My performance must have been satisfactory to the site...my agency called me at 0400 to ask if I wanted to work today.  That somewhat alleviates my concern about being able to get enough hours through them.

Me thinks I better get used to these types of calls...I've just set up the special ringtone for them.

Ah, bureaucracy

One of the positive things about orienting at the agency job site this week was that I have been too busy to even think about the results of the ultrasound.  So at least I didn't spend all week gnawing my fingernails to the quick, as I was busy dealing with highly psychotic patients.  I wanted to get inpatient work and boy, did I get it!  This place's minimum psych acuity level is stepdown.

But today is a day off, so I called the military clinic to follow-up on the test.  I was very pleasantly told that my results are in and that she will leave a message for my doctor's nurse to call me back with them.  However, she told me that the nurse has 48-72 business hours to return my call.

Translation:  unless I get exceptionally lucky today (ha!)...expect the call sometime next week.

Nothing I can do about it except now worry some more...especially since they didn't tell me, "oh, it's negative, nothing to worry about."  Instead I have to wait to talk to the nurse...and while my test result may still be negative and I just happen to be a victim of a P&P that requires only the specific nurse may discuss any test result with the patient, it's doing nothing to relieve my anxiety.

Bah.

So the first week of agency work went well.  I oriented in a place that is very high-acuity:  two stepdown/ICU level units and an emergency unit.  No real difference between the two stepdown units except their names...so I will call them Stepdown 1 and Stepdown 2.  Stepdown 1 seemed calmer than Stepdown 2, but I may have also caught Stepdown 1 on a good day...or caught Stepdown 2 on a bad day.

The ER is like a psych ICU but with more handcuffs and very short patient stays, because after 24 hours in the ER patients need a disposition:  go inpatient, get transferred or be discharged.  And there are LOTS of patients walking/being walked/being carried through the doors.  It was like working at my last facility, only there's enough staff here.

I was blessed with three great preceptors.  They all had different approaches to their work, so I learned a lot.  They also had different attitudes about the place, from "great place to work!" to "CYA at all times."  I consider all advice seriously so it was interesting to hear the different views.

Of course there were bumps in my performance--after all, I am orienting to unfamiliar turf.  But overall my preceptors had good things to say about my work, and even the supervisor told me she heard positive feedback about me, so we shall see what happens.  I don't know if the agency will me call me today to start scheduling...we'll see.  

Meanwhile, I plan to enjoy the day off and (try!) not to think about the test results.

Happy Tax Day

I have not yet received my tax refund...it was supposed to be in on the 13th. I'm going to give it a week, then I'm calling the accountant to make sure he filed. We used a tax preparation agency--we always have, and trust me, it is worth every cent and then some.

I think our case was a little overwhelming to the preparer, who was probably expecting a straightforward filing...and to be honest, he was nice but not the sharpest crayon in the box. Nice, we are, but simple we are not: we're military with time in a war zone, three separate states (I do not share my spouse's state of residency), renting a house, purchasing a house, relocation, childcare, work expenses (me) plus my attending three schools in one year (two concurrently). We always come well-prepared for these thing so we had all our receipts and everything organized to a T. It's usually a 2-3 hour process.

But it was still too much for the guy...at one point he was kicking the trash can and saying, "I can't take this!" He needed two coworkers to help him get through it.

Heh. Mental note: don't use that particular branch office next year.

My rash is now down the dry and flaking skin stage. Still stings, especially when I smile, frown and move my face in any way, shape or form. I've found that mixing some oatmeal and cold cream (whipping, not Pond's) together, then applying it as a poultice has helped relieve the redness and discomfort immensely. Plus my skin smells so buttery, almost cookie-like.

I slogged through the rest of this week's assignments for school, then started downloading next week's notes and readings. The deadline for my assessments is Wednesday so I need to work on the guinea pig...er, better half, on Tuesday, since writing the bloody things up consumes so much time and effort. Also, I should be orienting at the new facility this week but the exact dates and times are still not definite, so let me do whatever I can to stay ahead of things.

I have to say I don't like taking two nursing classes concurrently. I'm learning and (so far) doing well, but I feel like I'm still missing things from each class. I'd rather take them individually and lose myself in each class, and really get all I can out of it. But it's too late to fix that...I'm making the best of it though.

Happy Friday the 13th

Picked up my agency ID badge and nearly had my first scheduling conflict: both jobs potentially wanted me the same week! But things resolved on their own without any problems.

The rash on my face is healing: it's now down to the very dry, "burned skin" stage. Still slathering on the hydrocortisone and Boots' redness serum, while being as gentle as possible with it. I was able to get made up for the ID picture though it's obvious something was wrong with my face. It also hurt, but not as bad as it had been.

I did discover the joys of cold milk compresses...I have a date with one tonight after I finish my homework.

Bah

Ultrasound went w/o incident. They told me nothing whatsoever...I have to call my doctor in a week for the results.

Well, this is going to be a fun 7 days.

The drug and background screens came back fine. My life as an agency nurse begins. I orient at the facility next week...talk about fast.

Of course, now that I'm officially an agency nurse, I bet every single psych facility in town will start posting per-diem job opportunities, or I'll finally get a call back on the applications that I did submit several weeks ago. Oh well.

Trying to stay calm and not worry...

Patch me up with duct tape and string...

Doc: "So how is the mole doing?"

Me: "I don't know, you have it. You tell me."

Remember the mole I had removed from my face a couple of weeks ago? Benign. Woo hoo!

Unfortunately, I developed a reaction to my prescription creme, resulting in a painful, stinging rash across my chin. Doc told me to stop the creme for now, let the rash heal, apply topical hydrocortisone PRN, and when the skin is healed restart the creme but only use it once a week for a few weeks, then gradually increase the dosage.

While it's healing, I'm also to lay off the makeup, which means the rosacea is on full display. Rosacea plus rash equals...well, be thankful that this isn't a video weblog.

Moving into the TMI part...you've been warned.

OK?

OK.

Today is the ultrasound for the fibroids. It's one of the lovely "drink 32oz of water before because you need a full bladder" types, meaning I will be greatly uncomfortable all afternoon. Oh well. Got to do what I have to do...I am a little worried about it though, particularly if they look and find it's not a fibroid. But I'm trying to put that thought out of my mind for now.

It's not working. I have been thinking about it all day. The better half has picked up on my feelings--I don't discuss medical issues with him unless we have something that we have to deal with, because he never handles medical stuff well. So I'm acting like this is a routine ultrasound for a routine problem that we've handled before...or at least I think I am. But I suppose after 18 years together, he can read me a little.

The last time I had this addressed was in 2009. They did a D&C and removed the fibroids and polyps that were in there. Of course, there's no guarantee that they won't grow back because they can and often do. And they must have come back in force for my uterus to be measuring 8-10 weeks pregnant when I'm not pregnant.

*sigh*

Not much I can really do right now except go for this test, then wait for the results. And then take things from there.

Moving on to lighter topics.

The 35 Days of Terror seem to be progressing. I look at the iCal task list and knock off the assignments as they come up, and squeeze in the reading and video viewing whenever I can. The health promotion class is fun: I keep sleep logs and journals, and have committed to making one positive change for my health...in my case, eating more fruits and vegetables every day.

Today is a quiz for the assessment class, which I will do in a bit. My better half has promised to be my guinea pig for the actual assessments, and this should be fun. I'll have to resist the urge to answer all the questions for him, since I know his health history--and his family history--better than he does.