Today was a day that started off unprepared. Not by me, but I surprised my preceptor by being their shadow for my PSE. Kind of frustrating, actually. But, it was nice to go through the day-to-day activities of a Quality Assurance (QA) Manager. We worked on clocking in and clocking out time for staff, visiting patients who had issues with QA, such as missing items on trays and other issues like that, and finally having a meeting with the other QA manager. Tomorrow I will be with a different QA manager so we'll see what that brings.

Something crazy is that in 9 days, I'll be done with my entire foodservice rotation. YIKES.

But, in five days I'll be back home and enjoying a fun holiday party with my favorite people. As for now, I'm working in papers and evaluations for the elevator study rotation.

Back to the grind..

Turkey day has come and gone. Nothing too exciting other than tons of relaxation, way too much eating, and dreading the drive back. It's really nice that the elevator study is finished and our presentation is done - the next two weeks will consist of Professional Staff Experience (PSE). We'll be stepping in as supervisors and basically taking over their duties. I've been assigned to the AM Galley PSE and my days will be from 6am-2:30pm. Even though it's early, it's better than sitting in an elevator for the entire time.

After that? I'm done with my entire foodservice rotation. I will have completed one of the largest rotation chunks of my internship. Whoa. Then it's one week of clinical administrative classes, a winter break, and then it will be 2011 and I'll be completing my clinicals. Whoa.

Good news is that my car is fixed and it wasn't my transmission. Phew. Still wasn't cheap, but it was about a $460 repair that will help my car last a lot longer. So maybe my first purchase after I graduate the internship and (hopefully) get a job won't be a car. If I just paid that much, I might as well drive it until it dies.

But, just like everything these days, it may be subject to change.

213 days...

5,948 huh?

Yep, something like that. The six interns (including myself) who completed the elevator data collection rode the elevator a combined amount of more than 5,000 times. Whoa.

So today consisted of organizing data and deciding what the heck we wanted to do with SO. MUCH. INFO. In a few words, we kicked butt today and got an incredible amount of work done. Best part? Knowing this information, huge paper, and millions of graphs and appendices will be put to use. Unlike undergrad, the "hypothetical" projects are no longer, everything I do in the internship - projects or otherwise - is put to use for the good of the hospital and PFANS department.

Even better, is that I get to go to see my love in a few days and go on my first Black Friday midnight shopping adventure! 

219 days...

Turkey time

Well, it's almost turkey time. I'm excited for a three day work week and being with family, friends, and boyfriend. Today was filled with driving home to exchange cars, because mine must go into the shop. It's doing this really annoying jerking thing and I'm excited to have it fixed, but nervous about what's wrong and how much it's going to cost. If it's nothing big, wont put me in harms way, and wont cause my car to die on me, I'm just going to live with it. I'm just more nervous that I'll be stuck on the side of the highway somewhere in the dark.

But I was stuck at the restaurant today because I locked my keys in my car. First time ever I've done that. And it signals that I need to get a spare set and put them somewhere easily accessible. OOPS.

Other than that, it was nice to have 2 days off in a row. The majority of the interns and I had a Thanksgiving feast yesterday. It was filled with veggie lasagna, green bean casserole (by me!), sweet potatoes, spinach artichoke dip, a spicy Malaysian dish, cranberry stuffing, and cupcakes that looked like turkeys! Pictures to come later...

 220 days...

Donor Poop

Good news? I'm done riding in the elevator.

Bad news? My body is wreaking the havoc of riding in the elevator for 64 hours. Current body temperature = 100.2 toasty degrees. These aren't glamorous elevators. They're service elevators that house biohazard bins, trash bins, and chemicals on an hourly basis. With no fresh/clean air circulation.

You better believe I took my vitamin B, C, and zinc supplement tonight. I'm not getting sick. Not now. Not before one of my favorite holidays where I'm going to want to stuff my face. And I'm going to be around family and friends who I want to socialize with and not make them sick. 

Definitely sleeping in tomorrow. What's sleeping in? 6am. That's A-MAZING compared to the 4:30am I've been getting up at lately. Tomorrow is basically like a "project day." 

