Where's my bagel?

I met Mr. Hungry during bedside report last night. He asks me if he could have anything to eat because he hasn't eaten all day. Mr. Hungry asks me if I've seen his bagel with cream cheese around. I see the cream cheese cup empty at the bedside table. I figured he ate it and wanted another one.

I tell Mr. Hungry that I'll check the orders on what he can have and will come back. I found out he's diabetic with bilateral BKA and hasn't eaten all day. I double check his fasting finger stick. I come back to perform my physical assessment and bring back crackers as we were out of bagels (night shift). Mr. Hungry was still asking for his bagel with cream cheese.

I had one of my medics help me move him up in bed so I could better assess Mr. Hungry. I asked him to turn to his side so we would fix the draw sheet. My medic then says "There's something on his back." She pulls it out and shows me a round brown object with a hole in the middle. She flips it over and there is a white creamy substance on it. It's a bagel with cream cheese. The patient sees it and says, "There it is! I lost my bagel."

How it got back there still remains a mystery...

109th Nurse Corps Ball - WAMC

This year we celebrate the 109th birthday of the Army Nurse Corps. Do you remember when the actual birthday is? It's February 2, 1901. Don't you forget it!

The celebration was held at the Officer's Club on Fr. Bragg, not too far from the hospital. It was different this year than last year. We held the tradition of the Army's dining-out, its rules, regulations, and punishments. For first timers here's a list of things you should bring:

• Lots of quarters
• Your "coin"
• A camera
• All proper badges/pins/ribbons
• A bottle of pepto-bismol

As photographer of the WAMC Nightingale Gazette I had a chance to take a couple of photos. Here are some highlights:

The "O" Club

Surgery ward's contribution to the grog bowl

Mother Baby unit's addition

ED's contribution in their newly stocked emesis bags

Here are a couple pics with me 'n my co-workers

Ahhh the new dress mess blues. Don't we look so grand? =D

I had fun this year at the ANC Birthday Ball. Being on shift work doesn't let me get to see everyone that I work with all at the same time. It was good night to relax and talk with friends who I haven't seen in a while.

I'm happy to say my peto-bismol bottle was still full at the end of the night. =)

Coffee = awake

A lot has happened in the last couple of weeks! Here's a break down summary of what's going on:

Nightshift on 4S Medical/Telemetry
I started back on nights last week and I'm doing better in transitioning than I did last year. The reason why I'm not getting a lot of sleep lately is due to our upcoming deadline for the Nightingale Gazette. I've been floating the last couple of nights to ICU and mother/baby. Yes mother/baby. It was actually a delightful experience, not like my rotation in nursing school. I'm trying to cook more often now so that I don't order out as much. I found myself ordering out more food at night then when I'm on dayshift. Eating, walking around, and coffee help keep me awake.

Nurse Clinical Transition Program Graduate
I am officially a graudate of the Nurse Clinical Transition Program! We had a small ceremony with several classes who were due to graduate. COL Sanmartino gave some words of encouragement to us in the Weaver Auditorium.

Snowed in at WAMC!
We had a change in weather one weekend in Janurary that command called in staff to stay the weekend due to the ice/sleet. Military staff were allowed to go home as the weather cleared up, but I wasn't going to risk it. I stayed the whole weekend at the hospital for my safety. More pictures and descriptions of my stay in a later post.

Moving to 2N - Surgical Ward
In March I'll be orientating to the surgical ward. It'll be a change from medicine, but it'll be a good change. Our section chief is swapping nurses from both sides to become more well rounded in their nursing skills. I will miss the people that I work with, but I am ready to learn new things and keep myself uptodate with my nursing knowledge.

Nightingale Gazette deadline
Our next edition of the WAMC Nightingale Gazette is due. My editor and I are working to get all the articles, photos, and layout ready for review. I've been working on a lot of photos from the past several events. I even worked on them during the superbowl this past weekend on my day off. Lots of crunching near deadline. I'm excited for this issue's release as my editor and I worked on various ideas.

109th Army Nurse Corps Birthday Ball
Last Friday was WAMC's celebration of the ANC birthday. It was a very nice dining out at the Officer's Club at Ft. Bragg. I'm glad my stomach did not have to meet the grog bowl this year.

Yes a lot has happened lately. I will elaborate on some of these topics once I get some shut eye. Yesterday I was up for 24 hours and could only sleep for 4 hours. Falls risk? Yes. Safety issue? Yes. But what can I do? I'm still transitioning into an abnormal human sleep cycle. I'm only human.