u/Throwawayyawaworth9

I was helping a patient get from his chair to bed when he pointed to the garbage all over his bed-side table and said, “throw that all away.”

I moved his garbage can next to his bed and said, “you can do that.”

He repeated, “throw the garbage away.”

I stood my ground and said, “you have two working hands— you can throw away your own garbage.“

It took a few years but I’m finally confident enough to encourage people to “maintain their independence”/not treat nurses as their personal maids 🙃

Today one of my patients had bilateral PEs, necrotizing pneumonia, urinary sepsis, DVT, and a (new on my shift) GI bleed.

Now imagine what my other 3 patients were like.

I feel pissed that some people say medsurg is “easy” or that medsurg nurses “can’t critically think.” By the end of my shifts, I am exhausted to my core from literally running around and having to make nonstop decisions about patient care.

I almost want to cry… I was away from home for four days and not only did my landlord (lives right next to me) not water my plants (despite me asking and confirming twice), the squirrels have torn up: half of my marigolds, quarter of my sweet alyssum, quarter of my carrots and beets, all of my cucumber plants, half of my pea plants, and every flower I had growing on my multiple strawberry plants.

I put chilli powder all around the base of the remaining plants as it looks like they’re just ripping things up and throwing them around.

I can’t get a motion-sensor sprinkler system as my community has a ban on them (due to over-water consumption in our city).

Does anyone have any other ideas for protecting my garden?

I’ve been on the fence for a while about tipping tattoo artists. The ones I’ve booked tattoos with either own their own private studios and/or they set their hourly prices. My thought is, “if they can control how much they charge their customers, why should I tip?”

I’ve also had people say that you should tip tattoo artists 20%. If I am dropping $800 on a tattoo, that’s an extra $160!

I am just wondering if there’s anyone here who do not tip their tattoo artists, who do tip them, or are an artist themselves.

(Note: I do typically tip. For example, recently my artist wanted to charge me $300 after sitting in his chair for 6 hours, and I tipped him an extra $200 with respect to him and his work. The only time I haven’t tipped is when I paid a different artist $150 for “an hour,” she finished the tattoo in 15 minutes, then she refused to add colour into a 0.5” x 0.5” area).

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I turned 27. Before then, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder with psychotic distinction in my early 20’s (I have psychosis during depressive episodes).

I have been on several SSRIs, a DNRI, and now a serotonin modular and simulator (trintillex). The Trintillex has done wonders for my anxiety and depression (haven’t had an true depressive episode in a year), but I have continued to struggle with focusing, constant irritation/agitation, and general fatigue. I was napping daily after work, struggled to get work done and stay on task, and just felt anhedonia day in and day out.

I can’t believe it took me so long to start this med. It’s like i’ve been living life on hard mode until now. Life still isn’t perfect as I still have a lot of racing thoughts and my social skills aren’t excellent (I interrupt people worse on Vyvance lol) but I am overall happy.

Since starting Vyvance I feel like my life has significantly improved. I can cope better, deal with distractions with ease (necessary as a nurse), I am not nearly as irritable every day, and I can start tasks and finish them.

Although it won’t work for everyone, I just wanted to share a success story for anyone else still on the fence about starting Vyvance :)

My partner and I have been at Excellence El Carmen in Punta Cana for 2 days (of 6) so far. I have noticed that the staff except for a select few have been quite standoffish and abrasive. I am not sure if this is a cultural difference in how I would expect service staff to socialize, or if my partner and I are doing something wrong?

For example, my partner and I will approach staff at the bar or at a restaurant and say “hello” and “how are you” in Spanish with smiles. We tip $2-5 USD during our interactions with staff *after* we’ve received service. We try to be polite and say hello to everyone.

But… So far when we order drinks, we will either not get them or receive them 30-45 minutes after ordering. When handing people tips, they won’t even make eye contact or say thank you, just snatching the money from my hand. It’s odd because I have noticed bar and restaurant staff talking to other couples and laughing, seemingly having a good time. But when my partner and I approach we are met with a frown and minimal interaction.

Even calling the concierge this morning to book a reservation at a restaurant was met with a “You have to go there to book” followed by him slamming down the phone.

I will note that my partner and I have tattoos (full sleeves) and I have multiple facial piercings. Maybe we are being treated differently because of how we look, similar to if we were in Japan? We also do not speak Spanish very well and have more of a French accent. Is this why? And we have been tapping after receiving service— should we tip before?

I’m also not sure if I am expecting more than what is typical in Dominican Republic culture. In Spain, for example, it’s typical for wait-staff to be quite cold and barely speak to customers. I was just not expecting this in DI and would like to know if that’s normal.

I will acknowledge that staff likely feel some resentment towards patrons of the AI as there is an implied power differential between me and them. Is that why staff are behaving coldly towards us?

Anyways, I would appreciate ya’lls thoughts and opinions.

Thank you!