1st day as Real CRNA

As promised this is my post regarding my first day (week) as a real CRNA. (YIKES!!)

Since Dave and I still have not gotten our house on the market, I am still staying at my parents during the week.  I am so thankful that I have a place to stay that is closer to work than Lexington, however all I really want is for Dave and I to be living together again.  This journey just won't seem quite over until that happens.  So Monday morning I awoke, early of course, and headed into work.  Keeping with tradition of first day pictures, here is a picture my dad took as I was walking out the door for my first day.  Not at all surprising to me, I arrived to the hospital at 6:15 am.  This was not good!  I know what you are thinking and NO I was not late, but entirely to early.  I used to get to the hospital at 6:15 when I first started residency.  It is remarkable to me that I have been making this drive from my parents house to the hospital for 2.5 years now and I still don't have any idea how long it takes me to get there.  Anyway, there was no way I was going to show my face in the locker room this early so I made myself sit in my car until 6:45.  As you can imagine this was an agonizing wait.  LOL!!

Once I finally got changed and went into my room, I proceeded with my morning routine.  One thing was different though...... instead of going over SAMTIDE once or twice, I probably did 20 times.  I am sure you are wondering what the heck SAMTIDE is.  It is obviously an acronym we learned in school.  Oddly enough I recite this acronym in my brain so much that when I am now leaving my house for anything and I start to think do I have everything (meaning my purse, keys, zantac, chapstick, etc) I think SAMTIDE and have to remind myself that I am not at work.  It has just become so engraved in my mind.  It stands for, suction, airway, machine, monitors, tape, iv, drugs, equipment.  It is a pretty fail safe system to make sure you have everything.

After checking over things 10X to many, I headed over to same day to see my first patient.  I had to keep reminding my self to introduce myself as Brittany Kaiser, CRNA,  instead of Brittany Kaiser, RRNA.  My first patient informed me that he/she was really scared, and all I really wanted to say was, "so am I."  For all you medical people out there, I am sure you are thinking that you wouldn't want a CRNA that was scared!!!  I knew I was ready and well equipped with the skills I needed to provide safe, good care for this patient, it is just nerve racking when you are finally functioning independently, as it is in any job medical or not.  After talking to my patient I headed over to the desk where we all congregate before heading back and I saw Brett, one of my classmates.  It was his first day too.  He looked at me and I think his exact words were, I am totally freaking out!!  I laughed and said I was too.  All of the seasoned CRNA's got a good chuckle out of us and our nervous jitters.

All and all I think my first week went OK.  I definitely did not get easy assignments, and had some patients that were closer to dead than alive when I met with them, but all that matters is that they were still alive when I left them  ;)  I am not completely happy with my performance throughout the week, but I know I am my worst critic and that I can't expect to be perfect.  (for all those non medical people reading...... I am sure you are thinking that you expect me to be perfect.  Working in the medical field is just different and if you don't do it you won't understand this paragraph)

The one thing I can say is how happy I am to be working where I work.  Working where I work, has forced Dave to make some changes to his life, and I am so grateful that he has been willing to do so, even though it will make his life more difficult.  He will never, and could never understand the added benefits I have been granted being able to practice where I do.  I desperately tried to get a job in Lexington, however there were none available and I just can't help but to know that everything happens for a reason.  Starting this journey I didn't get into the program I thought I really wanted, but I now know that was a blessing.  Not being able to find a job in Lexington, I once thought was so detrimental to our lives however this week I realized exactly why that happened.  I only wish he could understand how grateful, I am to have the job I have.  I love where I work, I love the people I work with, and most importantly making the transition form student to CRNA anywhere else would have been down right awful!!  I am forever grateful that he has been willing to give up so much so that I could be where I am.
So, even though  I know he will never read this, "Thanks Dave, I love you so much!!!!!"

Life After Graduation

So So So much has happened since Graduation!!  I have not posted in so long but believe me I have been BUSY!  I will do my best to sum it all up in this post.

Maggie and I started studying for boards on December 4th and believe me we hit the ground running and didn't stop.  We would meet at the library around 8-9 AM and would study together until 5.  Around 5ish we would head home to eat dinner and continue to study on our own until it was time for bed.  There was definitely no goofing off.  Even if I tried I would immediately get anxious about our upcoming board exam and my nose would be right back in the books.  Dave continuously told me I was pushing to hard but I knew the amount of material I was supposed to know up, down, frontwards, backwards, and sideways so I just kept going no matter what.  I will admit I had a few breakdowns and freak out moments but all in all I felt that the systematic system Maggie and I put into place worked. 

