Caitlin.

seedless_grapes @ 2009-08-09T15:22:00

2009-08-09T19:26:42Z

Sometimes I think that I have the most retarded job ever, but then I remember that if my job wasn't really draining and frustrating, I probably would not make enough to be able to afford my lifestyle whilst only working two or three days a week. I guess it's not all THAT bad.

I've been making an effort to be more creative, and do more creative things, which in turn has made me happier. I think that it has also resulted in me being sort of a slob.

I kind of want to make a Tumblr.

seedless_grapes @ 2009-07-21T11:47:00

2009-07-21T15:48:30Z

"and I'm not my body, or how I choose to destroy it."

seedless_grapes @ 2009-06-09T23:13:00

2009-06-10T03:14:43Z

I love that I'm constantly looking out my windows. I feel like I've crawled out of a cave, and now I'm climbing.

seedless_grapes @ 2009-04-12T13:34:00

2009-04-12T17:56:34Z

I'm an RN now. I passed my boards with the minimum number of questions. Go me.

Not going home for Easter. I worked a twelve-hour overnight last night and go back again tonight, so it would just be a hassle and I would tire myself out if I drove all the way to my parents' and back.

If I had an extra $1,075 lying around, I would buy these:

seedless_grapes @ 2009-04-09T05:24:00

2009-04-09T09:24:59Z

Ohhh my god. I'm about to go take NCLEX.

seedless_grapes @ 2009-03-16T22:59:00

2009-03-17T03:00:06Z

Mmmmm I bought marc by marc jacobs flats.

HAHA:

2009-03-09T18:36:49Z

"Nurse Allison" funneling a black Sparks.

Heavenly.

2009-03-05T05:32:37Z

and

Fage with fruit tastes like cheesecake, and the new TLC flavors taste like pie.

seedless_grapes @ 2009-03-04T20:27:00

2009-03-05T01:52:10Z

Last night, I worked my first twelve-hour night shift. From now on, my full-time schedule will consist of three twelve-hour shifts a week, including one weekend per month. Working from 6:30PM until 7AM really isn't as bad as it sounds. The night moves along pretty quickly and there's usually always something to do. The hospital is much more peaceful at night; there are no visiting hours and doctors don't do rounds until the morning. There's more charting to do, since the night nurses are responsible for getting the next day's flow sheets all set, but there's a fair amount of time after 1 am where you can sit down and chart while most of your patients are asleep. I ended up getting home around 7:15 AM, and was able to sleep comfortably until 3 pm with a bandana around my eyes. I need to buy a dark curtain for my bedroom, and earplugs.

Today, I finished Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill. I would highly recommend this novel. It's the story of Baby, a twelve-year old daughter of a heroin addict widower. The novel is written in first-person through Baby's eyes, and provides an insightful account of what it is like to be a poverty-stricken child exposed to sex and drugs well before her time. What struck me the most about O'Neill's writing is the way in which she was able to speak with such child-like innocence about subjects that no child should be exposed to. Beautiful.

seedless_grapes @ 2009-02-14T21:02:00

2009-02-15T02:16:13Z

I received no Valentines, but I had a lovely patient today. He had a bedsore so deep that you could see his muscles. As I was changing the bandages on his bedsore, he had an attack of diarrhea so powerful that it sprayed all over me AND the wall. Luckily, I was wearing isolation gear. Honestly though, I do like my job so far. I don't get pooped on every day, and I'm learning a lot.

Update

2009-01-14T01:25:12Z

So I'm about a week and a half into my new job at Millard Fillmore Gates. The Orientation is crazy long and involved. I've worked almost 60 hours so far, and haven't even stepped onto my floor. I've just been taking in a lot of information and practicing everything from programming IV pumps to tying people to chairs. Tomorrow is my last day of general orientation, and then I will start precepting on my floor. I've yet to meet my preceptor but have been told she's very kind, so hopefully that all works out because I'm going to be spending a lot of time with her. Since my floor is a specialized telemetry and neuro intervention unit, I'm going to be paid to take extra classes in cardiac, respiratory and neurological assessment. I'm also going to have special "learning days" where instead of working, I'll get to watch open heart surgeries and special neuro procedures. I cannot wait to see open heart. I mean, it was cool to watch a C-section that one time but it will be way cooler to see the inside of someone's chest cavity.

