Water Off a Duck’s Back June 26, 2008

In clinic this week I encountered my first family at Vanderbilt that did not want to see me (because I’m an NP and not a doctor). This happened more than a few times in school and in my last job, but it still stings every time.

Today was the worst – I walked in and said hello to the family, and immediately the mom says, “We saw you last time and you gave us a lot of misinformation, and we don’t want to see you again.” Um, I’m 100% certain that their last visit was 6 months ago and I didn’t even work there at the time. I told them that they had not seen me before, and they said “well it was another NP and we didn’t like her either and we’d prefer not to speak to anyone but the doctor.” Also 100% sure that their last visit was with a resident, aka MD, not an NP. Either way they refused to see me.

I know not to take it personally, but it still gets me a little. I hate that they had a previous unsatisfactory visit, but I had nothing to do with it, and what they (and many others) don’t realize is that all good NPs are great at knowing what they don’t know – meaning I will always get the doctor if there is anything I am unsure of. I know I am biased, but I love the role of the NP. Most patients don’t mind seeing an NP at all, and many even prefer it! To each his own…I just still need to work on the whole “like water off a duck’s back” thing.

How Does Your Garden Grow? June 26, 2008

Brian and I now have this great yard and would love to have a garden; thing is, we know nothing about gardening. My great co-workers at MCC decided to jump-start our gardening hobby by giving me everything but soil as my going away gift. I couldn’t think of a more thoughtful gift – some people gave parts of plants from their own gardens or plants that are meaningful to them.

Due to the temporal nature of plants with limited space for roots, Brian and I dove right in and with the generous help of my family, added on to our existing flower bed in the front lawn. Here are a few photos from our garden party.

Original post 5-15-08

Status Post Recent Change June 26, 2008

May has been an eventful month thus far.

May 1: My last official day at Mercy. What an amazing last day! My co-workers were so encouraging and kind – they threw a surprise lunch fiesta with incredible authentic Mexican food, a very funny (and sweet!) group poem, and a gift I never expected…more on that in a later post.

May 3: Sister-in-law Stephanie graduates from MTSU. Hooray for the amazing teacher to be! She also found out that she will have a job at the school she’d hoped to work for. Great news! (update 6-25-08: turns out that Stephanie didn’t get the job she wanted due to a relative working at the school, so she is currently searching for something wonderful which I’m sure she will find!)

May 9: My graduation from Vanderbilt. Even though I finished school 9 months ago my graduation ceremony wasn’t until now so that the school of nursing would graduate with the rest of Vanderbilt University – a much larger group than I had thought! It was very Hogwarts-esque with lots of pomp and circumstance and funny hats. The ceremony was outdoors…the weather was perfect!

May 11: Happy Mother’s Day!

May 13: My 24th birthday!

In the past couple of days Brian has found out that he will move to the downtown building so we will be able to carpool to work starting in September…I am so looking forward to spending that time with one another. Half way through the month and look at all that has gone on…we are very happily busy.

Original post 5-15-08

Temporary Kitty June 26, 2008

Recently we volunteered to cat-sit for a friend from work. She belongs to an animal rescue group that had found the cat in an abandoned trailer. Not knowing what we were getting into, we brought an adorable year-old bengal cat home with us for about a week. The first night we had him my allergies went haywire…I’m hoping it is a temporary effect! In the clinic world, when a patient comes in for, lets say, an ear infection, and as your walking out the door they mention that they have had problems paying attention in school, we call that an “oh by the way,” or OBTW for short. This was a cat with an OBTW.

He is the most playful cat we had ever known. He would stalk us and run and jump…sometimes with claws beared, onto us. However, he had a strange habit of suddenly hissing at himself and acting very strange, followed by being very cuddly. We took him to the vet as these episodes were becoming more frequent and he appeared to be pretty bothered by them. The vet did some X-rays and told us that he had some old fractures in his leg and hip and recommended surgery (!) There’s the OBTW for ya!

Thankfully, when we returned the cat to our friend, she took him to her vet who said that he would hold off on surgery, as the cat is compensating for his injuries so well. He said surgery would set him back rather than allow him to move forward. Great news! The kitty will soon be in a no-kill animal shelter called Happy Tales until he finds a good home. He was a great practice cat…other than being afraid to turn a corner for fear that the cat would pounce and cling to my thigh, it was a positive experience. Here’s to hoping my allergies don’t go crazy when we get the permanent kitty!

Original date 4-5-08

Job Change June 26, 2008

 

I have worked at this clinic for a year and a half (7 months as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner) and have enjoyed the opportunity to learn and grow, and to help the underserved

 

After I graduated from MTSU school of nursing, I received a full-tuition scholarship to go here to become a PNP. As part of the scholarship I am supposed to serve two years working…

Here! I am excited to have the opportunity to work at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital…a wonderful opportunity not only to repay my scholarship requirements, but to work in such a neat place.

I hold VCH very near to my heart as I spent quite a bit of time there in my middle school years for these medical issues:

That’s the latest update for me…I will start the new job officially on April 21st. Hope it goes well! God bless!

Original post 4-5-08

New WordPress Blog June 26, 2008

Brian and I are (re)starting a blog today so we can document all the happenings of our life, and to keep up with family and friends we don’t get to see as often as we’d like. We’d been at another location, but I like this one better because I can see the pictures I upload while I am still writing the post. I’ll be adding in all of our previous posts. Welcome!