Saturday, November 12, 2011

Times when I really don't like my job

There are times in any job when you really don't like the things you have to do or deal with. Maybe there are a few of you out there who truly love what you do and don't have bad days, I hope there are. For me, most of the time I love my job. Being able to help someone is always a nice feeling. However, with it I guess comes the other side. The watching them die. Because of the settings I have worked in prior to this job, I have been lucky enough not to deal with death as much as some. You never forget the first patient you loose, regardless of the circumstance. But tonight we had one who was on hospice pass on. It was not as hard on me as some of the others, I haven't been there long. But to sit with someone and watch them die is tough for me still. I find some comfort, however in knowing that he was not alone; two of us sat with him through his last moments of life. It is just a mixture of emotions that I don't particularly care for and I hope we have some time before we have to go there again.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Thankful

Well I have survived my first couple of shifts "on my own" at work. I am grateful and thankful that those that I work with are easy to get along with, after all I went through with the last job, it really means a lot. Also, Mighty had his follow up appointment at the vet and she told us that because his improvement was so drastic, we will "write this off as an infection"!! We went from thinking we were going to loose another pet before the end of the year to having one who it seems feels much better than he has for a while.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

The first week

I have now worked 5 full days at my new job and so far so good. I am always a bit reserved when I start a new job, I don't much care for change. So far I have had mostly positive experiences which is good in a setting such as this. I have never been a fan of long term care and have a ton of respect for those who can do it. However, I must say that it is possible (ok, likely) that what I am basing my opinion on, the experiences I have had, are not the norm. This, I am glad to learn. As a new employee in this facility, I have seen nothing but compassion and caring from the staff at all levels. That to me is the single most important aspect. The rest, I can deal with. Because the way things are done are so much different than what I am used to (not wrong mind you, just different), I feel like it is taking me a while to figure things out. The good part though is that those I have been working with have been great about helping out and showing me what needs to be done. So, for fear of jinxing myself, I will just say, "so far, so good". :)

Monday, October 31, 2011

Changes

So I wrote last about Mighty and that we thought he was doing better. Today his "tumor" is all but gone and he seems to be feeling better still. We have a follow up appointment set for next Monday to see what the doctor thinks but so far so good.
I have gone in for orientation for my new job, it has taken a while from when they actually offered me the job to get to this point and there was a bit of confusion along the way but I think everything is all worked out now. Tonight is my first full shift and training on the floor and I must admit I'm actually sort of excited about it. I have worked in long term care in the past but not in this capacity. It will certainly be a change from my comfort zone but so far in touring the facility everyone seems nice, so that will be a welcome change! I know that every job has its ups and downs...I'm just hoping that the downs are few and far between!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Good News!!

So I wrote last week about my dog Mighty and that we believed he had cancer. We spent a few days discussing our options and had decided we would look into chemo for him after we did some research and found that dogs tolerate it much better with often better outcomes than people do (strange isn't it). Anyway, I had been giving him antibiotics since the lump appeared, even though we were told this was not an infection. My husband had made an appointment with the vet for today to discuss the plan. I have been away this weekend and when I got home last night he told me to look at Mighty. The lump was almost gone!! Hubby had continued the antibiotics through the weekend. So we took him to the vet today and explained what I had done and they did a second biopsy. She said that while we aren't out of the woods yet, this is good news!! There is a possibility that this is just an infection. She gave us 3 weeks of antibiotics and we will see her again in 2 weeks to check things out again. I am thrilled that there is a possibility this could turn out to be good! Thanks for any positive thoughts sent our way!!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Sadness

So some of you may have read my post a few weeks back about my dog Mighty; he is one of the three dachshunds who let us live with them. Last night we noticed Mighty has a lump on his neck, I had a pretty good idea what it was, he was not showing any signs of pain...but I was hoping it was just an infection. We took him to the vet this morning and they did a biopsy...it's cancer. :( He has been through so much already it's just heartbreaking for us to go through this with him. We had to put our boy Chance down the week after Thanksgiving last year and I just can't make that decision again. They told us there is really nothing that can be done and that he has 1-5 months. He seems ok right now. I just hope he lives out his life peaceful and happy and goes to sleep some night and wakes up on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge where his "brother" is waiting.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Back to work...

Well, I got a job! Super excited that I will be back to the world of the employed! I have really sort of enjoyed my time off and in some ways I'm sure I will miss it, but having money is always nice! I actually don't know when I start yet, they are waiting on the results of the drug screen from today which they said would take a few days to get back. I was sort of surprised after they offered me the job then they said they would need to contact references and do the drug screen...seemed a little backwards to me but I won't complain!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

What's with this SRA business??

You may or may not have noticed the Self Representing Artist badge on my blog there to the right but chances are if you are involved in lampwork or jewelry making you have seen the logo many places though you may be wondering exactly what it is all about. I could go into detail about the benefits of buying from SRA artists and what that means, but I recently read another blog post with just that information so I'm just going to give you the link to go check it out yourself! It's a great blog anyway, one that I follow and you will undoubtedly find vast amounts of useful info there! ;) So to check it out, click here.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

New Stuff!

I have been working at getting new stuff listed in my Etsy shop in the past couple of weeks. I still have a box full of beads that are ready to be listed but I'm making a dent! I'm also working on my masters degree so that tends to mean LOTS of writing which I'm putting off doing at the moment because the subject is not one that interests me....
Anyway, here is my newest listing!


Friday, September 23, 2011

Castles of Courage

Many of you know that I, among other great artists, donate beads periodically to a program called Beads of Courage. It is an amazing program and I never tire of reading stories by anyone involved with it. I am always looking for new ways to make beads that I think the kids would like and while shopping the other day I came across some great little punches in designs I had not seen before. Particularly a castle. Immediately I thought of the castle nestled into a pink and purple bead, so here are my first two attempts that will go out in a box next week! :)

PS: You can also find Beads of Courage on Facebook where you will read some wonderful stories!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

It's almost here....

