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I accepted a new job the other day and I am very excited to have this opportunity. I will be a Spectrum Health Nurse Educator. I will be helping lead a unit at the Butterworth campus that sees progressive care patients, much like the patients I see at Blodgett, except no more cardiac patients. I will have opportunities to be a resource to the staff, pair new employees with mentors and monitor their progress, and even do some classroom teaching. It is with a heavy heart however that I leave my friends and work home on 4E who I have been with for the last 5+ years. Moving on is always difficult, but I am confident this is the right move to make!

written by Kelly

So I haven’t blogged in a while. Mostly because I didn’t know what I was doing. Well, I have officially started a new job now, but not the same new job I was originally going to take. I decided that because I was going back to school for my masters in the fall that I shouldn’t start a new job too. So, I took a temporary position in the education department at Spectrum Health. I am called the Nurse Extern Coordinator. Nurse Externs are nursing students between their junior and senior year. They have already had some clinical rotations, but they are looking to improve their skills. So I make up their schedules, pair them with nurses around the hospital, and provide interesting learning experiences for them. It is a wonderful job and I feel very fortunate to have been given this opportunity. I’ll be going back to progressive care in the fall, right before I start classes.

written by Kelly

Well, I finally did it. I got a new job. Starting on January 8, 2006 I will no longer know what I am doing. I will be a new neonatal (newborn baby) nurse. This transition is full of joy and sadness. I have long desired to work in this position but also have an intense interest in stroke patients as well. Seeing as I can’t have it both ways, I started in a neuroscience position as a stroke resource nurse and now it is time to explore another avenue. I will dearly miss my co-workers and Blodgett hospital, but I have prayed long and hard about this and God is leading me toward the world of neonatal. In the meantime I am trying to enjoy my co-workers and my patients as much as I can. There will be many fond memories of my years with these wonderful people.

written by Kelly

I am always working when very interesting things are happening. The other day while I was at work, it was a busy day, but cerrtainly not chaotic. One of the staff nurses Jenny was going to lunch, so she went into the kitchen to heat up her food. She described to me once she got to the breakroom that while she was waiting on her food a creepy patient walked in the kitchen and continued to fill a bath basin with food and sliverware. She thought he was just really hungry. I was called out of lunch by the security guards at the hospital. Three security guards at the desk informed me that they knew this guy and everytime he is a patient he steals everything. I argued that stealing food isn’t really that big of a deal if it is a patient. Then they informed me that he steals much more than food. At first I was a bit shocked and expected to have to deal with getting wallets and personal belongings back. I went to his room to search it and take back any stolen goods. Here is what I found: Washcloths, towels, bedding, adult diapers, playing cards, patient gowns, food galore, random wires and cords to different medical equiptment, an IV pump, defibrilator pads, and a small mirror used to examine patients mouths. This guy was not only stealing he was a kleptomaniac. He then begged to keep each and every item, just in case he would need it some day. Wow, now I understand kleptomaniacs really do pick up everything.

written by Kelly

Well this summer started out with a bang. I decided to be one of the first nurses on my floor to become ACLS certified. For those who do not know, this ACLS business stands for “Advanced Cardiac Life Support”, so not only can I do chest compressions and breathing if I find you dead in the mall, but now I can give you proper medications and intubate you. Anyone want to volunteer for practice?

Next on my agenda is taking the GRE in mid-July. I am currently studying like mad in hopes of a good score, hence a good graduate school.

To tie up my summer, I will be taking an exam to become a CNRN, a “Certified Neuroscience Registered Nurse”. I am not really sure what this certification will do for me, but it looks dang good: Mrs. Kelly Adams, RN, BSN, CNRN. Between prefix and suffix, I have added twelve letters; I would like to get up to twenty or thirty. Heck, why not one hundred?

written by Kelly