Girl Scout Dropout

Archive for July, 2009

Except I do. In order to get my Master’s degree, there’s this pesky little Bachelor’s degree that’s in the way.

I have an appointment Wednesday morning to fill out an application and financial aid info. If all goes well, my first class will start August 18th.

I’m excited and nervous about this. Its been over 2 years since I graduated. That’s over 2 years since I’ve had to do homework, study for tests and write reports. I’m also doing this while I continue to work full time. I didn’t work the last time I was in school.

Its all done online. I love online classes because then I can do assignments when I have the time and motivation. I don’t have to attend any classroom lectures. And what I love the most is that the program is set up for 1 class every 5 weeks! I won’t have to juggle with studying for 4 different classes at the same time. This will allow me to research topics much more in depth. And the clinical portion is only tied in with 3 classes. Thankfully this school realizes that since I’m all ready an RN, I don’t need to work on my nursing skills. The clinicals are exciting to me though. Its about community health, epidemiology of illnesses across the globe (like Avian flu), and a professional one about leadership. From start to finish, if I don’t take any breaks, I will be done in 2 years. Then I get to apply to grad school.

As much as I really don’t want to go back to school, I don’t want to give up on my dream job. Which is attainable, as long as I continue with school. This just puts me one step closer to becoming an APNP.

Now, I have to go put another brick in the wall

As you know, I was recently promoted to a Clinical Lead nurse. I finished my training and this past weekend was my first time alone. Also, keep in mind what I’ve written about the new Collaborative Care (CC) model that has been up and running for almost 2 months.

The main purpose of the CC unit is to take medical patients. And the patients that are admitted by the hospitalist service. All patients.

On Monday the ER sent me a page with an admission. When I looked at the ER trackboard I could see this was a hospitalist patient. I called down to the ER placement nurse to tell her that she sent me the page instead of the CC lead. She told me that the admitting doctor refused to place this patient on the CC floor. I asked why and she didn’t have an answer. Other than the doctor “flat out refused”. At this point I had 3 empty beds and had 8 patients to place for Tuesday morning. I wasn’t 100% positive of the proper protocol to follow, so I asked my manager.

He was pissed. He tried to hide it, but you could see his jaw tighten. I then had to call the CC manager who was at our sister hospital for a meeting. Oh, I should tell you that this  is a frequent flyer patient and he is always a train wreck when he comes in. He’s young, has a trach, a permanent feeding tube placed, he suffered a traumatic brain injury years ago and is unable to talk.

I spoke with the CC manager who said that this is a CC “acceptable” patient. And she told me to challenge the doctor and if he still said no I was to call the hospitalist program director and get her involved. Oh yippee freaking skippy.

So upstairs I went to tell the CC lead that this was happening and she got mad that I “went behind the doctor’s back”. Which got me mad because I knew damn well CC didn’t want this patient on their floor and because the doctor didn’t want to deal with the extra paperwork to admit on the CC unit. The lead told me she’d take of it. I thanked her but told her that I would talk to the doctor.

The pompous ass told me that this patient wouldn’t benefit from the CC model. I asked how he knew that. He couldn’t answer. I flat out told him that there is a protocol and that as a doctor, he doesn’t get to pick and choose who he wants to treat. He didn’t have a response and said that he’d place the patient upstairs.

Then, the ER nurse calls me back and asks why the patient is going upstairs, so I just said  because this is a hospitalist patient. She had the ER doctor next to her who was pissed that the patient was taking up a bed in his ER. He wanted to talk to me. By this point I was literally about to wet myself. I was standing in my manager’s office, and he was listening to me talk to the doctor. The ER doc wasn’t mean, but he didn’t understand why this patient didn’t go upstairs to begin with. I really didn’t have an answer for him….well, I did have an answer but I wasn’t about to tell him it was because the other doc was a lazy ass. THe ER doc then wanted to talk to my manager. He also took the name and number of the CC manager.

I knew that once CC was up and running this would happen. Certain doctors would only want to admit the “easy” patients. It doesn’t work that way. I don’t feel bad that I went and asked about what to do. I do feel bad that this patient got stuck waiting in the ER while it was decided where he would be placed. I would’ve gladly taken him if upstairs was full. But what this doctor wanted to do was wrong. It was unethical, and I wasn’t going to have any part of it.

This is a doctor who is my friend on Facebook. I’ve hung out with him before. He’s met Travis. He’s bought my whole floor lunch. He treats nurses with respect and tries to teach us what he’s thinking as he comes up with a plan of care. I always admired and respected him. Until I saw that he would dump a patient because it would be too much work. A patient that he called “a waste of time”.

I lost every once of respect I had for him. I am pissed off. What if this “waste of time” was my mother? Or yours?

I’m not sorry that I did this. I feel sorry for this doctor. He has to live his reflection in the mirror. I love my reflection. I wonder if he does?

I don’t have a whole lot of things to talk about. So, I decided to just update what’s been going on lately.

The 4th of July was wonderful. I couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather. We grilled out, watched the fireworks and had a relaxing weekend. Except Sunday. We cleaned all day Sunday. Taylor cleaned her room and Seth’s room. Travis and I tackled the downstairs. Our house is now fit for company. I’m sure it will be trashed again by Thursday.

I’m stuck in cardiac training at a different hospital until next week. And its boring. And all I’m allowed to do is follow, observe, and ask questions. So far, I am not amused.

I don’t have to have a biopsy! I’m really excited about that. My ultrasound came back fine, so I’m going to try a new birth control pill and see how things go for 3 months. I’m for anything that doesn’t include cutting a part of me.

I lost 3 pounds over the past week. I am down a total of 5 pounds since I started. I’m very proud of myself.

I have to go to the library. I’m in the mood to read and I don’t have anything new on hand.

I’m finally getting my lighthouse in Animal Crossing! I’ve achieved Gold Member status according to that crook, Tom Nook…and yet I still can’t find a damn silver fishing rod!!

I have October plans that I’m excited about

For the first time in a really long time, my head and my heart are happy….at the same time!! That is amazing.