way up north

"Only in Wabasca"

2006-07-15T03:08:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Hope you are all doing great......enjoying the summer that is flying by. I'm on a set of nights at the hospital right now. Last week I spent a couple of days at homecare where I visited a lot of people! Right now there are no LPNs or RNs in homecare due to vacation so I am the one that goes around to do vitals and assessments. I enjoyed my days there because they were really busy. Many of my clients are the same people I have seen in the hospital and it is interesting to see them in their home environment.
There really hasn't been much exciting in terms of patients at the hospital. Just the usual. Tonight's clinic started out really slow and then 4 kids from the same family were brought in SCREAMING and CRYING (very loudly!) because they had been playing in the bush and had come across a hornet's nest. They were 2,4,7,8 yrs old and 2 of them had an allergic reaction to the stings. It got busy and exciting for about half an hour as we gave out Benadryl and Prednisone accompanied by epinephrine injections. It was difficult pinning down the one 2 yr old to give him his needle but between me and his parents we finally managed to.
We've only had one patient since clinic ended at 11 pm. A man came in complaining that a fly had flown into his ear. It was 1am in the morning and I hate to say it, but I really didn't believe him. I just passed him off as another drug-seeker who wanted some Demerol and T#3's. Anyways, it turns out that there really was a bug in his ear. I found it looking through the otoscope and it was pretty nasty! I saw it crawling around in his ear wax...uggghhh! It just goes to prove that I need to take every patient's complaint and treat it as if it were real (although it is hard to believe a fly would fly into someone's ear and get stuck in there!) Anyways, we syringed out the man's ear and got at least part of the fly out. The whole thing was quite humorous because the man kept saying "I hear a buzzing in my ear" or "something's crawling in my head". The patient has been a drug-seeker in the past, so the RN and I found it quite funny when what we thought were his hallucinations turned out to be a real bug!
I can't wait to see Dev and my family at the end of July. I've already booked my Greyhound ticket and now it's just a matter of counting down the hours until my 4 day vacation! Hope to see many of you soon!! Take care everyone. I miss you and love you all lots!!!!!!!!!!
Lauren

More to tell.....

2006-07-08T17:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
Just wanted to say a quick hi and let you all know I miss you a TON!!! If anyone talks to the Pughs (Grandma Ellen or Dad?) let them know this story:
One of our patients was discharged today and his family members came in to pick him up. I started talking to them and found out they were from a small town by Elk Point. I told them I was related to Billie Jo and Brad. I couldn't remember their last name off hand, but the people knew who I talking about right away. One of their friends had just been out fishing with Brad last week. Anyways, we thought it was a neat coincidence....just shows how small the world is.
We've had a busy past couple of days. Nothing too exciting, just the regular. I've written my IV exam and I'll be starting IVs now so I'm pretty excited about that. I'll be all practiced up for when we learn them in school next year.
Dominica brought home 2 kittens yesterday, so we now have two scrawny little ratty things running around the house. They are cute and it's nice to have some pets, but they're nowhere near as SMART or BEAUTIFUL as Keda and Sparky. Dev has made sure not to let Keda and Sparky know that I live with 2 other cats!!(hahahaha)!
That's all the news from me. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Can't wait to get home!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lauren

Back in Full Swing....

2006-07-05T02:52:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
Well, I am back to work from my too short, but WONDERFUL 4 days off. Devry and I enjoyed every second we had together. I toured him around Wabasca on Friday and surprised him with bday cake which we shared with the hospital staff. On Saturday, we headed down to Athabasca for the weekend. It's a beautiful town....very well-kept and a real friendly atmosphere. We spent a lot of time walking their beautiful hiking trails. We joined in the Canada Day fesitivities and watched "Trooper" on Sat night and "The Roadhammers" on Sun night. There were a lot of people at the festival and the shows, especially "The Roadhammers" were awesome! We watched the fireworks display on Sat night as well. It was the perfect weekend and the only thing bad about it was that it ended WAY too soon!
I'm back at work, finishing off my second night. We've had a very busy night. I spent the first 5 hours of my shift with a very critically ill man who has diabetes acidosis. It's the first time I've seen diabetes acidosis so it's a huge learning experience for me. The man was extremely critical when we came on shift so I had to monitor him one-on-one. That meant that the other nurse working had to deal with all the outpatients on her own. She put through a good 20 outpatients while I monitored our critical patient. It was a busy night! To top it all off, we received a DOA (dead on arrival) body that had been decapitated in a helicopter accident. Fun stuff!
That's all the news from me. I count the days down until I see you all again. Miss you lots!
Lauren

Vacation Time!!!!!!

