Johns Hopkins

2 years ago, I dreamed of becoming a staff nurse in the best hospital to work in the US. I googled that BEST hospital and found out that it's Johns Hopkins Hospital.

So then and there, I searched Johns' website and tried applying online. I've found out that they have their own recruitment agency here in the Philippines that is SEAPCI (Southeast Asian Placement Center, Inc.). After two months, SEPACI called me up and asked if I'm still interested in Johns. Syempre, oo ang sagot ko. But the problem is I have no NCLEX yet, no IELTS, no hospital experience. So the personnel said that if ever I have a hospital job kahit na wala pa akong 1 year, tawagan ko daw sila to update my application status. Wag daw muna ako mag-IELTS kase nag-e-expire. Mag-NCLEX daw muna ako while I'm not yet busy.

I've heard from my classmate in highschool that Johns is really nice. She used to work there as a staff nurse. Before that, she was a nurse at the Philippine Heart Center. One of her patients encouraged her to apply their by attending on SEPACI's job fair a few years ago.

PGH is now open for manpower pooling

To my fellow nurses, I have received an email from PGH yahoogroups that the submission for nursing applicants is scheduled on June 10 8:30-12nn at the DNRD Office Room 4. Pero dapat mga 3a.m. pa lang ng madaling araw nakapila na tyo dun sa kung saan tyo papipilahin ng mahigpit na guwardya. List of requirements is at the website. Medyo may mga original documents na kailangan like Board Rating Certificate, TOR, etc. May form na ida-download to be filled up by your college's registrar regarding your ranking and general weighted average. If you have backers, kausapin nyo na.

NB: This is for manpower pooling only. It would take years to wait for you to be called and be hired by them.

Toxicity

I'm so thankful of my area that is 4A. Supportive at understanding ang staff sa 4A.

2 weeks pa lang ako sa Ward as a trainee (meaning, I still need mentoring and coaching) nito nahihirapan na ako. What more kung rookie staff na ako? Oh gosh! Please pray for me. Any area but the other side of 4A. You're asking why? Because "nangangagat" ang ibang staff dun, based on my experience last Tuesday.

The experience was pretty... pretty ugly! 2-10 shift ko that day. Tapos absent ang mga senior staff namin kaya nag-pull out ng 2 senior staff from 2 different floors. Yung isa mabait, mahinahon, maayos ang trato sa mga noobs like me, and maayos makipag-usap.

The other one is the EXACT opposite of all the traits I've stated above. Hell yeah!

Toxic begins at around 4p.m. Patient X is for thoracenthesis stat due to some fluids accumulated in her lungs. "Stat" means now which results from panic among young doctors and nurses (me and my supposed mentor) because we have to prepare the materials needed which are not readily available in our area. True enough, when the consultant (specialist doctor) does the procedure, kulang-kulang ang gamit nila kaya labas pasok ako sa room ng patient.

After the procedure, the specimen aspirated from the patients lungs is MISSING. That's the start of the crankiness of my "buddy." She's a smoker, by the way, kaya ganun. She scolded me hanapin ko daw kase patient ko yun dapat alam ko ano ginamit sa kanya etc.

I found the specimen vial in the yellow trash bin (yellow=infectious). She's the one who discarded it. Darn it.

Toxic relative: Now, the patient's daughter, who turns out to be a health worker, arrives and complains that the procedure was incorrectly done daw. She wasn't even there kaya natatawa lang ako nung umaangal sya sa kin na kesyo "mali ang tusok nyo."

Toxic patient: The husband calls the nurse's station to report that his wife has turned into paper white appearance. Sobrang pale nya. So the resident doctors arrive and checks her blood pressure (60/palpatory=hypotension) and made some orders: ECG (c/o me), CBG (c/o me), dopamine drip (c/o me), lab works (c/o med tech.). My buddy left me alone on these tasks. Good riddance, tinulungan ako ng co-trainee ko who has 8 months experience in the ICU. What a relief!