The responsibility and legal accountability involved with my job is a bit scary, but I really feel that Kaleida is doing a pretty good job of making me feel comfortable and making sure I know everything that I need to. My wages and benefits make it pretty much worth it as well. (My health insurance is only costing me $24 a month!) They claim that the entire cost of training a new nurse is somewhere around $80,000, and with everything Ive been sitting through this past week, and all of the hours of precepting that have yet to come, I would believe it.

In other news, I had strep throat last week, and that sucked. I was on antibiotics and for the first time ever, experienced really nasty side effects from them. The antibiotics made me extremely nauseous, gave me nightmares, and made my face break out. Glad that's over with...

I guess that is everything new and exciting in my life...

seedless_grapes @ 2009-01-02T21:44:00

2009-01-03T02:45:23Z

I just ordered this print:

Perfect. Now I just need to find a good frame.

seedless_grapes @ 2009-01-01T21:45:00

2009-01-02T02:59:55Z

Happy New Year.

I went to Toronto for New Year's Eve. It was okay, but could have been a lot better.

I'm hoping that 2009 will prove to be a much better year than 2008. It's starting off better, I think. This week I will be starting my nursing job at Millard Fillmore Gates. I also have an appointment that will hopefully help certain issues in my life change toward the better. 2008 pretty much blew, though.

Dealing with all of my stuff at Gates has been so strange. The fact that I am starting what would be considered my "career" is sinking in very very slowly. A few days ago, I had to stop by the hospital to drop off some paperwork and thought about how strange it was to consider the fact that I now have a set of very specialized skills and knowledge that people are willing to pay me to use. Strange, and a bit intimidating at the same time. Can I do this? I feel so young compared to many of the other nurses.

seedless_grapes @ 2008-12-22T14:39:00

2008-12-22T19:40:56Z

PS- I just ordered leopard print and zebra print scrub tops! I ordered sky blue pants to go with the leopard and fuchsia pants to go with the zebra. I'm gonna be so stylin'! haha

seedless_grapes @ 2008-12-22T09:09:00

2008-12-22T14:37:17Z

So I did my part: I woke up early, shoveled my car out from its spot on one side of the road, and shoveled it into another spot on the other side. The city of Buffalo had better come plow my street now. This is getting ridiculous!

I haven't updated much lately because all Ive been doing is being sick and miserable. Doctors, doctors, doctorssss.

I did, however, manage to clean and rearrange my bedroom. It's so peaceful now.

When I haven't been too weak the past few weeks, I've had time to do things I haven't been able to in months without feeling guilty. I've read novels, went out to lunch with friends, sewn. It's nice being a college graduate. I do, however, start my new job soon. I'm pretty nervous about that...

seedless_grapes @ 2008-11-28T22:03:00

2008-11-29T03:23:20Z

Conversations between my 11-year-old sister and I:

"Caity, do you think you could get me into a bar?"
"No, Erin, not really. I don't think that a bar would serve you."
"What if you got me a fake ID and a fancy outfit from the mall?"
"I still don't think you would get in."
"Okay, what if I snuck in between you and Alex."
"You would get kicked out."
"BUT I JUST WANNA GET DRUNK!"
"Wait until you're fifteen, at least."
Yelling, to my dad, "Hey dad! Caity says she'll take me to a bar when I turn 15!"

Later that night:
Her: "Oh, my god. Carolyn and Alex are under a blanket together on the couch out there."
Me: "What if they're holding hands?!"
Her: "WHAT IF THEY'RE HOLDING BUTTS?!?!?!!"

