Feeling very young in Alabama

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you had no business being there because you felt so inadequate and young and inexperienced? Where you feel like you're getting to be a part of an experience that you don't merit? That's sorta the way I feel here at this nurse educators conference in Gulf Shores, Alabama. I have to be the youngest person here. There's a 24 year old here with us from SAU but of the 6 of us, I'm the only unmarried person still working at their first nursing job. There are about 40 people here attending the conference done by Sylvia Rayfield. If you know anything about nursing, you know she's a guru in the field. For those of you that remember my AS Nursing days, she's the one that came up with that 3 day review I did in the top of Thatcher South with that book with lots of... what do you call those things where they do a word and each letter stands for something. Anyway, we had to color the pictures and go through that book to help us remember things for the NCLEX exam (what allows you to become a nurse). So I'm in this class with a lot of veteran nurses, all nursing professors so my youngness stands out big time. I can almost feel the stares. ;-) The stuff we are learning is so amazing though! Who knows when I will ever use it since I don't want to teach for awhile yet, but WOW! I've come up against the dilemma of looking at how my life will play out: career vs. motherhood (if that should ever happen). There are so many options and so much I could do!

The lady that did my NCLEX review from their company recognized me today which was kinda nice. I talked to her for awhile and she had a lot of positive things to say. The general consensus I get is "That's so wonderful that you're doing this at such a young age!" or "Wow! You're only 22 and partway through a masters?" To which I think... that's what happens if you go straight through... These women have it so much harder than I do; trying to run a family and take care of kids while they go to school too. I really have nothing to complain about.

We're at The Beach Club in Gulf Shores, AL. Big huge skyrises with condos in them. We're in a 3 bedroom one. I'm sharing a king size bed, how amazingly big it is! Last night we went to a local restaurant where the "all you can eat" part of the meal is fried potatoes (to DIE for!), black eyed peas, okra, and macaroni & tomatoes. They all wear overalls and a big tall black man comes out and throws rolls to everybody. The kids love it, all standing up with their hands in the air. (I can definitely see Carrie working at that job. She would love to get paid to throw food and with her accuracy, they would want to keep her forever!) We spent some time in the ocean today and there are several pools here. It's rained here a lot today, hopefully it will hold off.

On the verge of comatose?

This week hasn't been as busy as I thought it was going to be since I got called off work Monday (I was supposed to work overtime) but I think it has definitely made me tired! Last night Carrie called me when I'd already fallen asleep because I couldn't stay awake any longer and I couldn't even remember what I was saying halfway thru a sentance. Carrie says I wasn't making any sense and she finally said "I'd better let you go cause you sound like you're about ready to slip into a coma..." This morning I barely remember what we talked about for 8 minutes and I remember thinking to myself last night, "This must be what it feels like to be drunk or very drugged."

Tuesday my orientee, Emily, and I didn't get to eat lunch until 3:30 PM because we were so busy. Needless to say, we were very hungry and on the verge of fainting. She said "Is this normal?" to which I responded "NO!" but I suppose its better for her to be aware that days like that do happen when she's got help to get thru it than when she's by herself drowning. I'm enjoying teaching her things and she's catching on quickly. Who would have thought I'd be training somebody how to be a nurse this quickly? How far I've come...

Wednesday I met Hollie at the Lookouts stadium for a noon game. It was great fun and we enjoyed catching up a bit. Somehow my face got toasted even though we were in the shade the whole time and no other part of my body is burned! Go figure. Several people did a double take at work looking at my sunglass raccoon tan lines. Here's a picture of the fun and there are some more on Hollie's blog from boating a few weekends ago.


Hollie and Brooks are coming over for lunch. We're having spaghetti, the Sabbath tradition, wouldn't the Heilmans be proud? It's really because that's all we've got but hey, it works...

Tomorrow I'm off to Gulf Shores, AL for Nurse Educator's Boot Camp. I'm not really sure if that sounds like fun but maybe being on the beach in a condo payed for by SAU will have it's pluses. I get back Wed. night late, work Thurs/Friday, then my parents come for the weekend and my birthday! Maybe some time in the midst of all this I'll actually get to see Ryan. He's supposed to get back sometime before next weekend.

