RE:Connect

Taking Care of Yourself

Something I have been learning how to deal with lately is how to find time to care for myself and my body. My crazy schedule thus far has been switching back and forth between and day shift and night shift. I have just recently transitioned to working just night shift now. I will work nights until there is a day shift opening. The wait for day shift is around two years. Usually I sleep until around 3 pm and I wake up a cook a good dinner for myself. Then I pack a lunch of cereal, fruit, yogurt and sometimes a peanut butter sandwich. I eat "lunch" around 2 am. Usually when I get off work in the morning I am too tired and too nauseated to eat, so I go straight to bed around 9 am. Then I do the whole thing over again. So I really only get two meals during the day. My body has definitely seen the consequences of this lifestyle. I have lost a little bit of weight and am lacking in energy most days. I know I would feel better if I was eating more meals and exercising more than just taking my dog on a walk . I just can not fathom how I could muster up the energy to go to the gym or go running, when my body is already so tired. I try to make nutritious dinners before I go to work, but it just does not seem to be enough. I am wondering if anyone out there has some good advice on taking care of myself while having to work nights.

Get Ready for LIVESTRONG Day

This Friday, October 2, 2009, is LIVESTRONG Day, and according to the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF), "LIVESTRONG Day is the LAF’s one-day initiative to unite people affected by cancer in raising awareness of cancer issues on a global level and in communities across the country."

I'm hosting a simple "Wear Yellow Day" and small celebration at my worksite. It's not too late for you to get involved, either. You can participate in one of three ways. Give it a go. Nurses can represent this day well. What are you planning?

Patrick Swayze's fight....

The death of Patrick Swayze this week will bring some much needed attention to Pancreatic cancer.  He fought galiantly, but the awful statistics about survival.  Very little research is underway.  We must give props to the PanCAN (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network) and support them in the efforts to increase awareness and funding for clinical trials.

I love being a part of the New York ONS Local Chapter

Last night the New York ONS Local Chapter held one of our dinner meetings.  After a long day at work I was looking forward to sitting down and enjoying a good meal and catching up with some of my colleagues while learning something new from the speaker.  I sat next to nurses that I used to work with on a daily basis but now only see occassionally and briefly.  Needless to say there was lots of catching up to do and plenty of laughs to go around.  I forgot how funny Ann, Sarah & Denise are :-)

The speaker was great, she worked for a reproductive medicine practice and presented "Fertility Preservation: A Nursing Perspective".  As an oncology nurse I enjoyed her presentation because it was very informative and discussed the various options our patients have to conceive.  This is one area I believe oncology healthcare providers have yet to master.  We need to do a better job at assessing and meeting the fertility needs of all our oncology patients.

A member of the ONS Foundation spoke to us briefly about the various opportunities for oncology nurses to receive financial assistance for professional activities.  She encouraged each of us to make a donation to the foundation.  I made my donation in honor of one of my past patients that recently passed away.  His wife will receive notification that I made the donation in his honor and I know she will be pleased that I still think of him 3 years after being his chemotherapy nurse.

Elections will be held soon for the ONS Local offices and I was brave and nominated myself to hold the office of Secretary.....wish me luck. 

All in all it was an excellent nite, and I feel so proud to be a member of the chapter and encourage you to participate in your own local chapter.  The networking, professional development and learning oppurtunities are endless............and FUN.

Tell me something about one of your memorable chapter experiences?  

Stories and Struggles of Nursing

One very neat thing about writing this blog is that no matter what specialty you work in, we can all relate to each others stories and struggles of nursing. This week I admitted a chronic patient who had been treated for the last 22 years for osteopetrosis. This disorder is quite rare and is where the bones harden and become more dense causing them to be very brittle. The patient required a bone marrow transplant at age 10 and was transfused for the rest of his life. The patient was admitted to the PICU for altered mental status after going to the OR to have a left hip wound debrided. The patient had been on multiple broad spectrum antibiotics for weeks and was not responding to treatment. After the patient was admitted to my unit, his left hip wound would not stop bleeding. The site bled copiously for 12 hours straight. It was as if it was my mission to make the bleeding stop and believe me I was ecstatic when it finally stopped!

