by Sarah on April 26, 2009
I have been hearing a lot lately about this swine flu outbreak and thought might do some investigating to help me prepared at work. Below is a summary of what I found out.
Swine Flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses. It is spread by contact with infected pigs or environments contaminated with swine flu viruses and contact with a person with swine flu. It is highly contagious. The signs and symptoms are almost the same as having a seasonal flu with vomiting, diarrhea, fever, fatigue, chills, cough and sore throat. Well, ER nurses, I guess we have to contact isolate pretty much everyone who comes in with flu like symptoms, eh?
There is no vaccine for this yet, but there are several medicines that CDC has recommended to use. They recommend Oseltamivir or Zanamivir for the treatment/or prevention of infection. It can minimize the illness and helps recover faster.
As ER nurses, we have to be vigilant in teaching our patients how to minimize the spread of this virus, by teaching them the very basic of hand washing with soap and water. Cover the mouth when sneezing or coughing. And to stay at home when having flu like symptoms, including us.
There were documented deaths as caused by this infection. It existed before in the US. Now, it started in Mexico and spread in the US like in California, New York and Texas. I hope it will not spread in Arizona, but then it is a virus. So, ER nurses be prepared. Triage skills are very important.
Good information to get into is the Centers for disease control and prevention website.
by Sarah on April 3, 2009
It was music to my ears when Tom told me, he’s back working full time at Boeing, yeah! For the past 1 1/2 yr, our family did a lot of sacrifices and set back because he is not working. It was not easy being a breadwinner either. Working a lot of shifts not fun at all.
Considering the bad economy, stiff competition in the job market and tom’s health, we never imagine that he will ever get his job back at Boeing. In fact he was just looking for a part time job and signed up for a contract work. He was not really ready to return to work full time. Surprisingly, when he was offered the job yesterday, it was not just 1 offer but 2. The other job offer was just an on the spot offer, mainly because he used to work a lot with this person, who is now the head of the engineering dept. He knows Tom’s work ethic and has high respect for his work.
A lot of things happened then and reasons why he left Boeing, but all I can say and always remember what Tom told me, “There is always a reason.” And for a very good reason I might ad. With a significant increase in pay, working with a smaller group of people and working with good leadership, Tom’s never been happier. I know, I can see it everytime he get’s home. Congratulations honey!
by Sarah on March 19, 2009
I am sorting photos in my computer and trying to get rid of a lot of junk when I found this picture. I took this picture last year when I was in the mood of photographing pretty much every items in my house including my daughters toys and my wall decor :):):). I remembered my daughters reaction then and asked me, what I was doing. 
There is nothing intriguing about this photo at all. In fact, I was thinking about dumping this photo in my garbage bin, but then I realised I can make something fancy about this. It didn’t take me long to play with it in photoshop and voila! My new blog photo wall decor!
by Sarah on March 16, 2009
It’s spring break!!! It means a lot to Tinee… Kristine has been waiting for this day to come. First, she knows she will be spending days with her best friend Sarah at her house. Kristine has not seen her for quite a while, since both of them stopped going to their “nana”. This is Kristine’s 1st day of spring break and she is looking forward to this day. I know because she could not sleep last night of excitement. :):):)
Spring break also means ….. pool time! Daddy will be draining the water in the pool soon and fill it with new water. Time to go outside swimming, see the flowers blooming and birds chirping. More sunset photo pics for me too.
I just wish the temperature stays in the 80’s-90’s for a while. Not really looking forward to see the tripple digit temperature just yet. ….sigh…. oh well….Welcome to Arizona!!!!
by Sarah on March 15, 2009
Gold Canyon, AZ is located about 40-45 minutes east of Phoenix, AZ. It is a small, uninconporated city of about 6,000 residents. The small city boasts several award winning golf courses. It is adjacent to the famous Superstition Mountain Park where it has hundreds or thousands of square miles of places for hiking, horse riding, camping, “gold hunting” (Remember the Jacob Waltz story (The Lost Dutchman)? It happens at the Superstition Mountain)… It is because of this unique and picturesque mountain that draws lot of visitors from the US and the world to visit and sometimes to move to this place. [click to continue…]
