I have been having a lot of trouble lately coming up with exciting things to write about. Our lives just haven't been that thrilling lately. However, at my office, we do have a nurse practitioner student who is working with us now, who also happens to be a labor and delivery nurse. She is really nice and we fall into patterns of talking about old war stories every time she comes in. The other day we were talking, and I remembered this tale. I realized today that I had neglected to share it in my Adventures in Nursing series. So, I have resurrected the series and will share this tale and hopefully a few more if my memory will work with me...
LIFE IS A HIGHWAY
When I worked in Minnesota, it was very cold. I mean, very, very cold. One night in February when it was about -15 degrees outside, we got a call in L&D to come down to the ER because this woman had delivered. One other nurse and I grabbed some blankets, bulb suction and cord clamps and ran downstairs. When we got to the ER, there was this woman wearing a t-shirt and really stretchy pants lying on the stretcher with a baby lying between her legs. The ER nurses were starting IVs on the woman and trying to get her into a gown. The baby, was laying there, practically blue and cold as can be.
Apparently, this woman had gone into labor and decided to drive herself into the hospital so as not to disturb her husband or her four children. On the way in, she stated that she felt the urge to push. Did she pull over or drive faster? Nope. She just delivered her baby...while driving...with her pants on...ON THE HIGHWAY! Then, once the baby dropped out of her pants leg onto the floorboard, she picked it up and sat it on the bench seat next to her (She drove an old pickup) and continued her drive into the hospital. Once she got into the driveway of the ER, she tried to call a security guard over to help her. He thought she might be crazy so was reluctant to come over and help. Then he heard the baby crying from the truck and walked over. He saw the baby and ran inside to get help. My favorite part of all of this was that the baby came into the world and wasn't held or even given a cover of some kind. Then the ER was so concerned about the mother that they were completely ignored the baby. That baby was alive for about 20 minutes before anyone gave it any attention. Plus, the baby was freezing! Um, it was -15 and no one could even bother to give that baby a blanket or wipe off the amniotic fluid. The baby was fine after I cleaned him off, bundled him up and rushed him up to the nursery where he was promptly placed under a warmer.
Poor baby. It would be nice if when you were born, somebody at least said "Hello". Luckily, the baby did not suffer any ill effects. And this story was not meant to make the ER people seem incompetent. We all have our areas and most ER people react the same way to a pregnant woman as I would to someone in cardiac arrest. It is just sheer panic when you are outside of the norm. They did a great job taking care of mom and to their credit, the patient didn't reveal that she had just stuck the baby on the seat next to her until we were down there and taking over the situation. I will be the first to say that I am not good in most nursing crises beside a baby being delivered and, now that I am office bound, probably not even that. Well, hope you have enjoyed this tale and I will try to rack my brain for a few more interesting adventures to share.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
My Top 5 Fictional Characters
I have been listening to Janet Evanovich's "Hot Six", which is novel #6 in her Stephanie Plum series. I really love the character, Stephanie Plum and this made me think about my other favorite fictional characters. So, I have put together a list of my Top 5 fictional characters. Some you may know and some you may not.
5. Daisy Miner from Linda Howard's "Open Season"- Daisy is a librarian who, on her 30th birthday decides that she is a boring, dull librarian with no love life. She then sets about changing her image. She moves out of her mother's house, dyes her hair blonde, gets some fashion sense, buys a big puppy and begins a relationship with the town sheriff. She is just so fun! She is so innocent and naive, but she is still really smart and capable. I mean, she must be smart if she lands the town hunk and foils a band of criminals who are smuggling illegal immigrants in to sell as sex slaves, right?
4. Mrs. Emily Pollifax from Dorothy Gillman's "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax"- This is a series, but I started with the first book and have jumped around since then. Mrs. Pollifax just wakes up one day and decides to become a spy. She walks into the CIA and asks for a job. Her first assignment is in Mexico City. Her assignment seems to be fairly simple, but she, of course, ends up in a whole mess of trouble. Mrs. Pollifax is so surprising as a character, she is just this sweet little old lady who plays bridge and has grandchildren, but she is also a black belt in karate. Her best attribute is her ability to talk to people. She is just one of those people who you feel like you can tell all your secrets too. She actually reminds me of my mom. She is such a good listener that people just confide in her all the time. I feel like Mom could definitely be Mrs. Pollifax when she gets older (not right now, Mom, you are still WAY too young).
3. Miss Marple from Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Mysteries- Another series of sorts, but you doesn't necessarily need to be read in order of publication, each novel can stand on it's own. I have actually only read a couple of the Miss Marple series, but I have watched the entire Miss Marple collection with Joan Hicks. Miss Marple is just so smart and such a puzzle solver. You feel like she solves a murder the way she would do the Sunday crossword. You would think that solving murders all the time would make her hard and uncaring, but she is so friendly and good-natured. She is just a gossipy old village lady, through and through.
