Hi there!

So, I know it's been like 2 weeks since I"ve posted, and I am so very sorry. It's just that there are no words that can accurately describe the nothingness that had been going on around here. And this week, when something actually started to happen, I got put in the thick of it and have been kinda busy.

So our replacements are here. I've spent the last 3 days working, trying to train them on Iraqi nursing, and making sure that they get comfortable with med-surg nursing. One of my nurses came from a postpartum floor, another from PACU, and the third has been original CSH for a couple of years and hasn't done much of anything nursing wise. But it was all cool, I watched them do assessments and had them practice blood draws and fun stuff such as that. I've also sat around and done a whole lot of nothing, watching dvd's, harrassing other sections, pretty much what I do every night. So the rest of this week, I'm technically "working", but really, my job is to just show up, make sure there are no questions, then disappear for the night. I'm going to take this opportunity to get back on a dayshift schedule. Lunch is way better than midnight chow.

Shooting at Fort Hood

(CNN) -- Eleven people plus a gunman were killed and 31 were wounded after the gunman opened fire at Fort Hood in Texas on Thursday, a Fort Hood spokesman said.
The gunman was a soldier, and two other soldiers have been detained as suspects, said the spokesman, Lt. Gen. Bob Cone.
Cone said more than one shooter may have been involved.


The Army is a small world. I work with people originally from Hood, and chances are, I know someone there right now. Shit like this scares the crap out of me.

Doh!

Well, last night was...fun

I started off like any other normal night. As soon as I got my assessments and meds and some charting done on my original patients, I get hit with a new admit. Got him settled (it took awhile), then ran around getting more meds and this and that and the other thing. Finally lunch time came around, woo hoo! I get to the Dfac, and I'm standing in the stirfry line chatting with my friend. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the guy next to me doing some funky moving standing up. I turn to see WTF is going on, and dude has this real far away look in his eye. Instantly, I knew he was going down, I didn't even have a chance to register the thought. I saw the look, I saw the shaking, and I stepped forward, just in time too cuz at that exact second, he started falling forward. I managed to help him down to the ground without letting him hit his head, all the while trying to get him to come out of it, yelling at him "Hey! Are you okay?!" I realize there is an ICU nurse two lines over and holler for him.

I have to say, I think this is the funniest part of the episode.

The ICU nurse throws down his tray, runs over to us, and does a slide that looks like a baseball player sliding into home, down to the ground...and promptly takes over.

Oh well, I guess catching him was my good deed for the day.

And after that, the rest of my night was quiet.

Oh and BTW, I'll be home before the end of the month.

WOO HOO!

When I first learn I was going to be assigned to the med-surg ward that takes care of Soldiers and contractors, I was pretty happy. I didn't want to take care of Iraqis. At first, it was that I didn't want to take care of detainee's. Then as we got into our routine, it turned into "I don't want to deal with child abuse again." Because ladies and gentlemen, it is rampant over here. Girls get severly punished/tortured/abused because in their father's eyes, they are worthless. Boys get the same from their mothers when the father has done something to anger the mother, but mom can't say anything to dad due to the patriarchal society, so they take it out on their sons. Lack of knowledge and common sense dooms either gender. Infants come in with burns from hot oil because they wouldn't stop crying. If these kids don't die, they go right back to the homes that caused their injuries. There is no social services here, there is no CPS. There is only us, and we can't do anything about it except patch them up.

Recently, we took in two kids who had been poisoned. When the chopper landed, CPR was in progress on both. One never came back. The little girl has not only survived, but is now stable enough to be transfered to our ward. Her mother won't talk to her, and she doesn't know that her brother didn't make it.

These people make me sick.

BS Admits

If any of you have ever been associated with the military, you know that it involved a lot a paperwork. And I do mean A LOT. Well, nursing is no exception and is probably worse than most other jobs, except for maybe the paper pushers. Here in Iraq, we do paper charting. If anyone needs to be air/evac'd, they need certain paperwork. If they're not that sick and don't need to be admitted, they require permission from their command in order to leave country. Stupid? yes. However, our doc's have found a way around this, which I guess works out, but it creates unnecessary work for us on the ward.

The ortho docs really like to admit patients for air evac so they don't have to wait for the letter of release. Just yesterday, we got 5 admits from one doc, all finger injuries, just so they could skip the paperwork. But now, we have to take up 5 beds, staff them appropriately, and use man hours doing things that these guys could really do themselves. This happens fairly often.

And you wonder why I feel more like a baby sitter than a nurse.

Three's Company...especially when it comes to illnesses

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I've come down with a cold, a GI bug, and short timers, all in the same week.

Colds just about over.

GI bug was just a 24 hour thing.

But the short-timers might hang around a while.

I've got about a month-ish left, and I am so ready to check out of here.

Two sides of the ICU

On one side of the ICU, we have an young Iraqi who now has a BKA from fighting for HIS country.

On the other side, we have an American soldier with an overdose who may never wake up.