I'm Hispanic, NOT Caucasian

One thing that has bothered me and gets worse as time goes on is this: When I'm filling out paperwork and it asks for race, there is nothing there for me.

Going to my background: I'm first and foremost American of Mexican descent. I believe it was my great grandfather who came to the States from Mexico. and I honestly have no clue where from.

It basically boils down to this: I'm not Caucasian.

My only options for race, I'm none of these

Trying to read up on it and as far as I can tell the US Census Bureau was too lazy (I'm sorry, too confusing) to figure out an acceptable way to group people Hispanic descent so they tack on the ethnicity question.  There are basically too many sub categories of Hispanics/Latinos to make this a determination.

But if this is the case, why are they able to generalize African Americans, Asians, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders?  There are just as many sub categories with them as well.

Once again, I'm left out

I suppose I could start selecting the "Other" category and start doing it that route but that still means my race/background isn't properly represented.

I did read that the census bureau is going to discuss it again next year, in 2020.  Here's hoping that they will officially add the Latino group as a race and not just an ethnicity.

Here is a link to one of the articles I read. I felt it broke the reasons down well in terms of why it's Hispanic is an Ethnicity and not a race.  And for the record, I'm completely opposed to the Latinx. Part of my Hispanic heritage is the use of gender identifiers.  Or are we supposed to start putting an X in place of those o/a at the end of words (tortillx, mamacitx)?  It's absurd and people just need to get over themselves.

Anyway, I'm done with my ranting session.  Night peeps!

Trump Card (and other stuff)

Up front, this isn't a political post.

Several situations at work today, I'll start with the amusing (in the dark kinda way):

First story:

*Paramedic report to their station*
Paramedic: We're not taking him in, he's dead dead.
Doctor's scribe in ER overhears report: Is there a difference between dead and dead dead?
Me: Of course there is. One is Mostly dead, they still might be alive. The other is all dead, nothing left in them
*Scribe stares blankly at me*
Me: Guess you've never seen the Princess Bride....

Second story:

I introduced myself to my almost 80 year old patient. After a couple of attempts she still couldn't figure out my name.
Me: I'm Ernesto, I'm your nurse
Pt: What's your name?
Me: Ernesto
Pt: How do you pronounce it?
Me: Ernest

It reminded me of a time when my coworker couldn't remember my name for over a year and she called me Lorenzo (and I answered cause I knew she was talking to me).

Final story:

A coworker created a problem that I spent almost an hour fixing. Long story my patient called out using the call bell and she answered. They requested pain medication, she called and told me but I was not on the floor. They called a second time and she cut them off. A third time and she didn't even let them talk before hanging up on them. I was back on the floor at this time and my patient called out to inform us they were leaving to another hospital.

I walk in the room to talk to them and they were gone.  I found them in the hall and the patient's IVs were still in.  I politely asked them to come to the room for me to remove them before they left the hospital.

They refused stating I could not touch the patient without permission or consent and they were not giving me their consent.  They obviously thought they had the upper hand in the situation. 

I agreed with them that I could not touch the patient without consent. I then explained that I could not allow them to leave the premises with the IVs in because that would be negligent on my part. I then dropped my trump card: if they left with the IVs in the patient's arm I would have to call the police to have them check on the patient and make sure they got removed.

They agreed to return to the room.

Now that the story is done I just want to thank my lovely coworker for doing her job so professionally. Her courtesy was so helpful in this situation....yes this statement is dripping with sarcasm.

Tired

I'm tired.

I'm tired of exercising. I'm tired of cleaning. I'm tired of running errands. The list goes on and on.

Problem is I've worked hard to lose over 30lbs. I'm afraid I'll quickly drop back into my old habits that caused me to get up to over 230lbs.

I'll probably take a week off after my next Spartan run but I can't fall into those habits again. I felt like crap when I was that big. I hated that my belly was so big it would stay behind when I rolled over.  At least that's what I felt anyway.

I don't think I have enough time to run tomorrow morning and I don't want to wake up early.

I need to sleep now.

