IELTS Review

I enrolled at the 9.0 Niner IELTS Review Center last month in preparation for the IELTS exam. My plan is to take the exam in December this year, then apply for Canada next year. So far, I have attended 2 sessions--final coaching and writing skills--and I was not disappointed!

In a span of 3 hours, the lecturer shared many useful tips to hone/fake your ability to ace the writing task. The owner, Ervin, even told us what test centers have the nicest/most generous examiners in Speaking category in the country.

I only have 2 months left to prepare. Tomorrow is my day off, maybe I can attend from 9am-4pm, depending on my mood. I still have other things to do. It's our monthsary tomorrow. Perhaps, I can just read the orange book and listen to the CD for listening tasks. Oh my, I have this love-hate relationship with procrastination.

LOVE IS ALL WE NEED

LOVE IS ALL WE NEED

Picture was drawn by my coworker in the hospital, ICU Nurse Dino.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Affected

Lots of bad news:

Earthquake in Negros. Tragic, scary, and a lot of people have died and others are still missing.

Death of the nicest anesthesiologist in our hospital. They said he died due to complication of cardiomegaly, i.e. enlargement of the heart. He's the only anesthesiologist who would attend to the nurse's call in the wee hours of the morning when the patients are in severe pain and needs immediate relief due to cancer.

I've been so hooked with this book, I finished reading it in 2 days:

Tina Fey made my day (pun not intended! Haha.)!  She's fun to read, really! Really? Like, I would laugh in practically every page of this book, from the first until the last page. I'm actually re-reading tonight.

Here are excerpts from this awesome book:

I got what I wanted this year. I have no right to complain about life's unpleasant surprises. I got the job that I've been praying for (to be a staff nurse, that is). I have a man who loves me for who I am and takes very good care of me in every way that he can.

Merry Christmas to everyone!

To be or not to be

Mareregular ba ako sa November 1? That is the question. I had 2 weeks of absence due to chicken pox, 1 emergency leave due to typhoon/flood, 2 incident reports, 1 warning due to not filing leaves, and other mess I did on duty. Huhuhu. Buti na lang, mahal ako ng colleagues ko. Hindi nila ako pinababayaan at pinagkanulo.

Update

Went AWOL from my call center job. Sayang ang napakalaking salary pero worth it naman na ipagpalit ito sa nursing job. I'm just gonna miss my wave-mates in the center. I had a super-stressful days in the production floor at ayoko nang maulit yon.

1 week pa lang ako sa duty pero pumayat na ako agad. Ayus! At pinag-16 hours na rin ako last Friday. Buti na lang sa ICU yung OT ko at least hindi haggard. I'm still getting the hang of it. Toxic ang duty ko kagabi sa admission ko na dapat for ICU kaso the patient refused. Ayon, kanda-pagod ako sa pag-set-up ng infusion pump, pag-carry out ng 4 pages of doctor's orders, at pag-request ng 10 medications na oral and IV at kanda-kalyo daliri ko kakasulat sa chart.

2011 is gonna be My Year

After a long hiatus from blogging and bumming around, I've finally regained myself for being back to nursing duties again! Yes, folks, I am employed again. But not quite. A nurse reliever like me always hopes she gets hired in the hospital in spite of everything. Such as the number of job vacancy versus the number of hopeful nurses vying for the position. We're 20 in our batch competing for just 8 job vacancies. Imagine that.

I am on on-call basis. The Nursing Service Office will call us hours prior the duty time. That means you have to drop everything and be there in the hospital if you want to impress the "judges" (i.e., that nursing staff, head nurse, supervisors, HR manager). They have a list of those nurse relievers who are always available versus unavailable. That's why I'm trying to impress them. And I succeeded! I made the supervisors happy and praised me for being on duty before and during the New Year's Eve.

They said they will recommend me to HR and they would escalate my ranking from ## to #!

Yehey! Happy New Year indeed!

What's your plan?

Friends often ask me what my plan is when I chat with them. They are those who have already migrated abroad. These immigrant friends have successful careers back in their native land. I wanted to ask them why they bothered to go to another country where there are blizzards and bland foods. But I dare not because they have already spent hundreds of thousand pesos just to seek greener pasture.

But not all of us can take living in a foreign land. You can't buy happiness. Furthermore, it's more expensive keeping up a decent lifestyle abroad. If you want to have a decent life there then you must work like a dog. I know some people abroad who needs subsidy or owes money from their relatives here in the Philippines. Sila na nga nasa US, sila pa nanghihiram ng pera dito sa Pilipinas. But if you work there as a nurse, your future is safe.

So, what m I waiting for? Review time for NCLEX!

Virtual Assistant

I am looking for a home-based job and stumbled upon this Virtual Assistant thingy. I was actually applying for a web developer at bestjobs.ph but the HR staff directed me to this position. I honestly have no idea what it actually does. I've already undergone a sort of series of tests via email and audio recording. I still have to wait for the telephone interview if I pass the recent test which is the audio recording. The remote kind of hiring process alienates me. I don't see them, they don't see me. If ever I get this job, my Christmas list will be granted.

