First Day of Work

What a crazy day it was yesterday! Our computer charting was down except for two workstations, so people were crabby with each other while they waited for people to finish their charting. The other computer system used for inputting orders was still running, but I'm not familiar with it at all. Plus, they were using paper charting for some things until the system came back up, which totally confused me. Other nurses were honestly pulling me aside and saying, "Please don't quit on us based on today!" I really didn't think people were being that bad...just crabby. Understandably so. Thankfully, the system was back up and running by the end of our shift, and spirits lifted.

The pace on this floor is definitely faster than any I've worked before. I'm used to 40-60 deliveries a month, and here, they deliver about 300 a month. But they've got plenty more nurses than I've ever worked with on one team. I really can't compare this to Yokosuka or Bremerton. I love that we have an actual AccuDose/Pyxis machine. No more fumbling with or searching for who has the med keys.

I did get a lot of miles in on my nursing shoes, and I'm a little surprised my heels and legs aren't sore. I owe that to good shoes and lots of walking in my off-time. I also drank plenty of water all day. I drank almost three liters in a twelve hour shift. I hope that I'll have time to do that when I'm off orientation! I'm not off orientation until 37 weeks, so at least I'll be term if I start getting dehydration contractions at work. There are a couple other pregnant nurses on other shifts and teams, all due this spring and summer. Must have been something in the water.

I'm back to work on thursday. I'm hoping that the day will not be as crazy and I can actually get the paperwork and other computer system learned.

Baby seemed to like the change in environment. At the end of our shift, when the nursing station started getting crowded and louder with the cacophony of different voices, baby started squirming and reacting to each new voice and laugh. It was cool, but also a little uncomfortable. Maybe next time I'll stand outside of the glass-enclosed station before it gets that crowded. 

Sorry for no picture in this post, I was too hungry, tired and haggard-looking after work to pause and have Aaron take a photo of me in my scrubs, but he said I looked cute. Too bad the snaps on the front of my scrub top blew open from my belly after lunch. I was kind of hoping that the medium top would still close for a couple weeks. Oh well. That's what undershirts are for.