My little pied-à-terre

My first Strawberrynet.com purchase

2011-11-04T17:09:00.009+08:00

So, somehow I ended up watching Michelle Phan's YouTube videos one afternoon. While watching one of Michelle's monthly video for Lancôme, and one of the products piqued my interest. It was one-step facial cleansing product, which is a holy grail for a person who has a small dislike toward the whole make-up removal, cleanser, toner steps.

Unfortunately, Lancôme Australia does not have an official website. However, they have an official stockist. Adore Beauty was selling a product called Galateis Douceur Gentle Cleansing Fluid instead of Eau Fraîche Douceur. I figured it was due to marketing in different countries so I decided to visit a Lancôme counter to enquire about this. Sadly, it only added to my confusion when I came across Eau Micellaire Douceur. It did not help that the consultant at the counter I went to were not helpful and seemed somewhat reluctant to be of any assistance.

To satisfy my curiosity, I ended up buying a Lancôme Virtuose Mascara Gift Set from Myer for $52. I could do with a tube of mascara and I wouldn't mind trying an "quality" eyeliner (I have single eyelids which seems to hate being lined).

On October 27, I was browsing through the Strawberrynet.com website and it turns out they were selling Eau Fraîche Douceur, and it was on sale, yay! I was a little reluctant to click 'Add to cart' because of all the mixed review about Strawberrynet.com. (aka SNet to save me some typing!).There were forums stating that SNet were selling fake products, expired products etc. However there were some recent posts saying positive things about SNet. Since hearsay evidence is never reliable, I decided to take my chances.

On November 4, my package arrived! I'm impressed by how it was packed (wrapped in bubble wrap and nestled in a sea of peanut foam). I studied the bottle for any indication of a production or expiration date, but all I found was an indecipherable code at the base of the bottle. Hello, Google! How did we survive without the Internet?

There is a website called Cosmetic Calculator which can tell you details such as date of manufacture, shelf life, and expiration date for a wide variety of brands. So according to this website, SNet has earned another gold star from me.

I have looked at the ingredients for the Eau Micellaire Douceur and the Eau Fraîche Douceur, and it appears they are the exact same things, which confirmed my theory that the difference in name is because of marketing.

I've tried the SNet product, and I loooved it. It dried out almost instantly, and has left my skin feeling clean and fresh.

The Eau Micellaire Douceur, despite the same ingredients, took a little longer to dry, felt a little tacky, and has left my face a little irritated (no inflammation or anything severe, just little tickles which requires some scrathing/rubbing). I tried it when I bought it last week and got the same result. I dismissed it, but now I'm certain it is the product.

Would I buy anything from Strawberrynet.com again? Absolutely.

RN?

2010-12-12T19:19:00.002+08:00

After May 3, 2011, I will have completed my so-called graduate program. I was under the impression that a graduate program was supposed to ease the transition from student RN to RN, and to consolidate skills learnt in university.

That's not happening. First rotation was so jarring because of several bad experiences. The most significant one being having to care for fifteen acute care patients. Don't mind the nurse who's running around, trying to make sure all her patients' needs are met. Never mind that it's unsafe. It costs money to call a second nurse in! I want to believe money was the reason, and not that the senior nurses didn't think or care about it.

Second rotation was a smaller hospital. There was a regular stream of outpatients, so that's was still reasonable. Now, this rotation, in a town of less than 900, I'm not encountering any acute patients. The only outpatient I've seen? Woman with a skin tear.

Icing on the cake? I have slim to no chance of getting a position in a tertiary hospital, or to get a job as an agency RN. Two options at the moment: Look interstate, or walk out of nursing. If I had braved it out and faced unemployment, I would've been starting my graduate program at a tiertary hospital next year. Frankly, I'd rather change vocation, than location.

Au revior, Kellerberrin

2010-10-26T21:24:00.002+08:00

Is what I will be saying at the end of my 8th shift. Hopefully, I'll have completed my presentation on clinical governence by then.

*Note to self: Contact Health Service Manager for next site ASAP!

