You.Don't.Know.Me

The article below is a product of being an insomniac. Sometimes I just wish I could sleep right away after watching my favorite show on TV or after shutting down my laptop or just after taking a shower but then I don't. I don't get to sleep when I get to bed at 2am and it will take me another hour or two before my melatonin finally decides to finally let me doze off.

Eight months later, the boy finally decides to make a move. He calls the girl one Sunday night. The girl and his brother were busy looking at the airsoft guns they are planning to buy for the next day. The phone kept on ringing and when she finally found it under the pillows and was about to answer, he dropped thinking she was ignoring the call.

1 missed call
09267016073
10:12PM

She laughed and told her brother who called. They both laughed.

.*.*.*.*.*.

B: I just want us to be together again.
G: Why do you even bother? We're done. Eight months ago...WE'RE.DONE.
B: I want you back and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for being a jerk. I'm sorry I messed up. I'm sorry I broke your trust. I'm sorry and I don't have an excuse.
G: You don't want to want me back.
B: I do. For the last eight months I do.
G: You wouldn't want to. I'm just not that girl anymore. I'm not that girl who used to believe in every word you say. I'm the girl you used to fool. I'm not the girl you used to ignore. I'm just not that girl anymore. You don't know me anymore and never knew me by the way.
B: I know you. I know you've always been that girl who...
G: NO.

G:You complained how hard your work is?
How your superior reprimands you?
You don't know how hard my work is.
You don't know how the head nurse shouts at me.
You don't know how she belittles me.
You don't know how surgeons can be so arrogant.
You don't know how they humiliate you in front of patients.
You never felt the pain of their words when they talk behind your back.
You don't know how tired I am after a night's duty but I still get to text or call you.
You never cared.
You don't know how scared I am going home at ten in the evening when all you see are motels and strangers at the squatters area.
You don't know.
You don't know because you were never there to fetch me.
You never knew how I spend the next one hour looking for a shuttle or jeepney in Cubao so I can go home to Santolan.
You don't know that.
You never knew that because you never dared to ask.
You are left in your room watching your favorite late night show while waiting for a text from me "I'm home." when you could've volunteered to walk me home even if its just for once in a while but you didn't.
You are left in your room playing cards or betting your ass off on who's gonna win that f*cking cockfight.
You are left in your room while I'm there sitting in my sofa, exhausted, hungry, sleepy yet waiting for a reply.
So don't tell me know me...

Note: I'll post a series of this when I get nostalgic. And so the stress is gone. The sequels to be posted when I get nostalgic again. Hope you enjoyed reading. Omigad, I'm emo tonight.haha

Catching the Falling Star

Being unemployed sucks. It makes your mind stagnant and your skills rusty. Well, I am unemployed or not really. I don't have an employer, so I'm basically self-employed. I am a part of group that specializes in tours and events organizing. We called ourselves Travelling Flip Flops.

Our Flip Flops

During this time of global recession, where everything is in slow motion, we need to find means on how to make money. We chose the travel industry for instance. We are newbies in this business and its so hard to start because none of us had a management major in college. I had management subjects but then it focused on nursing management which aside from the general principles of leadership and management, everything else is different. One of us is an accountant, but she's too busy at work and I, the nursing graduate even did what an accountant must do.

First stop, we planned. It took us a lot of time to plan. But the planning started in high school. Those were the days when we sit around on our favorite spot under the umbrella tree and dream about putting up a beach resort with a bar and grill. I think that was the day we first planned. Then several years later, after the nine of us graduated we are finally making our dreams come true one step at a time. Planning was critical. We had several brainstorming over cups of coffee about our would-be name, tagline, logo, packages, itineraries and many more including colors for the business cards. Then after several weeks of constant updating we made our decisions.

Implementing was the next stop. On this stage we put into action our plans. for example, we wanted a website where we can promote and as the IT specialist Aileen made one using our name, the tagline and logo we agreed upon. Another example is we wanted different packages that will cater to different clients, on this stage we are going to make our quotations, the number of participants, the attuned accommodation and transportation.This is more complicated than I thought.

The implementation consisted of two parts. I call the first, "the making part". It's like the more complex planning part since we are more detailed. Since I was the one who brought up the proposal of the travel business, I was basically doing most of the tasks. From making packages, itineraries, looking for resorts, hotels, inns, transportation availability and other things that needs to be settled. As said earlier, we become more detailed. Example, I made a package for a family vacation. I had to bear in mind the following:

• number of days to stay
• package rate
• number of participants
• accommodation
• transportation
• tour guide
• entrance fees
• food
  

If the package is done, I would then make their itineraries. For the past three days, I've been making proposals, packages, itineraries, surfing the net for the best deals, sending email inquiries to possible business partners and the like. But I got through all that today. I finished all the packages. Or should I say the Family Vacation and Barkada Adventure packages. But at least that is an accomplishment.

