Best Kept Secrets of the OR #24- There is always one

This can apply to many, many things.

There is always that one surgeon who demands perfection, except from the people they like. The one who tirades and demands and threatens but only if you are not their chosen ones. You know, the ones who flatter the surgeon and know which side their bread is buttered on. And then use that access and favoritism to get what they want.

There is always that one team member who rides the clock like it is their business. These are the ones who go home late “because they were doing X”. Even though no one asked them to do X and another person had been assigned to X but the first person perhaps overrode the second person who gladly gave up X. Go home means go home.

There is always the one surgeon who asks for something that they’ve used for twenty years that only came out two years ago. Reacting and dealing with the insanity of this is what keeps us young.

There is always that case that looks like it will run over and that makes you sweat bullets and frantically plan to get the team out on time. You end up calling the call team in only for the case to finish 15 minutes before the end of shift. And now you have the call team there and nothing for them to do.

There is always the one team member that drives you incandescent with rage. That’s it, that’s the end of this instance. There isn’t anything to do about that one team member. We all have our trials. If it makes you feel better you are that team member for someone else.

There is always the one policy that infuriates the department. Until you realize why the policy was created. Hint, it usually has to do with safety, both staff and patient.

There is always the team member who works in the background, quietly. They are not the squeaky ones and they don’t cause the drama. These are the ones that should be cultivated and celebrated. Be aware they may not enjoy much being made of them.

There is always that one patient who you always remember, long after they are gone. It is memories like this that keep you in nursing.

Tuesday Top of Mind 4/1/25- This is not a joke

What is currently happening in the US government and has been happening since January 20, 2025 is appalling. And horrific. And ghastly. And atrocious. And nightmarish. And repugnant.

And…

Well, you get the point. No need to beat you over the head with it.

Entire departments are being gutted. Federal workers who know how to do their jobs are being let go.

Planes are falling from the sky.

Law firms are being shaken down for money.

Legal residents are being caught up in the dragnet under the excuse “searching for illegals” And sent to a brutal El Salvador prison. After they are branded a Venezuelan gang member. Whether they are one or not.

Legal residents are being detained and deported after convictions are “discovered” upon their return to the US after being abroad. Sometimes they are being detained without even leaving the country.

Americans are in hiding because the administration doesn’t believe that people can be transgender. And seek to punish those who are transgender. The administration has cast this very small minority as the bogeyman in their latest horror story.

Foreign aid has been all but stopped. And what is still “allowed” is very piecemeal. HIV medication treatment is still okay, but not education about how to prevent HIV.

In the messages that I have seen from outside of the US, the reputation of this country is in freefall.

There is an outbreak of measles in the US. 483 confirmed cases in 19/50 states.

Research institutions’ grants are being yanked and the institutions themselves are being tasked with NOT researching very real and very needed things. There is a list from the NIH of words that will no longer be allowed for research. Words that we know trigger the government, this government, like women and men and transgender and covid and gender. There are many more; ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SEVEN banned words at last count.

The imbecile who is running the HHA has announced yet another research into the link between vaccines and autism. Despite it being examined and investigated and investigated and investigated, ad nauseum.

Who is going to tell him that there isn’t one? Scratch that. Who is going to get through the layers of denial and admitted heroin use and convince him that there isn’t one?

All this destruction and “findings” that are not really findings but instead are letting a ketamined up bear in the china shop and letting them break things. Because they can. Because no one in Congress is stopping them.

And for what?

To assuage the very hurt feelings of a grown-ass man?

Because we as a country told him no in 2020.

Sure.

It feels more and more every day like the country has been taken over by a venture capitalist. As if this country is being dismantled and sold for parts.

And the vultures will take apart the rest.

No, what has happened since January 20 is not a joke.

I’m not laughing, are you?

Post-it Sunday 3/30/25-medical book reviews, fiction and non

I am not out of post-it notes.

I am not out of gown card notes.

I am not even out of phone notes. I snuck that one in on you.

But I find myself distracted.

Oh, so distracted.

With the never ending barrage of medical bs coming from all sides. And the skyrocketing number of measles cases. The number that is hidden from us. On 3/26/25 the number of cases was 378. On 3/28 the number was 483.

