BITE ME!!

Here's a secret for you: If you REALLY want to irritate me and get me on a bad mood, do things half-assed. THAT will really drive me round the bend. If there is anything I really hate, it's when people don't do things properly, ESPECIALLY at work. I guess I can be a bit of a "perfectionist" at times (or maybe I just care about doing things PROPERLY...isn't that the general idea?), and when others don't share the same view it just REALLY IRRITATES ME. Especially when I need to sort out other people's mistakes/incompetence during MY time.

And yes, there is a reason for my rant. Lately, it seems ALL I DO at work is to do other people's job, or I need double the time for MY WORK because others didn't do THEIR WORK properly. And if I see things done half-assed, sorry, I can't just let it be.

A few examples (all these things have happened within two weeks, which is why I am getting REALLY frustrated and irritated)....

-We prepare different types of i.v. drugs for patients several times a day. There are standards on how you prepare them. Also, for some drugs you need aqua to dissolve them, and for some you use saline water. Some drugs can be dissolved with either one, but there are drugs that have to be dissolved with aqua. And with some drugs you can take any amount of liquid (aqua or saline water) you want to dissolve the drug, but with some drugs you need to take a given amount of liquid to prepare it properly. That being said....I come to work in the morning, start preparing the i.v. drugs and look for the "left-over drug" the night shift nurses said they had left (some drugs can be used within 24 hours of dissolving them...some need to be used immediately). I find the drug and there's a note from one of the night shift nurses "Dissolved with saline water". So I am thinking "Saline water...? Don't you use aqua for this one?". So...I check (because as I said, some can be dissolved with either one)...and turns out that drug is the one where you ONLY can use aqua. So.............that means, I can't use that drug. Which means, I need to prepare a brand new one. But....we don't have enough, because someone forgot to order more of that drug...so...that means, I need to start calling other wards to ask if they have that particular drug. So, one ward says they have it. So, I run to that ward to get it. When I get to the ward they realize they don't have it after all. So...I run to a couple more wards and finally am able to get that drug. So I run back to our ward and can FINALLY prepare that drug for the patient. And the whole procedure took me at least 30 minutes. ONLY because one nurse didn't do her job properly. Had she prepared the drug correctly, I could have used it and I would have saved at least 30 minutes of my time. Needless to say I was VERY irritated that morning!

-Same day as the "drug incident"....I happen to see on one of our documents that there's a signature missing for the emergency cart for that week. (The emergency cart is used...yes, as the name says, in emergency. It has all the important emergency drugs on it, syringes, laryngoscope (used when intubating a patient), tubes, etc. etc. Everything you need in an emergency is in that cart). We have nurses assigned to that duty...once a week one nurse needs to check that cart. See that it is complete and that everything is there (because during an emergency you have NO TIME to start running to other wards to get what you need!!). So....I take a closer look and I notice that not only is a signature missing for this particular week...but for FOUR WEEKS. That means no one had checked the cart for a MONTH! So I was already irritated because of the drug incident, but by now I was just ANGRY. I was like "This can not be true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Does anyone do their work here anymore??!!!!" So......even though it wasn't my job, I sat down, and checked the cart. And half of the emergency drugs were missing, the laryngoscope wasn't working because the batteries were empty....The whole cart was just a mess!! So I wrote down all the missing drugs and handed the paper to our head nurse in the morning and asked her to get the drugs and everything else that was missing or had to be replaced.

-We also need to fill up any supplies that are getting less. For example, if the syringe box is almost empty (or empty) you need to fill it up. And when you fill it up, that means, you fill it up so that the supplies are ready for use. Which means, each syringe is in the box separately in it's package. But...what some nurses do is, they just throw in the whole row of syringes, so that when you try to take out a syringe, this whole row follows and you need to rip the syringe you need. And it is REALLY ANNYOING and IRRITATING when that happens. Because, again, it takes more time. The nurse whol filled it up saves time because she just takes out a row of syringes and throws it in and it LOOKS like she would have done her job, but since she did it half-assed...you are the one who will be standing there longer. And especially when you are in a hurry, it just drives you crazy when you have to start separating the syringes. ARGH!