Today we had our weekly intern meeting which usually is like a small 1.5 hour long class session. Today it was on prebiotics and probiotics. SUPER interesting. We focused more on probiotics and their mechanisms in the body and how they can help our clinical patients. I also learned about fecal bacteriotherapy. SO COOL, but so gross to think about.

Basically, C. diff is a big bacteria problem in hospitals lately, causing uncontrollable diarrhea (5-10 times a day!) and all sorts of problems. Well, nothing is working, antibiotics make it worse, and of course all other medications are just in and out. So what they do is take donor poop from a healthy individual and give it via enema, colonoscopy, or sometimes even through a nasogastric tube (a tube that runs through the nose and down into the stomach) to someone with C. diff or other GI issues. YEA. This way, someone elses healthy microflora and probiotics (healthy bacteria) can help someone else heal. Think of it as a temporary transplant. Haha...ew.

Some studies show almost instant results in 95% of participants. Plus no adverse effects have been found. It not only works for C. diff patients, but also people with ulcerative colitis and small GI problems such as constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. 


Seriously. Google it! Apparently it was even on Grey's Anatomy once. Think of how many would volunteer, possibly getting paid, for donating their poop.


Just a little fun fact for the day.






Now for bed. At 8:15pm. True story. Yayyyy "grown-up" life.

Not. Needed.

What's not needed? Comments from our elevator riders.

I've been nothing but nice to people coming in and out of the elevators. People are becoming so familiar, because they ride the elevator so much, that I don't have to ask what department they're from. I talk to them, ask them about their day, sometimes give random facts, or just sit quietly. So, why do I deserve such comments? Some (not all, of course) people are just starting to throw out rude comments and becoming hostile because of our presence for this study.

It just seems as if other departments, besides PFANS, are becoming annoyed that we're in the elevators. Excuse me. It's not like assigned elevator usage. We're doing this for the good of the hospital. Maybe create some elevator policies so they're not so congested all the time. We're doing this so perhaps the food wont have to ride in the same elevator as the trash and biohazard bins.

But the good news is that I have 2 days of elevator riding left. 6 of 8 days - CHECK! I even have tomorrow off. Ever wondered if your battery on your iPod actually lasts at least 8 hours running continuously? It does.

Even better? Thanksgiving dinner this weekend between all the interns. But, missing someone back home gets tougher and tougher each day ♥ 226 days...

Rest.

Finally, a day off. 6 days in a row of work and sitting in an elevator was brutal. Unfortunately, it's only one day off and I will have to go back tomorrow to sitting in an elevator. Newbed it hard yesterday by forgetting my iPod but luckily I was stocked full with medical terminology flash cards. I'll have to take a medical terminology exam before my clinical rotation starts and it's been a while since I browsed through everything. Luckily it all came back pretty quick! It's crazy to think that in less than 2 months I'll be beginning my clinical rotations. I'm already more than halfway through my foodservice rotation...yikes. After this elevator study rotation, I'll do two weeks of professional staff experience. Then - it's off to clinical rotation I go! 

Other than that? Nothing new.

Brutal x2

Second day - CHECK!

Today wasn't as bad. At least I knew what to expect and planned ahead. I brought my iPod which was by far the best decision I've made all week. Instead of dead quiet and small mechanical noises inside the elevator, my head was filled with sweet jams! When no one was in the elevator I moved around and busted (small) grooves like it was a dance floor. This was the only way to keep my legs moving and my ankles and heels from getting sore.

We interns are going to write a book titled, Elevator Ergonomics.

So, most people would usually come home from an 8 hour shift of (literally) standing on their feet all day and plop on the couch and not move for the rest of the night. Not me! I had to get moving. So I went for a 4 mile walk in my most comfortable shoes. Definitely the second best decision I've made all week. I know my legs would be restless at night if I didn't. 

But, like I said, not much else going on! 

231 days...

Brutal.

Waking up at 4:30am - BRUTAL.

Riding the elevator for 8 hours straight - BRUTAL.

Feet - aching.

Amounts of data - overwhelming.

Worth it? Let's hope so.

Day 2 of 8 is tomorrow. BRING IT ON.

