Archive for August, 2007

Yes, this blog been quite dormant for the past few weeks, and also devoid of nursing stories. I’m afraid that my little escapade with NursingLink has left me burned out on all nursing-related content. And yet, I’m not at all burned out on actual nursing. In fact, I kind of miss it.

I’m going on a much needed vacation this week but when I return I will begin working for a staffing agency that is run internally by GHOAT. What this means is that I will be earning agency bucks but will still have the pleasure of working within the walls of the Greatest Hospital of All Time. What I won’t have is the security blanket of working in the MICU. I will be venturing out to other areas such as the CCU, the ER and perhaps the PACU. I am hoping that this new venture will give me more to write about.

In the meantime I am considering renting a U-haul so I can get all this baby stuff to the Jersey Shore for a week. Just how does such a small being require so much luggage?

Here’s a woodblock print that I created in 1992. I found a scan of it while cleaning out my hard drive and I guess the fact that I’m a momma now brought a new level of meaning to the piece. It was based on a photograph of a Thai woman. She had a large amount of material draped on top of her head and it really lent itself to the medium of woodblock printing.

Ahhh, 1992. What a time that was - there were no blogs, no facebook, no photoshop. I actually took a summer class that same year learning how to use a new computer program on a *get this* “Commodore Amiga.” Remember commodores? My earliest memory of commodores involves writing programs on the display computers at K-mart when we were about 9 or 10. You could write a few lines of code and it would repeat your name over and over and over again. I could never get it to work but my sister was quite good at it. She’s now a system administrator for one of the super computers at NOAA and I’m a nurse. Go figure.

Who: AHIC = American Health Information Community. This is a federal advisory body chartered in 2005 to make recommendations to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on how to accelerate the development and adoption of health information technology.

What: A public information meeting will be held to discuss how interested parties can participate in the design and establishment of the AHIC successor.

When: Friday, August 17, 2007, 10:00 AM EST

Where: Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Ave., SW, Room 800 Washington, DC 20201. The event will also be webcast here.

Why:Nursing input has been scarce at the AHIC but this meeting is open to the public, so nurses are encouraged to attend. You can find more information on the AHIC at Nursing Informatics Online.

Each time I read “Green Eggs and Ham” to my 5 month old son I am struck by the similarities to “Pride and Prejudice.”

It’s currently his favorite book. Actually it’s the only book his 5 month old attention span can absorb so I try to read it to him every day. Over and over again, Sam I Am tries to convince… umm “the other guy” to try his verdant delicacy and each time he is turned down until finally, in a swirling sea of turmoil, “the other guy” relents and gives it a try. Surprise! He likes it! Each time the ending just gives me chills.

Time magazine has some advice for you:

Become a Nurse, Get a Tan

This is a great article on the International University of Nursing at St. Kitts. I visited St Kitts a year and a half ago and my husband and I rented scooters to ride around the perimeter of the island. Out of nowhere, we saw this sign for a school of nursing, right on the ocean. My immediate thought was, now I know where my career is headed. I’ll get 5-10 years of clinical experience and then move the family to St. Kitts and become a nursing instructor. (At this point in time, it’s probably not going to happen but hey, a girl can dream.)

Imagine looking out the window during your pharmacology class and seeing this:

At any rate, it’s a great alternative to the waiting lists at nursing schools here in the US. A bit pricey at $8800 a semester, but that can be financed. St Kitts is a truly beautiful place. It’s relatively small and hasn’t had a lot of development compared to other Caribbean Islands, and the people who live there are very friendly.

And see that island in horizon? That’s Nevis. It’s even smaller and less commercialized than St. Kitts. I guess that’s where the St. Kitts nursing students go when they need to “get away from it all.”

I wonder what makes ol’ Hil think she can pull this off? Last time I checked, it took 2-4 years to train to be a nurse, not to mention an extensive orientation period.

According to the article, “The Clinton campaign hasn’t released any information about what nursing duties she is willing to perform - and which, if any, are entirely off the table.” How much would you like to wager that she will not be touching any bedpans? And on that note, what nursing duties can you actually perform without the proper training?

This is a cheap publicity stunt for both Hillary Clinton and the Service Employees International Union (which no doubt is a big contributer to her campaign). If Clinton were really serious about getting nurses’ perspectives on reforming health care, she would sit down and actually have a serious conversation with a group of nurses. Spending a day waltzing around the hospital with cameras following her is an insult to the nursing profession.

Now this is my kinda tchotchke!

She looks kind of like how I feel after 12 hours in the MICU.

Unfortunately, she sold out on 7/26 but you can find more designer plush zombies at the Natty Stuffs shop at Etsy.

…with a new a new logo.

Damn, I missed it again! I think it’s time I hired a personal assistant.