24- I’m not that kind of nurse

The gown card reads “Mocking MDs to their faces is funny.”

Yeah, on its surface this gown card is kind of mean.

But MDs are people too. They should be people first.

I remember when I wrote this gown card. The companion note says that “the squeaky wheel gets the flip.” And I wrote the Post-it Sunday dispatch last year on 4/9/23. And you thought I was just picking post-it notes from the cloud.

Nope. I still have a container full of them.

But I should really have left these two together.

I have laughed in a surgeon’s face when they requested a flip. Only to have them go behind my back and TEXT my manager. Who told them of course they could have the flip room. No matter that we didn’t have staff for another room. Or that another room wasn’t even cleaned. No matter that they were at home with their wine and their kids. The squeaky wheel got the flip.

But I got to laugh at a surgeon. So that’s good.

The title of this dispatch is that I am not that kind of nurse.

I was thinking of John Travolta and the movie Michael, where he played the titular angel who leans over to Andie McDowell as she was protesting that he was an angel and he couldn’t do what he was doing. His next line was my favorite in the movie, “I’m not that kind of angel.”

Still cracks me up.

I am not that kind of nurse. I will take under advisement any requests for a flip room.

But the surgeon may not get it.

So don’t go and tattle to someone who isn’t even at the hospital.

Or I’ve got a mop you can sling.

School Me Saturday 7/6/24- beyond the rabbit

Happy conception day to Alice in Wonderland! On July 4, 1862, Lewis Carroll was on a river trip with friends, including the three daughters of a friend. Through the journey, Carroll told the girls the story of Alice in the Underground. This, of course, became Alice in Wonderland.

Alice is beset by curiosity. That is what prompts her to follow the White Rabbit, who is the representation of time. Or rather time slipping away.

University, or college, or classes above or even in high school, represent time. This is the time that the student has to devote to learning a new skill, or learning about themselves (as discussed in a previous dispatch), or finding a new profession. Or just exploring for exploring’s sake.

All of this takes time.

For me, I first started nursing school in 1993, after I graduated college, got hurt, and rehabbed myself back into a different nursing school in 1998. This was the time that I lost because I was injured. After graduating in 2001, I did not return to another nursing school until 2015. That doesn’t mean I had stopped learning. It just means that my learning was in a different realm. I learned how the OR and how to be an OR nurse. Fifteen years ago, long before I considered returning to school, I studied and tested for my CNOR. I passed 15 years ago today.

However, this time was not wasted even though I wasn’t actively participating in formal education.

Adult learners should never stop learning; it keeps the mind sharp and nimble.

To keep my CNOR I need to do 135 hours of continuing education over 5 years, 100 in the OR. Nurses especially have to continually be learning. To be licensed in their state requires some form of continuing education. The number of hours depends on the state.

Not everyone wants to go back to school, and go back to school, and go back to school. However, every adult needs to keep learning.

What form that takes is up to you.

Learning is never time wasted.

Dispatch July 4, 2024-not so happy here on the front lines

I know many other people, liberals and conservatives alike, who have a pit in their stomach like me when it comes to celebrating the fourth. One of my favorite authors who I KNOW is a Republican because she has talked about it and is also sounding the alarm.

Some of us are actively sitting out on celebrations.

Because we don’t feel so merry.

Some would call us out as non-patriotic.

The United States we are living in is and always has been a grand experiment. It always has been. It is meant to be a living, breathing thing, not mired in the past as some would have us be.

We are patriotic enough to be fearful of the overreach by the Supreme Court, egged on by the dark money and not-so-dark money that has been flowing their way. Easier now that they ruled that bribes can happen AFTER verdicts. Handy, that.

We are patriotic enough to embrace change.

We are patriotic enough to cheer on those who are scrabbling, desperate for that change.

What we have to ask those who cleave so hard to the past what they are afraid of?

Because this smacks of fear to me. Afraid of the not like us, afraid of the other religions, even though this country was founded on religious freedoms. Afraid of the different. Afraid of things they don’t understand.

What they don’t know is that we would teach them not to be afraid.

Because they are hurting us with every law declaring the president can basically rule as a king as long as he is acting within official presidential duties. And what are official duties? Whatever they tell us or the president regards them. No matter if it is to deny a free and fair election and try to subvert the will of the people. Apparently, insurrection is within official duties.

Walt Kelly and his comic strip “Pogo” said it best.

We have met the enemy and he is us. I know it was a strip about littering and pollution and I could write about that too.

Speak up when they are against you and making it harder for you to vote.

Call out instances of cheating and stacking the courts.

Call a lie a lie.

Call an insurrection an attempted coup.

Fight like hell against those who want to drag the country back, kicking and screaming to a time they deem to be original.

Original to who?

The white men who owned other people and called them slaves.

Or the white men who fought to free themselves from tyranny just to foist it on the slaves.

Or the white men who left the faraway country and came to America to escape religious persecution.

By their court, women have been stripped of dominion over their own bodies.