The new season of Grey's Anatomy! I have watched this show from the very beginning, I'm addicted. I really don't watch TV much but I make a point to watch Grey's and Private Practice. Not only do I feel the writing and acting is good, the music they use is awesome! Now with my fancy iPhone app, Shazam I can download the music I like right then! I love it!! So on Thursday night at 8pm, I will be sittin on my couch tuned in to ABC with everything else tuned out. :)

Monday, September 19, 2011

Inspiration

As far as glass is concerned, I find inspiration nearly everywhere. Trees, foods, the color of a car that goes by, the outfit someone is wearing, and animals. Having three doggies of my own, they are an endless source of inspiration (and comfort) to me so today I listed my first attempt at a dachshund bead and named it after my own doxie, Mighty. Mighty came to us as a rescue about a year and a half ago and he has been through quite a lot. Just before Thanksgiving last year, his "brother" Chance (also a rescue) blew a disk in his back. We took him to a chiropractor that also works on animals and she said our only option was surgery which may or may not work. Being a holiday weekend, the minimum was going to be $3500 for something that may not work and a 10 year old dog. We were heart broken but just couldn't afford it. Long story short, we lost him. Sometimes in doggies the paralysis will move forward and that is what happened with Chance. I still miss him every day. So what does this have to do with Mighty? Well about a month later, Mighty blew a disk in his back too. We went through the same process, vet, chiropractor etc. This time the outcome was a little brighter in that they told us for him there was hope that he might walk again. We gave him meds and since he was unable to urinate on his own, we would put a catheter in 3-4 times a day for several weeks. We took him outside with the other two with a towel holding up his hind legs so he could keep up the strength in his front and carried him up and down the stairs every day. Finally, after about 3 weeks we decided he probably wasn't going to walk again so we found a pattern on line for a wheelchair for him. He was having NO part of that! He used it for about two days before he started really trying to pull himself around on his own. It took some time but today, you can't tell there was ever anything wrong with his legs. He runs and plays right along with the other two. It's amazing how much inspiration you can find around you if you just keep your eyes open. :)

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Ready for Fall

I love this time of year! The air is getting cooler, the days are getting shorter...soon the leaves will begin to change. It's my favorite time of year! I love everything about fall, the crisp air, the warm colors, the appearance of apple cider on the shelves, and pumpkins. I LOVE PUMPKINS! I have been trying to find a way to incorporate them into my home year round, I love them that much. I have some of every shape, size, and color; mostly made of glass. Speaking of ones made of glass, here is my most recent addition to my Etsy shop, you guessed it; a sweet little pumpkin!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Moving on and beads

So on the job front, I'm jobless. Yep. Really have nothing else to say about it; just going to move on and hope that the next job will be with people I can respect and who are not so threatened by someone who is going to stand up for what is right.
Anyway, I have spent most of the day back and forth between looking for a new job and working on my Etsy shop (see the shop mini to the right). I have neglected it for sometime as well. Because of that I have a PILE of beads that need to be listed. I know that sounds like a simple process but is really isn't. First they all have to have their pictures taken at least twice. Once I do that I put them in separate little baggies so that if there are several that look similar I can make sure that the buyer gets exactly what is in the picture (unless it is a made to order listing). Once I have a good bit of them packaged up this way, I get the pictures loaded into my computer. From here on out is my least favorite part of the process! I have several different places I use for photo editing, but I will be honest, I really don't know much about it. My main goal is to make the subject look as much like it does in real life as possible. Sometimes that isn't exactly easy. Once the photos are finished, then it's time to write the description. I'm not very good at that part either, but alas, it must be done. I always write my descriptions in Word fist one, to make sure I don't lose it and two because it has spell check! ;) When this is done, it is finally time to actually list the bead. This process takes some time but it is worth every step of the process when someone stumbles across something I have made and "hearts" it, or better yet buys it! If you haven't already, please check out my shop and let me know what you think!
Here is a pic of my most recent listing.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Horrible Bosses

No, not the movie...real ones! I realize it has been forever since I have posted here; I'm going to try and get better at that. I tend to have a lot on my plate and certain things I enjoy suffer for that. Anyway, back to the title of the post. Ever had one of those horrible bosses? One that always has to be right and is so intimidated by the thought of someone else stealing their thunder that they truly can't see another persons point of view? I have one. Well, I guess I should say had one. If you have read any of my previous posts you know that "by day" I am a nurse. This is my livelihood and I take it very seriously. I love what I do and I'm good at it. Am I wrong? Do I make mistakes? Of course! We all do, right? Nope, not my boss. NEVER. I had a discussion with her last week regarding a policy on a particular class of medications. The policy stated essentially"will not administer (medication)..." I thought that was pretty clear. So when she asked me to see a patient for whom I would be administering said class of medications, I explained to her why I was uncomfortable with that. She did find a policy that was newer that said it was allowable, so I made the visit and it was not discussed further. Until I was suspended. Yep, that's right; suspended. For arguing with her. Um, hello??? I was trying to have a civilized discussion about something that I felt would put my licence, and therefore my livelihood in jeopardy. In said write up, there are numerous false allegations on her part (the argument about the policy was not all that was included). Unfortunately for her, I have been concerned about her ethics for some time and have kept notes and copies of messages sent. Because of this, I have proof in most instances that she is lying. Will it do any good? I don't know. But I can tell you, I won't go down without a fight!
Ever had one of those horrible bosses? What did you do about it?

My Etsy Mini