Maggie and I went through everything together during whole program and in true Maggie and Brittany style we took our boards sitting right next to each other in the testing center, (December 21st at 8am) and of course we PASSED!!!!  Maggie finished about ten minuets before me so as soon as I came out of the building she came running up to me and we hugged and screamed and were on cloud 9. 

My grandpa unfortunately landed himself in the hospital after a fall and I spent the day I passed boards in Louisville visiting with him.  It was great to be with members of my family that day, because I could see how proud, and happy everyone was for me.  Luckily my grandpa was D/C before Christmas! 

I was smart and I did most of my Christmas shopping online before graduation knowing I would be consumed by studying during most of December.  Almost all of the presents I had bought were sitting in our house in Amazon boxes just waiting to be wrapped.  

The Holidays for Dave and I were great!!!  Christmas Eve Eve day we spent at Dave's mom's house with just the immediate family opening up gifts.  I hope this will be a new tradition for us since I feel like we don't usually have time to do a small family Christmas at Peggy's house.  

The first party we attended on Christmas Eve was spent at Dave's aunt Mimi's home.  This was her first year hosting Christmas Eve and she did a wonderful job.  I only wish we could have stayed longer but we still needed to go to the Kaiser family Christmas at Dave's grandma's.  The Kaiser family Christmas was crazy, and fun as usual.  I spent most of the night talking to Andrea about her pregnancy.  =)  

Christmas morning we awoke at my parents house and had our family Christmas in my parents new addition.  It was so nice and so cozy!!  My mom baked a bunch of cookies this year that tasted AWESOME!!  My waist line is definitely proof of that! 

Next, we headed down to Carrolton to have Christmas at my grandparents house, where we were all so thankful that my grandpa was able to be home and out of the hospital!  We opened presents, ate great food and spent the rest of the day together.  This Christmas gathering was the only place I remembered to take pictures. 

The next Christmas party took place in Florida with my other grandparents.  Unfortunately Dave and I had to miss the annual Florida trip this year.  We just knew we would be to busy with me trying to start at the hospital before the 1st of the year, trying to fix our house up to be sold and packing stuff up to move.  Hopefully my grandparents in Florida will agree to come up to nKy in the early spring. ;)

So anyway, I think that catches everything up.  I hope to start blogging a bit more often now that the holidays are over.  Tomorrow is a big day for me.  My first day at work as a CRNA. I am excited and nervous.  I will definitely post a HIPPA friendly version of my first day sometime this week. 

Graduation and Shananigens

First Day of CRNA school!!! 

Finally Finished!! 

My last week of CRNA school went off without a glitch.  We were required to do a full 12hour (code for 14 hour) day Wednesday and Thursday but Friday was our day of fun.  The tradition at St. E is that the Senior students come in at regular time on Friday and start the day's cases for their room and the then the Junior students relieve them, with the passing of the blade, at 9 AM. 

That Friday morning Maggie and I met in the garage and she helped me carry in the cake we bought to thank the OR staff for putting up with us for the last 21/2 years.  The whole way in, I was picking on Maggie because the way her day was scheduled she was going to have to start two cases before she got relieved and I would be lucky if I even had my first one started by 9, because the surgeon I was to be working with is so so slow.  Little did I know that there was an emergency appy put in my room, and scheduled to start at 6:45.  Anyway, the emergency appy went fine and to my surprise we actually started our scheduled cases on time, and I ended up doing the most work in the morning out or our whole group.  =/ 

The Juniors came in promptly at 9 AM, and little did they know we had planned to tell them to come back at 9:30, and to go eat bagels and coffee that we had waiting for them in the classroom.  So at 9:30 Justyn Muzic, came to relieve me.  This was extra special because Justyn worked with me in TICU at UK.  So, at 9:30, under the OR lights I passed the laryngascope blade to Justyn, symbolizing I had just graduated and Justyn was now a Senior.  The whole thing is kinda silly but we have fun with it.  Jeff (our clinical instructor) then followed us, taking many pictures along the way, as we greeted our classmates when they exited their room.

Later that night we had the most amazing graduation party.  Our class, plus significant others all went to Jeff Ruby's steakhouse.  It was all pretty fancy for our budgets but well deserved. To our surprise Jeff and Jeff (two CRNA's we trained with), called ahead and placed a 300$ bar tab for us to use at dinner.  My brother even came to shoot some professional pictures for the occasion. 