By their court, what is feared can be ruled and legislated against. Even if it is the torture of babies who are not meant to live outside the womb. Ask a parent who has had to watch the minutes-long “life” their child endured before nature took over. Was that a peaceful death? Or did it look tortuous? More to the point, did their child die in pain?

By their court, the president has the powers of a king.

Please vote.

I am a patriot. Not only because I signed and swore my oath as an Air Force Reserve cadet at age 18.

I believe in this country and its people.

Even if it is hard at this particular moment.

This has been a dispatch from the healthcare front,

Kate

The best kept secret of the OR-part 1

Oh, boy.

Another series.

This one will be the secrets of the OR that your preceptor hasn’t told you.

The OR is many things. It is demanding, and fast-paced, and a steep learning curve, and demanding.

Yes, I know demanding is there twice.

And it is, in fact, the first secret.

The OR demands excellence from all of its workers. From the orderly to the circulator to the scrub nurse to the anesthesia team to the surgeon.

Why?

For the patient who is under anesthesia and has put their trust in us, the OR team.

Is the OR for everyone?

No.

No shame to the ones who are unable to work in the OR.

It isn’t for everyone.

Not everyone can rise to the level of excellence that the OR demands of us.

See, demanding.

The first thought in an OR person’s brain is not when is lunch/break/home time or I don’t want that case, or I had the hard room yesterday, make my coworker do it. It is and it should be how can we take care of this patient.

You have to park your stomach in your lunch box and keep going until you are relieved. You have to not whine when the hours are hard and Becky got to go home early yesterday and Joe never does any work, ever! You have to be aware of the steps of everyone else’s job and can step in if the circumstances demand it, within the scope of your license.

The hours are long, the floor is hard and your back WILL hurt. If you ask others, there is never enough help, and the doctors are demanding, and the charge nurse plays favorites.

None of that matters. Only seeing the patient safely through the steps of surgery matters.

And is our mission.

The OR is demanding. This is the first secret of the OR.

Tuesday Top of Mind 7/2/24-what can I say?

What can I say about the liars on the Supreme Court?

Are we surprised?

What can I say about the hellscape they have dropped women into?

I’ve said plenty.

What can I say about criminalizing homelessness?

I mean, we can’t teach humility and grace to people who have never had it.

What can I say about taking power away from federal agencies and giving it instead to judges and even legislatures?

Whatever makes the most money.

What can I say about legalizing bribes AFTER a judgement comes down?

It is either about money or control. There is nothing else.

Because that is the currency they understand.

What can I say about unearned immunity?

My God, why don’t you just crown them king?

No matter that we fought several wars, including the founding fathers to get away from absolute power.

Our Supreme Court, the best crooked and deep money can buy.

Pay no attention to the hundreds of millions of people who are against like 90% of what they do.

We don’t matter.

Only those holding the checkbook do.

Hell, I won’t stop screaming into the void.

To be silent is to be complicit.

And don’t tell me well if Ruth Bader Ginsburg would have retired before she died…

And what if Mitch McConnel hadn’t put his fist on the scale after Antonin Scalia died and refused to do so in 2020 after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in virtually the same scenario.

Check your voting registration.

But, most importantly, vote.

This is the only voice we have in the maelstrom.

Post-it Sunday 6/30/24-OR lament

The post-it reads “Maybe this time. The OR lament.”

Apologies to Liza Minnelli and Cabaret and Fred Ebb and John Kander.

Who is singing? A circulator? A surgeon? A scrub tech?

Who knows.

The OR Lament

Maybe this time it’ll be lucky
Maybe this time the fix’ll stay
Maybe this time, for the first time
The fracture will hold

The screw will hold the bone fast
I’ll get to go home on time at last
Not in overtime anymore
Like the last time and the time before

Everybody loves an on-time start
And nobody loved me
Hey, charge nurse please
Home is where I long to be

Well, all the odds are, they’re not in my favor
The add-ons are bound to begin
It’s gotta happen, happen sometime
Maybe this time I’ll plead

‘Cause everybody, oh, they love a cancellation
Not an add-on case
Hey, charge nurse please
Home is where I long to be

Well, all the odds are never in my favor
The phone’s bound to ring
It’s gotta happen, happen sometime.
Maybe this time
Maybe this time I’ll get to go home first

School Me Saturday 6/29/24-the more you learn about yourself, the less you know

Being an adult learner often teaches you more about yourself than you knew before.

This is the greatest lesson that the Blue Caterpillar gave to Alice.

The Blue Caterpillar gave Alice permission to explore in Wonderland. And explore she did. There were hatters driven mad by the mercury used in their trade but he was still jolly and could be counted on for a rollicking good party. There was the Red Queen who insisted on absolute loyalty from everyone and everything, even the white roses but who could be defeated. There was the White Rabbit that was always running late but tried to keep to schedule. There was the mysterious Chesire Cat who talked in riddles but still imparted important information to Alice. Even the Dormouse at the picnic taught Alice the importance of rest. And what is more important than resting when you can. Just don’t take it to extremes.

