NURSE CODE W/ KAY

[nursecodekay]

So I have been absolutely horrible about continuing the blog.. I do this ALL THE TIME. I start projects and do not finish them. So this is why I am here right now. So try to revert this project #nursecodekay blog into something worth reading... Atleast Every other day I will dedicate at least fifteen mins of my time to throw a post, story, quote, etc up on my page! Please follow, comment, like and share!

[nursecodekay]

Long term care is where I ended up for the long run, oh probably about 8 years ago, 4 years into my nursing career. You learn a lot in long term care. Especially if you work in a Skilled Rehab/Nursing Home setting. When I say skilled, I’m talking Respiratory and cardiac distress, to broken bones including the neck and spine.. You learn the skills needed for survival.. Emptying of a bladder, draining of a chest tube, everything from Catherization, Peg tubes, central lines. Hell ask me and I’ll tell you Any nurse can complete a 42 patient Med pass.. that’s no big deal.. but can you run a code blue? I mean be the one single handed my starting the compressions with a crack of the chest, grasp the ambu bag (to not hyper oxygenate,) all while listening to a machine analyze a rythm for a shock.. and do this over and over again up until emergency response arrives? Oh might I add which could be anywhere from 15-25 minutes (if you’re lucky) Could you gain the adrenaline and strength to climb behind someone in bed who is gasping for air during dinner and perform a heimleck maneuver. What if this was on a 250 pound elder person who is twice you size? We do this all without time to think. They call us robots because we just act on impulse.. that’s what they say but they don’t see the assessment behind the chaos. Would you know the signs and symptoms of cardiac arrest or a vague response? Do you have what it takes to put aside all your emotions and just “get it done” so to speak..

Well, that’s what we are here for. It’s not that we’re heartless, we just know to put our heart on our sleeves after the fact. When we are able to button our shirt up, we allow the heart to rest on the sleeve for a moment. During each incident We have no choice but to allow our brains to over power our heart in any given situation. We know how to push forward when the fear tries to hold us back. We will be the reason that you see a loved one the next day and if we couldn’t, we will be the one there for you to talk to. Most of us feel guilt or failure. Most of us question what we could do differently. But truth be told, there is a power greater than us who will decide all of our success and failures. I’ve learned to accept that ..

[nursecodekay]

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest accomplishment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” --Leo Buscaglia

[nursecodekay]

So you decided to be a nurse eh?

Well Well Well, you thought this nursing things was supposed to be heroic and all huh? Think again!

Hi There, My name is Kayla, and well Ive been doing this nursing gig for damn near 13 years and sometimes it is not all it's siked up to be, especially in 2019 when Covid changed everything!!

Let's rewind to the very very beginning, back to 2010 when I first enrolled into a vocational program for my practical nursing license. Ya see, I was one of those gals who never really sat out knowing what I wanted out of life. Never knew what I was destined for. I was a 18 year old, working two full time jobs just to pay the rent, living in a female "bachelor pad" with two other gals and grew to hate it! Living with your girlfriends isn't as pleasant and "fun" as they say. Especially when you have exams every single day. Nursing school is a time when you have to dedicate your whole being to one curricular and learn every part of the human body, functions, disorders, care plans, calculations, medications, etc crammed all in a year. 2010 was the fastest, most sleepless year of my life. It wasn't until several months after graduation and my first gig that I would learn how rewarding but serious it could become...

October 2011, My first nursing job as an LPN consisted of drug/alcohol behavior health. I became a full time GPN at the time before even completing my Nclex at the end of that month. I was currently working second shift in the detox unit on a white deer run campus. I learned more about the substances your body becomes dependent on and the mental health that mind fucks you with it on a daily basis. This is controversial topic til this day but after working in the field for two years, I first handedly seen the impact chemicals play in one's life. The highest of highs to lowest of lows, from what society calls "tweekers" to what psychiatrist have diagnosed as "suicide"

I was 19, 8 Months into my first nursing gig that I was the first to respond to a critical code blue. Critical. This wasn't just some normal detox seizure or panic attack like all the others, this was when I would experience my first death experience as a young, inexperienced nurse. It was 5am, I had stayed over to work a sixteen-hour shift that night, When arriving to the scene I was immediately met by a male tech who warned me to gather myself, pull my bearings together because this scene was a "DOA" (Dead on arrival) When I walked up to the cabin, my heart dropped to my stomach so hard I immediately became nauseous. There before me was a gentleman, Approx in his later 20's, hanging by a sheet from an outside fire escape. His face was a dead cold blue and his neck was cock eyed with eye petruding. It was just like you would see in a horror movie, except this was the reality of it. A suicidal thought, ideation and plan that had successfully been carried out. I was stunned, stood dead in my own footsteps, helpless. I just stared, wondering where it all went wrong. What could or should have been done to prevent this occurrence and how did this happen? I'll be the first to tell you that my throat went numb, I couldn't speak, and my mind went completely blank. I just continued to stare in disbelief. It wasn't until one of the techs took me by the arm and motioned for me to keep it moving. I then dismissed myself to the detox unit after being advised by my supervisor that the seen needed to be assessed and I should begin interviewing other clients on the premises that knew the deceased. The investigation was going to take a good part of the morning and I knew to be prepared for questioning. But how was I to begin to investigate things of an individual I hardly knew? Other than the basics and the acquaintance at med pass, He was just another face to me. Hell, even when assessing his lifeless body, I didn't recognize the man. I had seen so many faces come and go through detox in the last 8 months I wouldn't be able to tell jim from jane. It was taught all the same to me. You treated the condition, not the person, up until then at least. As I went through the motions of the day my whole perspective changed. This was someone's son, someone's brother, maybe a child's father. There was a family out there who was now grieving loss of a loved one. That was when I realized I wouldn't be another stereotypical nurse. A condition differed from person to person, and I was going to treat this as such. I would dedicate my career into knowing each and every person I encountered and allow them to impact my way of thinking just as I had hoped to enlighten theirs. This day made me the nurse I strive to be til this day, knowing that dedication has no limits.