Uniform! Finally :D

So I got a pretty awesome package delivered to the hospital the other day - my uniforms! Now I have 5 days worth of clothes to wear to work instead of 2. That means less washing! Which is the best part of having a uniform by far. And it's also pretty good not having to think about what to wear, and feeling like I actually now work for Queensland Health :D Although I still don't have an ID card, something to do with the new template not being available since Torres and Northern Peninsula Hospital and Health Service amalgamated with Cape York HHS to become the Torres-Cape HHS.

Pinafore and blouse

Culottes, so comfortable. Remind me of
primary school!

A-Line skirt

Grad Study Day 1

Tomorrow marks one month since I started my grad year (and subsequently yesterday marked one month since I arrived on TI). It has gone so quick!! On Thursday 28th August we had a Graduate Study Day, which was great. First we learnt about communication techniques (such as SBAR) and how to escalate our concerns to achieve a desired action using the PACE acronym. Then it was time for morning tea - the nurse educator made a great  zucchini slice, yum!

After morning we had a practical session learning how to insert  different types of airway tubes (see pics), followed by a session on understanding different types of heart rhythms and the actions that should be taken depending on whether they are shockable or not (note: only ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia are shockable. A defibrillator is not useful for 'flat-line' as you see you TV!). After that it was time for lunch.



Endotracheal Tube (http://intensivecare.hsnet.nsw.gov.au/intubation)

Laryngeal Mask Airway (http://almostadoctor.co.uk/content/systems/-respiratory-system/skills-and-procedures/airway-support)

Geudel airway - keeps the tongue from
blocking the airway
(http://www.anesthesiamyths.com/breathing-tube/)

Nasopharyngeal Airways

     
Following lunch it was back to the classroom, where we learnt about the importance of timely, accurate and concise note-taking. We were given some real life examples of patient notes that weren't overly useful. This session showed that patient notes need to be completed accurately because 'it it's not written, it didn't happen'. For afternoon tea I made upside down pineapple cake. It was the first time I had ever made it, and it was delicious - here's the link to the recipe if you want to try it at home: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/27762/upside+down+pineapple+cake
 

First day on the ward!

Well it's been a while since I last wrote. Not much else has been happening. The second day of orientation was dull. It was all video conferenced and hard to concentrate. I must admit I didn't get much out of that day. Thursday (7 Aug) we had the cultural program, which was introduced as to the Aboriginal and (particularly) Torres Strait Islander cultures. It was fantastic. The educator made us 'design' an island with meeting places, sacred spots, etc. and then name it. She then came along and built buildings, 'moved' us from our homes (putting us near the sewage and dump) and renamed our island (after NSW State of Origin players - boo!!). And then told us it was 'for our own good'. It really hit home the impact of colonisation on the indigenous people.

Friday was our first day on the ward! I had a very complex patient - had to give him a tablet and a do a very simple dressing on a wound that was pretty much healed. And then he got discharged, so had no patients for the rest of the day. Like I said, complex. Nah, it was a good way to ease into the ward environment, and it meant we had time to orientate ourselves to the ward, go through all the paperwork, and of course do the discharge, which was easier then I expected. Maybe being a smaller hospital (and only having one patient) it was easier to listen in on the Dr's ward round and to know exactly who is being discharged when. The most exciting part was signing off on the nursing notes without having to be counter-signed. I'm a big nurse now!

I've had the weekend off, which I thought I would enjoy while I could! So it's been quite a relaxing one. I started Saturday morning by cleaning - the bathroom needed a good thorough clean, but it's much better now :) And I rearranged the furniture - all three pieces :P Last night the girls 'next door' (we are all in the same building) had a sushi and board games night. So I met some new people which was good :) I slept in this morning and haven't done much since. Will go for a run later and then get ready for my next shift on the ward tomorrow morning :)
 

Orientation - First day of 'work'

Well had my first day of 'work' today - orientation. It was as good as any orientation could be - we watched the fire safety DVD AGAIN (for about the millionth time), got set up with our passwords, and manual handling, etc. Orientation goes until the end of the week, and we have a cultural program on Thursday. There is a whole sheet of other stuff that we have to do online as well, each with its own timeframe of when it has to be completed. Thinking I might get a start on it ASAP, then it's done :)

Haven't been doing much the last couple of days. Just settling in and finding my way around, by running around the island - have been for three runs in the last three days :) At the moment I've just been doing short/slower runs to wear in my new shoes and see how my knee is. It seems to be holding up OK! I've been going between 3:30 and 4:30pm. It's been warm, but the breeze helps a bit. Except when you're running into it :@ Yesterday I went and sussed out the pool/gym complex on my run, so I'm thinking of going there tomorrow and joining up. Here is a pic from my run today :)

The sun sets later up here then in Brisbane at about 6.30pm, instead of 5.30. So it always gets to about 6pm and I'm surprised by how late it is. The sun doesn't rise much later up though, only about 20 minutes behind Brisbane. But I do have block out curtains, which is good as the light from the police station shines in all night otherwise. I think I must live in the safest part on the whole island, surrounded by the hospital and the police station :P Well that is all for now, might see if I can do some training!