I'm looking forward to two weeks of paid annual leave. If I don't procrastinate (hah!), I should be able to throw out half my life, and rearrange them on pretty shelves and neat little boxes. All will be good once I get that annoying chore off my to-do list.

What else? It was a crazy day at work - then again, it always is. I only managed to get 3 hours sleep, but somehow managed to function normally. There were a couple of occassions where I nearly fell asleep while driving home, but that's a regular occurrence. Bad.

I suppose the wisest thing to be doing right now is to have dinner, shower, and collapse into a lifeless heap on the bed.

Oh, hi, didn't see you there

2010-10-17T02:05:00.003+08:00

This is just a courtesy update to let whomever know that I'm still alive. And still employed.

I wouldn't wish this upon a fresh graduate. Really, they should not be allowed to call whatever this is a graduate program. Moving to different towns every 3 months is taking its toll - I'm on my second town, but still! The isolation, the lack of exposure to more advanced nursing skills.

Four years of work, and I'm contemplating throwing it all in a towel over 6 months of lousy experience. The change of scenario was refreshing at first, but that was until I finally caught my breath and realized, "What on earth! I'm being punished because of the lousy system hospitals have in place!"

Please, explain to me how a graduate nurse in a program differs from one who isn't in a "graduate program". They both work on the ward. Key difference: the label of "graduate nurse" which will either benefit you, or deter you from jumping in with both feet.

I'm just frustrated. I know exactly where I want to go, but my head is being held under water. I either need to surface for air STAT, or just take one big, deep breath and drown.

On a cheerier note - or not - it has recently occurred to me that I have not properly read a book, neither have I written anything for far too long. The fiction I used to write, albeit absolutely, positively juvenile and naive, was still writing paragraphs upon paragraphs. Today, all I can do I rustle up a short sentence. Cold. Abrupt. I feel like my brain has atrophied, along with my desire and motivation, and the faculty to write descriptively. *sigh* I suppose there is only one way around it. Baby steps. Realistic goals.

I do feel that there is one thing that will help me come back from all this gloom. A change in location. Then again, an old friend pointed out to me that I have never settled in a place long enough for stability. Could that have contributed to my current predicament? I do yearn for travel and change, but is what I long for contradictory to what I need?

"A tree often transplanted is never loaded with fruit" - Italian proverb, apparently

Hi, come on in. My name's Allison

2010-05-20T21:29:00.004+08:00

"... and I'll be your RN".

Of course I don't say that to patients when I usher them through the Emergency Department's doors. Unfortunately, in the rural setting where there is only one doctor's surgery serviced by two doctors, and the hospital is literally next door, people tend to treat the ED as a GP.

Here's a list of what the EMERGENCY Department is NOT:
1. A place to go to just because you couldn't get an appointment with the GP.
2. A place to go to because of an issue you have had since last week.
2. A place to get a pregnancy test.
3. A place to get a medical certificate.

First off, you clutter my ED with your unnecessary presense. Second of all, it annoys the doctor. Thirdly, I do not like having to fill out a lenghty form just to write at the end, "Appointment made with GP @ xxxx hr"

Make our lives easier and phone the GP yourselves. We have better things to do XD

Has it only been 49 days?

2010-01-27T16:55:00.005+08:00

It has been 49 days since I officially completed my course and became a Registered Nurse. I have lost count of how many interviews and rejection letters I've received. It's better that way because if I had kept track, I'd just be depressed and disappointed. Not great that I have unrealistic expectations!

People have been telling me that it took them 4 - 8 months to gain full-time employment. That's a very distressing comment. A lot of people are surprised when I tell them I'm an RN who can't find a job. Especially when there are always talks about how in demand nurses are. I guess advertisers should be more specific - they want experienced nurses. How exactly are graduate nurses expected to gain experience when no one is willing to take us on and train us?! Organizations bring in foreign nurses on temporary visa who leave at the end of the day. What about nurses who want to gain the training and experience, but miss out because organizations want to take the easy way out? Are we expected to wake up with all the skills and knowledge one day?