Processing events

The last four days I've worked have been rough.  My shift ended on Friday with a guy arriving to the ED in cardiac arrest. Saturday was a double shooting that kept me late. Sunday overall wasn't too bad other than working with a slowpoke in triage (I would triage 2-3 people to her one) but she did triage all the screaming pediatric patients.

Today things finally got to me (to an extent). Though I helped care for more, I only had three official patients over eight hours. 

First patient was a stroke and due to administering TPA that patient was 1:1 for almost two hours. I was able to sneak a lunch break in after I got her to the ICU (her symptoms had resolved within the first 15 minutes of TPA).

After finishing my lunch break I get paged for an unresponsive patient. He was dropped off by his "girlfriend" and was told his name was Gary. After a little Vitamin Narcan he became responsive and we discovered his name was Larry (close enough, right?). He was discharged.

Here's where it got rough. Triage was backed up and one of their nurses went to lunch. I went out to help, the other RN out front said it was my call.  I felt I should stick around and triage a few people.

While out there a woman asked for help getting her husband out of the car, he was having a heart attack (we hear this frequently so they can be seen quicker). Rolling my eyes I grabbed gloves and a wheelchair to help the man out of the car. He reported palpitations and being sweaty earlier. 

Checked him in and took him to the back for triage. Before I could start the official triage he started posturing and became unresponsive.

Fuck. I thought he was just trying to get back sooner.  Called a code blue, got him on a stretcher and to our trauma bay.  After 45 minutes we decided to call it, he was not coming back.

Talking with the other triage nurse we both came to the realization that if I had not felt inclined to help, this person would have literally died in the lobby in front of everybody because the other triage nurse was already tied up and didn't get back to the triage bay until after he had coded.

I'm grateful I was able to follow my impression today. I'm thankful for a good team that worked well during the 45 minute code. Even though communication wasn't 100% the extra hands were great and everything was completed as it should have been done. 

DC Day Trip

I had to drop a friend off at the Reagan airport in DC this morning. Decided to take advantage of the day and visit a few sites I probably won't get to do again (for a while anyway). Up front, I found a lot of these places to visit with the Atlas Obscura website. Also, the first two places on the list are very short in terms of visiting, depending on how many pictures you take and if you get lost (I used the GPS on my phone while walking between the first two places so I wouldn't get lost).

First stop: Georgetown's Haunted Halcyon House. Built in 1786 by Benjamin Stoddert. It's supposedly one of the most haunted houses in DC, used to have a tunnel to the Potomac that was used as part of the underground railroad.  I found the links to a few ghost stories, unfortunately I couldn't fine any information on how to get a tour. It appears to be a private residence. Maybe make friends with one to get a tour?

Next stop: The Exorcist Stairs. Parking at the bottom of the stairs is atrocious but if you don't mind walking a block or two you can park near the Halcyon House. Admittedly, it's a long set of stairs but I had a fun few minutes wandering around. I also survived where Father Karras couldn't (I also wasn't fighting a demon). This would be a much more entertaining place to visit at night, unfortunately time wouldn't allow. If someone is walking/jogging up the stairs and you don't want anyone else in your pic, wait a few, it won't take long to clear out.

Third Stop: National Cathedral. The grounds are beautiful and the architecture is gorgeous. But the real reason I came: Darth Vader Gargoyle. You need binoculars or a really good zoom Vader, he's really high up and impossible to see without assistance (I couldn't see it from the ground). The National Cathedral opens at 10am but the grounds can be accessed whenever (as far as I can tell). I got there at 9am and spent half an hour looking for him.  I'm sure there is more to see if you take the tour, I didn't have time to wait around.

Look it's Rocket Raccoon next to Darth Vader

Final stop of the day: DC Catacombs. Located at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America, the tours of the Catacombs are free. The tour is very informative and the grounds are beautiful. The tour guides are friendly. The Catacombs of DC are replicas of the Catacombs of Rome and while touring underground they have paintings, statues, and even the remains of Saint Innocent, an 8 year old martyr that was killed in the second century (not adding the pictures I took out of respect). The tour lasts about an hour, stop by if you have time. 

