My co-staff nurse was beaming every so often and we are just puzzled by her consistent glowing aura.
She was extra cheerful and helpful that day and wondering continued until the end of our shift. As we were on our way to punch out, she whispered to me that her boyfriend has finally proposed. I looked at her finger and saw this sparkling huge rock on it. I am no gemmologist but I think that one that her boyfirned has gotten her is one of the certified diamonds. Isn’t sweet and fabulous?

A day after my birthday, I am still required to go to the hospital for our unit meeting. To avoid being penalized, I came in early and when I arrived I was told that a patient gave me a cake as a birthday present. I was trying to dish out the idea until I opened up that box and saw this:

That patient was the one who underwent Bentall procedure for his triple A and will be discharged today. I hurriedly went to this room to thank him. He barely recognized me because I was not in my uniform and I was wearing eyeglasses. After a few seconds of recalling who I was, he told me: You’re the one with the sad eye.. The one who almost cried with me when I was at te lowet part of my life.
Seriously, I cannot remember being emotional when I was his bedside nurse although I was told during the tran-in admission from the surgical ICU that he has had episodes of depressions there reaching the point of being combative.
I am glad that he’s okay and I also found out that he lives a few blocks from home.

It only about three days before my birthday but I am not really excited about it. I am actually feeling like I am sitting on the edge of my seat because that day is the day that I will be having my first ever hosting gig. It is a half-day lecture and asks for a smart-casual attire not a tuxedo event really but seriously, it still gives my nerves a chilling sensation every time I think of it. And guess what, I was told that it is going to be the start of everything… or the end depending on whether or not I peed in my pants.

On my way home, I had this thinking about loosing our patient who has been confined for more than two years. She has been in and out of the intensive care unit since then. She has just turned 95 on March 10th.
This morning I woke so early and punched in at 6:10 am. I came in early to get the bedside-to-bedside endorsement done before the grand endorsement. While on my way, the caregiver of our resident patient texted me to bring her some cheese, to which I replied that there was none left. It was 5:30 am.
As I reached the ward, I was informed that the said patient was hooked to mechanical ventilator late last night de to difficulty breathing and for some reason it suddenly stopped working so the charge nurse was doing the ambubagging. I hurriedly entered her room and she’s becoming cyanotic (bluish discoloration) showing signs of respiratory distress. The pulse oximeter does not register pulse rate nor oxygen level in her body. No blood pressure can be acquired even on palpatory way. I and the bedside nurse tried but to no avail.
The charge nurse asked me to page the cardio and pulmonary fellows. The bedside nurse did it. But as we waited for the fellows to arrive, her condition got worse, the charge nurse asked me to call the code. I dialled 7 and in a heartbeat the PA summoned the code blue team to our ward. I wheeled in the crash cart into the room. The team was there in less than a minute.
They hooked her to cardiac monitor and four doctors tried to start peripheral line. One has started cardiac compression and was shouting to push to epinephrines. It started at 6:31 am and ended at 6:37 am. After the fourth epi has been pushed, she showed sign of revival.
We felt relief. She’s prepped to be wheeled in to the medical ICU again.
out of silence, the tension was pulsating. We love our abolita (as I fondly call her).
At past 2:00 pm I texted the caregiver asking for the patient’s condition and they said that she is stable. A few minutes after that, the PA summoned code blue team to medical ICU. We became worried. I called the medical ICU and as if a large rock was removed from my chest, it was not our beloved patient.
I learned from the medical ICU nd the caregiver that she will be wheeled in to her favorite room in our ward once she has tolerated the weaning process from the mechanical ventilator.

I was pretty pleased today because I was able to finish my endorsement on the dot!
I was just on 8-hour shift which was 7 am to 3 pm and I was not able to enjoy my off yesterday coming from a graveyard shift. Then again, I was overjoyed. I had the most suave shift. I was able to close my charts at 2 pm and finish my equipment inventory at 2:30 pm. The incoming bedside nurse was early and asked me to do the endorsement right away and so I did.
This is just a good day for me.

Summer is officially here and it has been causing huge destruction to the country’s livelihood especially to farming. Too much heat and the absence of the rain have caused the farmlands to dry and crack up. The rising temperature also have caused the watersheds to reach critical levels indicating the need to ration water supply not just to farms but also to residential and industrial areas. It is too sad that not a many have stainless steel drums and could store potable water that they could use in getting on with their everyday water requirements.

I started my rounds almost 9:00 pm already and the way I assesed my patients, I thought that I will not be hitting the marker on time. I had so much on my plate: constant chest pain, difficulty breathing, IV line out needed reinsertion, IV line to be started, osterized feeding residual, status post chest tube thoracotomy removal with pain at the insertion site, unstable vitals, stat orders from attendings and fellows and early case of coronary angiogram plus three patients due for suppository insertion. Whew! I cannot believe I managed all these and was able to finish my chart on time. The endorsement, including the equipment inventory, was finishedbefore 8:30 am.
I am really getting the hang of it. Although, I envy the other bedside nurse and the charge nurse because they were able to catch some sleep in the wee hours of the morning.

It’s my first day of work after the “cat fight” with another staff nurse. Technically, it was not a catfight because I did not engage. I just let her purr…
The girl has been transferred to another ward through drawlots.
At first, I felt a bit unfortable. I felt that everyone’s eyes were on me. Until one of the seniors asked me what happened so I gave my side of the story.
I do not know if they’re just over it or they just want to make things lighter but they start crackin jokes on me telling me to pull my act together so as not to be shouted at.
It was a tiring yet light night.

It’s the great appliance sale in Singapore and Liv did not let this opportunity pass to grab a gigantic LCD for her family here in the Philippines. I was really having a sidestitch listening to her story how much effort she exerted to get the thing on the plane and bringing it to their house in Marikina.
She had her full name and address written on the LCD box as she had it checked in.
With the new house and new appliances including fine China, she just needs good plasma mounts to complete her royal home.

Expectedly, she’s again my preceptor this time in the PM shift. I had another bedside nurse with me. The 10 patients were equally divided between the two bedside nurses. Thank heavens!
I am getting the hang of managing level 2 patients. I got to do the admission notes for another patient with ease but still I know that I will be unable to finish the task on time.
The atmosphere is so much lighter compared to the previous day when we were just 2 in the ward. Maybe it’s because the charge nurse was conscious that the other bedside nurse would feel her bitterness.
I still got her angst once in a while though but not as intense as the other day. I got to do the morning care for my patient without her help and she was even surprised to see that I was done with it when she entered the patient’s room.
I was done charting before 6:00am. I only lacked the input and output data for one of the patients plus some last doses of medications due at 6:00am inlcuding the capillary blood glucose monitoring and the osterized feeding.
At 7:00 am, I was prepping the medications that I will endorse to the incoming shift. Another bitter female nurse told me to stop what I am doing and proceed with the endorsement. To which I obliged. Expectedly, I do not have the medications to endorse so the other bedside nurse commented that I should be well prepared. Yeah right, I do not know whom to follow.
For the record, I finished my task at 8:00 am.