After 2 years of slaving myself in the Intensive Care Stepdown Unit at Princeton, I have decided to move along to something different. Prayers for direction from the Lord and then an absolute terrible day at work one Thursday confirmed my decision and gave me a peace about leaving my first and only job since I graduated from Nursing School. I have to give my old job credit b/c I have defintely improved my nursing, time management, people pleasing, and critical thinking skills and have learned to work through very difficult circumstances and life threatening situations. This job involved taking care of the sickest of the sick in their last days, getting people to a higher level of functioning after a prolonged stay in the hospital, and drastically improving some patients' health and sending them home again. All the elements (difficult family members, ornary and unapprecitive patients, the physical set up of the unit, etc) impelled me to find a different job. I'm sure I will still work some shifts on Stepdown for some extra $, but I know I will enjoy my time in my new job in the POST ANESTHESIA CARE UNIT (PACU).
In the PACU, I will recieve patients immediately after surgery, usually minutes after they have been extubated (tube removed from their throat that was giving them direct oxygen). I will monitor them very closely, watch for active bleeding, give them a high concentration of oxygen, administer lots of pain medication (but not too much), and make sure all their vital signs (heart rate, heart rythym, blood pressure, oxygen level, and temperature) are stable. Once they are stable and meet the criteria to be moved, I will move them to a room where their family can be with them and then be taken home, or move them to another unit in the hospital. I am very excited to be starting this job and I feel extremely blessed that God has given me the opportunity and answered my prayers! HE is so good!
In the PACU, I will recieve patients immediately after surgery, usually minutes after they have been extubated (tube removed from their throat that was giving them direct oxygen). I will monitor them very closely, watch for active bleeding, give them a high concentration of oxygen, administer lots of pain medication (but not too much), and make sure all their vital signs (heart rate, heart rythym, blood pressure, oxygen level, and temperature) are stable. Once they are stable and meet the criteria to be moved, I will move them to a room where their family can be with them and then be taken home, or move them to another unit in the hospital. I am very excited to be starting this job and I feel extremely blessed that God has given me the opportunity and answered my prayers! HE is so good!
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