Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Night from HELL-don't read if you have a weak tummy...graphic description of a night in the life of a nurse...

I had a very difficult night at work...it started with floating to surgical...not so bad in itself, but first I had to bump the ICU RN that was already getting report. She wasn't too happy about that, but she got to go back to her home deptment. Then i'm going along, getting things done, and there was a whole bunch of orders on one patient that needed finishing up. OK,,, that's fine too. I had just gotten all the meds given and was hanging the TPN in one room when I'm told-here's an admit!  At this point it is a little after 9pm and I hadn't had a break. That's ok...still plenty of time. But no...I am doing the admit and am told I have to go back to ACU at 11pm. This means the whole group that I spent time getting to know and the admit, all have to be given to another RN. Then I go back up to ACU and take on a whole new group. So I must give report on the ones I have, and then get my new ones, meanwhile, the off going RN is waiting to go home.
So now I'm on ACU, the patients are asking for pain meds, and I'm making rounds on the new ones...it takes time to get organized, and I've had to do this twice now. Of course...NO BREAK! OK, so I'm settling in again, and got my assessments done, and the NAC pokes her head out of a room and says Mary I need help now! UH OH! The patient in the room had vomited blood all over the floor...NOT GOOD!!!! This person had Esophageal Varices banded awhile ago, so vomiting blood is really not a good thing!!! He also had bloody stool...
Well, I called the on-call provider and luckily, she is one who is very helpful and collaborative with the staff RN's. We had a whole boatload of new orders, and I'm one on one with this guy...even though I have 3 other patients, 2 of whom are on bed alarms because they can't remember to call for help and are fall risks. I had the charge RN, the NAC, and one other RN who came back to help, but I'm running!!! The patient who vomited the blood had to have a NS bolus, Vitamin K iv, and a Protonix drip all started right away, and also several labs drawn. He had a PICC line, so I could get those labs drawn as quickly as they were put in. Then, we found his Hgb was dropping a point every hour, so started FFP's and PRBC's. We were going to transfer him to ICU...the patient refused! His blood pressure was dropping and he needed more than we could give him, but he stated he did not want to be in ICU and be intubated again...don't know that it would have gotten to that point, but who knows? Well, the lovely on call provider came in and talked to the patient about being a DNR because at that point he was a full code. He agreed to recieve blood products and other meds, but no ICU and intubation.
All night...no breaks...12 hours. There's alot of details, and I must say, without the charge helping with the blood and documentation for that, I might still be there!!!
I called off sick tonight...I couldn't do it again...I might be getting to old for all of this!!!

Monday, August 5, 2013

DWM and other things

Hi All! Been awhile! Here's a couple things I've been doing:
These are my first 2 blocks of the new exchange I joined called POTC-Patchwork of the Crosses. They are timeconsuming blocks, but I love the results! Hopefully more later!

This is on my design wall...it's an order for a friend. She wanted a masculine quilt for her SO with an animal theme, so here are the blocks ready to sew together. VERY simple pattern! Just 3.5 inch squares sewn in 4 patches, and a 2.5 inch border around each block, easy! I like the manly look, and I plan a dark border, probably with the brownish/orange leaf print.

Haven't finished anything for awhile, so I will look forward to having this one on the frame!

Saturday, June 8, 2013

My Son Got Married!

Here's what my family has been doing this week! My son Matt married his soulmate Ashley!!! It was the most beautiful wedding I have ever been to...course I could be slightly biased! LOL! Quilting got put on hold for awhile!


This is them in front of the Bozarth Mansion where the ceremony and reception were held with Matt's other pride and joy... the Cobra Mustang!
And here is them at the end of the ceremony lighting the Unity Candle...a much loved tradition in out family!

It was so beautiful and I will hold it dear to my heart forever! They are such a special couple and Ashley is so good for Matt and vice versa! Thanks God they found one another!

God Bless
Mary

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Wednesday AM Chuckle

I sat and laughed til I cried at this photo!!!

Enjoy!
Mary

Monday, April 15, 2013

DWM, and Wow!

As in wow it has been a long time since I posted! Gosh where is this year going? Well, I am making some progress, but it seems very slow. I finished my Carol Doak BOM and love it, although if I had to do it over, I might have chosen a much less busy background fabric. But here it is and the backing is made, just waiting to finish some other things befor it goes on the frame....might be awhile!

 Below is my current DWM project. This is from Bonnie Hunter's book-Adventures with Leaders and Enders. Since mid-year last year, this has been my L&E project. Early this year the blocks graduated to being a full-fledged project, and I finished them yesterday. I laid out the blocks and sashing, chose border fabrics, and now am putting the center together today. I still have about 300 border units to put together, so part of this project will still be an L&E for awhile. I love making quilts this way! It's amazing what can be done just a few pieces at a time.


So that's my current project...or one of them! I have a couple others, and have more to start, but this is my focus for today!

Link up here for more Design Wall Monday posts with Judy's blog!

God bless
Mary

Monday, January 21, 2013

DWM. Easy Street Today!

 Here's my Easy Street still on the design wall and waiting to be put together! My work week was spent doing other things, so today is the day I am going to tackle putting ES together! I decided to use just 3 by 4 on the setting, as I have a really pretty fabric I am dying to use as the border, and I'm afraid the quilt will get too big for my quilting frame! The left over blocks will get used in a small table topper.
Here's what I was working on during my work week.  Scrappy Trips Around the World by Bonnie Hunter! I have 20 blocks made and I'm going to make 4 more for a 24 block quilt. At some point it will be finished for a charity quilt. These blocks are so addictive to make! I might just have to make another one!
And here is my long-term project from the book Sylvia's Bridal Sampler. I am making one of each of 140 blocks in the book. Our local quilt guild in Spokane is making this one for our raffle quilt this year, but I liked it so much, I decided to make one of my own. I have 26 out of the 140...so you see what I mean about LONG-TERM!! I thought this might be a wedding gift for Matt and Ashley (my son is getting married in June), but I think it will end up being a first anniversary quilt!

I'm off to get a new iron today...might quit working last night, then it's ES Day!'

See other DWM posts at Judy's blog here
Have a great day!
God Bless
Mary

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Easy Street, Carol Doak BOM, and Heart Strings

 I am working on several things...too many! But I will share these 3. Heartstrings did a sew-in over New Years weekend that everyone worked on purple centered blocks. I had to work that whole weekend, but I managed to make 4 blocks. Yesterday, I managed to get almost all of the 24 blocks made for a small top to donate locally.
 Here's my Easy Street blocks-at least most of them. I can't fit them all on my little design wall. This is SUCH an amazing design! I don't know how Bonnie Hunter is able to design quilts like this! Besides this quilt, I have 2 other Bonnie designs in progress. My L&E quilt-9 In the Middle from her book Adventures with Leaders and Enders, and I am gathering strips to start a Scrappy Trips Around the World.
Below is my January BOM block from Carol Doak-another amazing designer. This quilt is set to be done in April. It was a mystery and BOM. Can't wait to see the finished product!
I couldn't link up yesterday because of photo loading issues, which a couple of wonderful quilters at quiltvillechat helped me figure out. So here is my post a day late! Have a blessed New Year and a great day!

God Bless
Mary