The Magic of an Ordinary Day

So how is work going?

I hear that a lot so I thought I'd give a work update.

Work is going well, better with each shift.  I've been working equally on fixed-wing and rotor and find that I enjoy both.  There are definite advantages and disadvantages to each.

With rotor, the trips are short and there isn't much room to work or do much with the patient so you have to really either get them set beforehand, be really nimble in a small space, hope they don't crash en route or d) all of the above.  The extra challenge to that is that with scene calls, the definitive care is not with some schmo flight crew it's usually with a surgeon so we need to get them to the hospital as quickly as possible, often forgoing niceties for time.  So we purposely leave things to do in the aircraft if we can. 

Then we get to the hospital and they want to know why this that and the other wasn't done.  But that's another post.

With rotor, too, you are flight crew all the time with no relax and enjoy the ride time.  Everyone on the aircraft is eyes out, looking for other aircraft or obstructions if we are landing or taking off.  So although there is the hot-shit cowboy factor (and let's face it, it's extremely cool to be flying patients around in a helicopter) doing things by fixed-wing has it's advantages, too.  Like sleeping on the way home when you've been out for 15 hours. 

Life at base has it's quirks as well.  We show up, ready to spend 24 hours on duty.  I never know if I'm flying rotor or fixed wing, so I have my helmet (for rotor) and my overnight bag (for fixed wing).  Then I have all the other stuff that is required for staying in one place for 24 hours and being comfortable: food/drink/snacks for a whole day, sleeping bag & pillow, two flight suits, boots, clothes to sleep in (scrub bottoms & t-shirt), essential toiletries like toothbrush, contact lens solution, brush, etc.  Most people also bring other things for their downtime like cell phones (although the service out there is completely hit or miss), books, iPods, movies and laptops.  The base internet blocks all personal websites and facebook, so it's pretty useless :-(  So every time I go to work, it looks like I'm moving in someplace!! 

The personnel mix that you spend your 24 hours with can determine your comfort level as well.  Imagine people at your office that you like, and some that you don't particularly like.  Then imagine spending 24 hours a day with them.  A challenge, that's what my brother Al would say.  An advantage, however, is that everybody has their own room, sparse that it is. It affords privacy and a place for withdrawal for rest or quiet.

Oh, and did I mention the "safety naps?"  Since we are on duty 24 hours and a rested staff is considered a safe staff, we are encouraged to lay down and take naps about mid-day when our base chores are done.  We are not disturbed for anything...it's considered part of our culture of safety to keep the staff well-rested.   I love it!!

The Chief

Here he is: the new Chief Flight Nurse at Medflight

They've restructured things since I left, and Dwayne will be able to do this job, work at the CCU and still schedule for flight shifts if he wants.  It seemed like they negotiated this forever, but I think everyone is happy where things are and I personally think it will be a good fit for everyone.

How strange, that we are working for two different flight companies, that I left a management position at one place to have Dwayne take a management position for them later.  But New Mexico is a small incestuous community of medical professionals and everybody seems to know everybody and we will all work together eventually it seems. 

I think he's going to rock it!! Congrats, babe!
 

Rotor girl

 

Things are going well at work.  After my first fixed-wing flight I was cleared off of third ride status and when I got to work yesterday I was told I could go on a inter-facility (hospital to hospital) run in the helicopter. The rotor side was getting hammered yesterday and I was eager to help out, and two scene calls came and went before we got an inter-facility.

It was great!  It was sunset as we headed across the mesas going west to a remote pueblo... the trees along the river beds a blazing yellow... just a wonderful way to make a living, I thought to myself.  The patient was a stable ICU transfer, and didn't require anything I hadn't done lots of times before on fixed wing. 

Some observations about my rotor flight, and this new job in general:

• It wasn't nearly as noisy as I thought it was going to be. 
• The helmet microphone has to sit right on your lip for it to be activated when you talk.  All I could think of is germs and be thankful we all have our own helmets.
• Living on base for 24 hours at a time is going to take some getting used to, but it's not entirely unpleasant.  I much prefer it to being "on call" and having to be 30 minutes from base all the time.
• The flight suit, assorted crap in it and helmet add 14 pounds to my weight!  And yes, I have to get weighed quarterly.  Time to loose 20 pounds.
• I'm sure it's because the crew is mostly men, but I have never heard a group of people talk about each other's gas so much in my life.  And I have brothers :-(
• Doing transports in a Lear Jet: passenger.  Doing transports in a helicopter: flight crew.  Big difference.
• Why does there always have to be one person there who is a total bitch?  Seems to hate life, hate getting activated to do her job, and thinks she should be paid to sit in the crew room and watch TV.  Note to self: schedule myself on opposite days and limit that negative energy. 
• I love busting out 24 hours of work at a time, and having the rest of the week to myself and my family.  I think this is working up to being the best gig ever.
• I never thought as a nurse I would be responsible for a protocol that includes "Try to get a description of the snake.  Do not delay transport to try and capture the snake."  I mean, really?
• "Safety naps" rock.
• The state of New Mexico needs to make H1N1 vaccines available to first responders like us.  We are (almost daily) flying influenza patients to tertiary care centers, yet there are no vaccines available for us.

