New Job Deets!

Hello everyone,

I first of all, want to say that I am SO glad that Mom, Dad, Colby, Marie, and the kids came up to Utah for Christmas.  It was so much fun!  I really enjoyed spending time with everyone.  Connor has been so irritated that he has no one but Mommy to play with when he wakes up in the morning.  I think he really liked seeing his Gramma first thing in the morning.  :)

So yesterday I had my first REAL day on the job.  I worked my first 12 hour shift.  It was AWESOME!  I get to do all of the dirty work (yes, I change diapers and have to give sponge baths) but I also get to do glucose readings, and help settle the patients that come back from having surgery.  I will do blood draws from the lines that they already have in their arms. I will also do some clerical work.  It should be pretty great.

I am super excited to get more experience and do things on my own.  Right now I have a trainer with me at all times, I'm grateful for that.  My boss is probably the nicest person that I have ever met.  She practically never goes home.  She stays as long as the unit needs her, which is pretty much 24-7.  It's a new unit, so they are still working out all the kinks.  She told me while I am training that I can just let her know what days I want to work and to just come in on those days.  So for right now it's super flexible.   A lot of the other HCA's go to school, so I will get to have my schedule for the whole semester, which is great because I sign up for what I want.

I'm hoping that with time, they will feel that they can give me more responsibilities.  It was so difficult to be away from Connor for that long and this job will be a sacrifice, but I felt like I was meant to be there yesterday.

Here are a few things I learned yesterday:
1) GET YOUR FLU SHOT- Just get it.  Get it for yourself, make your kids get it, make your spouse get it.  People die because of it.  I always knew people die from the flu, but it all of a sudden became real for me yesterday. (no, no one died when I was there)
2) DONT GET DIABETES - Please, please, please don't let yourself get diabetes. It is totally preventable and totally manageable (with exercise, not overeating, and watching your sugar intake- I really need to work on this)  Patients who have diabetes have a harder time recovering and getting back to normal.
3) DONT COME TO THE ICU!!- if you can avoid it (generally, you can with preventable measures)  take care of them before it's too late.  Sounds kind of negative, but you seriously don't want to have to be there- chest tubes and being intubated are not a fun time - from what I understand, you only go to the ICU if you are REALLY REALLY sick or if you are recovering from a major surgery, so don't come in.

That's that.  Love you all! Make healthy choices!