2006-06-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
Well, I'm officially on my last shift before my 4 day vacation!!!!!!! I'm ready for a break, and to see Devry!
Our hospital has turned into "Wabasca Children's Hospital", we've got 3 pediatric patients in right now with bronchopneumonia, high fever, and vomiting. One of them is 2 yrs old and so cute! She has the run of the hospital and loves all the attention she gets here. Another pt's siblings are always here. The kids in that family all have shaved heads because of lice problems. If it wasn't for the pt's IV, I wouldn't know which one was the real pt. That's what I love here....just a couple weeks ago we had babies, before that it was geriatrics and now we're into peds.
I just saw my first cast being done. It really wasn't too exciting, but it is one more thing that I probably wouldn't see in school. I'm trying to learn things from the lab techs here too. There are two lab tech ladies and they're really good about explaining xrays and lab work to me.
The weather has been very hot the past two days. It's really hard to sleep past noon because my room gets so hot and the day is so beautiful I don't want to miss it. I went for my first run alone today. Dominica and I have been running together just to be safe. There's a paved path along the main road in Wabasca. I've decided it's safe to run on that path during the day because the road is so busy and there's always one of the RCMPs driving around. The main thing we've been told to watch for when running are the drunks in the early morning coming home from parties.
I don't have too much more to report. Dev and I are spending the weekend in Athabasca where there is a big festival for Canada Day. There's supposed to be lots of bands and a mini fair. I'm excited to spend a few days away, even if it is only in Athabasca!
Hope everyone is doing well at home!! I miss you all lots and think about you all the time! I'm for sure going to be in Red Deer the last weekend in July to watch Dru play ball in the summer games and I can't wait to see a lot of you then! The summer has flown by though and in two months I'll be back at school wishing I was back in Wabasca!
Talk to you soon
Lauren

HELLO!

2006-06-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I have had a very busy week and this is the first chance I've had to write a blog. During the week I was working with homecare. It's a nice change of pace from the hospital. There is a lot of time spent driving to clients' houses. The Cree Nation reserve is divided into Reserve A, B, C, and D so there is a lot of miles to cover! I had some interesting home visits....elderly footcare to a guy my age with schizophrenia to a baby with kidney problems to a woman with an amputated leg. There is definitely a lot of "teachable moments" for these clients and I'm really able to incorporate teaching when talking with them. They all welcome me into their homes. One lady chatted away with me in Cree, thinking I was Metis. I could easily be Metis up here because there is such a mixture of different looks. There are a lot of blond Metis people and even some red haired, green eyed ones.
Homecare is in a staffing crisis right now....there is only one casual RN and one fulltime LPN. The LPN does most of the case management which is really the RN's job. There are also 5 PSW's (personal support workers) who do basic daily care like baths and cleaning. They are very glad to have an extra pair of hands around and I'm starting to get to know all the clients so that I can go out on my own and assess them.
On Friday, Dominica and I took a little holiday to Slave Lake. We had a blast.....I had a doctor's appointment and as soon as the staff at the clinic found out we were nurses they literally pounced on us! They are crying for nurses in Slave too and by the time we left the clinic, the doctors were even trying to recruit us! We stopped by the hospital to take a look around. It's really nice...same sort of set up as Wabasca, just bigger. We did some grocery shopping and browsed around in WalMart. On the way home we stopped at Devonshire beach which is just outside of Slave. WOW!!!!! The beach is along Lesser Slave Lake and the lake is a mini ocean. There are waves and it's water as far as you can see. The beaches were white sand and there wasn't a soul around! It was so nice and we will definitely be going back there to tan!
Today is Dominica's and my first day working alone. Things have gone smoothly and we haven't had to call anyone with any questions. It's nice working with someone who is younger.....we make a good team! We've got 5 inpatients and this morning was non-stop outpatients so we kept busy until this afternoon. There's a big wedding tonight, so things should be pretty quiet this evening.
The weather has been beautiful and is only supposed to get warmer. Hope you all are doing good back home. Love you all lots!
Lauren