Being an adult learner is exciting and hard. It is hard to juggle all the parts of your life, your real job, your children, your spouse, your habits, good and bad. Add in another few balls, such as classes and assignments and you might drop them all.

Or, you might not.

School or classes or whatever new thing you learn will teach you as much about yourself as the things that you learn.

Just be forewarned, that the more you learn about yourself, the less you know.

And that’s okay.

Adulthood is a learning time.

None of us, and I mean NONE of us, has it figured out.

Cookie Thursday 6/27/24- it’s hot, damned hot

Of course, not right this second as we welcome rain. It is apparently 78 degrees with 70% humidity. And raining. I wouldn’t kick the rain out of the forecast, you know.

But it has been in the upper 90s all week. The roses are drooping, as are the berry plants. Despite watering every day.

This is something I remember from my childhood, schools out, it must be hot. And it was. Depending on where we lived at the time, I could look forward to afternoon thunderstorms (Denver, CO), or dry heat (Sonoma, CA), or humid heat (St. Charles, MO).

Today’s make is refreshing to some. Others told me not to do it because of the raisin ants that were on the celery log. I made antless ants on a log.

No ants here. No raisins here.

Just celery and peanut butter. Both creamy or crunchy.

I find it refreshing. And simple, just like all the best after-school snacks.

This is the last week of the after-school snack theme for June. And I am still undecided about what I will do for July. Last year I did Christmas in July and that was fun. The year before I did If You Want Women in the 18th Century So Badly… after the Dobbs decision.

This year?

I’ll figure something out.

National Time Out Day, two weeks late

I know, I know National Time Out Day was two weeks ago and I missed it!

I had a note to write about it on the day of National Time Out Day but that post-it got shuffled to the bottom of the stack. Oops.

The Time Out is very important to the operating room. This is a patient safety mechanism that causes for a pause to reflect on who the patient is, what surgery the patient is going to have, any allergies or concerns for the patient in the OR, who the major players in the room and their roles, and whether or not the need equipment/supplies/instruments/implants are in the room if not readily available.

Got all that?

When I was a brand new OR nurse my boss wanted me to act like a cheerleader and use the time out motion to get people to pay attention to me.

Um, no.

Instead, I use my words.

The scrub tech is also vital to this as they can refuse to give the surgeon the sharp incision implement, better known as a knife blade. Not the traditional knife, we have our own reusable knife handles with disposable blades. This is so the surgeon can always have a sharp blade. And then there is the waste from throwing out perfectly good scalpels if blades came attached. And the knife handle that is most commonly used (the 3) can accept and be used with the more common OR knife blades. If the pause/time out has not been done, the scrub tech can refuse to hand over the sharp thing that begins the surgery.

But, I digress.

Part of the time out is confirming that the initial count has been done. And knife blades are part of a count.

No, I will not be doing a cartoonish motion with my hands to signify the time out. Complete with knee bend. No thank you.

Yes, I will have the consent open to do the time out so that the signatures can be verified.

Thereby keeping the patient as safe as possible.

Full circle.

Again, if you are being intimidated into doing something that is unsafe, let me speak up for you.

Tuesday top of mind 6/24/24- TWO years post Roe

Two years have passed since the fall of Roe v Wade.

Well, this isn’t a dispatch I ever thought I’d write. And I wouldn’t be writing it now if some people, cough, cough, hadn’t lied at their job interview to the Senate.

Am I still mad as hell?

You bet your sweet bottom dollar that I am.

However, this isn’t about me.

It is about the women who are raped and no longer have access to safe reproductive care, including abortions, and have to now carry their rapist’s child to term.

It is about the doomed children who are not meant to live in this world but the safest exit is not allowed anymore.

It is about the women who are carrying the doomed children who can no longer access safe reproductive care and risk their fertility and their lives waiting for some government asshole to decide that they can have the care they desperately need. And be denied by the hospital administration who are scared of their own shadow and the lawsuits that will happen if word got out that an abortion was allowed on a dead clump of cells.

It is about the same-sex couples who can see the writing on the wall and know that their number is coming up next in this unholy war against progress.

It is about the girls who are watching this play out and knowing that they have less freedom than their mothers did at their age.

It is about the increase in infant deaths in some of these states (cough, cough, Texas) where there is no “miracle” at birth. These infants know only pain in their short lives.

It is about the whole-cloth womb slavery of all women from puberty to menopause.

It is about the women who have been told they no longer are in control of their bodily autonomy.

It is about the old white men deciding that THEY know better what I as a woman need and can do with my body.

It is about the taxpayers that are being “killed” during abortions before they can add to others’ profits.

It is about and has always been about, control.

It is about control of women.

Because if it was about control of everyone, men would have to be sterilized when they hit puberty. Or lock up the penis up in a fancy cage until they are deemed old enough to use it.