Living the Florida Life

I love living in Florida.  3 years ago when I accepted a job down here for the winter, I was convinced that I would hate it, but there's just something about this place.  I love the palm trees, and I love the sunshine.  I love the water, the wildlife, and the salty breezes.  Just yesterday Simon and I went out paddle boarding for a couple hours, and while we were out there we saw a dolphin, two manatees, a spotted sting-ray, and tons and tons of birds.  When we got back to where we were parked, I wandered out into the water to cool off for a bit.  I noticed that there was an osprey circling around me, and I couldn't help but feel creeped out with each pass that he made above my head (and no, I'm not talking about the Osprey helicopter/plane).  I could have sworn he was looking at me.  There were a few times that he swooped down low, and I thought for sure he was going to impale me with his sharp talons.  I turned to Simon to see if he had a read on what was going on, and he said, "There's a probably a fish in the water and he wants to get it, but he's not coming down while you're standing there."  So I got out of the water and stood on the beach.  No sooner was I a few feet from where the waves were crashing did that little bird dive in the water and come up with a big fish.  It was insane.  I've never been that close to a bird while it was hunting prey.  He was so close to me that I could see all his markings, both of his big yellow eyes.  I could even see the scales on the fish as it struggled to free itself.  Unfortunately the bird was far more prepared for the hunt than the fish was, and off they went, probably back to the nest.  It was so neat.

After we were done boarding we went to have lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger, a burger place on Sanibel Island that is absolutely fantastic.  I can't believe we've never eaten there before.  I got a burger topped with onion rings, chopped garlic, BBQ sauce, bleu cheese, bacon, and mushrooms...it was one of the best burgers I've ever had...definitely top 5.  And I've noticed something...three of my top 5 burgers all have onion rings, bacon, and BBQ sauce on them.  :)  To compliment my fantastic burger we ordered a basket of fries and onion rings along with two dipping sauces, one was creamy jalapeno and the other was zesty horseradish.  We had homemade Dr. Pepper and also had an Oreo cookie shake, and both were very good.  One of our coworkers at the hospital works part-time at Cheeburger, so we went there while she was working and she explained how all their food is prepared fresh on site, and that very little is frozen...you can definitely taste the freshness in everything.  I know that Cheeburger Cheeburger is a chain of sorts, so if there's one in your area, go to it.  You'll love it.

I continue to struggle with my job at the hospital.  I took on the role of charge nurse of our unit this year, and it's been a challenge.  Like most areas of healthcare, our hospital is faced with the task of making the most out of as little possible, while being completely overwhelmed by legions of sick people.  I don't necessarily regret my decision to be a charge nurse, because I feel like I contribute positively to our unit in that role, but I do get very frustrated with some of the choices the management has been making in regard to our unit and to the hospital as a whole.  It's not possible to provide good patient care when we don't have the staff to do so.  Period, bottom line, end of story.  Unfortunately this problem isn't unique to our hospital, it's everywhere...although some hospitals have it worse than others.  To say I've been making a stink down here is probably an understatement...I've been making such a stink that I feel I'm walking the fine line between having a job and being fired.  I don't know that I'm actually going to get fired, but that's probably the only way they're going to get me to be quiet if they don't start making some changes.  Making a stink wasn't a decision that came easily to me, and it's taken weeks of soul-searching and brain-storming to get to this point.  In the end I took some random advice that I'd heard somewhere along the line: If something is bothering you, either do something about it or quit complaining about it.  And that's kind of been my thing lately.  Decide which things are worth fighting for, and which are not.  If it's not worth fighting for, get over it and move on.  I decided the patients and my coworkers were worth fighting for, so a stink was made.  We'll see if anything comes of it.  I hope things change.  If not, maybe this place just isn't for me.  All I know is that things don't change if you don't set about to make them change.  Sitting around wallowing in self-pity and negativity doesn't accomplish anything.  Someone has to get the ball rolling, and maybe that person right now is me.  I guess we'll see.

And that my friends is it!  A short little blog.  :)