Boring night

2006-06-17T04:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm so bored that I decided to write another blog. I'm just finishing up a Friday night shift and we didn't have much excitement (knock on wood!). It's been raining here all night so there haven't been as many Friday night parties going on. I thought I'd write a little about how the hospital runs......this little hospital is a lot different from city ones!!
The 2 doctors in Wabasca work at the clinic and the hospital. During the day they are both at the clinic unless we get something urgent at the hospital in which case the doctor on call comes over. The Bigstone clinic is owned by the Cree Nation. The docs take turns being on call, rotating each day and weekend. At the hospital we are supposed to have clinic from 9pm to 11pm each night. This, however, does not happen and if someone shows up before or after clinic they are still treated. One thing I have noticed here is that there is no sense of time. Parents bring in their kids at all hours of the night even if their kid was sick that afternoon. We had a mom bring in her 1 month old for a "checkup" at 1am in the morning!
The only pharmacy in town is the Bigstone pharmacy which isn't open evenings or weekends. We have our own little pharmacy here in our medication room. For patients coming in on Friday evenings, us nurses have to fill their subscription until Monday. It's an awesome learning opportunity because I have dispensed so many different medications to people. From 9pm until midnight or 1am, the 2 of us nurses on are really busy trying to assess, take vitals, assist the doctor, and fill everyone's prescriptions! Oh yeah, and we can't forget about our inpatients (we have 5 right now) and everything for them.
Well, that's the lowdown on Wabasca Hospital. The more I'm here, the more I love it. Even though tonight is boring, there could be a MVA, suicide attempt, or OD coming in at any second! (Wow....that sounds pretty morbid!) Anyways, I'm sure tomorrow night will make up for tonight's lack of excitement (thanks to the big game) and I'll be wishing for a minute to sit down! And just to let all of you know OILERS ARE GOING TO WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Miss you all so much!! Lots of love
Lauren

It's me again.....

2006-06-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Hope everyone is doing good. The last few days have been super busy and this is the first chance I've had to write. Things have been going really good! The past 2 days have been my long days; 830-430pm at community health and then 445-1130pm at the hospital. They actually haven't felt too long because the two facilities are so different. We're still determining what I can and can't do at community health. Today I tagged along for some sexed teaching to gr. 4,5,6. I just observed, but found that there were many things I would do differently. Teaching kids about health is definitely an interest of mine and I sat through the sessions thinking up better, creative ways to teach them. The kids, especially the boys, had very small attention spans and the nurse was just reading off a page so they got pretty noisy and didn't pay much attention. It was a good learning experience, though. The nurse I was with had found a story about the historical Native perspective about gays and lesbians. It was really interesting and taught the kids how "two spirited people" used to be honoured in tribes. The school is new and very nice.
Things have been going really good at the hospital. I finally feel like I'm "in the groove" and know my way around. I've worked with the cranky nurse and have worked extra hard and I think I've gained her respect because she's a lot more nice to me.
On Mon night we had a baby! Dominica and I were both on and we had a mom come in with "stomach pains". Turns out she was in full-fledged labour and we didn't have time to fly her out. It was pretty exciting and yet scary because we have no way of giving her anaesthesia here and if there were major complications we wouldn't have the equipment to help her. Anyways, turns out everything worked out fine and mom delivered in 2 hrs after arriving. It was pretty neat to see a delivery again and it was all so different than from being a student. I actually had a role and felt like I was part of the team. I had forgotten how miraculous birth is and it was pretty special! However, I definitely don't want to do it everyday (no offence Lace!)
The weather has been beautiful here from what people tell me. I don't have much time to go outside, but I'm enjoying being busy. We have North Wabasca Lake as our view from our frontstep and it is beautiful on the hot, calm days. Dominica and I are planning on going out with the RCMP on their boat one of these days.
The hospital has already asked me to come back and work over Christmas vacation. They said housing would be free again and they'd definitely make it worth my time. It would be nice to make some cash over the holidays.......anyone for a vacation to Wabasca!????? Why go to Mexico during Christmas when you can go to Wabasca?!!! Hahahahaha!
Anyways, that's all from me. I am counting down the days until Devry comes to visit on June 30th. The days are flying by and I'm enjoying my experience a lot. I miss you all a ton though, and can't wait to see everyone at the end of August!!!! Love you lots
Lauren

Hello all!