Isn't that an awful lot of cat?

You Are: 50% Dog, 50% Cat

You are a nice blend of cat and dog. You're playful but not too needy. And you're friendly but careful. And while you have your moody moments, you're too happy to stay upset for long.

Are You More Cat or Dog?

I'm still an ISTJ

I took this in Meet the Firms class and I'm pretty sure this is what I was then... sounds like me doesn't it?

You Are An ISTJ

The Duty Fulfiller You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done. You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings. Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you. Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy. You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer.

What's Your Personality Type?

The End of an Era: Ryan moves (Heilman that is)

So this was the big weekend. Carrie came down to visit and we spent a lot of time at the lake. Unfortunately, the boat wasn't cooperating; it started overheating immediately when we took it out. So we spent a lot of time floating and jetskiing. We went down to Coolidge Park on Sabbath afternoon and Hollie & Brooks came over to play games on Saturday night. I took a lot of pictures on my oldster film camera so they won't be available to post for awhile.

It was strange and sad to see Ryan's room completely empty. It's like watching a part of your grandmother's house get dismantled or something. I'm losing my brother! Good ol' spaghetti Sabbath dinners around the table with all the right people will be fewer and farther between now. Although, the seating arrangements were gonna change anyway. :-)

Look at the ominous clouds! But it never rained...

In front of the Hunter art museum minus 1 Ryan...



Are they cute or what?

Ok, ok, here's a picture...

Thanks to Mary Jane, here's a picture for you of the latest news in my life. Right now she's the only one with evidence so I had to steal it from her blog. For more you can go check out her blog at http://keepinntouch.blogspot.com/ There's a really neat series of Ryan Heilman dunking a basketball while jumping over Eric too! How are we ever going to keep these Ryans straight???

Movie Nite at Coolidge Park

Last night they were showing the Sound of Music in the park. It was fun to watch with hundreds of people out on blankets. Here are some views of downtown. They are working on the bridge so it doesn't look quite as pretty as it usually does.

Work hard, play hard, sleep... as much as I can get away with

I think this is my motto lately this summer. I'm working in big chunks and then taking chunks of time off and doing something fun. It's kinda nice that I've gotten comfortable enough with work that I can stay up a little later the night before I go, sleep thru the night (I used to wake up a lot), and be ok at work the next day. This week is a prime example of how I have taken advantage of this fact.

Wednesday night after work I played Monopoly with 3 guys on the table moved to the center of my living room. I will happily say that I beat them all with my 6 hotels despite the fact that somebody kept accurately predicting his rolls too many times.

Thursday I went to the hospital for a class in the morning. ACLS, you have to get certified every 2 years. They give you scenarios like "You find a person who isn't breathing and has no pulse, what will you do." So you say, (this is the short undetailed answer) I would start CPR, hook them up to the defibrillator, shock 'em if indicated at 200 J. They say "doesn't work." So you say, I'd give them Epinephrine 1 mg followed by bla bla bla... They say "doesn't work." So then you proceed to say what other 49 drugs you'd give them with the correct dosages to which they reply "still no pulse" at which point you say THEY ARE DEAD. And they "Very good!" Hmmm... Luckily you get to use your handy dandy handbook to look up a lot of questions that you don't know. Our class got shortened however because the hospital was put on a code orange (internal disaster) because EPB blew up a huge transformer. Parts of the hospital only had emergency lighting and most of the hospital had NO AC. On a 90+ degree day that was horrific. We had to clear out of the conference rooms because the media was coming in for a press conference to grill them about what they were going to do about it. I left all my coworkers in the sauna and went home to go out on the boat with the Heilmans (see MJ's blog for some pics) and then to a Lookouts ballgame with Ryan Heilman, Ryan Knight, John, and Hollie. Ryan and Ryan got to race to put on frozen T-shirts while standing on the dugout (maybe Ryan H. will put some pictures on his blog!). We moved seats about 4 times, sometimes to dodge the rain, and ended up behind home plate where all the hard core baseball people sit.