2. Amelia Peabody from Elizabeth Peters' "Crocodile on a Sandbank"- This is the first of a series as well. Amelia is a wealthy single woman who decides that she will travel to Egypt. She is very scholarly, friendly, and loves to take care of others. Her generosity is what allows her to meet her new companion Evelyn, who is found jilted by her lover in Italy. Once she and Evelyn arrive in Egypt, they meet the Emerson brothers, Walter and Radcliffe. I love Amelia's spirit and her sense of humor. She is so unaware of her own physical beauty, but is totally secure in her intelligence. She is a wonderful character and I have loved all of her books.
1. Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich's "One for the Money" - Another series. I think it must be really hard to come up with characters that people love throughout an entire series. It is easy to love a character in a stand alone novel, but when you read story after story about their lives, it is hard to keep people entertained and enchanted by a character. I love Stephanie Plum! She is my favorite fictional character. She is the perfect combination of dorky and cool. Stephanie is a bounty hunter and her first book follows her as she tries to apprehend Joe Morelli, who is wanted for murder, but is rumored to be innocent. Joe also happens to be the guy who deflowered Stephanie in high school and the guy who she plowed down with her father's Buick in college. Stephanie is a typical, tough New Jersey girl. She has big hair, short skirts and a lot of attitude. She is not exactly brave, more like she does heroic things by accident. If you have never checked out these books, I highly recommend you do.
So there you go, my favorite fictional characters. These may not always be my favorite, but they are for the moment. Please feel free and share some of yours.
5. Daisy Miner from Linda Howard's "Open Season"- Daisy is a librarian who, on her 30th birthday decides that she is a boring, dull librarian with no love life. She then sets about changing her image. She moves out of her mother's house, dyes her hair blonde, gets some fashion sense, buys a big puppy and begins a relationship with the town sheriff. She is just so fun! She is so innocent and naive, but she is still really smart and capable. I mean, she must be smart if she lands the town hunk and foils a band of criminals who are smuggling illegal immigrants in to sell as sex slaves, right?
4. Mrs. Emily Pollifax from Dorothy Gillman's "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax"- This is a series, but I started with the first book and have jumped around since then. Mrs. Pollifax just wakes up one day and decides to become a spy. She walks into the CIA and asks for a job. Her first assignment is in Mexico City. Her assignment seems to be fairly simple, but she, of course, ends up in a whole mess of trouble. Mrs. Pollifax is so surprising as a character, she is just this sweet little old lady who plays bridge and has grandchildren, but she is also a black belt in karate. Her best attribute is her ability to talk to people. She is just one of those people who you feel like you can tell all your secrets too. She actually reminds me of my mom. She is such a good listener that people just confide in her all the time. I feel like Mom could definitely be Mrs. Pollifax when she gets older (not right now, Mom, you are still WAY too young).
3. Miss Marple from Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Mysteries- Another series of sorts, but you doesn't necessarily need to be read in order of publication, each novel can stand on it's own. I have actually only read a couple of the Miss Marple series, but I have watched the entire Miss Marple collection with Joan Hicks. Miss Marple is just so smart and such a puzzle solver. You feel like she solves a murder the way she would do the Sunday crossword. You would think that solving murders all the time would make her hard and uncaring, but she is so friendly and good-natured. She is just a gossipy old village lady, through and through.
2. Amelia Peabody from Elizabeth Peters' "Crocodile on a Sandbank"- This is the first of a series as well. Amelia is a wealthy single woman who decides that she will travel to Egypt. She is very scholarly, friendly, and loves to take care of others. Her generosity is what allows her to meet her new companion Evelyn, who is found jilted by her lover in Italy. Once she and Evelyn arrive in Egypt, they meet the Emerson brothers, Walter and Radcliffe. I love Amelia's spirit and her sense of humor. She is so unaware of her own physical beauty, but is totally secure in her intelligence. She is a wonderful character and I have loved all of her books.
1. Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich's "One for the Money" - Another series. I think it must be really hard to come up with characters that people love throughout an entire series. It is easy to love a character in a stand alone novel, but when you read story after story about their lives, it is hard to keep people entertained and enchanted by a character. I love Stephanie Plum! She is my favorite fictional character. She is the perfect combination of dorky and cool. Stephanie is a bounty hunter and her first book follows her as she tries to apprehend Joe Morelli, who is wanted for murder, but is rumored to be innocent. Joe also happens to be the guy who deflowered Stephanie in high school and the guy who she plowed down with her father's Buick in college. Stephanie is a typical, tough New Jersey girl. She has big hair, short skirts and a lot of attitude. She is not exactly brave, more like she does heroic things by accident. If you have never checked out these books, I highly recommend you do.
So there you go, my favorite fictional characters. These may not always be my favorite, but they are for the moment. Please feel free and share some of yours.
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