2006-06-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! It's Saturday and I'm starting a 6 shift stretch. Thank goodness I'm working with people who I can tolerate for all those shifts! Dominica has been gone since Thurs and it's pretty quiet and boring without a roommate. She has decided to stay here in Wabasca to nurse instead of going down to Arizona, so she went to get all of her stuff from Edmonton. She has worked in Texas as an ICU nurse and says the learning here in Wabasca is far greater than what she did in the States.
I have had two days of Community Health which I have thoroughly enjoyed. Because I'm a student, I'm not allowed to go out and see clients alone so I just accompany one of the RNs. We went on a couple of baby visits and did a couple of Well Baby Clinics. One of the visits was to a tiny trailer where a 15 yr old couple had their 2 day old baby girl. The mom did crack, pot, and alcohol throughout her pregnancy. The nurse I went with was amazing! The couple had left the hospital and been trying to avoid child services and the nurses. It took some detective work to find them! But the nurse I was with was supportive of them and told them we were there to help them. She told them we wanted to help them be the best parents they could be. We spent 2 hrs teaching the new parents about different things. I was amazed at how attentive they were to their baby. Despite all the factors against them, I think they may be able to raise their child just because of the love they showed towards it! The house had 7 kids under 6yrs running around and there were two adults passed out on the couch. There was obviously no routine or supervision for the kids and it was really sad. It is hard to see these situations and know how common they are up here.
I also made up an ad for the "Bigstone Fever" newspaper about dog bites and what to do and how to prevent them. The dogs up here aren't near as bad as in Standoff. You can actually walk around outside without fear of getting attacked here. There are still a TON of dogs, though, and dog bites are a problem. I feel a little guilty playing the "student role" and getting paid for it. The band has the funds for me though, and they're really pushing to get me to come back when I'm an RN. My coworkers at Community Health are super nice and know how to have fun at work!
Yesterday was my first full day off and I decided to venture down to Slave Lake. I enjoyed my trip....Slave Lake is a nice, quiet town. I did some shopping for random things I needed and got some food. Then I treated myself to an A&W burger. Mmmmm! I have been living off of brown rice, black beans, and sweet potatoes so that burger tasted amazing!!! I also bought Pearl Harbour and some mini rice cakes and I enjoyed a nice, quiet movie night last night.
That's all for now. I'm getting ready for the big game tonight and have beer and pizza waiting at home for me. I KNOW the Oilers will win tonight! Hope everyone is doing well! Miss you all lots! Lots of love
Lauren

weekend news

2006-06-06T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I just finished my first "C" shift (which is 3-11). After 12 hours, 8 hours seemed like a breeze! Things have been going pretty good. We have a doctor filling in this week who is amazing! She is young, and female and actually takes the time to explain things to us. Tonight we had a vehicle rollover, some babies, some chest pain, and other usuals. We have 5 inpatients who are all pretty heavy so things are busy around here.
I got the pleasure of working the past 4 nights with my least favorite person here. It was not too fun, but I ignore her, she ignores me and all works out. I had an awesome nurse on today who took me through so much stuff that it got a little overwhelming. I am once again reminded of the knowledge and skill of all nurses here (LPNs and RNs). I continue to learn a TON (actually more than a TON)!
I had an upsetting night last night during the Oilers game. I got a little tense and may have shed a couple of tears at their loss. But no fear.....Oilers will survive!!! I think my roommate and her gentleman friend think I'm a little obsessed!
For the first time since I've been up here, I actually had something unhealthy to eat (if you call wholewheat chicken and spinach pizza unhealthy!) Dominica is a health nut and does not eat too often but when she does eat she eats healthy stuff like bran and wheatflax! Anyways, I managed to get her to eat pizza and we enjoyed our pizza and beer night watching the game.
That's about all that's new up here. I start at Community health tomorrow and I'm really excited! Dominica talked to them today and has a casual job there as well. It will be interesting to see by the end of the summer which area of nursing is my favorite: hospital, homecare, public health. Anyways, hope everyone is doing well back home. I miss you all so much and just have to keep really busy so I don't get too lonesome. Talk to you soon!!!
Lauren

More to tell.....

