Five things and a few thoughts

1. I slept in until 8:30 this morning!
2. Pouring rain
3. Mead and I went to Rincon Market for lunch and then went for a walk after the rain storm. We started planning a weekend vacation, maybe to the beach! Eric's friends are coming to visit so I thought it would be a good time to get the heck out of dodge. Usually I would head to the Pacific NW to see my family or Wendy but considering it's February, I think I'll stay south. (Sorry Momster and Wendy. You are both welcome here anytime you want to visit--I'll come see you in the warmer part of the year! I promise!)
4. I picked up my friend Cynthia from the airport. It was wonderful getting to see her, even though it was only for 45 minutes or so.
5. Many new plants sprouted up today! Carrots, watercress, more gold beets, more spinach, more lettuce!

I read a little guide to wound care today. It was really interesting and straight forward. I am looking forward to applying the knowledge. I should probably write down some notes...

There are so many nursing related topics that I would like to learn more about. The main one that applies every single day at my job is symptom algorithms. If you see this, do that. I'm pretty comfortable with constipation: First line of defense meds used for constipation: senna and colace, unless the patient has trouble swallowing, then use lactulose. If those don't work increase the dosage and frequency. If that fails add miralax. There's also milk of magnesia and a few other options. If the patient goes more than three days with no bowel movement, check for impaction and use a suppository. If that is not effective after a couple of days of daily suppositories, an enema is necessary. I like having this kind of mental flow chart because it takes the guess work out of what to ask for from the doctors and nurse practitioners.

A neat project would be choosing one symptom a week and making myself a little chart. It would only take a few weeks to go through the most common symptoms of hospice patients: air hunger, itching, constipation, pain, diarrhea, nausea, etc. I have a book in my car that has some of this information in it. I mean to look at it all the time and then don't make time.

There are a lot of online educational resources for healthcare professionals that I would like to have the time to check out. I'm hopeful that when I finally start working less that I will have more time to devote to learning.

I started the book, Job's Body after that amazing massage therapist recommended it. It is written for body workers but definitely applies to healthcare workers and anyone interested in anatomy and physiology as well as health and wellness. I only started it today but am enjoying it so far. In fact, I am going to stop writing and go read it now.

FYI, the slightly caramelized brussel sprouts at Whole Foods RULE, so does the spinach artichoke dip. Together, pure heaven.

Happy Saturday!