Finding clients was the second part. We have to promote first from our network of friends, school mates, their friends and office mates. Clients are demanding at times. They want prices right then and there. They want pictures of the places they are going to. They want itineraries as soon as possible. We all have the duty to promote the business. The internet aside from our network of friends is the best source. Clients expect the best from us. We promised to cater to their needs and we must meet their expectations.

This has been a busy week. To someone who's reading this, if you have suggestions on how we can make our business better and how we can make our tasks easier, please do comment.

Nurses' Note: Is it really freeze hiring?

It's not on my to-do list to create a blog today. But I stumbled on some stuff while surfing and my Mom was like you-need-to-find-a-real-job-now! stage and I just wanted to let out the stress from what she said. And so I decided to make a new blog once again. I haven't written for a while because I've been busy with my tours and events organizing business and the freelance writing job kept me busy for the last four weeks.

It's been two years since I graduated from one of the top nursing schools in the Philippines and I still don't have a job. A real job in a hospital where they pay you for the work. I actually been wanting to have one for the last 2 years. It's like I spent almost a million for a 4-year course and I end up being unemployed. When my parents once promised that if I take up Nursing as a major it would be easier to find a job, thus it would be easier to save money for my future. But those, not even one of those promises, was true. For now at least. The global recession has been affecting every industry but even before the financial crisis fired up you will always see this sign on Nursing Offices in the country. FREEZE HIRING. And I really think it is not freeze hiring. In the health care industry, to be one of the world's best health care institution they need to provide quality care aside from the technological advances they have. And they can't provide those if there is scarcity of the health care professionals (which I belong to) in their hospitals.

Being trained in a government hospital, I was able to see the need for more nurses. I was assigned in the Pedia Ward and we cater to 100 to 140 patients a day. That census never goes down, if ever it decreased 80 patients at most. The total bed capacity sadly is 40 patients. So where does the other 100 patients stay? For each bed there are 4 to 5 patients. During one duty, I saw Bed 11 with ten patients. Seriously, ten pediatric patients in one bed. Sad but true.

The pedia ward during OFF season

The ward is basically divided into two. The infectious and non-infectious. Those two is further subdivided depending on what system the disease belongs. The ward is headed by a clinical manager and had two head nurses (for the two divisions of the ward), several nurses and nursing aids. Every shift, each ward has two senior nurses, two contractual nurses (these are not staff) and two nursing aides. If there are trainees, there would be at least 3 or four on each ward. That would make 8 nurses in the ward to cater to 140 patients, their relatives, the doctors and the other health care professionals (med-techs, radiology technicians, dieticians,etc.). The nurses have a lot of duties. Let's start.

a. When the nurses arrive, they get endorsements from their fellow nurses.
b. After endorsements, they go for the rounds.
(In the hospital where I trained, we get the endorsements while doing our rounds to conserve time.)
c. During rounds, we take note of the clients condition, check for the IV fluids (flow rate, level, etc.), check the IV site (for infiltration, swelling, etc.), inform their change of diet (usually for post-op patients), remind their labs just to name a few.
d. In our ward, we actually do two kinds of endorsements. The patient endorsements where we also go for the rounds and next is the medication endorsements. The latter is done after the first is finished.
e. After those endorsements, the 140 charts will we waiting in the nurses station. We chart.
f. If there are new orders from the doctors we carry out the orders.
g. Depending on the cases, we keep ourselves updated for the patients status. And we refer abnormal vital signs and the like.
h. We assist in procedures.
i. When there are surgeries to be done, we endorse the clients' condition to the OR nurses.
j. We answer telephone calls.
k. We deal with doctors. Sometimes, doctors who doesn't know what work etiquette or professionalism means.
l. We deal with the patient's relatives, visitors and others.
m. If there are admissions, we give instructions for the ward rules and everything they need to know while they are in the ward.
n. If there are discharges, we also give them instructions on when to come back, what medications to take, etc.
o. We provide health teachings.

We need more nurses!

These are only few things a nurse does. And if the ward is toxic, how will 8-12 nurses handle all this toxicity and provide quality care for the 100+ patients. The bottom line is, hospitals need a lot of nurses. They need more nurses for their wards. They need more nurses to provide quality care. But why do they still have the excuse of telling new registered nurses that they have FREEZE HIRING. CRAP...



Just my opinion.
Just me. For now.

-katt-