First week as a Cardiac RN

The first week of orientation at Sacred Heart was a success.... if only I would've realized that after all of the easy and boring computer classes that I would be stressed out and feeling completely incompetent. I am going to absolutely love my job when I start to get the hang of it and get to be on my own a little more, but right now I feel like a fish out of water. And waking up at 5:00 am isn't very fun either. But, I really should stop complaining about my wonderful DAY position job that pays really well considering that some of our friends are losing their jobs. So... I am blessed for that.

So far during this second week on the floor I have seen 8 different patients with varying diagnoses. Some post-open heart surgery, some heart cath (procedure to visualize and open up vessels in the heart. They go through the femoral artery!), couple chest tubes and one cardioversion (yes, they leap off the table when you shock em). So... busy week. I am so mentally, physically and emotionally drained when I get home. I walk in the door and I just sit and breathe and close my eyes... The nurses that I have been following are amazing and brilliant and very nice. It's good to learn from the best.

I was talking with a nurse today and she was saying that nursing "burns out" so many people because you are challenged physically by being on your feet all day and doing some manual labor, challenged mentally by needing to be on your toes and being able to think critically at all times, and challenged emotionally because it requires a great deal of compassion, respect and love to be a nurse. I sat there for a moment and just thought about that..... It really makes me love my profession and feel very proud to be a nurse, but it also scares me that the demand is so great. But who better to tackle it than me?! :) So the next time you are in the hospital, in your greatest hour of need, when you are feeling awful, scared and wanting to be anywhere else, look up to the nurse that is there to take care of you in every way and feel comforted.

Besides an exhausting but great week, life is pretty normal on the Blackburn's side of town. We both just really want some warm weather!

Husband-less for the weekend

It's been a very relaxing week even though I got some bad sinus congestion on Wednesday. After a couple of saline sinus rinses, I'm all better :) It was my first week at home truly doing nothing. No studying, no worrying, just catching up on sleep and reading.

I also got some good news this last week. The state has finally issued my license and I am ready to work. The nurse manager on the cardiology unit (where I got hired on) gave me a call and offered me a full time position. I am now going to have a full time day position at Sacred Heart! I am so lucky! Sean and I are totally blessed to be taken care of like this!

Well now for the reason of the title. Sean's best friend just recently moved to Bozeman. So the boys planned a little road trip to see him for the Super Bowl weekend. For some reason it really hit me that I am going to be alone this whole weekend... Friday until Monday. It really is a silly thing to be so upset, but I think it is harder for me because this is the first time we've been apart for more than a night since we have been married. Sean should have plenty to occupy his time being that he is with 3 other guys. As for me, most of my friends are actually out of the area right now, so it makes for a much longer weekend without the man I love. Well, it'll be a long weekend I'm sure, but I think I will try to find some friends and force them to hang out with me. Absence makes the heart grow fonder right?

I'm a Nurse... Andrea Blackburn, RN, BSN

WOO HOOO!!!! After 3 weeks of studying, I took the test (NCLEX, or the test that you have to pass to be a nurse) on Thursday morning at 8:00 am and had 75 questions. The tests are on the computer and they analyze you after each question. The least amount of questions that you can take is 75 and the most is 265. When the computer has calculated that you have proved competency and have answered enough questions correctly, it turns off. Or if you are failing by 75 questions, it turns off. Or if you get to 265 and you have still not proved that you are competent, you fail. Or if you get to 265 and you have answered enough questions correctly, you pass. Confusing? I think so. Anyways, Because I only got to 75 questions, I was sure that it meant that I had failed miserably. I thought that there was no way that I was intelligent or lucky enough to have passed after an amazing 75 short questions. So all of Thursday and Friday I had to wait until the results were online. Thank goodness that this morning the results were online! I nervously looked my name up and pushed okay... Sure enough, I passed!! Yay! So much relief! I am finally a nurse after all of that studying.
I interviewed for a job at Sacred Heart on the Telemetry unit (cardiology) and I got it! So I have my first day of orientation on February 2nd. Wish me luck as I go to my first days as a new nurse.

Oh and Sean's older brother got married just before all of this on January 10th.

The groomsmen looking stylish. Sean's little brother is second from the left and Sean is to the right of him. Doug, the eldest Blackburn is in the middle.

Before the wedding.

Sean looking fab.

