Molly Maid On Call

As of today, well actually yesterday now as it's 1:30 am....I have a room mate. And this (as Martha Stewart would say) is a good thing. I was expecting that I would share the apartment at some point although it's been nice to have the first week to myself to set up housekeeping. It would however, have been nice to know that my roommate was arriving today before she was actually here. I'm pretty sure I was the last to know as the SHP said to me in passing just before noon "oh, you have someone arriving today and moving in with you, her name is Kelly".  Ooops, I best get my act together and go be molly maid I thought but too late - she was already here. So, I quickly did the sink full of dishes, swept the floor and emptied the garbage as she put her things away, as I explained I'd been working most of the weekend, not exactly how I wanted to welcome a new roommate. I moved my 'stuff' around so there was a space for her things as well as you know that material expands to fill available space and it's all good. Turns out she's a very experienced northern nurse from PEI and very easy going. I am planning to pick her brain about the other 'communities' in Kitikmeot. She's worked here full time in the past and knows everyone from patients to staff so it's like old home week for her. I think my first (non family) roommate since nursing school will work out okay. 

My new roomie and I are actually not likely to get in each other's way much if the schedule since her arrival is any indication. She was foraging for her stored belongings when I arrived home late from work as I'm second on call. I made myself some supper and we chatted a bit, she indicated she'd be available to help out if anything serious like a major trauma came in during the night, and that I should leave her the portable phone if I headed over on a call. She was on the phone to someone local as I made my way back to the HC for a planned appointment at 9 pm and have never made it back. No major situations, just every time I put my boots on to go out in the snow and wind, the phone rang again. So, this will be two short sleeps and full days at work but I am counting all my O/T and smiling so it's all good. And no I am not going to brag about my earnings because remember it'll be two months of not working when I am home so I'll have to live off my savings then.

Monday I did first on call for 24 hours and still managed to get back to the apartment for supper of leftovers and in bed from 1:30 am until the morning so thought I'd fared well as the pace has been rather brisk. If you're one that's interested in stats...of the first five calls of the day, four were directly attributed to alcohol - not uncommon according to my coworkers.

The Tuesday after a long weekend is usually busy and today was no exception. I did my best to keep up and only faltered when a man appeared saying he was booked for his drivers medical. I have certainly done these but not for some time and I wasn't familiar with the form. He was moved along to another nurse who ended up doing bloodwork and more on him as he was not a good risk. It would've been the final step in my drowning process if I'd tried to deal with him. I am finally able to tell others where some things are so must be settling in a bit. This evening as I was waiting for a patient to arrive I photocopied the formulary which tells me which drugs I can prescribe as my coworkers have it memorized and rarely need to consult it. I do need to do the immunization test for Nunavut but first I need some uninterrupted time to read the material and do the quiz. The next three evenings show promise.

Almost 3 am and time to send the observed patient along home. An update soon when I'm caught up on my sleep.