Tag: travel

Best Kept Secrets of the OR #25- Conference edition

I am an introvert who is also quite shy. That is a double whammy when it comes to being engaging in large groups. Especially people I don’t know. Even people I probably will never see again in my life.

That being said conferences are particularly hard. It is best that I am rested. Not well rested, this is a hotel that I am most likely staying in with its vagaries in bed comfort and light levels. The hotel that I just stayed in had a night light in the bathroom with no door to the bedroom. Low levels of light all the nights. Which isn’t exactly conducive to sleeping.

The operating room encompasses so much space in nursing. Goodness knows that the department encompasses a pretty big majority of the operating revenue. Goodness knows that running an OR is a very very very very costless enterprise. Never mind the human capital, the outlay for supplies and equipment is immense.

That being said, conferences are important. Not only to meet the people who are like minded and that you have loads in common with, but also to share experiences across the board.

Did I have fun at the conference? Sure. For a value of fun.

Was the conference exhausting? You bet. I suffered a fall at work just over two weeks ago and my left lower leg, knee to toes, is such pretty colors and shades of purple. The hotel was half a mile from the convention center and I walked it every day. Well, I limped it.

Except the morning it was raining too hard to contemplate it. This was also the day I was to do a poster presentation of my pilot study that I completed last year. The one about the pre-Wheels out behaviors of the operating room. So I had makeup on.

Every night I peeled off the compression socks and elevated my foot/leg. But the pain was worth it for the opportunity to present my own research and talk with the chapter that I belong to in the organization.

I made sure that my carry-on was mostly empty. Because conferences give out a lot of swag. By that I mean that conferences give away paperwork and pamphlets about their products. There is also a certain amount of toys and soft things that are given out. I don’t collect a lot of the pens that these companies give out but I pick up a few to give away to my coworkers.

The majority of what I bring back is education that I learned. I get to impart to my coworkers the latest and the greatest of nursing knowledge.

I also collected many colleges so that I can curate a binder for shared governance and to share it with, again, my coworkers.

The thing about conferences is that you are at the mercy of the weather in the host city. We were in Boston and it rained every danged day except for the day we arrived. That day was beautiful and showed off the city well.

FFS Friday 1/10/2025- Freaking Snow

Everyone I know is glued to their radar as they anticipate or dread the coming storm. It was less than a week ago that we were anticipating, or not, snow, in North Carolina. Turns out it was just cold then.

And it has been cold ever since.

It seems that people come down on one of two sides of snow anticipation or snow dread. You either love everything about snow, or you don’t. You either love all the little touches that snow brings such as hot cocoa, closed schools, or holing up in your warm house in your warmest clothes. Or you hate all the little touches that snow brings such as ice dams on the roof, or icy roads, or icy cars that won’t start because it is too cold.

Yes, I am on the anti-side when it comes to snow. I mean it’s pretty to look at but I don’t like to be out in it. I especially don’t like how other drivers react to snow. The thing about North Carolina is that less than 2% of drivers know how to drive in the snow. Others go too fast or drive down the center of the street because they can’t see the markings on the road.

On the healthcare side, patients ALWAYS make it in when there is snow or ice. I have spent more nights at the hospital because of the threat of inclement weather than I care to.

It all comes down to having good processes around snow. I prep my car with a sheet over the windshield and prop up the windshield wipers so that they don’t freeze to the windshield. When we get snow/ice that makes getting out of our neighborhood difficult (we have a steep hill) I park at the park and ride just outside of the neighborhood entrance. I haven’t had to for a couple of years as there has been minimal snow and ice and I also don’t work every day like I used to. I make sure that the cold winter gear is out of the coat closet and ready to use.

And, as always when I drive in the snow, I take it slow and don’t make any sudden movements or sudden braking. I am always watching other drivers and am prepared for evasive action at all times.

Driving in snow and on ice is a lot like handling a wild animal. Slow deliberate movements, don’t make any sudden movements in case you end up in a ditch. When I was at Creighton University we used to make fun of the drivers that ended up in ditches or the ones that we knew were going too fast and got themselves into trouble.

If you need me, I’ll be at home because I am off during these snow days.

Snow. It looks pretty but I don’t like to drive in it because of other drivers.