Heather, the beautiful bride.

Might as well have a father daughter dance! :)

Graduation

Well, I did it... Somehow, I did it! I made it through practicum and it was a wonderful and overwhelming experience. 4 people died in the 3 1/2 weeks that I was there and I did CPR on 3 people. I learned so much, but at the same time, I KNOW NOTHING!!! haha. It is crazy to see how steep the learning curve is going to be for my first year of nursing... make that first 3 years of nursing!

Our graduation ceremony was lovely and it was at Whitworth actually, so that was nice to come back to my stomping grounds. Because it is a small graduating class (about 100 students), we each lit a "candle of knowledge" from our teachers and lit our individual candles. Then we had a person who was special to us graduating and becoming a nurse, put our nursing pin on a ribbon around our neck. I chose my parents and Sean of course. It feels so good to know that after a major change from pharmacy to nursing and 4 1/2 years later, I am a graduate! Yes!
My parents, me, Sean and Sean's mom, Sandi

First Christmas as Blackburns!

Merry Belated Christmas everyone!!! What a wonderful holiday to get to spend more time with friends and family. It was especially great for Sean and I because we got to decorate our first tree, decorate our little apartment and fortunately spread our time between two families. Christmas eve was with Sean's mom, Sandi out in the valley and then Christmas morning and brunch. Then we braved the snow and made it out to my parents house in Davenport for Christmas lunch and dinner. Back to Spokane so Sean could make it to work on Friday and then home again to spend more time with my parents. Sledding and games made for a fun weekend. All in all it was a wonderful holiday and we were lucky to get to be close to both families.

Oh and this snow... It needs to end. Well I guess it has by this point, but for a while it was nuts! Thank goodness for our trusty Subaru that is a beast in the snow. It really eats it for dinner! But for now it is just cold outside!!

Sweater Christmas Party. Excellent!

Our new little table and Nativity set.

View from the front door looking left from behind the couch. Our little tree. Our tiny old apartment. Ah the first years of marriage!

Look at this ridiculous snow. We still got another 9 inches after this!!!! We cleared off Sean's car a total of 3 times. Each time it had at least a foot of snow or more on top of it. What a task!

This is after the first big snow. We still continued to get another foot or two in the next weeks. Thank goodness we have wonderful landlords that plow every time it snows.

First week of Practicum...

The end of the tunnel is in sight! We are so excited for me finally to be finished with nursing school. To complete my senior practicum, I need to follow another nurse for 120 hours. During this time we are learning patient care, practicing our skills and learning some greats "tricks of the trade" from veteraned nurses. I am at Sacred Heart ER from 7 am to 7 pm. It's a long shift, but I sure do see a lot. Already these last 3 days I have seen 3 stroke patients, many chest pain complaints, a pregnant woman with chest pain, drug overdoses, suicide attempts, general sickness, nausea and vomiting and 1 major trauma which resulted in me doing CPR with another woman for 20 minutes. What a whirlwind! It is really exciting and I get to see a little bit of everything which I love, but I feel so overwhelmed with the learning that I am doing EVERY SECOND, that I don't feel like I get to spend that much time with the patients. I am sure the more proficient that I become, the easier it will be to really sit and find out what is going on in the patient's life.

Other good news that I forgot to mention.... Sean got moved to the day shift. Hooray! Actually he was switched about the last week in September. What a huge blessing for us. It's amazing how much more connected we feel because we get to have dinner with each other in the evening and both have the whole weekend off to relax. Thank you for all of the prayers!

Besides the excitement in the ER, not much else happens here in little Ol' Spokane. Soon the snow will be upon us and it will be interesting to see if we can make it up the treacherous south hill! Yikes. More to come...

Happy Halloween

It is our first Halloween together as a married couple and we did things right by dressing up and going to a Halloween party at our neighbor's apartment. I was a flight attendant and Sean was a airplane crash survivor. We only got a few little trick-or-treaters to our door, but it was a great night of fun and festivities with friends.

On another note, I have my last final of my undergraduate career on Thursday. I will then start my Practicum at Sacred Heart Emergency Dept. for 4 weeks to complete 120 mandatory hours. I got so lucky to be at a hospital that is close and such a prestigious place to work. I am really excited because this is a good way to get my foot in the door and hopefully I'll have a place there when I graduate.