That is quite the jump in two days.

And so I am going to change Sundays up a bit. For awhile anyway.

For the next little while Post-it Sundays is going to be medical fiction book reviews and medical non-fiction book reviews.

This is one of my favorite genres.

And I have so many books and ideas.

And I want to distract myself.

Gee, Kate, have you planned this at all? Maybe read a medical genre book from the towering TBR pile?

Of course not. This is completely off the cuff.

I can’t wait to get started.

School Me Saturday 3/29/25-Suddenly, all at once

Spring Break is over. I hope you had fun because now is when the real work begins.

But, Kate, I’ve been working hard all semester, in all of my classes with readings and lectures and papers and quizzes and tests.

Oh my.

I know. Trust me, I know. But think of Spring Break as the 7th inning stretch.

Yes, I know that I am mixing my metaphors here. Or I will be very shortly.

The end of the semester is barreling down upon us. Which means the projects that most classes have been working toward for weeks will be due soon.

This makes students panic. Knowing that there is a large amount of work to be done and a suddenly, all at once, finite amount of time to cram the work into.

Don’t panic.

Of the several universal truths from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, the most important is DON’T PANIC.

You see if you had read the book, you’d be at least smiling now..

Another universal or, in this case galaxial truth, cheating is not the answer. Just ask Zaphod Beeblebox, the hapless leader and President of the Galaxy. Because 2 heads are not better than 1.

The biggest takeaway from the book is that it is not the answer that matters. Anyone can give you an answer, especially since AI has entered the chat. Anyone and anything can give you AN answer.

It is knowing that the answer is not the right answer is where the true learning begins.

Deep Thought spent several millennia thinking on the meaning of life. Their answer was 42. And it did not expound on what is the meaning of 42. To be clear, the meaning of life and the semester is not to get a 42. By any measure that is a failing grade.

True learning is not knowing the answer to the random question but WHERE and HOW to find the answer. Because that will survive the memory reset that so many students do at the end of the semester.

That is what the professors want you to know.

FFS Friday 3/2/25- Fra-gee-lay

If you grew up at any point past the 1980s you are familiar with this pronunciation.

In A Christmas Story, the dad, AKA Old Man Parker, is unboxing a prize that he had won filling out punny word puzzles from the newspaper. The clues all resolved around a play on words around a lady’s knee. The prize, as we all know, is a woman’s leg, in fishnet stocking and garter, with a gold satin lamp shade.

This is the big prize that he has won.

Some prize. He was expecting a bowling alley to be the prize and get the leg lamp instead.

Anyone else feel bait and switched by the events after January 20th?

Like a bomb has gone off in our administration and we are shaking apart at the seams. And the gleeful spoiled brats are shaking the tree to see what will fall out?

We know they are uncaring about the chaos they have wrought. As long as they get their tax break it will be worth it. No matter that those of us will get less than nothing.

Beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, we will console ourselves.

As a society we are on edge, unable to concentrate? Near tears at most times? Unsure which executive order will be the one that will bring us to our knees. Or fully rend the fabric of society, leaving the worker bees to pick up the pieces and bear the entire weight of the now changed world while the lords are in their counting house, counting out their money.

Yeah, that is by design. And part of the entire plan that we told you was the plan but so many of you believed it when they denied it. How is that working for you now?

As a society we are feeling fragile. At least some of us are. The ones with empathy. Is that word even allowed anymore? It is one of the No-No words for research or public institutions because it hurts a white man’s feelings of superiority.

Worse yet are the ones who are gleefully watching the destruction, the fires that they set dancing in their eyes, unaware that the conflagration that they have started will consume everything, including themselves. It’ll be worth it to them, owning the libs.

It begs the question, what kind of fragile?

Fragile like a man’s ego?

Paper thin, will punch down at anyone or anything that displeases the ego?

Or…

Fragile like a bomb.

Thick outer shell, maybe filled with pieces that are intended to hurt whatever has triggered it.

Yeah, we’re all feeling a little fragile these days.

We must chose; fragile like a man’s ego or fragile like a bomb?

