For my dear friend Elizabeth

Ya'll I gotta tell you about my friend

ElIzAbEtH.

Some nights I get super lucky

and get to spend a whole 12 hours

with this amazing girl.

She is dang funny.

We've bonded over our love for

singing and dancing.

That is...

We Sing and Dance while being nurses.

I'm pretty sure we should keep our night jobs but still it's fun.

Last night I asked her what her most favorite Christmas song

was and she answered with this.

Dear Elizabeth,

You'll never know how much better you make my long nights. You may also not know that when I see you and your cute dance moves my heart smiles. You should know that you deserve to be the happiest girl in the world. I want you to know also that I believe in taking risks and I am glad to call you friend. Oh and lastly, you might just give the best advice EVER!

Love,

CoRi dAwN

With Peace and Love You'll Never Be Poor!

Hey Ya'll, I am tired.

I got home this morning and fell asleep

in the garage. I only stayed there for

thirty minutes but wow I cannot wait to

go to bed.

It was one of those nights, last night.

One of those nights where I spent a lot of

time thinking about life.

What would I do if.....?

How in the world did I get so

lucky to have such an awesome family?

Just how strong am I?

If I had to title last night,

I would call it...

PULSELESS ARMS, FAMILY,

AND HARD DECISIONS.

Today's video was stolen from

Alyson's blog.

And the purpose is to lighten my mood.

And to inspire thought.

Thoughts of what Christmas shouldn't be.

As always,

Enjoy.

Dear Patients,

You amaze me and I love your families. If you want to fight, then fight on friend. I and others like me will be standing in your corner helping you win. If you are just too tired, that is OK also. I and others like me will be standing by your side helping you rest. God Speed.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

This post is not for all readers!

C-Diff

Also known as "CODE BROWN" in the wide world of nursing.

I have been at work for the past three nights in a row and have had my fair share of patients with the dreaded C-Diff.

And the dreaded "Code Browns"

And I want all ya'll to know that it is not good.

Not good for the patient

Not good for me.

And not good for my shoes.

I mean I really do feel horrible for the patients, nobody wants to poop every hour (or three times an hour), then have several strangers come in in gowns and gloves with 3 or 4 packages or wipes and wipe tail. But this is just what the C-Diff does.

It causes people to poop.

I don't just mean poop, I mean explosive diarrhea.

Not unlike Dumb and Dumber poop.

Anyway when a patient has the dreaded C-Diff I have to wear PPE which is pretty much a huge drag.

It gets super hot and it's not comfy.

But it does help keep me clean. And that is good.

Dear Reader of my Blog,
Don't judge me for my poopy post.

This is just a part of my life as a nurse. I don't love the C-Diff part of nursing, not even a little bit. But in general I love my patients and will continue to wipe tail for them.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

For your information:

Clostridium difficile (pronunciation below) (from the Greek kloster (κλωστήρ), spindle, and Latin difficile,^[1] difficult), also known as "CDF/cdf", or "C. diff", is a species of Gram-positive bacteria of the genus Clostridium that causes severe diarrhea and other intestinal disease when competing bacteriain the gut flora have been wiped out by antibiotics.

Clostridia are anaerobic, spore-forming rods (bacilli).^[2] C. difficile is the most serious cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (AAD) and can lead to pseudomembranous colitis, a severe infection of the colon, often resulting from eradication of the normal gut flora by antibiotics.^[3]

In a very small percentage of the adult population, C. difficile bacteria naturally reside in the gut. Other people accidentally ingest spores of the bacteria while they are patients in a hospital, nursing home, or similar facility. When the bacteria are in a colon in which the normal gut flora has been destroyed (usually after a broad-spectrum antibiotic such as clindamycin has been used), the gut becomes overrun with C. difficile. This overpopulation is harmful because the bacteria release toxins that can cause bloating and diarrhea, with abdominal pain, which may become severe. C. difficile infections are the most common cause of pseudomembranous colitis, and in rare cases this can progress to toxic megacolon, which can be life-threatening.

Latent symptoms of C. difficile infection often mimic some flu-like symptoms and can mimic disease flare in patients with inflammatory bowel disease-associated colitis.^[4] Mild cases of C. difficile infection can often be cured by discontinuing the antibiotics responsible.^[2] In more serious cases, oral administration of, first, metronidazole and - if that fails - then, second, vancomycin are currently the treatments of choice. Relapses of C. difficile AAD have been reported in up to 20% of cases.^[2]

It feels so nice to go home once in while.

Last night I had an opportunity to go home, back to my "old floor".

It was hard to leave my patients,

because I fall in love with them so fast,

but I agreed to "float" because I knew who I was going to work with.

