Work, and other things

I have a job! Wait, I already said that. Ok, so I've been working at said job full-time for the past 4 days. Today will be my 5th, tomorrow my 6th. I think I like it, even though I come home crying every day. Let's just say I have pretty mixed emotions about the thing.

The Bad:
- I don't like how oddly difficult they make it for use to be clean. The only handwashing sinks are in the bathrooms; they don't even put one at the nurse's station. WTH? And when I asked specifically about the presence of avagard-type substance or some type of alcohol rub to use between handwashings, I was told that because they like to make a "home" for the residents, they don't like having alcohol rub out all over the place. Because "you wouldn't have something like that out in your home, would you?" Pft. You better believe I would. And when I have a new baby around (or other such immunocompromised family member), you better believe I will. And force people to use it. So the only alcohol rub in existence is a remarkably poor quality, sticky, icky thing on the med cart. I'm tempted to bring my own bottle of avagard (if I can even find one, that is) to use at work. Because this seriously, really bothers me.

- Since I'm new, and still really getting used to how to do things (basically, what meds to pull), I am REALLY slow. This is where the crying every night comes in. Last night was the first night by myself, and what should have been an hour long (tops) med pass took me about 3 hours, and I went straight from dinner meds to nighttime meds. I'm sure I messed up multiple times, I pre-pulled about 10 people and was still super slow, and I went 9 hours (yes, 9, and I'm scheduled for 8) without sitting down once or eating or basically taking a break. It was REALLY frustrating. I'm proud of myself simply for not crying right there in front of the residents.

- One of the things that contributes to my slowness is certain residents (only a few, but they're there) who are just plain difficult. They refuse their meds, or don't know what's going on, and I have to spend 10-15 minutes with each trying to coax them to take it. And when I'm already about an hour behind, I really don't have the patience for that.

- I thought working at a care center would be good for my skill level............ It's not. I was sorely mistaken. We pretty much don't do anything requiring any nursing skills whatsoever. The most complicated it gets (so far) is doing skin checks, and charting on those taking antibiotics (which are the only ones we chart on). So I'm appropriately afraid that, if I stay here long enough, I'll pretty much forget everything useful I learned in school. I'd really rather be in a hospital. Argh.



The Good:
+ Most of the bad (besides the stupid avagard thing, and the last point) is really a temporary situation. Once I get used to it, after I've done it a few (thousand) times, I'll get super speedy like the other nurses and time won't be an issue.

+ Once time is not an issue, it's really an easy, laid-back, fun job. Like my first day orienting with Bobby, he pulled about 90% of the meds, so we were done really fast. We took about an hour or more for dinner, and were done by 8:30 and sat in the back room watching TV and playing with the dog until 10. Someday, I'll be able to go that fast. He's only been there a few months.

+ I seriously love these residents. Maybe not the ones that make my life difficult... but there are some absolutely adorable, fun ones to be around. They are SO sweet. Wonderfully understanding of my newness and slowness, and constantly reassuring me that I'll get better. They always make me smile. This is the part that, once it's not QUITE so stressful, I will really enjoy, and it will make it all worth it.

+ Plus I'm getting paid by the crapload.



So why is it, I've noticed, that no matter what someone gets paid, it's never enough? It seems silly to me. Payday was the other day at this place, and everywhere I looked, nurses were whining about getting tiny paychecks. Do they just forget that they have the easiest job ever, paying at least $5/hour more than they would make at a hospital? Seriously. Have a little perspective.

In other news, we're almost all the way packed to move. It's all just little things, y'know? But we're a bit limited on time to do so. Assuming I'm actually orienting with someone today, which I'm supposed to be, I'll hopefully be out of work on time (for once) and be able to help tonight. I will certainly post pictures of the apartment, pre-moving and post-setting up, when I have them.

I joined a gym last week, and am really trying to be in the habit of going every morning. I thought I'd have a ton of time, since I don't go into work until 2, but my mornings are constantly just slipping by me. If I eat and leave now, though, I should have time.

