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Monday, February 1, 2021

A Day in my life

 We've made it through the first month of 2021 and here we are in February!  Here's how I spent the first day of the month.

Monday is always a work day for me.  We have two doctors that see our residents, and one physician assistant.  On Mondays, that doctor that does admissions sees people.  We had a very busy weekend with admissions, so I knew it was going to be a busy day.

I went in a little earlier than usual because of the busy day, and arrived at 7am.

This is in our entry - a pretty amazing thing.  This is something we got because of covid.  We used to have an electronic thermometer, but when staff has to be checked when coming and going, and also every 4 hours, you go through probe covers and thermometers quickly.  For this, you just put your face in front of it, so it fits into the outline you see.  It will then tell you your temp.  If you don't have a mask on, it tells you to put on a mask.  We then have to sign in, put down our temp, fill out a checklist with symptoms, sanitize our hands and put on a K95 mask.  Then we can enter the building.

Here's my hall, it has offices and the therapy room.  As you can see, I was the first one there - the room with the light at the end is my office.

I started by gathering information about our new residents.  Paperwork from the hospital, current orders, labs, vitals, if they are alert and orientated, how much assist they need to transfer and do their care.  Once I have all that, I fax the info to the Dr.  He still can't come into the building, so he gets that info and checks everything out, then calls me to do a Skype visit.
When I got done with that, I started on some of my other paperwork and then went to our management meeting that happens every morning at 9:30.  We finished that meeting at 10:15.

At 10:30, the Doctor called and I went out on the floor to do the Skype visits.  He saw 4 patients, then gave me verbal orders for them.  I took care of those and then gathered information on another patient who had returned from the hospital.  He was going to be re-admitted by our Physician Assistant, so I faxed him that info.


Another thing I had to work on was covid testing.  I told you our Director of Nursing was having a knee replacement, which happened today.  She usually does all the covid tests but it's now my job until she comes back.  Our staff had been tested twice a week, but as of last week, the county said we could go down to once a week.


This is the actual covid test.  You have to do the nasal swab, then put it into a vial with some solution. Then you place 3 drops of that solution onto the bottom opening.  After 15 minutes, this is inserted into a machine which gives an immediate read out of positive or negative.  We are still happy to report no covid in our building!

Early in the afternoon, the PA called and I did another Skype visit. When that was done, I worked on paperwork for our new admissions.  For each one I have to put in labs orders, review vaccination history and enter it in 2 places on the electronic chart, document TB testing, do a bowel and bladder assessment and check the state opioid website.  Anyone who has been prescribed a narcotic is listed there with a score attached that tells how likely they are to overdose.  There is also a state website that tells the vaccination history for anyone who has had any vaccinations which is where I find out that history.  I have to get signatures from our residents on some of these forms and I also have to take a photo to attach to the electronic medication orders, so the nurse can identify them.

I then did some paperwork that the Director of Nursing usually does, so it was a long day.
I left shortly before 6, and stopped at the grocery store on the way home.  Our local store offers something called Fast Lane, where you order your groceries online.  They shop for them and bring them out to your car.  A years subscription was $29 which I thought was a great bargain for the time it saves me.
I love that it was still light at that time!




While I was waiting for my groceries to come out, I saw this sun dog in the sky.  Can you see the little rainbow type spot in the sky?  They show up when it's cold and the light shines through ice crystals in the air.


Bob had a men's dinner at church so I didn't have to worry about supper.  I drove through Arby's and picked up a salad for myself.


As I drove home, the sun was setting. Such a pretty sky!



I got home and put my groceries away, then ate this salad.  It's the roasted chicken salad and it was really good.




After supper I cleaned up the kitchen, made lunches and ran the dishwasher.  The sun was nearly set and the sky was beautiful!

Then I hopped in the shower, and relaxed!  I'm watching Kids Baking Championship as I type this, and am enjoying a quiet evening.
Hope you all had a nice first day of February too.




16 comments:

  1. What a long day!! I'm always amazed at the amount of responsibility you handle at work.

    Your sun must be setting later than ours. If you worked till almost six, picked up groceries and your dinner, then ate and cleaned up the kitchen all before the sun was set?? Our sunset today was at 5:29 and last light was at 5:58. Well, anyway, that was a lovely sunset! And your salad looks really delicious!

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  2. That's really interesting, Jean. Our sunset was 5:58. I left work at 5:50, but it only takes me about 7 minutes to get home. Of course, I had to make those stops but was home about 6:10. Twilight was 6:26 and that's probably when I started kitchen clean up!
    I'm surprised there is such a difference in sunset times from here to PA!

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  3. You had a busy and productive day. The scenery is lovely though it does look cold.

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  4. We are just getting ready to watch "Kids Baking Championship"! Wow, you sure are a hero!! Blessings to you for what you do, which is a lot! Your sunset picture is my favorite! What is that light high in the sky?

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  5. Ginny, I don't know what that is. Maybe a break in the clouds letting the sun shine through, or a reflection in my lens? I didn't notice it before.

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  6. I would be so dead tired after 11 hrs...I would probably fall asleep on the couch watching tv!! You amaze me.

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  7. What a long day and you take it all with such stride. That salad does look yummy, never go to Arbys but may have to give it a try. How interesting the rainbow in the sky thing.

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  8. So good to read your blog again dear Mari!

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  9. Such a busy day, Mari. I am sure I couldn't keep up with you!! Praise God there is no COVID in your facility, still. That is just wonderful and a testament to how careful you all are being! Beautiful scenery on the way home! I haven't tried ordering groceries ahead for pick-up. I probably should because I always end up with twice as much as I have on my list. That salad looks great. I think there is still an Arby's somewhere in Lakeland, but the one that was closest to us closed a few years ago and is now a Popeye's Chicken. Happy February!

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  10. I honestly dont know how you do all you do in one day. No wonder they love having you there. Glad you didnt have to go home and cook and could relax with your salad and watch a little tv. God bless you.

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  11. Your day is long and busy. You deserve that shower and relaxing evening! I hope your Director heals fast and is back at work soon. Such beautiful sunsets you have! Stay safe and well!

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  12. I will say it again, I do not know how you do all that you do, Mari. God Bless You.

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  13. Sounds like a long and full day (Unlike mine!). I'm so pleased your building is still covid free, long may that last.

    You know I haven't been to church for a year now, and every inch of me misses it. I know we don't need to be at church to worship the Lord, but I miss the fellowship, the singing, the sermons and the coffee and chat afterwards. I pray one day I will be back there.

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  14. Love catching up on these days with you dear Mari! I can never say enough, God bless you and the wonderful work you do! Stay cozy. xo

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  15. You are a hard working lady. It's hard to leave work and have to stop at the grocery store. Sure feels good to finally get it all done and sit down for a few minutes. That salad sure looks good.

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  16. Oh Mari I just wish you didn't have to do all that paperwork and fill in for absent staff! You have enough to do! What a long day. I guess the curbside grocery pickup is nice although I like to have more control over what I buy than that, haaahaaha! Your solitary dinner sounds like it was good and I'm all about quiet evenings at home. xoxo

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