The second day I cared for the patient was much more difficult than the first. I saw a change in him mentally. He was deteriorating before my eyes yet he could still carry on a conversation. He asked me "why do all the doctors talk over me and not to me." That same day our entire PICU team and every other team involved in his care met to have a care conference to discuss the plan for the patient. After an hour and half, I finally understood this patient. This patient had an extensive social history with his aunt being his durable power of attorney. The main point of this care conference was that there was nothing more the team could do for this patient. He had a lethal infection that was not responding to treatment, severe ascites impeding his ability to breathe, he was in liver and kidney failure and was on his way to getting intubated which he made clear he did not want. This patient taught me a lot about myself. He showed me that I truly am a nurse who cares, because I was not going to sit by and have the patient's needs and requests go unnoticed. I made it a point to have someone watch my patient so I could attend the care conference to advocate for his needs. I made it a point to do everything in my power to help the patient mentally, physically and emotionally. I never stopped trying to make the patient comfortable. He passed away the next morning. I am sort of glad I was not at work because I think I would have lost it. I know I will never forget his sweet spirit. I am just relieved he is no longer in pain. I don't think it will ever get easier to lose patients you have cared for, you just have to believe that you are doing your best to make the last days of their life a little easier.

Senator Ted Kennedy: A Voice for Us All

Senator Kennedy used his voice, power, and prestige to change the health of millions. Check out the recent ONS Connect to learn about others bringing attention to cancer.

I just couldn't resist linking to Kathy LaTour's blog post, "The Cancer Community Will Miss You, Teddy." Kathy LaTour is the Editor-at-Large of CURE Magaine, and she's right. Indeed, we will miss you, Teddy.

Be Aware! September is...

...a busy month! It's actually National Prostate Awareness Month, Gynecological Cancer Awareness Month, Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, Leukemia & Lymphoma Awareness Month, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month aaaaand Pain Awareness Month. Yep. I think that covers it. Soooo that just about captures all of us in the nursing profession. Here are a few of my favorite (perhaps lesser known) orgs that bring awareness to some of these important issues. Check 'em out:

Pints for Prostates - uses the international language of beer to raise awareness of prostate cancer

Teal Toes - raising ovarian cancer awareness via toenail polish

Tamika and Friends, Inc.- raising awareness about HPV's link to cervical cancer

SuperSibs! - supporting siblings of children with cancer

The Max Foundation - serving the worldwide leukemia community

CureSearch - Children's Oncology Group and the National Childhood Cancer Foundation joining forces

Pain & Policy Study Group (PPSG) - find out your state's "pain grade" and what you can do to help

These great organizations are just a drop in the bucket of who's working in these areas. What are some of your favorite organizations bringing these issues to the forefront of people's attention?

A Statement a Professional Nurse Should Never Make

Recently a very close friend told me about an experience her father had while being treated in a chemotherapy unit.  Her father was receiving a drug that we consider at our institution to be moderately to highly emetogenic depending on the dose, and if given where we work he would have received both premedications and PRN antiemetics.  Apparently the institution where he is being treated does not have the same antiemetic guidelines.  They only gave him a prescription for Ativan to be taken PRN.  My friend questioned the practice and asked her father to ask the nurse if this was in fact correct or if it was an error of omission.  When asked, the nurse stated “I don’t know I just do what the doctor tells me to do”. Obviously this was very upsetting to my friends’ father but even more embarrassing to my friend and I as a colleague of ours made a statement that goes against everything we’ve been working so hard to accomplish our entire profession.  We are smart intelligent professional nurses.  Yes we carry out doctors’ orders but not without critically thinking to make sure they are safe for the patient.  We use our knowledge learned, our experiences gained and mostly importantly we do so while being compassionate and caring.  Don’t ever think that as a nurse you should do otherwise, and if you do you’re certainly shouldn’t be considered one of us.
Let me know your thoughts???