Aside from these tasks, may mga documentation pa yan, may 2 pa akong patients na aasikasuhin who need medications and monitoring. May charting pa. In fairness to my senior buddy, she did naman the charting of the toxic patient. Grabe, every hour may doctor's order pa.

Finally, that patient was ordered to be transferred to ICU (c/o me and my senior buddy).

After transferring the patient, akala ko uwian na. May 2 patients pa pala ako. I did a skin test with the newly admitted patient to test if he's allergic to the antibiotic that he needs. Tapos charting/documentation ulit.

Ayon, natapos din ang gabi, nakauwi ako ng intact ang sanity at license ko.

Double Shift

Last Saturday I was pulled out to ICU during the night shift. Boy am I so glad! I miss the ICU! True enough, I enjoyed the experience of being there again, though in a different hospital. It's like being at home. I handled a benign (easy to manage) case. My patient has a heplock (a device inserted into the vein of your hand into which nurses inject some medications) and an oxygen via nasal (through the nose) cannula ONLY and the usual hourly monitoring of vital signs, e.g., blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate, and breathing.

Come 5 a.m. the senior staff nurse asked if I wanted to render another 8 hours (that's 6am-2pm!) because some staff nurses won't be reporting for work. I thought it's ok so I said yes. I was groggy by 7am. I couldn't focus. I'm making medication cards for the nth time and I couldn't get it right. I tried to focus on medication administration just to make sure my license won't get provoked by medication errors.

As the day progresses, I am able to cope with lack of sleep. I didn't get a nap at all out of hiya with my superiors in spite of them asking me to try to get a quick nap.

Note to self: hindi ko na uulitin ang mag-16 hours when it's 10pm-6am going to 6am-2pm.

PVZ

I've been so preoccupied with playing plants vs. zombies the past few days that's why I haven't been blogging. It's my only outlet after a hard day's "work" at 4A in the hospital. I survived 69 flags in endless mode and still trying to beat myself for that. Pag sinipag, I would try to cheat on lots of suns to get me through the 100 flags.

4A is the next most toxic floor in our hospital. What I mean by "toxic" is when there are so many patients with too many things to monitor plus irate relatives all to be handled by one nurse. Thank heavens there are relievers, nurse trainees, ward clerk, and nursing assistants who make a staff nurse's life easier.

Baler, Aurora

It's my second time in Baler, Aurora. Last year that I've been there was not so fun because we were sort of "lured" and "kidnapped" by a religious group who wants to "evangelize" us and be one of them. Sounds like a cult huh. We felt betrayed at the time, but I don't want to talk about it here. Maybe some other time.

The road going to Aurora (formerly part of the Quezon province) is narrow, rough, steep, and uncemented. You need a SUV, bus or trucks to ensure a safe and anti-vomit trip.

The road is a work-in-progress since last year:

A little progress in every 10 kilometers with only half of the road cemented:

The Sierra Madre mountain range in the morning--takes my breath away!

We stayed in Bay's Inn in Sabang, Baler--the favorite and common surfing spot in Aurora

Bay's Inn has WiFi, good accommodation with affordable rates

The good surfers are the locals:

This dude is so cool! Parang nakatayo lang sa waves o!

The pa-cute guys/gals just lie on their surfboards:

Next year if I go back here, I will try to brave the waves to surf. The surfing lesson with instructor is Php300.

Bye-bye Amang Rodriguez

I backed out from my orientation in Amang Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center last Thursday in lieu of De Los Santos Medical Center. Too bad I wasn't able to serve in a government hospital. I passed my application in Amang in December last year and got a call from them only two weeks ago. I called the Nursing Office and asked if I could join in the next batch. The personnel said the next batch is already filled up and the next application period will be next year.

So bye-bye to Amang.

De Los Santos is accepting applicants for staff nurses. Just go the HR office at the basement near the parking lot and the back of the hospital and give your requirements to the guard on duty.

By the way, I'm off to Baler, Aurora in a few minutes. Looking forward to surfing (if I could brave the waves and if I could afford it).

Ciao!