2006-06-02T02:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
I am back on nights for a 4 night stretch. It has just quieted down....there were quite a few outpatients coming in, 3 inpatients, and we just sent out a 16yr old in labour to Edmonton via Medivac. We try not to do any deliveries here b/c we're not equipped, so most women get sent out on plane or ambulance.
Today was beautiful here. Dominica and I decided to go check out the beach. We had been told it was nice, but were not expecting much. Well....we found PARADISE! The beach is sand and the lake is crystal clear (it is North Wabasca Lake). There is a Lions Campground and it is exactly like the campsites in Kananaskis. The sites are kept up pretty good. The beach was deserted except for some fishermen. There were lots of tourists camping because it is the big fish derby in Wabasca this weekend. Apparently, it is a huge event with lots of outsiders attending. The only bad part about the beach were the flies....they are huge black flies and they kept interrupting our tanning!
Dominica continues to see her RCMP. It's great for me because I get invited over for bbqs with all the cops. It's nice having them on our side....plus it's free food and drinks! They're all pretty decent, although some have ego issues. I eat their food, stay long enough to be polite, and then leave!! (hahahaha)
I went to public health/home care again today to sign some papers. My first day is June 7th and I am helping with sexed for gr.4,5,6. The nurses there are super friendly and I am really excited to work with them. They have filled in all of the days I gave them, so I'll be busy! I will be alternating between public health and homecare.
I saw some pretty interesting things tonight. We had a 16 yr old out-of-control diabetic, an alcohol withdrawal, 16yr old pregnancy, a woman who slashed her wrists to bits, a potential broken ankle, pinkeye, drunks, and gallbladder problems. It is all so eye-opening for me and I would not get to experience half the things I see here in other places.
I miss you all so much......can't wait to get home again. Keep in touch.,...
Lauren

Next update

2006-05-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!
I have loved the comments from you all! Thank you!! The past couple of shifts have been pretty slow, but it has allowed me to snoop around the hospital and go through everything here. I am also finding time to review skills and knowledge that I am not confident with yet. Although I have enjoyed the Problem Based Learning method at UofL, I am definitely finding that the theory has not been implanted in my brain (all my nursing friends probably understand!) It has made me actually wish there had been regular exams throughout the past three years, especially on pharmacology and anatomy! But I can't change it now and I am using my coworkers and texts to self teach myself.
I had a meeting with the community health lady today. Wabasca hospital is not actually on reserve, but the Band Community Health is. There are separate public and homecare for on-reserve and off-reserve residents. The Band Community Health facility is very nice and the people were super friendly. They are very shortstaffed and excited to have me help out (if you know of any nurses who want a job.......!!) I am not sure what my role will be because they have not had a student onboard before. I will probably do some program developing, wound care, diabetic teaching, and prenatal/sexed teaching. I am excited to be working at both facilities and looking forward to the variety of work!
I have found some running partners, my roommate and one of the RCMP. We went for a run last night and it turns out they are both marathon runners! I nearly died.....running for over an hour is hard! I fell back a couple of times, but turns out it's a good thing because something sparked between Dominica and the cop and he ended up coming over to watch a movie with her. One thing about Wabasca is it's mainly male RCMPs, firefighters, riggers, and paramedics. I'm sure everyone in town knows that 2 young women have arrived and Dominica and I get quite the attention from them all!
Well, that's it from me. Shift is almost over and I am going home to bed! I miss you all so much, but I am having a great time up here! Keep in touch
Lauren

Hello Everyone!

2006-05-29T00:05:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am in Wabasca/Desmaris, Alberta. Travelling up here reminded me just how large and diverse Alberta is! It feels like I am in a different world and culture here....which I pretty much am. For the first time, though, I feel like this is my niche in nursing. I have seen and learned so much the past four days and it is only going to get better!
Wabasca hospital is a 10 bed facility. We have our own lab, xray, ER, and labour and delivery. There used to be a pediatrics room, but it hasn't been used for a while. The staff here are amazing....rural nurses are the "cream of the crop"! They know everything and they see everything! The hamlet itself is half on reserve, half off. Me and Dominica (a summer relief RN) live in a townhouse right beside the hospital. It is nice to have a roommate and we are the same age and share similar interests. She has good stories about nursing in the States. There is a brand new fitness and swimming center across the road from the hospital. The gym is awesome and it puts Only Women's Fitness equipment to shame! I get access to the gym and pool anytime for $30 a month! So far I have 50 shifts with the hospital and I meet with the Reserve Homecare on Tuesday to pick up shifts with them. I plan to work a ton this summer and I think it will go by very fast! I have already dealt with palliative, hip surgery, false labour, peds, motor vehicle accidents, intoxication, and many more things in only 3 shifts! WOW! I can't wait for the rest of the summer! Hello to everyone who is reading this and let me know how you are all doing!