Corey got a new gun. He traded his old pistol for a different one. He is very happy with it. I think we will go to the gun range and shoot it tomorrow, since we are both off of work :)
Work has been same old, same old. I am not necessarily complaining about that, because I would rather it be boring than be interesting because something bad happened to a patient. Boring days are good days for the patients.
I had an orientee with me this week. I have never had one before. I've just precepted students in the past. She was at the point where she was taking a portion of our patient group by herself, so all I really had to do was check up on her and answer questions and help her with tasks so she stayed caught up. She reminded me what it was like to be a new grad. She had all the knowledge, it just takes longer when you're brand new to bring it all out at the right times. She was doing great though. And she got a lot of skill experience this week, since she had a busy little group of patients. Lots of IV starts and even dropping an NG tube. She was great and smart and I hope I get to have her assigned with me again.
Some nurses do not like having students and orientees. I like it. It's like having a friend with you all day. It's good to have someone to talk to. And it brings out the nerdy "I would be a teacher in another life" me. I love teaching. When I was the membership educator of my college sorority, it was the time of my life. I love sharing knowledge about things I am passionate about. I like to see that other people who just "like" what they are learning become passionate and love it like I do. I feel that way about my sorority and I feel that way about nursing. I also like being able to teach new graduate nurses that they actually are smart, they do know what they are doing, and they will be amazing nurses.
Some nurses (namely the ones who don't like taking students) do not possess the compassion, patience, and encouraging manner required to effectively guide new nurses into the work force. That is unfortunate. The new grads we have at our hospital are bright, caring people who need to be nurtured, not put down. I recently saw one new graduate with a preceptor who made her feel like she was completely incompetent. It was uncalled for and that nurse got a different job, which I am grateful for, because the orientee got a better preceptor. She got a preceptor who I had a lot when I first started, so I know she's in excellent hands. There was a lot of damage control to be done there.
I feel like I had a really unintended soap box speech there. Sorry, blog. You know how I can get on a tangent.
A good thing that happened this week (on Monday) was getting my hands blessed again by Sister Anita at work. I am lucky to work at a Christian hospital that adds loving and serving people like Jesus to the already compassionate, serving nature of our job as nurses. It reminds me to see people through the eyes of Jesus and realize that even the most cantankerous patient is a child of God who is in a very vulnerable part of life and needs compassionate care like anyone else. I think working for God at work makes me a better nurse. I will always carry these ideals with me no matter what organization I am getting paid by.
This has become a terribly long post.
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"say you love me"
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