So,
The End.

Good Things

I found plane tickets to go to OH, so I finally get to visit my wonderful brother and sister-in-law and nephews whom I miss so very, very much (and hopefully my other brother- and sister-in-law and brand new nephew!) I'm really, ridiculously excited. I miss them like crazy. So I'll be in Ohio from May 7-11 (which will be a mere 5 days after we move! eek!).

I took my Nursing final today, and while I pretty much bombed the test, I still got away with an A- in the class. And it's DONE! Three semesters down, one more to go.

I got a job (finally!!) this morning. Or at least, I found out I got the job this morning. It's not too exciting... I'm doing full-time LPN at a care center. BUT it's not a depressing place, my friend used to work there and said it was a fairly good gig, and now- most importantly- i'm gonna be getting a paycheck. I think I'll be starting next week, even though it will be awkward with moving that weekend and then Ohio the next week. I need scrubs!

Today is Isabelle's second birthday. It's totally gone by without a hitch. Time is an interesting thing. Still, I think I'll make cake tonight.

And combining two of my very favorite things:
(spoiler alert: Doctor Who, to the end of Series 2)

Passing It On

A pretty good message:

http://thegabblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/just-for-record.html

Talk about timing...

After making that last post, I emailed my bro and sis-in-law to see if they'd be coming to Utah any time in the near future, cos I have a niece I'd never met and I wasn't gonna make it to NJ like I'd planned. The very next morning, she calls me while I'm in class to say, "Uh.. Hi! We're here!" Apparently she'd been meaning to call me, and I just beat her to the punch with the email. Go me!

So yes, I got to see (part of) my family last week, and it was awesome!! I walked in and Charlie appeared at the top of the steps going "Jen!! Jen!! Jen!!" (They'd been practicing.) He was SO cute. And Emma is freaking adorable, with her big puffy cheeks and sweet little mouth. She was smiling for me and everything. I talked to Christie for several hours, played with the nephew a little, gave them presents, and all-in-all had a fabulous time. I miss them. But I'm glad she called me and I got to go see them for even a little while.

In other news, Brit's started working again, so he didn't get to come. And his dumb boss put him in at 30 hours this week, so he's going to school at 8:30 and getting off work at 9:30. Ouch. I really just barely put that together in my head.... That is seriously harsh. But at least we're getting a paycheck again, and I'm going in for an interview at a care center tonight. In the meantime, I feel super lazy because I have almost nothing to do. I got the living room and kitchen cleaned and vacuumed, and I'm gonna work on the office today. But that doesn't help my guilty feeling of laziness as I sit here and blog while my husband is at school learning important things.

Thoughts and Pictures

My internet was being strange, so I distracted myself with browsing through old pictures. It really just drove home one big point... I MISS MY FAMILY!!!!!!

To-Do List

Now that school is all but over, i'm feeling incredibly manic, and getting a bit of spring-cleaning fever. So my to-do list today is a mile long, even though I keep getting distracted by things like the computer. But it helps me to write it down. Isn't this fun?

-Make birthday breakfast for brit (in progress... the ebelskeiverhshgcko pan is heating up)
-sweep and mop floors (done!)
-clean the bathroom (done!)
-finish folding the laundry
-clean the living room and vacuum
-clean off the random surfaces in the bedroom (and vacuum)
-dust the random surfaces in the bedroom
-pack one more box
-do one more load of laundry (of random crap that got missed)
-clean off the kitchen counter
-shop for Brit's birthday dinner (red chicken, yum!)
-make brit's birthday dinner

... And we'll see from there.

I believe congratulations are in order.

Today was my last day of clinical, pretty much EVER. I handed in my last big pain-in-the-butt paper, and now I have nothing left for the rest of the semester except a small, 1-day-max single page "information brochure", and then the (pretty easy) final. And then next semester is widely considered the easiest of them all... we're thought to know nearly all we need to know (HA!), and the semester focuses mostly on review for the NCLEX. And clinicals? "Clinicals" consist entirely of personal choice areas... half a semester in Community Nursing, which you're placed in according to your area of preference, and then the preceptorship- which for me, is 8 weeks in Labor & Delivery.

