Still learning

OK, so one week = one post, right? Well, I'm getting there - and soon I'll be better about posting more. For now, I'm enjoying reading my sister's blog about getting ready for Baby Ellis. I'm actually going to visit for 2 weeks after the baby is born and I cannot wait! I hope that I'll be able to help out and give Jenni and Jon some time to relax but at the same time not be too overwhelming for them. The nice thing about Atlanta is that if they are having too many people or the new family just wants some time to themselves, there are about 100 other places I could go stay. The whole trip is about seeing them, helping out, and helping with the transition of life with a new baby. I'm so excited to be able to take part in that!

On a less exciting note, we have been incredibly slow at work since Christmas. The unit actually closed December 23rd because we had no patients at all. The slow spell is also very unusual because in winter (i.e. starting in January through March/April - depending on the year), pediatric units across the country are bombarded with respiratory season. You see a lot of kids end up in the hospital with flu or RSV. The odd thing with this year is up to today we have had 2 cases of RSV and one case of flu - that is unheard of! So I was taken off all clinical shifts this week to do project work so that I would not be cost-contained (when there are too many nurses scheduled and not enough patients so you have to stay home - you don't get paid unless you use your vacation time). I got a call tonight, however, saying that we now have at least 3 patients with breathing tubes and one or two more coming in as I type. It's not that nurses want people to be sick, but as a rule, it's helpful to have patients so you can work. And in my line of work, patients just happen to be kiddos who are very sick. So with any luck, the dry spell of patients will be over and I'll be back to normal work weeks... and I'll still have this project to work on when the unit slows down again in the spring.