A Little Tour and My First Food Shop

The nurses I'm living with took me on a tour of the island this morning and to the local grocery store - the IBIS which stands for Islanders Board of Industry and Service. It was very lucky and convenient that we had the use of a car, so was a great way to get my bearings and do a bit of a starter shop. This place is sooo beautiful. Here are some photos from my phone.

  

 

My first shopping receipt - $100 doesn't go far. But I did buy about 18 portions of meat, in that BBQ pack, so it's not so bad I guess. And as I'm not paying for rent, electricity, or water, and get a remoteness allowance, it all makes up for it!

 

 

A Plane, A Bus and A Ferry..

Well actually it was a car ride to the airport, two planes from Brisbane - Cairns - Horn Island. A bus to the ferry, ferry from Horn Island to Thursday Island, bus to the hospital and then a very short (1 minute) walk to my new home! So, after leaving Reece's just before 7am, I finally arrived 'home' some time between 4.30 and 5pm. Was a long day! The goodbye at the airport wasn't too bad, there were no tears! Although I had shed plenty during the week :(

My flights were unremarkable,  but I did have two seats to myself on both flights. That was nice as it meant I could stretch out a little :). Upon arrival at Horn Island I got very nervous, but the man at the Rebel ferry services was very nice and my name was on the manifest! (Which meant I wasn't stranded on Horn Island). I arrived at the hospital and got my key and starter food pack. The food pack consisted of a loaf of wholemeal bread, long life milk, tea and coffee, some spreads, mini cereal packets and 3 pieces of fruit. I was very lucky that one of the other nurses kindly offered to cook dinner for me. And it was delicious!

I am in the 'Groupshare' house, room number 15. It is awesome being only about a minute to the hospital!! My room is huge and has it's own ensuite. I share a fridge with one other nurse andd there is a shared kitchen between four of us, with a more communal lounge room. I also have my own little balcony, from which I can see the water (even if it is just glimpses through the trees) :)

The weather is much warmer then Brisbane - I am back in shorts and t-shirt. But it's not too bad. I have the balcony door open, but no fan or a/c as of yet. I'll wait till it gets a bit more humid before that comes on. Tomorrow the other nurses have offered to take me on a little tour of the island and to the IBIS supermarket. It is only open from 0900-1300 on the weekends, so I was obviously too late to go shopping when I arrived.

Anyway, I am exhausted. I'll leave you with some pics of this beautiful place, and then I'm going to bed!

Cloud that I thought looked like a duck

Ferry to TI

So Beautiful

So much space

 

Where is Thursday Island anyway?

Well I got my flight details today. Turns out I am leaving Brisbane on the 2nd of August at 9.40am, arriving on TI at 4.30pm. So I've lost the extra weekend I thought I had in Brisbane. Oh well, what can I do about it - not much! From what I've been told and I understand I will have four months on TI on the ward and then head off to Bamaga back on the mainland for three months in December. After those three months. I will then head back to TI and have four months in emergency and a one month elective.

If you're like me, you might not be exactly sure where TI and Bamaga are. Of course I knew it was in the Torres Strait, and I definitely did not know where Bamaga was. So it was a case of google maps to the rescue. I've embedded a map for your viewing pleasure :) By the way, I looked at how far it is from Brisbane to TI and it's approximately 2200km as the crow flies. Bamaga is only about 30kms from TI contrast :P

As you can see TI is quite small, and it has no air strip. I will be flying from Brisbane to Cairns to Horn Island and then catching a ferry across to TI :) The land mass on the right is the Queensland mainland.

The hospital on TI is practically on the water! It has 38 beds, but is large in comparison to Bamaga hospital with only 10 beds!

 

And in relation to the rest of Queensland:
 

Well a much shorter post tonight.
Graduation tomorrow!

New Adventures, New Blog

Disclaimer: This is a long post. I have sort of included the whole story of how I got into nursing. At this point I am not actually working as a nurse. Indeed, I am hardly working as a personal carer. I am actually writing this on my last shift! But I ask you to bear with me, just because :P

 

Well here I am, over two years since I arrived back in Australia from the UK and oh how things have changed. I started uni less then a week after arriving back in the country (and with approximately $400 in my bank account). After applying for both nursing and education, I had decided to 'just go with it' and whatever I was accepted into would be what I was going to study. And that turned out to be the two year graduate entry Bachelor of Nursing at QUT, Kelvin Grove (grad entry as I had already done a 4 year BPsych in Townsville).

 

Two years later and I am registered, about to graduate and have a graduate position with Queensland Health in the Torres Strait - Northern Peninsula Hospital and Health Service, flying out of Brisbane August 4. That's TWO weeks away. Only. (eep!!). Between even knowing about the position, interviews and getting the job was less then a week, so it definitely came as a bit of a shock. However now that I have had more time to think about it, I can definitely say that things are starting to sink in. I started packing/going through my stuff yesterday day and I must admit there were a few tears. I am leaving my boyfriend in Brisbane and will miss him A LOT (too much). Hopefully the fact that I'll be working full time will be enough to distract me!