So help me God.

Ideal Job/Employer

My ideal employer is a very compassionate and understanding one. I mean, s/he doesn't scold me when I want to take a leave out on a whim. Plus s/he doesn't count how many absences I make in a week and doesn't ever ask the reasons behind it. I want a job where I could sit throughout working hours with a laptop with an internet connection, playing all my games in Facebook and just surfing the net all day long. I also want an employer who provides me and my family insurance, education, diapers, milk, nanny, laundry, food, hospitalization, etc.

Are you wondering if there's such a job/employer? There is one I know of =)

Corny World

Firstly, my favorite rock radio station NU 107 changed its format a few weeks ago, now playing mainstream music instead of its former format of cool genre like rock, alternative, and grunge music. Second, The ex-girlfriend of our country's president Noynoy Aquino, Shalani Soledad, has joined Willie Revillame in the new noontime show Willing Willie as his co-host without prior training or rehearsals. Shalani is now ridiculed or mocked for her somnolent voice. Third, the new slogan of the Department of Tourism is now "Pilipinas Kay Ganda" (Philippines so Beautiful) which to me sounded like the title of the morning show in one of the biggest networks in my country. Thank God, I heard in the news that Pres. Aquino ordered that the slogan will be changed since so many Filipinos are not in favor of this.

Things to Do

1. Time to renew my passport, but first, I must find it :(

2. Get a part-time job, i.e., a home-based job, preferably

3. Pay the bills. My insurance agent already texted me about my premium balance. Good thing I don't have credit cards anymore (I used to have 3 credit cards) and no loans.

4. Brush up on nursing concepts. Maybe one of these days, I might be called for an exam or interview.

5. Look for a job online.

6. Control my diet. I want to look good, as always :)

Sembreak

My 3-months contract as a nurse reliever ended last month. NSO said our batch will be called for duty by next year when the census starts to increase again. Hopefully, I would be hired as a staff nurse to be able to fulfill the 1-year hospital experience as required by my prospective employer.

I was enjoying the first week of my vacation. But the following weeks became monotonous and left me penniless. I have so many plans in my mind to improve my career as a nurse. I want to apply for NCLEX and IELTS while I am on "vacation" mode. I could use my personal savings for those expensive exams.

Meanwhile, my father wants me to go to Saudi instead of "wasting" my energy for a minimum wage in my recent hospital job, because Saudi do accept nurses even without clinical experience. How cool is that! But my all my closest friends do not want me to work in Saudi because of sexual harassment experienced by them or their loved ones or acquaintance or other scary stories about male arabs chasing/abusing/raping women and men.

It's hard to imagine how my life's gonna be in that country with that kind of scenario. Does it mean I have to go out with a group all the time to protect ourselves from those potential danger? What if something happens to me (knock on wood, wag naman sana) in that country and the Philippine consul can't fight or can't even protect my rights and I would end up in jail or lose my head like what happened to Flor Contemplacion, or be scolded by our own consul just like what Philippine consulate in Hongkong, Mr. Labatt did to a distressed OFW who sought Mr. Labatt's help in HK?

I promise to myself to stop procrastinating my plans. I talked to my friend, Steph, about those stuff and gave me encouragement and inspiration. Thank you, tsong!

Surprise!

After my 2-10 p.m. duty, Ron picked me up at the hospital to tag me along in his night out with his college friends at the Harbor Square in Manila. I was not prepared so I had to go with him in my nurse uniform.

Inside the car, he surprised me with a whole cake from Starbucks called the Midnight Black Cake.

The cake tastes like Ferrero Rocher, bittersweet and with a crunchy layer. My hubby never fails to surprise me.

Sick Leave

In the previous entry, I said that I was on a sick leave. Yes it's true that I was sick due to a nagging toothache. I was procrastinating the dental check-up due to a low budget. I'm ashamed to ask my parent to pay for it. My salary is pathetic. But in the last payroll I really got a nice paycheck.

So off I went to the dentist near CEU (Centro Escolar University) in Manila. This is not my personal dentist. The bf just recommended it to me because he's good and the fee is reasonably lower than my dentist. At first I was reluctant to be "handled" by the new dentist. I wanted to see for myself first the clinic.

Well, the clinic looked nice with 2 dental chairs, autoclave machine, clean area, cable tv, etc. The dentist knows what he's doing and explains to me my case.

After the rapport has been established, the procedure started. I got an oral prophylaxis, 2 dental x-rays (for my impacted wisdom tooth and the problematic upper molar which is the culprit of my pain), temporary filling, and 21 capsules of amoxicillin which cost me less than 400 pesos ($9) all in all! What surprises me most was the cost of the dental x-ray--only 50 pesos per tooth ($1.13)! I had a dental panoramic x-ray 9 years ago in SM Megamall and it cost me 4,000 pesos ($90).