Cookie Thursday 3/27/25- puff pastry thaws nicely

This is the last Cookie Thursday is a Thing for March. So far this month I’ve done peach cookies, feta and spinach sconelets, mini Dreamies (glorified grilled cheese).

This week I opened my freezer for inspiration and saw two boxes of puff pastry.

No idea when these were purchased. Delightful.

I decided to thaw them out and see if they were salvageable. And they were. For filling the first one I used pesto and shredded mozzarella cheese and rolled each sheet. After refrigerating for 20 minutes to firm up, I cut into 1/2 inch slices and baked.

The puff pastry puffed perfectly.

Also, they were yummy.

The second one also thawed well. I decided to make a mock octopus with jam as the design. You spread out the first sheet of puff pastry and top with jam and layer on the second piece, kind og making a jam sandwich. Then you cut out the shape for the head and eyes. For the tentacles, you cut 8 4-inch strips. These will become the tentacles after they are twisted.

Then I thought how the hell am I going to transport and serve it.

I chopped the head off and turned it into more strips.

Again this raspberry bar baked up wonderfully.

I am thinking about egg substitution materials for April.

Or Easter candy, which we can all agree is the superior holiday candy of the year.

Tuesday Top of Mind 3/25/25- Laughing in the face danger is so nursing

There is a well-known, little understood meme about Ralph Wiggins of Simpson’s fame sitting near the back of a bus and saying, with a chuckle, “I’m in danger.” I say well known because Ralph Wiggins is a popular character on the Simpsons. I say little understood because this scene is not part of the Simpsons. Instead, it is from a Family Guy crossover episode.

It is understood that Ralph is laughing in the face of danger. Or that he doesn’t understand the consequences of the danger he is in. Both things can be true

Why I am writing about this will become clear.

There was a bulletin released last week, on March 18 about the danger in hospitals.

Do you know what I am talking about? It’s okay if you don’t. So much crap is thrown at us every damned day by the administration and various ill-intentioned groups. Often young men who don’t have their entire pre-frontal cortex completely formed yet who are susceptible to rhetoric.

Hint, hint, part of why we are in this mess with this administration that is acting illegally every day and no one in the other 2 branches of government are doing diddly squat.

The American Health Association (AHA) and the Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) issued a joint bulletin warning of a potential terror threat that targets hospitals. These hospitals are not named, just that it is to be multi-city terrorist attacks, in mid-sized cities.

This information is from “chatter” from ISIS-K groups and the likely methods noted are likely to involve vehicles and explosives. At level 1 trauma centers. You know, the ones most likely to be able to handle such a mass casualty event.

My hospital system has already taken steps in the face of this bulletin. And my hospital has already done the

After covid and working through a global pandemic is this supposed to scare us nurses?

Um, have they met us?

Nurses are the ones who wade in where angels fear to tread.

We care for all who come through our doors.

Is this horrible and could a lot of people die?
Absolutely.

Will we as a society meet the challenge?
Absolutely not.

Will nurses save us?
Yes. Yes, we will.

Are nurses laughing in the face of danger, while also acknowledging that we are in danger?
Always.

School Me Saturday 3/22/25- What’s in a department anyway

I’m going more macro on this post for School Me Saturday.

Let’s talk about the Department of Education and all that it does.

Well. Did. Does to the best of its ability every day.

The Department of Education is not the newest kid on the department on the block. Far from it.

The DOE was established in 1979 by Jimmy Carter. According to an article by the Oregon Public Broadcasting, its roots stretch back to the Civil War. The goal at that time was the ensure civil rights. You know, what there had just been an entire war fought over. There was the office of education that became the bureau of education that was enveloped by the Health Education and Welfare. This large bureau/department was split by Jimmy Carter into two- the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Are you with me so far?

Department, bureau, office, no matter what it is called, has a central tenet to defend civil rights. Against those who would take the civil rights away.

Gee, a subset of the population that doesn’t want to give those they deem as less worthy any consideration at all.

This sounds very familiar.

And fits right into the white man grievance that is driving this administration.

The question we should be asking is what does a white man have to be grieved about? The answer that all too often is given is that why should X be given something that I didn’t get. No matter that X has been shat upon by these same people and under their feet for as long as we’ve been a country. Longer even.

