Working for a Living

A couple of the dear fellow bloggers were kind enough to inquire about my career as a Registered Nurse. I thank you, Sara and KimboSue, for your interest.

I have been a nurse since 1982, yes, ever since most bloggers were babies. We had glass IV bottles and syringes. We wore nursing caps and nursing pins and were instructed during orientation to not only stand up when a doctor entered the nursing station, but also to offer him our chair.

I've worked at both large teaching hospitals and community hospitals. I spent 7+ years as RN working in Surgery, L&D/Mother/Baby Unit, and Emergency room. Sometimes the lines between which department I worked for blurred when I had to deliver a few babies in back seats of cars and taxis in the hospital parking lot. Sometimes we didn't have time to open the delivery tray containing the clamps, forceps, bulb syringes, towels, and other supplies. (The inside of an fresh newspaper is one of cleanest things you can deliver a baby on BTW.)

Twenty some odd years ago, as ART was beginning to transition from the research phase to "community implementation", many RE and OB/GYN did not have the treatment suites, equipment, or staff for procedures and used our outpatient dept. We also took care of the high risk patients who required a higher level of monitoring (ART patients with Cystic Fibrosis, Brittle Diabetes, Paraplegia, etc) than might be appropriate for an office setting.

After 7 years at the hospital, I got tired of rotating shifts, on call, and holidays and started as a Visiting homecare nurse. This was exciting because many procedures exclusively done in the hospital were now being taught to the patients and families to be done at home. The patients I cared for ranged from mommies with multiples requiring at home monitoring and tocolytics (class of drugs to reduce preterm labor), moms w/severe nausea on IV fluids, premature babies, jaundice checks with a bilirubin blanket treatment, and yes, even regular Mommy/Baby well checks to assess nursing, bonding, mom's healing, and any other concerns. I worked in home care for 12years. If you ever really want to learn your way around town, become a home care nurse. This was back in the dark ages before Garmin and GPS.

For the last 7 years, I have been a Nurse Case Manager for High Risk mommies and medically fragile children and young adults with a range of diagnoses from premies, asthma, diabetes, Crohn's, Reflux, oncology, you name it. (BTW, I apologize for such a long and medical jargon filled post). I care for families all over the US for an Employer Group and it's done via phone and internet from my home office. I provide alot of education and support for families and consider myself a professional problem solver. It is a great joy to help a child and family who have been through so much, thrive and do all the normal kid stuff; go to school, ride a bike, learn to drive, fight with their parents, etc. For me it's most important to be a good listener, and on that note, I thank you for listening and send my best to you and yours.