It’s a rare night at home that I don’t feel too tired to do anything other than watch TV to pass the time until I can go to bed. I’ve been trying to pick up hours at work to pay for all the things that I would like to do, what with an East Coast trip coming up soon, passports to renew, and car projects that I hope to accomplish. But hours are hard to come by right now and my agency is being pretty retarded, so I can’t rely on them either. I’m sure that things will pick up as fall approaches, but I’d like to get things handled now instead of in a few months.
A co-worked talked me into volunteering at the medical tent at a marathon in a few weeks. I’ve been wanting to do some medical related volunteer work, but I kind of thought that it would be international. It sounds like it’s going to be fun, even if it has me a bit nervous. I expect that most of the people at the medical tent will just need IV re-hydration and my IV skills aren’t the best. It’s probably a silly thing to be worried about, but I’d hate to embarrass myself. On the flip side, hopefully everyone will have great veins. We’re picking up the 8pm-Midnight shift, when all the stragglers come in, but my friend wants to go to the event at 8am so that we can walk around and hang out. Sounds like a full day, but hopefully a fulfilling one.
Lately I’ve been trying to start planning our trip to the East Coast. Finding a decent but not too expensive place to stay in Boston, renting a car to drive to Maine, figure out where to eat, etc. Should be a good trip, but with lots of travel.
Work has been filled with alcoholics lately. Last week I had an alcohol withdrawal patient who kept attempting to remove his Aspen collar. I was lucky enough to be his nurse and sitter. My last night at work I was lucky enough to admit a drunk who attempted to off himself by taking a bottle of Ambien. He was unsuccessful at killing himself, but did earn an ET tube. As for the Ambien, I think he’s going to need to take more because he was the opposite of sleepy. In fact he was still flailing around the bed on 10mg/hr of Ativan.
It’s patient’s like these that really try my patience. I know the reality of my work, that most people will never change and the differences I make on a daily basis are small. I decided to become a nurse because I was tired of doing jobs that I felt like were pointless. I know what I do can be important, but at times it’s hard to keep that in mind. I suspect that someday I will change specialties, but not in the near future. I like Critical Care for the most part. However I would like to participate in a medical volunteer mission, preferably non-religious. I can’t imagine how it must feel to take care of people that actually want your help. To do things that will have meaningful and a large impact on their lives.
It must feel sublime.