What else happened today? Absolutely nothing. I literally hopped on the elevator at 6am and didn't get off until 10:30am, when I had a break. Then I hopped back on at 11:30am and didn't get off until 2pm. When the elevator wasn't in use, it sat there. So I sat there, in it. I did some stretches. Walked around in a very small circle. Kicked butt in the game on my cell phone. Facebooked when I was on the higher floors and had a smidgen of service. Hummed to myself. Doodled in my notebook. Doodled on my data sheets (oops).

When the elevator was in use? I was mostly explaining why I was there, correcting the confused faces of when people hopped on and asked where I was going, I replied...

"I'm headed wherever you're headed!"

Even better was when the doors would open and people would just say, "Oh, never mind, I'll wait." I'd reply...

"Well, I'll be here all day - so you might be waiting a while!"

In which, they'd hop on, ask where I'm going, and repeat the process. Needless to say, I'm not sure anything new will happen tomorrow.

Sometimes people would get creative and say, "well, lets hope the elevator doesn't get stuck!" To which I'd reply...


"Well, I'm stuck here either way!"

I should probably clarify why exactly I'm riding the elevator for 8 hours a day for the next week and a half. Basically the department wants to know who is using the elevator, for how long, if they're locking it, setting it on manual, where they're going, and everything else you can imagine. This way, they can justify the department getting a designated elevator (or at least a designated time frame), for when the entire hospital moves to a Room Service Food Service operation.

The things I do to get two little letters (RD) after my signature...
 

232 days...

Early mornings

SO - get pumped (maybe?), because tomorrow through Saturday, then Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week will consist of shifts from 6am-2pm. 

Doing what?

Riding an elevator. ALL. DAY. 

Yessir, no joke. But - it's all for good reason, believe it or not. Because the entire hospital will soon (ok, two years) be going to room service, the hospital is in limbo with whether or not PFANS will get a designated elevator to use. The hospital refused to fund for a contracted company to come in, so they use us for free labor. We are basically going to be seeing when elevators are going to have the highest traffic, who is using them, where they're going, how long it's taking, and if it's ever being held when it's not supposed to be. 24 hours a day.

So, this is our big food services management project and we'll be turning in a huge report with lots of figures and tables, so it's not as easy as it sounds. It's also not going to be easy hopping on the highway at 5am, but it's better than some of the other shifts, which the other two shifts are 2pm-10pm or 10pm-6am. Yikes. 

Our project wrap-up for last rotation went really well. We were all pretty much fried by the end of the day, even when we only had an hour long presentation scheduled that day. Everyone seemed to love hearing about all of the experiences we had and it was a very informative, fun, and interesting three weeks.

So lets just hope the next three weeks fly by just as fast. The little social life I have is gone. Good thing I had tons of fun this past weekend up at Central. Hopefully Thanksgiving will be here before I know it - that would be wonderful.

233 days...

And...my Healthy Eating Tip of the Month is now online! Check it out... 


November 2010 - Ace the Fats!

Rawr.

Again, this week is pretty laid back, at least at the hospital. Luckily tomorrow is just our rotation wrap-up session, a quick explanation from the preceptor of our next three week rotation, then off to Mt. Pleasant I go! 
 

I can't seem to catch a break otherwise.


237 days...

Today consisted completely of public speaking. Us six foodservice interns presented our literature reviews! Mine went very well, and took about 20-ish minutes, so I'm just glad it's over. All attendees (supervisors, preceptors, directors) seemed very receptive to my motivation/recognition presentation. Basically some of the ideas that I found during research or came up with myself were...

• "Strive for Five" from Aramark
• "Dollars for Scholars" from The Village at Manor Park Nursing Home in WI
• "Kudos Letters" from Sarasota County School Board
• Extra vacation time for perfect attendance at the WV University Hospital  
• "Staff Yearbook" by me! 
• "Double-Take" recognition program, by me!

 And basically just did my literature review on a study that focused that did a survey to look at what motivates employees, especially in a health care setting. It was a great experience to look further into how a study can impact a presentation, and definitely will prepare me for the clinical literature review I have to do when I'm in that big rotation. 

I'm pretty sure that the rest of this week is going to fly by. Tomorrow and Thursday we'll be doing Fire Safety/Evacuation in-services, Wednesday is more patient satisfaction interviews, or "Meal Rounds," then Friday is the wrap-up session already. Then, it will be off to CMU for Central/Western weekend. So, probably won't be much this week, but just everything coming together!