DC Catacombs

Heaven and Purgatory

St Cecilia, apparently the executioner couldn't chop off her head after three attempts and ran off. She died of her wounds three days later.

Hope you get a chance to visit some of these places.

Know the Difference

I spent 8 hours in triage with only the help of a tech (and we rocked it, couldn't have done it without her).  Had some patient's come in today that were struggling to know the difference between a few terms, thought I'd point them out (most of these come from one patient).

First: When you eat something spicy you get hot and sweaty, heart rate increases, and you start breathing faster to cool your mouth down. If you add salsa to something, chances are it's spicy (apparently it's not common knowledge, I've had two patients in the last week eat salsa not knowing it was spicy). Remedy: drink some milk, eat some bread, and suck it up.

Allergic reactions are slightly different and vary in severity depending on how your body reacts. You can experience itching, wheezing, shortness of breath, swelling, nausea, vomiting or tingling in the mouth. This requires immediate medical attention. Take benadryl if it's available, otherwise get to the ED ASAP (don't do urgent care, they'll send you to the ED after taking your money).

Second: There is a slight difference between 9 months pregnant and 9 weeks pregnant. If you can't tell the difference, PLEASE don't breed.

You can't do this if you're 9 weeks pregnant (and probably shouldn't do it if you're 9 months pregnant)

Third: A person is not unresponsive if they're napping in the car. Want to know a simple trick to make sure they're responsive? Take your knuckles and push and rub the center of their chest as hard as you can. If they wake up, they're napping. If not, they're unresponsive.

This will also work but you might get accused of domestic abuse (or fired if working in the healthcare field)

Fourth: If you haven't been able to eat or drink anything in the last six days, your body will tell me. Your heart rate would be elevated, your blood pressure tanking, and your respirations will increase.

Lastly: If you exaggerate your symptoms to get a room faster than other people and I don't have a reason to take you back (as in your vitals check out and you have no symptoms you claim to have), get your ass to the end of the line and wait.

Also, if I tell you to wait in the lobby, don't look at your boyfriend and say "I don't know what to do."  I just told you. Get to the end of the fucking line and wait. (After my patient said this, I literally unlocked her wheelchair and said, you find a spot in the lobby where you want to wait and we'll get you a room when it's available).

Ozark Review (spoiler for Season 2: Episode 3)

One of my guilty pleasures (along with many Netflix subscribers) is watching some of their new content.  One show that started off fantastic was Ozark. 

The premise of the show is a financial planner, played by Jason Bateman, that gets entangled with a drug cartel. He has a wife and two kids and they all need to move to the Ozarks to stay alive.

While there he needs to embezzle $8 million for the drug cartel.

Season 1 is fun and I would recommend it.

I can't proceed past season two.

SPOILER ALERT in case you want to continue.

Halfway through Season 2 Episode 3 Bateman's kids in the show, a 15 year old daughter and 13 year old son, are able to dupe a bank into a $5,000 loan. They were able to do this without any parents around. The boy walked into a bank, showed the paperwork to the loan officer and got the loan.  The story he told was his mom was running errands and could only be reached by phone. He called his mom (sister on the other line) and they allowed the loan.

WTF? How stupid is that bank teller? Apparently there are only a handful of intelligent people in this show and they all break the law in one form or another. The rest of the town must be stupid, that's the only way they could allow this to happen.

I know, it's a show and I should be able to see past that but I can't. The entire town in the show must be delayed to allow two teenagers get a loan.

I've given up on the show and I'm moving on to something else.

Been another long while

It's been a long while since I've done any blogging. Admittedly I've been distracted doing other things.

I know what I write here doesn't matter to most people (as the title of my blog implies). This is more for me than anyone. 

That being said I'll write my unsolicited opinions about things here. As with most bloggers, I write what I think. Difference is I'm no professional, not even close to it. 

Oh well. Maybe I'll start doing it more frequently again, we'll see.