Is this real life?

For any of you who have not seen David after Dentist: A. go watch in on youtube. It is halarious! and B. Just be careful, youtube can be a very dangerous thing and take up hours of your day until you are watching The Little Mermaid with no sound and just You're Beautiful playing.
I feel much like David after 3 12 hour shifts in a row. The most concerning is when you realize you are driving or wait I cannot find any of my animals, did I leave a door open all day or something? 12 hour shifts are taxing. I am sure I am preaching to the choir though.
I had my first 3 days off orientation. Apparently that mandatory meeting that I skipped because I am new, I should have went to. They are "trialing" RNs having 5 patients and increasing CNAs. Now, may I remind you that the RN is responsible for doing all blood sugars and vitals which are q2, 4, or 8. And on the weekend I must do all of the dressing changes. These patients at the old hospital would at the very least be a 3, probably more like a 4 and one 5 with that acuity system. Last time I checked my shift wasn't 20-21 hours to fit it all in. I still love the job and wouldn't change the patients or facility or the management (big one!!! Well, except to decrease the pt load!) but it is exhausting. It was quite disheartening the lack of help there is to help these patients. Finding 3-4 people for transferring is like trying to find 3-4 million dollars. All the patients make me so sad and it is painful (literally for them and psychologically for me) to watch them in pain or uncomfortable and I cannot do anything about it because I don't have the help. A lot of patients that have or are vented have also had or have pretty bad ICU delerium, so a lot of the people are very conservatively medicated. Except for insulin, becuase it is so hard to "control blood glucoses in the chronically, critically ill" I am covering blood sugars in the 130s or sometimes lower!
All in all, I made it and so did my patients. As they are at the old job, a good CNA is worth their weight in gold and it makes all the difference to have a good with 6 patients when 5 of them are mine.

My Day With the Wound RN

I had my day with the wound nurse today. It was extremely informative. I am still not crazy about wounds but it is so helpful to learn why you do things. That is one thing I have really appreciated about the new job. I understand so much more why things are done. I cannot believe how rough you can be with wounds. The WOCN took the stick end of a cotton swab and basically made the whole wound bleed to remove some of the incompetent skin. And she was tearing off pealing skin and making wounds bleed. I put more collagen into wounds so that the body would fight off that collagen instead of the collagen in your skin. I did mist therapy on a patient. Most pts also get soft pulse therapy with ultra sound waves. I have decided that is my least favorite thing because it is not scientifically proven to improve wound healing i.e. not yet worth my time.
I am still really enjoying the pts and the crazy/tragic course illnesses can take. They all make me really sad though. These people have been through such a long, complicated hospitalization. I still miss my old friends, but I do not regret my decision for a minute. I don't have the stress of certain people and I enjoy being new and being the one asking questions. Everyone is so friendly. Today at lunch I sat with my boss, 2 doctors, a CNA, and the CEO. There are no egos like I have witnessed before. That is not to see that everyone is pleasant or always in a good mood or the hardest worker but it is different. I had my first rough day yesterday where I felt like a crappy RN. I have figured out I am quite type A in nursing and strive on being on time and having my pts turned, ambulated, and such and getting so far behind and missing things. It is going to be busy and pressing and chaotic at times. I completely missed a zosyn dose yesterday and I HATE that and then I start hating the system and if it were EPIC I wouldn't have missed it......... and then everything goes wrong. I need to accept being in a new place and things aren't going to come as naturally. That I am going to be slower, ask the wrong MD, and miss things. That doesn't make it ok that I miss things, but I must be forgiving of myself.
All right, that's enough. I am soooooo exhausted and I hope that I start getting used to 5:15 am wake-ups. I am doing 3 on now so I cannot wait to have the time off to enjoy it!