-Care plans. Each patient has to have a care plan. If the patient doesn't need one, then you need to document that one isn't needed and then sign it. That way it can be seen you thought about it, but didn't do one because there was no need for it. Or...if the patient needs one, you need to make one. Well.....do the nurses do that? No. I think I and 1 or 2 other nurses do it. Others just ignore it. And get away with it. And it drives me nuts!!! Especially since I need to sit down and do them for all the patients in my shift. Which again takes more of my time. And yes, I am being called a "nerd" and an "ass kisser" because of it, but I don't really care. I guess I could just join the others and not do them since it doesn't seem to have any concequences if you don't do them. However, if the standard requires them to be done, I am doing them. I won't ever let anyone be able to say I didn't do my job properly. Luckily usually the head nurses do notice the efforts though. Yesterday our head nurse noticed two new care plans I had done and she was smiling and seemed genuinly pleased and she said "great work!". So that felt good. But it still irritates me that others don't do them.

-Nurses who try to be "too efficient". You know, those who "butt in" and just do more damage than good. Those who are too impatient to ASK before doing things, and just do SOMETHING and end up just making things worse. I was working with one like that in my last night shift. She's a very nice person and we get along well....but when she tries to be "everywhere" it just gets on my nerves. Especially when she butts in and messes up MY WORK. It was around 1 a.m....one of my patient's had high fever...so I checked her blood pressure among other things. It was a 3 year old girl who was very scared of everything we did, so it took me about 10 minutes to get her be still and to not cry so that I could measure her BP. So I was done with the blood pressure and just glanced at the Dinamap (the blood pressure machine), but didn't write anything down because I needed to take the Dinamap with me when I was gonna leave the room anyways. So, I turned my back for a minute because I was busy with the patient, and as I turn around, the Dinamap is gone. And I am thinking "Am I dreaming or something?! Where the hell is it?! It can't just disapper!!". So I look for it, and it's back in it's place...turned off. And I am thinking "GREAT! And how am I gonna write down the blood pressure correctly now?!". So I looked for the other nurse and I said "Did you need the Dinamap...?" and she goes "Oh...no....I just thought I'll bring it back to its place." And I go "Well, did you write down the blood pressure....?" and she goes "Oh......uhm...no. Did you need it?". And I go "Well, yeah I did need it...because I hadn't written it down yet. So now I don't know what it was..." And she goes "Well, just write something like 110/60...or 108/65...." and I look at her and I am like "But I don't REMEMBER if it was anything like that...!!". And I just left the room before saying something I'd regret. But I was BOILING. First, because why does she need to BUTT IN to my work and move the Dinamap! And if she has the urge to bring it back to its place, she could have at least ASKED if I still need it or if she should write down something, etc. It took me ten minutes to get it done, and because she had to be "Miss Efficient" and butt in...I was in square one. And second...I should just "write SOMETHING"...??!! Uhm...excuse me?! I am just gonna pretend I didn't even hear that!!! SHEESH! So I was looking at my charts and cursing in my mind and TRYING to remember the blood pressure when the other nurse comes to look at the chart too over my shoulder and she goes "Oh......she has high fever!!!" And I look at her and go "Well WHY do you think I was checking her blood pressure at ONE A.M.?!!!". ARGH!!!!!!!!!!! I just tried to avoid her for a few minutes because she was getting on my nerves so much that I was about to get really sarcastic. AAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Anyways, those are just some examples. There are tons more. And it just irritates me!! Especially since lately I seem to spend half of my time for fixing other people's mistakes or doing other people's job, etc. It is just REALLY irritating!!!! ARGH!

And since I am ranting already....here's one more...Here's another way you can irritate me. Be negative. Say something can't be done, it's not "realistic", it will "never work", or you can't do it (especially when you haven't even tried...if you really wanna irritate me, try that one!). I admit that I am probably the most pessimistic and negative person when it comes to relationships. In that area....I am the most negative person you can find. I am done with love. I don't think I believe in love anymore. I don't think I will ever find "that someone special". I've tried, I've done what I can...it doesn't work. So yeah...in that aspect I am negative. But I am talking about other things. It drives me crazy when someone has some idea and the first thing people say is "Pft...that's crazy. That will never work. There's no way it can be done". Especially when they haven't even given it any thought...and haven't given it a chance...and haven't even TRIED to make it work. Or when someone should do something and they go "I can't...." when they haven't even tried. I HATE THAT! How can you say something won't work or can't be done if you haven't TRIED...if you haven't considered all the options and haven't done any work for it?!

So if you wanna get under my skin....now you know how.

BITE ME!! ( LOL! )