Well after a 12 hour break, I'm back for more fun tonight... and I'm ready to fly!!!

 

I'm flying again

After spending weeks in intense training including traveling to Taos to do an OR rotation so I can intubate humans (which I did--yeah me!), clinical rotations in Pediatric ICU, Adult ICU, Labor & Delivery and another ride-along with the Albuquerque Fire Department I am finally flying again!  It is such a relief.

I did my first flight with PHI last week and was thrilled to be back in the saddle.  It will take me awhile to get used to the 24 hour shifts, and a new aircraft and new equipment and all that stuff... but in my core I just love flight nursing.  Going to work in the morning and not knowing where you'll be at 5 pm is really exciting.  Best job ever.

And speaking of flight nurses, here's a picture of my hubby the flight nurse.  No big smiles here because I ambushed him after an all-night flight.  Hannah looks happy, though.  She loves her Papa.

 

Remember me?

Yes, I still am among the living.  Working my butt off at the new job, studying after work, spending time with my family in between and spending time on the biggest time-sucker in history, facebook. 

So what's new?  The training portion of the job is demanding, and I'm almost through it and can start being a third rider on the fixed-wing next week.  That will be cool, as I've done fixed-wing before and I can get the groove of the new company down without the stress of scene calls.  Can't wait to get up in that helicopter, though, I gotta tell you!

Other than that, I've been hanging at home.

The apples are ripe.  I've made a pie.

And of course, green chile chicken enchiladas.  Fall in New Mexico wouldn't be the same without a big ole bag of green chile.

When I got home from Phoenix I was so glad to see moisture!  The mountain weather is perfect this time of year: warm and sunny in the day, chilly at night. 

So what's up with the world's most adorable 5 year old you ask??

She's doing great!  She's at the cusp of learning to read, and it's just wonderful to watch her go through the house.. "how do you spell camera?"  (she writes it down)  "how do you spell  I am a scientist of teeth? " (I kid you not on that one--she writes it down).  She will go to her books and copy down the letters on note cards to read later.  She is so motivated to learn this, it is just amazing!! 

She can also do addition and subtraction in her head, and used her fingers usually if we give her a two step problem (2+4-1=?)  She took to her numbers before her letters, anyway. 

Needless to say, she loves school and has had no trouble adjusting to her new school, new classmates and bus ride.  She is extremely verbal and quite dramatic.  She and Conga, our foster dog (who now will be residing with us permanently it seems) are inseparable and sleeps in Hannah's room at night. 

So life marches on, as it does. 
 
 
  
 
 

learning to fly

Yeah, I know.  I've done this before.  Almost two years with a fixed-wing program makes me no stranger to flight nursing, but this rotor thing is a whole different animal. 

The first thing I've realized is that on a lear jet, I'm a passenger.  A passenger with a patient, perhaps, but a passenger nonetheless.  When I'm on a helicopter I will be a crew member.

Which means eyes out, help your pilot, check your aircraft before take-off, help manage the personnel in the LZ (landing zone), and in all instances securing the safety of your aircraft over the stability of your patient.  Because dead crew members don't help anybody.  This is stressed over and over at PHI.  Safety.

Tomorrow is night vision goggle day (or night, I should say).  All day of class, then dusk/night training.  Sure beats the hell out of the OB training we had today.

Here's a few photos I've managed to take while here.

Plan A

Plan A was to go to work with PHI Medical, a flight company that operates fixed wing and rotor (helicopter) medical transports across the country.  And I got the call today---I got the job!  Let's hear it for Plan A!!

Amongst the new challenges awaiting me at this job include but are not limited to:

• Working within the tiny confines of a helicopter. The good news is that the trips are short.
• Trauma and scene response.  Meaning we can land on the road, scoop someone up and transport them to the hospital.  That's all new.
• Forty-eight hour shifts.  Which is attractive on one hand but can go very bad when you get your ass whooped on busy days.  I'm actually looking forward to the 48 hour shifts, and the highly suggested "safety naps."  Any place that tells me to take a nap... I'm all over it!
• The usual "I need to be the best since I'm the only nurse out there" anxiety that goes with flight nursing.  It's always there, and it always keeps you on your toes.
• Ten days of flight school in Phoenix.  Over my birthday.  Why not, I spent my wedding anniversary in Pahrump, Nevada teaching ACLS?
• The usual proving myself/fitting in segment of a new job, with the added bonus of the macho environment of the EMS world.  Sigh.  That's okay, this time I'm ready for it.