So congratulations, me! The hard part is over. And I've already treated myself to an hour-long bubble bath with candles and classical music. Which isn't as comfortable in a small tub as you might think... but still, you should try it sometime.

::SQUEE!::

Invisible Girl

Ok, I'm really not trying to be emo or melodramatic, but seriously, how forgettable am I? It seems like remembering my name (JENNIFER. how hard can that really be?) is just absolutely beyond some people... most notably people who make a real effort to remember names.

When I was but a wee freshman, I had a philosophy class that I loved. The teacher made it a point to memorize everyone's name, and made a huge deal out of it, too. Yet somehow, though I attended every single week and participated regularly, he was still asking my name up until a month before the end of the semester.

The same thing happened in my music class last night. And in this one, I really do participate regularly... At the beginning of the semester, I had to personally introduce myself to get a syllabus from him, and we actually had a conversation. Several, actually, in the first few lectures. And I'd say I make a comment at least every other week (it's a once/week class), and every single time he has to ask my name, even though he's made a point out of having nearly everyone else's memorized by now. Oh, and next week is the last class of the semester. Ouch.

Maybe this is why I'm so bad at remembering other peoples' names... I'm just so used to not needing to. Or maybe I really am being dramatic and only remembering the negative experiences. It just really threw me off. I didn't think "jen" was that hard to remember!!

Tagged

(tagged by Cassie...)

10 years ago....
I was only 12, almost 13. That seems kinda silly. I was in 8th grade, that may or may not have been the year we went to Disney World, and I don't remember much beyond that. Much that's interesting, anyway. I was a pretty boring kid.

5 things on my To Do list today.....

1. Write my med/surg case study
2. Make dinner
3. Write my med/surg case study
4. pack when i'm bored and sick of writing
5. procrastinate writing my med/surg case study

If I became a Billionaire....
I'd pay off my student loans (which aren't much, but they're there), finish out college because I actually do want to be a nurse, buy a beautiful house on a beach somewhere warm, and put the rest in a high-interest savings account so brit never had to work again and I could just work when i felt like it.


5 Jobs I've had.....

1. Food Service Worker
2. Delivery Expert
3. Telemarketer
4. Various secretarial temping
5. Student!

5 of my secret bad habits.....

1. Procrastination (not so secret, considering i'm writing this when i should be studying)
2. Whining
3. not cleaning up after myself, even though i say i want a clean house (esp. leaving dishes out various places)
4. being waaaaay too trusting in people
5. picking my nose :)

5 places I have lived.....

1. This apartment, in provo UT
2. my grandpa's house in orem
3. BYU dorms (and various other apartments in provo/orem)
4. My parents' house in NJ
5. my biological parents' house in NJ

5 things people might not know about me.....

1. I've never lived anywhere but NJ and Utah
2. My favorite animal in the whole world is the Killer Whale
3. When i get really stressed out, or i'm in an incredibly tense situation (like when i would get in really big trouble with my mom), I laugh. I can't help it.
4. I love to cook and feel domestic, even though I'm bad at actually doing it.
5. I'm a math nerd.

I tag Emilia, Natalie, and Wendy. Do it!

FAIL!

I think I've decided I just fail at doing interviews. I've had so many over the past few months. I've always said I don't have a job yet because I haven't found the right one, or like it's my choice somehow, but I'm really starting to wonder.

I just bombed what should have been the easiest interview of all time. Care Centers are almost always desperate for employees, and everything I've heard about them indicates that the interview process is rarely as much an interview as a "So, when can you start?" Not so with this one. It felt like everything I said was the wrong thing, and she let me know it. She must have corrected me 3 or 4 times. I felt so dumb. Jerk.

So i'll be surprised if they actually call me back on that one, which is pretty sad. I actually wanted it.