There is a misconception that the DOE sets curricula. No, no they do not. Those are set by states.

If you want to blame the government for under performing schools and things that you don’t agree with being on the curriculum, perhaps look to the voting record and who has been voted in to decide on this stuff.

The Department of Education does far more than just give money and guidance to the states. It holds the massive student loan debt and administers to it. It makes rules that a struggling student can get an IEP (individualized education plan) instead of rubber stamping square pegs into circle holes they don’t fit into.

The Department of Education also allows for the disabled kids to attend school. To feel normal. Something that is lacking in their lives.

The establishment of the Department of Education was a bi-partisan effort. No matter what the asshole revisionists say. At its core, the DOE is creating a level ground for all the students in the US, no matter their socio-economic background, no matter their perceived ability to even be in school.

And making sure that all the states have an equal say and that students have equal civil rights.

FFS Friday 3/21/25 Futile

The famous quote from Star Trek the Next Generation, AKA the Star Trek I grew up watching, is “Resistance is Futile”. Specifically from the movie First Contact.

The Borg Queen says it.

The Borg are the race who are tearing through the galaxy/universe in search of unique beings/species that it can add to its collective. Any species or being that is not or who is not assimilated is destroyed.

The Borg Queen famously responds when challenged that “We are the Borg. You will be assimilated, your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own; your culture will adapt to serve us. Resistance is futile.”

That’s a bit on the nose, Star Trek Next Generation.

Jean Luc Picard and the rest of the Next Generation starship do not take kindly to this message or this directive. They resist.

And prevail.

I love looking to older sci-fi to explain modern events.

Resistance is futile is the message that is being broadcast during these days of shock and awe. If they drown us in bad messaging, we can be overwhelmed and while we are distracted the bad actors (you know who they are) can sneak around and do very real damage to our country.

Fuck that shit.

It is vital that these state and country ending actions be witnessed and called out for the vile plots that they are.

It is when they want us to look away that we have to refocus our attention. I realize that I am writing this from a position of privilege. Mostly because I am discounted because I am a woman. Or, to use the Ferengi slur “FE-male”.

Yes, still a Star Trek reference, but from Deep Space Nine referencing the Ferengi. The alien race whose entire world view can be split into two camps. 1) women are not to be trusted and must be kept naked and down trodden,and 2) the pursuit of profit is above everything. Even if you have to lie and steal and cheat. But that is an F for another Friday.

Resist this abomination of a regime. Ignore the ones who tell you resistance is Futile. They don’t know anything and are banking on your sleep walking to our destruction.

Make sure you are reading and listening to trusted sources. But always question and have a second source on news that seems like rage bait.

Do not engage with bots online.

Do not engage with scam accounts online. These may not be the same.

Do not freely give your attention and your likes away. This is their currency.

Currently I am tripling down on my pocketbook protesting. Is there a more impactful phrasing than that? I mean that I am spending as little as possible and from a carefully curated list of establishments.

I am not responding to people I know don’t have my best interests in mind and have voted accordingly.

Would it be easier to just go with the flow and let them do whatever they want?

Yes.

But, again, fuck that shit.

Cookie Thursday 3/20/25- spinach feta sconelets

By sconelets, I mean baby scones.

This does continue the Baking the Freezer and No Buy March. No ingredients were bought.

Did you know that you can put bags of spinach straight into the freezer? To use as needed in recipes? Me, neither. I read about it a few months ago and when I was not using the bag of spinach for salads one week, I decided to test the hypothesis.

Works like a charm. I’ve done it one of two ways. I have just chucked the entire bag into the freezer with no prep. I have also sautéed the spinach in a dry pan and then froze it when it was cool.

I used the second method today. Worked amazingly well.

I have made these before and they are frequently asked for/reminisced about.

The star of today’s show is not the spinach but rather a baking pan that I already owned. I believe its original intention was as a cake pop pan. It is like a mini muffin tin but the output is round.

I used it over the weekend to use up the mashed potatoes in the fridge and the results were little mashed potato balls of goodness. I thought to myself I have to use this pan more.

Today’s output is little spinach feta balls of goodness.

Did I mention that the pan is non-stick? Do I remember where I got it? Absolutely not.