Tag: christmas

Cookie Thursday 12/19/24- glazed ricotta cookies

This cookie doesn’t really fit with the Holiday theme but there is a story behind it that is very Christmassy.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was working as a CNA on a skilled nursing unit of a local hospital. There were all sorts of patients, short-timers, post-total hip or knee patients who would be going home after physical therapy, and even a long, long-timer who had been there for 10 years.

This was a unit that some patients came to after extensive surgery, often from other hospitals. This story is about Gertrude, not her name and I don’t normally add names to my posts but I felt that she needed a name.

Gertrude was from Northern Italy and she had had major abdominal surgery in San Francisco. She had been admitted to our unit to gain additional strength before she went home to her little bungalow.

She needed a lot of assistance when she first came to us, walking to the bathroom, repositioning in bed, and having her drains emptied twice a day. This was a task that was delegated to me.

Gertrude was admitted to the unit in September, with an eye to go home before Christmas. Step by step she became stronger. Step by step her drain was putting less and less fluid. As the months passed, she got stronger and stronger.

In late November she was given a discharge date of December 6th.

As the CNA on the unit, I spent a lot of time with her. She was a very educated woman who delighted in talking literature or the college classes she used to teach. I really enjoyed talking to her.

She would regale me with stories of growing up in Northern Italy as I walked with her to the bathroom and to physical therapy and she talked about her favorite ricotta cookies. I can’t describe the accent she put on ricotta but she swallowed the o sound and made the t’s sharp. She informed me that when she got home she was going to make me her favorite Christmas cookies. I told her she didn’t need to but she insisted she would return.

She was discharged home with her friends on December 6th. Unit life after she left was a little flatter without our daily talks. It was December and December sucks in the hospital. It just does.

Right before Christmas, she made a triumphant return. Her drains had been removed, she was dressed in street clothing and she was all smiles. She was also bearing a box of the ricotta Christmas cookies for the unit nursing staff. With sprinkles. To make them festive.

Those were the most meaningful Christmas cookies that we received that year. But even better was to see her looking happy and healthy as she returned to life outside of the hospital.

That is why I made these glazed ricotta cookies for the December theme.

No sprinkles though. I was out.

Post-it Sunday 12/24/23- holiday call

The post-it reads “holiday call can be the pits, depending on where you fall in the seniority list.”

Call is what the department makes of it through policy. Holiday call is also what the department makes of it through policy.

I’ve heard good things and not-so-good things from my friends at other hospitals.

Some places choose holiday calls by seniority. Like the hospital I work at.

Reminder, the department that I work in has 9 ORs, one of which is a procedure room. There are currently 25 nurses in the department, of different hours and different levels. These levels can be PRN. If the nurse who works PRN was working this before 2015, then they are grandfathered into no call. Otherwise, everyone takes call.

PRN means pro re nata. You may have seen it on a medication label. This means as needed.

I’m only going to be talking about the RNs here. The rules are the same for the scrub techs.

Unlike the banking or government sector, the holidays that count are dependent on the state. I believe here in North Carolina, there are 8 holidays that the surgical department is closed. These are the standard holidays like New Year’s, Christmas, Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving.

In the surgical services department where I work, each holiday is split into 12-hour shifts, a day shift 0700-1900 and a night shift 1900-0700. The department also voted that Christmas Eve after 1900 and New Year’s Eve after 1900 are considered holidays. This puts them into the mix.

Going back to our numbers, if there are 8 holidays, including eves, split into 12-hour shifts, effectively doubling the days that need coverage. This means 16 shifts need to be covered. By 25 nurses. This is where seniority comes into play. This is seniority in the department, not in the corporation.

I’ve been there so long (15 and a half years) that I have the most seniority of the OR RNs. Which means I don’t have to take holiday call.

Signing up for holiday call, even by seniority, can be a challenging thing for management to handle. To ensure that no one gets a “hot” holiday, such as Christmas or New Year’s, more than once every two years. There are even lists of the holidays and an A team and a B team who chooses.

Because the OR must be staffed in case of an emergency. Even if it is taking call from home.

This year Christmas Eve, that’s today!, is on a Sunday, which added an extra day to the holiday call rotation.

I’m still senior to everyone else and I didn’t have to take any holiday call this year.

If you are on call this weekend or next, or not, have a Merry Christmas! And a Happy New Year.

Don’t forget to think good thoughts for 2024.

We are going to need them.