Now, the toothache is gone and I was able to buy that skirt in Greenhills sa laki ng natipid ko sa dentist. I also bought Anne Rice's "Servant of the Bones." Happy :)

Big Mistake

The biggest mistake a noob can commit is to take a leave from her duty for 2 consecutive days. It happened to me due to a major burn out. In truth, this is the first time I have experienced a burn out at work. In my previous careers as a copy editor and administrative assistant, there are stressors such as deadlines, performance evaluation, colleagues, and bosses. But being a nurse is an entirely different dimension. Buhay ang nakataya. A nurse must always have a presence of mind and common sense no matter how toxic or stressfull the situation is, ensuring always the safety of herself and her patients. Most of the time, you have to sacrifice your meals and bladder break just to serve all the needs of all your ten (10) patients. If I'm lucky, I would handle 6 patients in the least, but 1 of them is either intubated (his/her life depends on a breathing machine called mechanical ventilator) or feeds via NGT (nasogastric tube that runs from the nose through the stomach). If the patient is intubated, that means I have to go to the patient's room and suction secretions as often as necessary. And I have to feed him/her via NGT so all the medicine tablets will be pulverized by me using mortar and pestle and I have to double check each feeding the patency and placement of the NGT to make sure it's still in the stomach by auscultation using a stethoscope. Aside from these cases, there are still your other 4 patients waiting for your nursing care and other stressors (human beings at their worst) which make your entire shift horribly challenging.

Now, if you happen to be assigned in a toxic ward in every effin' work day, handling the above cases, then burning out would be your body's way of crying out and your best defense mechanism is to take a sick leave in order to survive the next 2 weeks of your contract, right? I thought I could adjust to it because I'm now familiar with the environment and the people. Yes, I handled it well, I got no warning slip or incident report, at least. But when I get home, I just couldn't shake the stress off. It made my nights sleepless. My weight went down to 104 lbs (the only thing I'm happy about). Ikaw ba naman ang hindi makaupo or kumain in 15 minutes kasama na ang toothbrush and powder. I thought of giving up. I asked my close friends' advices. I was so unhappy last week.

Sabi nila, konting tiis lang, there are thousands of jobless nurses out there wanting to have a hospital job in this country blah-blah-blah. So I listened to their blah-blahs which are relevant blahs.

Salamat sa sick leave because it helped me regained my sanity.

Congrats sa Batch 6

Marikina Valley Medical Center is continuously hiring some of my batchmates as NA's and Nurses this year. Congratulations to Miko, Jelo, Erwin, Marc, Allan, Erika, and to some who will be called in in the next few days or so. They are the people who were never absent, never been late, and are always willing to work their butt off.

Congratulations, guys!

Dimsum Galore!

Yesterday, I and the bf went to our favorite place (Greenhills) to unwind. I've been off-duty since Sunday and just got my second paycheck yesterday. Daiso is my new favorite store and bought plastic boxes and a mickey mouse keychain. The Booksale has nothing for me that day. I was hoping to find One Hundred Years of Solitude (one of my friends borrowed my copy lost it) but to no avail. Hungry and tired from walking in the tiangge, we dined in Le Ching Tea House. We ordered hakao, steamed pork spare ribs, beef tripe, and beef brisket noodle. Ang dami nito pero taob lahat ng plato pati iced tea! Katakawan is our favorite sin.

Beef brisket noodle (ang sarap nito, promise!)

Hakao

Spare ribs (eto rin masarap!)

Chilli (eto ang nagpapasarap sa lahat!)

*Photos taken from here

Life of a Nurse Reliever

I'm working as a Nurse Reliever with a contract of 3 months. Reliever means you'll be reporting for work only if there is a need. Just like the staff nurses, I have a 2-week schedule plotted in the calendar. My schedule becomes insanely favorable when the census is low and that's the time that I would get a text message from the Nursing Service Office that I won't have a duty.

A while ago, the most anticipated text message came and I couldn't be any happier! That means I have 3-day vacation! No, make that 7-day vacation because I have been off-duty since Saturday! Yay! It has been like this most of the time. So, in every rotation (that's 2 weeks) I'll be working for an average of 8 days only.

The downside of it is that I earn so little I can't afford to pay my own insurance. I still have to rely on my dad on this. Thanks, Daddy. I'm just so grateful that I'm employed as a nurse now, instead of me paying for the training.

Anyways, Nurse Relievers are the ones being pulled from her turf to other areas. In my case, my homecourt is 4A. When the census is low in 4A, I will be pulled out to other areas like ICCU or 4B. I love working at ICCU because my focus is only on 1 patient. I just have to be careful in ensuring that everything that needs to documented is documented by me in the Kardex and chart, and that every abnormal condition of the patient is being relayed to the doctor.

So far, I have earned 1 strong warning in my almost 2 months as a nurse reliever. Hopefully, there will be no other warning or incident report for me. That's why after the shift, I always double-triple check the doctor's order, medication sheet, nurse's notes, Diabetic Sheet, etc. to make sure that I have closed my charting, I have carried out all the doctor's orders, I have signed the medication sheet, and I have relayed the CBG monitoring. Because the image of a nurse reliever is magnified and is under the scrutiny of every staff, supervisor, even NA's and orderlies in the area.