Friday I worked again and today I did the usual Sabbath activities of playing for Sabbath School, church, eating with the Heilmans, and taking an afternoon nap. Now it's 3 more days of work with some boating in between and Carrie is coming down for Ryan H's last weekend in Collegedale. :-(

Weekend at Carrie's

I spent a long weekend at Carrie's. The first day was spent running setting up apt/residency errands. Here we're putting together a microwave stand while Carrie talks to Ryan on the phone.

I kept waking up and Carrie was out on the floor. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes she didn't remember how she got there. ;-)


Off with the old, on with the new. Reaching this point took us 2 days and several hours of time going between the DMV, the County offices, and the bank.

We did a little site seeing walking around carrying camera equipment and stopping every 2 minutes to take pictures, mostly of each other I think. As usual, there are other pictures on Carrie's blog.

Nashville Zoo

We spent Sabbath afternoon at the zoo.


Here's a funny swimming lizard.


I found my own burrow.


Carrie tricked the lorikeets into liking her SAU ID card. I think she'd like to take one of these home with her.

Wouldn't this clouded leopard make a pretty pet?

The bamboo forest was my favorite part of the zoo. I think we both liked it so much we made a wrong turn...

... but we found these neat wooden chairs.

Belle Meade Plantation

On Sunday we went to Belle Meade Plantation. This plantation was owned by the Hardings who then married Jacksons. Sadly, neither are related to anybody important you know. However, there are lots of famous racehorses who trace their ancestry back to the bloodlines raised here including Seabiscuit and Northern Dancer. This family farm has the oldest registered jokey uniform/colors in the country.

This was the look of the weekend... don't like it... adjust the settings... try again...


The photographer is photographed...


... taking this picture.

The photographer of the photographed...

We spent the afternoon driving around the south side of Nashville with detours to the airport and the Opry on our way to Opry Mills mall. Rainforest Cafe was neat to look inside as well as the usual Outdoor World. Unfortunately, we only came away with a pair of tennis shoes for Carrie.

Family night at the fireworks

After work was over I met Nick, Dave, Kari, and Mindy at the Lookouts for a baseball game and fireworks. I made it in the 7th inning because one of my patients blew a hole in his femoral artery (he already had a hole there from a procedure that day, it just reopened) and I had to hold pressure forever to get it stopped. Then when I got to downtown there was NOWHERE to park. I drove around for probably 10 minutes looking for a spot and everybody else along with me. I was about to call and tell them I was going home because I couldn't find a spot when I got one.
Kari called some other family members from the game to say hello and tell them we were having fun without them. :-)

So, the Lookouts lost, as usual, but there was some excitement in the 9th when they struck out the other team with bases loaded. The batter even had a temper tantrum and broke his bat on purpose. Afterwards they let everybody out on the field to watch the fireworks across the highway. How often do you see a bunch of people on a ballfield? Walking back to my car they started the fireworks downtown so I saw those, then caught some driving thru Collegedale on my way home. So all in all I saw parts of all 3 displays last night.

A Snapshot of Jaclyn, RN, BSN

I had to take my camera with me today and didn't want to leave it in the car all day so... I decided to take some pictures while I had my camera handy. It will probably never happen again.

For those of you who call my cell phone during the day, this is where it answers: my locker.


2 Central Nurses Station
The balloons are because our floor shocked the hospital by winning the patient satisfaction award for this quarter.


From the other side...


The coveted trophy
What you see behind is the monitors booth. Somebody sits there and watches the patient's heart rhythms at all times.


The medroom/supply room 1


The medroom/supply room 2
The grey machines are called a pixis (would that be pixi for plural?) that hold medications. You have to know a code to get into this room and you have to use your ID and scan a finger to get into a pixis.


Our floor has 34 beds (I think) on 4 halls...
This is the front hall or 41-48


Affectionately called "The HOLE" this is 51-63, the longest hall. My legs ache when I work this hall (which I did yesterday and today) and it tends to attract the hardest patients somehow.


66-73


The back hall, 76-81, going to the Chattanooga Heart Institute


The connecting tunnel to CHI where I come to get the weather report, when I have time.