This one was via text messages, with her using my other sister's phone:
"Hi Caity how many boys have you kissed?"
"About 7,512"
"oh my god are you joking????"
"Yes. It's actually way more."
"omg!"

I swear she is going to be one of the funniest people around when she's a little older. The way she picks up on when I'm joking about things and just goes along with it is hilarious. She volunteers once a week at the library, for something to do, and constantly takes breaks while she's there to email my mom about the "mean old lady" librarians.

seedless_grapes @ 2008-11-27T12:13:00

2008-11-27T17:14:46Z

Yesterday, I forgot my social security number. Wtf??

Happy Thanksgiving to anyone that gets excited about that kind of stuff.

seedless_grapes @ 2008-11-22T17:21:00

2008-11-22T22:40:53Z

Today, as I was cashing out a customer at work, I looked up to notice a woman that was ordering takeout snapping a photograph of me with her phone in a totally non-discreet manner. Apparently, she was taking a photograph of my hair to show her hairdresser. I'm sorry, but isn't that the sort of thing you ask permission to do?

VENT.

2008-10-20T17:14:38Z

I am so sick of my parents and their bullshit. It's BEAUTIFUL when you're in the middle of writing the longest paper ever to be due tomorrow and your father calls in an episode of selfishness to tell you about the latest developments in your parents' divorce proceedings. FUCK. Just let me finish college! I was finally starting to level out emotionally and feel happy again after the last time I had to tell them to leave me alone and let me live my life, and they have to wait until the heaviest week school-wise to spring all this nonsense on me again. As much as I love my family, I'm trying to make things happen for myself right now and cannot deal with hearing the play by play of my parents' endless and childish fighting. UGHH.

It's no wonder I don't have a boyfriend. I have way too many other people dumping THEIR relationship problems on me all the time.

seedless_grapes @ 2008-10-15T11:06:00

2008-10-15T15:33:08Z

Ran 5k without stopping today! I am so proud. In July, I couldn't run more than a block or two without walking one. Before July, I had never run more than a quarter mile in my life without stopping. I was a very inactive teenager; I had social anxiety disorder and it kept me from participating in gym class/ organized sports. So right now, even though I have HOURS of homework on my plate, and have to be in ECMC's burn unit from 5-11 tonight, I am very happy.

In other news, I have PMS really badly right now and have been in full bitch mode. I'm getting better at recognizing when I'm irritable and telling myself to bite my tongue and that the feelings will pass, but I still sometimes say really nasty things to people that I later regret. What's funny is that people that don't know me well always say things like, "I could never picture you being mean.", "I couldn't imagine you angry." or, "I never see you not smiling." It's true that I'm usually more upbeat than the general public when I'm out and about, but sometimes, I can be just plain nasty. I suppose I'm more passive aggressive than anything else, but often times I think passive aggressiveness can bother people more than being straight-up bitchy.

I feel like half of my livejournal entries just scream "TOO MUCH INFORMATION!" but, whatever. You people don't HAVE to read them.

seedless_grapes @ 2008-10-11T09:36:00

2008-10-11T13:42:33Z

Children in third world countries are dying today because I ate half the world's food supply last night.

Allie, Tess and I also decided to go into the Buckin' Buffalo and ride the mechanical bull. It was amazing.

I'm afraid that I will never relinquish my title of "the girl from the falafel bar".

Last night at Colter Bay I was girl-from-the-falafel-bar-ed three times and then could hear some guy at another table saying, "Look, there's the waitress from falafel bar!" and pointing at me. I'm anticipating a day when I walk into a patient's room all, "Hi, I'm Caitlin, I'm your nurse tonight." and they reply, "No you're not, you're the girl from the falafel bar!"

Dork.