 

So I guess there is the question of 'why the Torres Strait?' Well, like with most of my nursing career, I kind of just fell into it. In contrast, whenever I have tried to follow an education career path, things have generally not gone on track. Let me back track a bit, for those of you who don't know my story. When I was a kid I sort of changed between wanting to be a nurse or a teacher. However when it came time to decide what I wanted to actually wanted to at uni, I had changed my mind on both counts. So I decided to study Psychology at James Cook University in Townsville. About half way through that degree I decided once again that yes, I did actually want to do education. Only one problem - JCU had stopped doing the dual Psych/education degree. So I decided to just continue with the Psych degree and do the post graduate diploma after finishing psych. Of course that didn't work out, as I ended up going to the UK, but more about that later.

 

The next semester I was doing an external subject and had done a block subject. As such I only had two subjects on campus, and therefore had a lot of free time. I thought I might enrol at TAFE and study a certificate in child care at the same time, externally. Well that fell through, as I received the paperwork the day I was driving down to Brisbane for 3 months over the summer. When I was in Brisbane I got a temporary job at Centrelink working in the call centre, signing people up for Newstart allowance, and with that I knew I was eligible when I returned to Townsville (as I had resigned from my job at Subway in Townsville due to the long time away and my contract with Centrelink had ended). So when I returned I signed up to Newstart allowance.

 

With Newstart I was required to apply for so many jobs per week, and I found one in the paper - a job working as a personal care assistant with the Spinal Injuries Association. I applied, and got it, just like that, and that began my 5 year career in personal care work. When I finished uni I applied to work as a carer in the UK and again, got that job. I worked there for two years before making the decision to return to uni. And as I said before I let fate guide me, and I was accepted into nursing easily.

 

Fast forward two years and it was time for me to start applying for graduate positions! I had done a placement at the Wesley Hospital and absolutely loved it there. As only private hospitals had mid-year intakes, the Wesley was the only place I applied. I had missed the cut-off for the Mater as they had not updated their website, and I was not interested in applying for Greenslopes - mainly because I had not done a prac there. When I got through to interview I was really excited and sure I had made the right decision to follow nursing as a career path. Working at the Wesley would have also been really convenient as it was so close to Reece's! Alas, it was not meant to be. I must admit I was a bit down heartened when I discovered I had not been successful in obtaining a position, especially as my nursing path had come so easy previously :(

 

Another few weeks and that would all change though. An opportunity arose to apply for a mid year graduate program based on Thursday Island and I took it! There was also the opportunity for a five month mental health grad program in Mackay and I also put my name down for that. At the time I hadn't really thought much about whether I would actually take a job in T.I or Mackay or not, but the more I thought about it the more it made sense. A rural/remote grad nursing program would just give me skills that I would not have the opportunity to learn in a big city hospital. And there are other incentives too ;)

 

So, it was about the 3rd of July that I got a phone call asking if I would like my CV to be included in those looked at for interview. The next day I got asked to interview and then Monday July 7 I had the interview. I was worried as the whole thing went for less then 15 minutes. But I was prepared, I had notes. I felt I may have talked too fast, but there was no umming and ahhing. I answered the questions, but I still wasn't sure. They told me I would hear back by the end of the week. I heard back The.Next.Day. Wow, quickest waiting game ever!! But it was good, better then the Wesley experience where hopes slowly dwindled as the hours and days went by :/ So it turned out that I was successful at getting the job. Yay! Less then a week between knowing the position existed and getting the job, things hadn't really sunk in. (As a side note, after accepting the T.I job I did get asked to interview for the Mackay job, but turned that down).

 

Ok, now that we are caught up to how I got into nursing and subsequently a job on Thursday Island, I have had a couple of weeks to think about things. And the more I think about it, the more it makes sense that I would get a job in the most northerly part of Australia. For one, I have always said that I would prefer to go hours north but stay living in Queensland than going less then two hours south, which would take me into New South Wales. I am a proud Queenslander and living in NSW has never really been something I aspire to. Living in the Torres Strait means I can not live any further north! Two, I think I am destined to not live in Brisbane. It's no wonder when people makes comments like:

• 'What is with you Odgaard's living in far flung places?' - FYI my sister lives in Rockhampton, my parents live in Katherine, NT and my uncle lives in India. Plus of course, I have lived in Townsville for half of my adult life and the UK for two years.
• 'You are your father's daughter' in regards to adventure.' And honestly, I am quite sure that living on Thursday Island will be an adventure!

I look forward to sharing this new adventure of mine with you. I hope you have made it to the bottom of this post and will follow along with subsequent posts. I promise in the future to not be as long-winded as I have been with this post!! Until then, over and out (FINALLY!!!)