Month: June 2015

Out of the Shorties

Tama: Stationmaster Tama has passed away; she is survived by her assistant Nitama.  She has been celebrated by pretty much the entire town.

It’s good to be the King CEO: Their wages have gone up, while those of the worker have not.

Another Brick in the Wall: Maybe what we need is a different kind of education.

Top People: Thanks to Ira for this link to the Treasures of the United States Army.

On Identity Theft: Protect yourself. And don’t use “password” as a password.

What do you mean you aren’t ready for Hillary?: No, I will never be ready for Hillary, thanks for asking.

And Finally: A Lifetime Movie I’d like to see.

Music Monday: Courthouse Edition

I spent the morning on jury duty. The first group to get called back was about 40 people. The next group was about 80, and I was in it. I was thinking to myself “Oh nuts, this has got to be a big trial!” Suddenly, we were all dismissed! When I got home, I watched the news to see if just maybe I could figure out what trial it might have been. Well, this case of a cop killer was dismissed this morning. I will never know if this was the actual court case, of course.

I am so sorry I have to say this, but killing a cop just because he happens to be hanging out in his garage — as the accused allegedly did — is extremely uncool.

 

Also: have some items about American cops. Here, have some bonus items on racism, terrorism, and harassment.

In Closing: The Alamo’s Cat.

Things I Learned in Nursing School: Semester 1

Hello everyone. The semester is over, all my classes are past as well as passed, and it’s time to share some insights on what I learned.

On Scrubs: Scrubs are at their most basic “sweats you can wear at the hospital.” Someone wearing scrubs will find him/herself doing quite a bit of low to moderate intensity physical activity; I found that on clinical days, I routinely put on 10,000 steps before lunchtime. Keep this in mind when selecting a size for scrubs (take the slightly larger size). Wicking workout shirts are a good choice under scrubs, as are sports bras for the ladies. Oh, and more pockets are always better than less.

Another Random Observation on Apparel: Ever notice that on CSI, they wear black undershirts? Yeah, there’s a reason for that. Also, if you’re allowed to wear black shoes instead of white ones to the hospital, do. Select shoes that wipe down easily — not canvas — and remember that Lysol kills germs you may have stepped in.

On Marines: Ever hear the saying “You can take the Marine out of the Corps, but you can’t take the Corps out of the Marine”? There is something to that, in a good way. Marines notice details, particularly about cars. There is no sneaking up behind a Marine. Marines don’t slack. In short, I will gladly work a shift with one.

On Pharmacology: Here’s the thing: there are many medications that harmlessly turn your pee a different color; there are many other medications that if your pee changes color you need emergency medical treatment. This was my hard class. Sure, most of what you need to know is in books, and some of those books are designed to fit in your pocket. When you’ve got a new patient, do you think you’re going to have time to look up the 5 meds they’re on and the 5 new ones the doctor wants them taking? Remember: You can’t just mindlessly give somebody their hypertension drugs when it turns out their blood pressure is running low.

On Process: There is such a thing as a “nursing diagnosis.” It is fundamentally different from a medical diagnosis. The nursing diagnosis may well be related to a medical problem. Doctors treat medical diagnoses; nurses formulate and implement plans to deal with nursing diagnoses.

“If we were to do things by the book…”: There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t go according to the textbook. You’ve got to adapt to the current circumstance.

Reality is Stranger than Fiction: Aphasia can be more, um, interesting (and surely more frustrating) than Doonesbury makes it out to be.

On Teamwork and Politics: There is some truth to “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” Good luck doing certain nursing tasks without assistance! There is a time to work together as a team, and a time to work alone. Choose wisely.

On Caring: Caring is enough to make you a nursing assistant. It is not enough to get you through even the first semester of nursing school. More on that another day, I promise.

Oddly Appropriate

So it seems that the $10 bill is about to get a makeover, and a woman’s face will grace the note. She will replace Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton was a known, uh, “man about town”. He has the honor of being at the center of America’s first political sex scandal.  In fact, Hamilton “got around” so much, that Martha Washington named a particularly randy tomcat after him.

So yeah, this move is oddly appropriate.

 

Poltershorties

Bad: let’s start off with a few choice items on the TPP, including the full text… HA! Made you look!

And she can sing: Ariana tells it how she sees it.

Frozen 2: Now that’s not exactly a Disney Princess.

Don’t think I’ve forgotten about Spying On Americans: NSA isn’t going away, just going quiet.

Inequality: The media has us pointing fingers at one another about race, and we’re overlooking economics.

The Accidental Experiment: UHF and Sesame Street.

And finally: Tigers on surfboards.