2008-10-02T03:34:50Z

As a nursing student, I am often asked (by males) what I wear at school. Most people don't realize that the uniforms that they make nursing students wear are hideous and unflattering. Every once in a while, though, I get to do something special that requires me to wear hospital-issue scrubs, which make me look cute and smart. (i.e. observing in an operating room or as in this case, shadowing in the ICU.)

Like Elliot, from Scrubs:

Or Izzy, in Gray's Anatomy:

Okay okay, that second one's a long shot, but you can't kill a girl for daydreaming! I DID get hit on by a cute, young doctor in my medical scrubs, which is a very good thing because it means that my master plan is becoming more achievable. If you didn't know, my master plan involves getting a job as a nurse and then seducing and marrying a cute young doctor or resident. Not only would the money be ideal, but I would also be married to a man whose job requires tons of time and energy, meaning he wouldn't be at home bothering me too much. I'm going to shut up while I'm ahead here...

seedless_grapes @ 2008-09-20T01:11:00

2008-09-20T05:26:03Z

Bry Lin was so much fun! Mental hospitals are not one bit as scary or weird as tv and movies make them out to be. In psych nursing, you're encouraged to interact with the patients a lot more to establish trust and rapport. It's a lot different than nursing in a med/surg setting. I think that psychiatric nursing is something that I would definitely consider in the future. I'd just need to get about six months of med/surg experience in first so I can gain skills in assessing and intervening. Another option I'd consider after my 6 months of med/surg is travel nursing. Travel nurses not only get paid more than staff nurses, but whatever agency you work for will pay you housing expenses and cost of travel. I could go for a position in New York City and it would be absolutely perfect. Maybe I could even be a traveling psych nurse?

seedless_grapes @ 2008-09-18T20:13:00

2008-09-19T00:29:31Z

Today, as I was walking from my rented west side apartment to my dented up 2001 Nissan, the punkest eighteen-year-old I've ever seen rode by on his trendy fixed-gear and yelled, "Your money sucks!!" at me. It was pretty amusing. Too bad I've worked for every cent I spend, and will soon be making my money by caring for his sick friends and loved ones. How un-punk of me! I guess the only money that's okay is his mommy's money that bought him his sweet bike and record collection.

In other news, I'm loving clinicals at Roswell so far. It's really scary and stressful, but I am learning so much and seeing so many cool things. They're letting us on our own more this semester and giving us more than one patient at once, so I'm getting good practice for real-world nursing. I'm going to Bry Lin tomorrow, which I'm excited about, and next week I'll be spending two days in the Dialysis clinic at ECMC. I cut one of my shifts at work in order to have more time for school and studying, which, although I'll have less money for a few months, is helping me a lot. I've been so dedicated to studying and really putting an effort into keeping on top of my schoolwork, and it's saving me a lot of stress.

Optimism.

2008-09-10T20:05:18Z

More clinicals at Roswell tonight. It's a beautiful hospital and the nurses there are very kind and helpful, but it's exhausting having to be there until 11 pm. I'm getting great experience, though. Oncology patients tend to have more interesting problems and require more nursing skills than patients I've had previous semesters. I also get to spend days at ECMC in the Burn unit and the Dialysis unit, which I am very excited about, as I have never cared for a burn patient or seen dialysis take place. I will also be spending two days in the ICU at Roswell, which should be a valuable experience as I could see myself interested in becoming an ICU nurse one day.

My rotation at Bry Lin starts next week. Busy busy.

Yesterday I went to Gates and met with a nurse recruiter. It was practically like a job interview. She told me that I could apply for nursing positions now, shadow for a few days to make sure I like it, and then ensure myself a position for December. She went over what benefits I would be getting as well as how much I would be paid. I'm not going to be modest here, and just say that when I heard the starting salary for a graduate nurse there, I had a hard time keeping a serious face. There's a sign-on bonus too, of course. It's crazy to think that in three months I'll be one well-off, 22 year old, single, childless ladyyyy. I'll be livin' the life! Only 88 more busy days until my final nursing exam!