Update

The new job is going well. I've worked 7 shifts in just over a week. So far I've only worked on two wards. My last five shifts have been in neurosurgery which is one of my specialties.

Sometimes it's a little overwhelming trying to work in an unfamiliar system. Wednesday wasn't such a good day, I had this huge wave of homesickness for my old ward. I didn't want to move back to NZ but I wanted to transfer the ward here. I just wanted familiarity and a shift where I didn't have to ask what felt like a hundred questions. I think most of it stemmed from being tired - I'm a little out of practice work-wise. I'm perfectly happy now. :) I know it's going to take time to adjust, and I can't be expected to know everything in a week.

Some things freak me out. In Dunedin hospital, any time a patient left the ward for an xray or procedure etc, their patient notes would be put into a paper bag and taped down. That doesn't here. The orderly is given the folder and only their personal ethics are to stop them looking at it. Not to mention the folders lying around on a desk up the hallway. I hate the hospital's medication charts and that if I'm sending away a specimen to the lab, a doctor has to sign the form. Didn't have to do that in Dunedin. I do like the staffing. On the 2 wards I've worked there is a ratio of 1:4, and often you're teamed up with another nurse and have 8 patients between the 2 of you. The admin staff work later - yay not having to deal with phone calls! The ward aide works longer - another bonus! There's a resource nurse on each shift to deal with admissions and help out staff - something else that's fantastic. Especially when you're like me and have a billion questions to ask.

I had a lovely patient recently who told me she just wanted to pinch my cheeks and find me a nice husband. LOL! I've already had to deal with a groper. Has a head injury so it's not malicious. Can cope with those, it's the evil perverts that we hate. It does make it a little difficult when you're trying to check on a patient and avoiding having your butt squeezed. His poor wife was mortified. I did nearly die when he told one of his visitors that he should have a squeeze too. I made a hasty exit after that! I am not something to be manhandled! Otherwise it was a pleasant shift.

Spent some time yesterday loading some classical music onto my laptop. I picked my favourite pieces off the CDs I have. As I was going through them, I realised that I'm particulary drawn to the slower pieces - lot's of adagios chosen. I like them slightly on the sombre and dark side. But, there's several brighter tunes too. So I spent all afternoon listening to classical music. Sometimes I just need to listen to music without words, forming my own mental images. Doesn't work with some - Thus Spake Zarathustra will always remind me of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Adagio from Spartacus gives me 2 images, one from the ballet, and the other of sailing ships. The latter is because it was used as the theme song for a British sailing drama series that my mum loved. One of the pieces is driving me nuts. I know that I've heard it on the soundtrack of something I've seen recently, but when I looked up IMDB, the only thing on there that I'd seen was Platoon. I haven't watched Platoon in years. Oh, well. I guess it doesn't really matter. It's Barber's Adagio for Strings. A beautiful and haunting piece.

I remember the first time I heard classical music. My teacher played some to the class and everyone was "Yuck!" We would have been 12/13 at the time. In my second to last year of high school, I decided to learn the violin on an impulse. We had a string orchestra and later I played in the full orchestra. That increased my exposure, and I soon began buying music. As for the violin - I gave that up after I left school. I wasn't very good, but it was fun. Even though I did get banished to practice in the garage. It was still better than when my sister was learning the drums!