Teresa and Kim. 

Dang those two girls are pee your pants funny.

Kim

Teresa

Dear Teresa and Kim,
I am SO happy I had the chance to spend some time with you!!
It felt SO good to be "home".
Ya'll never FAIL at making me laugh.
And you ALWAYS laugh at me and I love that.
Ya'll are great friends and great nurses.
Love,
CoRi dAwN

Just finished 3 and I am tired!

Dear Bed,

I'm coming! And I am SO in love with you!

Love,

CoRi dAwN

I feel it a privilege

I feel it a privilege to have a body.

 To know who I am,

where I came from, and why I'm here.

I feel it a privilege to be a nurse,

to serve people when their bodies fail them.

I feel it a privilege to be at a bedside

when a person leaves their body behind

and goes to their "Father's house".

I feel it a privilege to clean and

care for that body

and prepare it for a grieving family.

I feel it a privilege to wrap up that earthly

body and deliver it to it's next destination.

I feel it a privilege to have

a clear understanding of life and

it's purpose, and to know that life does indeed go on.

When it is my turn to go to my "Father's house"
I will feel it a privilege.

Dear Patient,

Thank you for allowing me to

be part of your life and death.

It was my PRIVILEGE.

Love,

CoRi dAwN

Dear SL,     

Thank you for

the phrase,

"Father's house"

Love,

CoRi dAwN

I heart Lauren.

I heart Lauren!

Lauren is a super dee dooper cute girl

I worked with on 8N/S.

She is an amazing nurse and WAY SMART.

I wanna be a nurse just like her someday.

I get to see her once in a while but I miss her like CrAzY!

This picture was taken at a celebration for Lauren's

Birthday. I'm pretty sure she'll always be 21.

Arienne, Jen, Kim, CoRi dAwN, Lauren, and Patty.

Dear Lauren,

I love pulling into the parking lot

and seeing your car, "Ralph".

I know that if I am having a bad night

you'll make me laugh. When I'm around you

I forget that it's 0300 and I stop missing 

my bed. Always laugh Lauren, ALWAYS!

Life is much easier when you're laughing.

Love,

CoRi dAwN



Work Daughter

So at work I meet a lot of people.

It's my favorite part of my job.

Getting to know people is so much fun.

About a while ago I met a young lady named Arienne.

I LOVE her.

She is amazing.

She is a super nurse, a great example, and

a really nice human.

She's so great and I love her so much that I adopted her, she is now my

Work Daughter.

I had to work on Mother's Day, I wasn't too happy

about it but I do what I have to do.

So when I got to work I found the nicest surprise ever.

I am so grateful for nice people in my life.

I love being a MOM!

And I love being Arienne's work MOM!

Dear Arienne,

Thanks for being a great example to me.

Love, CoRi dAwN

I watched as someone went to heaven.

It is true, we recently had a "code blue" on our floor. Scary and sad. This person was "fine" just minutes before the code was called, then suddenly they grabbed their chest, their heart went into a funky rhythm and well that was pretty much it. But not really. For 45 minutes in the small hospital room there were about 15 highly trained professionals  (I was in the hall) who did an amazing job at getting lines established, giving blood, administering medications, and doing compressions. The patients child was in the hall tearing up and on the verge of a breakdown. I listened as they called their other parent and said, "Come quick". At that very second I prayed that I would never be in that same situation. I never want to have to call a family member and say, "come quick", not ever.  I stood in the hallway watching, I had never before seen a "code" take place, it was quite an experience. I saw the hand fall over the side of the bed with a wedding ring on, I watched as the belly wiggled and shook around during compressions, I saw the bloody sheet, and I felt the sadness as I watched the spouse arrive and run down the hall to greet their child. The fabulous team of professionals then got a pulse, amazing. They planned for a couple of minutes to move the patient to the ICU, a team was sent there to set up. The pulse then left and compressions started again. Watching again I saw something amazing, I watched as a doctor came to the spouse and said, "the heart has stopped again, shall we continue?" And then I saw/heard the most beautiful thing ever, I watched and listened as the heartbroken spouse said, "that is enough". And then I handed over a clean sheet. A clean sheet, that was it. 


*side note* Please make your medical or end of life wishes known to your family.*


Dear Patient,
God Speed.
Love, CoRi dAwN
For purposes known to health care workers, I will say that this may or may not be true. You decide.   

I am starting to like my "new home"

I am starting to feel better about my move from 8NS to 5CW. I am getting to know the good nurses on my floor and I am beginning to think that perhaps I will be just fine. The patient/nurse ratio is FANTASTIC! And that I do love! The heart stuff....well I'll get it sooner or later.