want to be hands on.

I want to provide that human touch.

I want to get back to the bedside.

But, I know the computer isn't going away...

I wish I had a secretary to follow me around and do all of my documentation for me.

Wish we could go back to the way it used to be.

I find myself wanting to throw this thing out the window!

And I go home more frustrated each day.
I went in to nursing to take care of humans...if I had wanted to take care of computers I would have gone in to IT....

Debbie