I'm just walking on cloud 9 today!  I really wanted to stay in flight nursing am so happy it is working out for me. 

a week off

That's something I haven't had in a long time.

I finished up my job early, turns out.  The owner offered to let Friday be my last day (paid in full until the last of the month, of course) and I pondered staying in a hostile work environment vs. taking that vacation I never got this year for a whole three seconds before I decided to go ahead and make Friday my last day.  It was a no-brainer.

So I had a short day, met with Hannah's kindergarten teacher (who seems like she will be very cool, even if she is a Vikings fan) then met some friends down at the local watering hole, the Lazy Lizard for some drinks and live music.  They are awesome people.  Last night could have been an awful night, but instead it was fun thanks to good friends. 

So I have no plans for next week except to walk my daughter to the bus in the morning and pick her up at night.  I'll actually get to cook meals for my family spend time with them!  Our camping trip will be planned out and properly shopped for, not a bunch of shit thrown in the truck at the last minute.  I'll actually pick up my camera again and do things I like.  What a concept.

If I don't hear from the flight company by Monday or Tuesday, I'll contact the hospital to go back to work there. I'm good with either one. 

Man, it feels good to be home again.

changes

I have been going through a lot of changes in  the past weeks, and have been very stressed about my life.  The condensed version is as follows:

• After a year at my position, I continue to be deeply unsatisfied with my job and am unable to function in that office environment.  I resigned my position last week.
• I don't have another job lined up at this point.
• I have gone on two interviews at another flight company, but feel rusty from having spent the last year in an administrator role.  I left the interviews feeling less than confident.  It is a hot-shot fixed wing/rotor company and the learning curve is huge. We'll see if I make the cut.
• I have a plan B, which is to return to the bedside.  Yes, there are frustrations but there is that down-deep feeling of making a difference in your daily work which is completely missing from my job now.  The people from my old unit have made it clear they would love to have me back. 
• Dwayne, as always, has been my rock. I came home from work with "that look" on my face last week and that was all it took for him to say "just quit.  we'll make it work."  He's awesome.

So there it is in a nutshell.  I'm going to miss the people who really matter, and ignore the people who are trying to make my life more difficult before I leave. 

I'll always treasure the friendships I have made, and value those people more than I can say.  The things I have learned have enriched me as a person and a professional and I will never forget them. 

So my future is on hold for now.  We'll see what happens next.

Randomness

I think the smashed toe (courtesy of the dresser I was moving) was God's way of telling me to stop my manic cleaning and take a break, so I thought I would visit the old blog. I was shocked and appalled to discover that posts have not been made in my absence.  I'll have to speak to my people.

So what's been going on?  A lot, but not much of anything.

• Dwayne's been flying every week this month, which is fun for him.  He's now comfortable with high-risk OB and the fetal heart monitor.  And pediatrics.  Let's face it, he's a stud-nurse and can do anything.
• I often wonder if what's normal in our household is normal in other people's households.  Dwayne was flying a 7 year old girl to Iowa where she needed a special pediatric electrophysiologist. He called in to say goodnight to Hannah after he dropped his patient off, and when Hannah got on the phone --before saying hello-- said in a perfectly clinical tone "so how did she do?" 
• Hannah was in the office when Dwayne got activated for the pediatric flight and had happily donated some of her movies for the in-flight entertainment.  She's such a giving and generous child.
• We will all be glad when the summer is over.  We've been working opposite shifts to cover child care and we are ready for some family time.
• We are planning another camping/fly-fishing trip for August, for Dwayne's birthday.
• Speaking of camping/fishing trips, I added a photo album of our trip to the Jemez mountains to the sidebar on the left.  Check it out.  
• We might be adding another dog to our pack.  A friend's daughter had a horrible car accident that left her badly hurt, and she's currently in rehab.  She's had a brain injury and Zan isn't sure if her daughter will ever be able to care for the dog again... and definitely in the meantime the poor thing isn't getting the attention it deserves.  So we will be taking Conga for the week to see how she gets on with Hannah and our dogs, knowing it might not be a good fit, Rachel might recover and be able to take her back, whatever.  I just hope we can ease some of Zan's burden during this difficult time.
• The monsoon season has arrived and it is wonderful!  I love the thunderstorms, and the smell of rain and pine trees is the best thing in the world.
• Hannah is starting kindergarten on August 20th.  Kindy is all day here and she will be taking the bus.  And as Dwayne says, by about December he will stop following the bus to school with his truck to make sure she's okay.  She's going to a new school, a public school, and it's a highly-rated school.  Several of her friends from Prince of Peace will be attending as well as some neighbor kids.  It will be a good move.
• It's been nice not paying that private school tuition.  I just thought of that.
• Work continues to be challenging but good.  I'm getting used to being a businesswoman as well as a nurse. 

Th-th-that's all folks!  Have a great weekend!