After dinner we headed over to Bartin's and partied all night.  Many CRNA's and MD's from various hospitals showed up and helped us celebrate.  The whole night was so amazing.  The true genuine joy from my class as well as the people we have met along the way warmed my heart.  I am so happy and thankful that I signed on to work with such amazing people. 

Maggie and I

Julie, Emily, Me, Maggie

LOL!!! Passing of the Blade with Justyn Muzic

Shannon and  I are so happy!!

Maggie is only slightly excited

Julie leaving PACU

The original ST. E six!!

Dave and I drinking champagne before dinner in my parents newly renovated all seasons room.

Cocktails before dinner

Emily, Don, Maggie and myself at Bartini's

All the girls

Getting Started.....

So, after a year of being a closet blog reader, I have decided to start my own blog.  I have thought about this for a long time and am so excited about starting my own blog that I couldn't sleep.  It is now 11:30 at night and I am on my way with my first post.  I am sure you are thinking that I must live a pretty sad, and boring life if blogging is what has me excited.  The truth is that I have put the last two and a half years of my life on hold to pursue a career as a CRNA.  I graduate in under two weeks and as soon as I pass my boards my life will have just begun.

Before I delve into what is ahead of us after I pass boards, I want to take a moment to document the last 2 1/2 years, and what a gruelling process school has been.  When I thought of applying for anesthesia school I only knew that I didn't want to be a bedside nurse anymore and that the role of a nurse practitioner did not suit me either.  I shadowed  a few CRNA's and decided that anesthesia is where my true interest lied.  In my quest that this blog remain real and honest I must say that the thought of earning a CRNA's salary also excited me.  I began to apply to many different programs with in a 3 hour drive from Lexington.  When all was said and done I was excepted into the Graduate Program of Nurse Anesthesia at Texas Wesleyan University. 

TWU's anesthesia program had a campus at ST.Elizabeth Hospital in Edgwood Kentucky, which would be perfect for when it came time to do my residency because I could just move back in with my parents.  A friend of mine from UK also started the program with me and we started our journey in August 2009.  The entire first year was didactic, and Maggie and I drove 3 times a week to NKY for class and test.  We put A LOT of miles on our vehicles but we also grew very close.  The beginning of anesthesia school was a bit of a shocker.  We actually studied 60+ hours a week and always felt like we could have studied more.  The traveling was hard but the hours of studying were harder.  Not only is it hard to dedicate that much time, it was  really hard to watch everyone's life go on around me and to know I was missing out. 

After a 3 week break in the beginning of August 2010, we started our residency.  Our brains were so full of knowledge, we just needed to learn how to use it.  We were in the OR everyday from 6am - whenever our cases ended or we were told to leave.  This was usually around 5:30.  12 hour days, 5 days a week were exhausting.  Not to mention when you got home you spent the rest of your evening looking up your cases for the next day and making careplans for each one.  Each day we came to "work" and got drilled with questions.  It was so hard to feel so dumb.  My eyes welled up a few times while getting pushed around for not knowing something but I managed to hold back the tears until January during my childrens rotation.  The first 5 months were awful, and I am so thankful that I had my parents to help me.  Every Sunday night I would pack up my things and drive to NKY to spend the next five days.  Every night I came home from the OR my mom or dad had made dinner.  They usually made me a plate and I sat in a separate room eating and working on careplans until I was finished and promptly went to bed. 

In January a group of us started our childrens rotation, at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital.  I was grateful to be attending such a prestigious hospital but was absolutely terrified of taking care of kids.  In some ways while I was there my worst fears came true and in others they were proved wrong.  I left there feeling confident in my ability to provide anesthesia for children but lets just say working at childrens hospital after graduation was not on my top ten list. 

As the months dredged on I rotated to Good Sam, Bethesda, and Jewish.  I learned new thing at each place made many new friends.  Emotionally I was very drained.  It was really hard to live apart from Dave 5 days a week, and the constant epigastric pain I felt from GI issues was becoming really hard to smile through.  In the end though, I muscled through and here we are just a few days shy of graduation.

I am so happy I choose this profession, and believe it or not I actually miss my job on my days off.  My job is very gratifying and I couldn't imagine doing anything else.  I have lots to learn still, which is why I am glad I have contracted with the anesthesia department at St. E where I did the majority of my residency.  I love the people there and feel like this will be great transition environment for me to go from student to CRNA. 

The only thing standing in my way of becoming a CRNA now is  4 shifts, a blowout graduation party with my class, lots of studying, and passing my boards. 

The countdown has begun!!