No thanks to changes in migration requirements, I cannot lodge my application for permanent residency until I receive a positive skill assessment. What I - and the nice lady from the IMMI in Melbourne - cannot fathom is why nurses with a current WA registration need a skill assessment. The MODL list clearly lists Registered Nurse on its list. Not only that, skill assessments are taking longer than usual! It has changed from 6 - 8 weeks, to 12 - 14 weeks.

It's absolutely ridiculous. I shall stop here before I rupture a blood vessel from the hiccups of my life.

Signed,
Annoyed

Graduand

2009-12-17T13:29:00.003+08:00

Four years has finally come to an end... I'm so glad it's over! Now, the exciting part of attending a graduation ceremony, and the moment my parents should be proud of - my walking across that stage, accepting that very, very expensive piece of paper ^.^

I officially became a Registered Nurse on the 9th of December 2009... Some time between 3.00pm and 6.00pm ;) Right now, I'm desperately banging on doors for a job. The Western Australian's Department of Health is not hiring people who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents. What a pile of crock... Ah well...

Anyways, back to the job hunt...

Just another day in November

2009-11-20T17:31:00.005+08:00

Well, almost.

I was checking the mailbox, as usual, and I saw a huge enveloped addressed to me from the English Language Centre. I shrieked and practically ran into the house. I knew it would be my IELTS results. Half expecting to see something below the 7.0 band, I almost fainted when I saw this:

On the 17th, I attended a peripheral intravenous cannulation course, and I am now proud to announce that I am cannulation competent. Trust me, you don't want anyone else but me to cannulate you ;)

At 12.15pm, I boarded a bus. Fell asleep by 12.35pm... Reached my destination at 1.40pm... What a bus ride!!! I swear the bus driver was getting worried about me LOL... I boarded a different bus to get to the shopping center. By that time, I was still drowsy from my glorious nap... I was wondering why the bus driver was frustrated and going on and on about how the passengers have mouths and how we should've said something. It took me a while to realize that he had taken the wrong route!!! Thank goodness he realized 5 minutes into the journey :D

Rushed home, frantically prepared the potato salad... And the barbeque pit! I single-handedly set up the barbeque pit. How exciting! Obviously there were some problems... Not all my coal were lit :P No biggie because most of them were lit, and food were getting cooked... The other half only arrived home at 7pm (and the genius told his family it would be a 7pm start >.< ). Fortunately they learnt from the steamboat event that the indicated start time wouldn't the be actual start time heheh... I did well! Chicken wings and lamb were cooking away by 7pm ^.^ For dessert that night, I had my favorite fruit of all times. The KING of all fruits. The DURIAN!!! *droooooools*

No pictures, sadly because I was too eager to devour the yummy, fragrant flesh ;)

The end is nigh...

2009-10-20T17:01:00.002+08:00

Three shifts to go until the end of my 10-week clinical rotation. It has truly been a wonderful experience, and I cannot wait to get out there.

An assignment we were required to complete involved interviewing a Registered Nurse regarding their experience from student nurse to an RN. I read articles about the difficulty some new grads faced, and I'm getting an inkling that I won't encounter any of those.

In my ten weeks I have learned how to think more critically, prioritize care and manage my time (although that needs more practice hehe...). Idare to change care plans (an RN admitted to me that she still doesn't dare to change care plans!), I question the need of a certain medication (or the lack of need), I advocate for my patients (yay me!).

My biggest challenge now is to pass Transitional Nursing Practice 417. Please, oh, please, don't let that be the anchor that drags me to the bottomless ocean of despair...

(No poker due to time constraints! So sad!)

A wonderful program

2009-09-11T17:00:00.002+08:00

Google is such a magical place. With the aim of starting anew, I decided to delete my old blog and entries, and to start fresh. Of course, a person like me never likes letting go of old things completely. To save the page one by one is time consuming, not to mention that some of the files might not save correctly.

The solution?

DownThemAll!

This website provides a brief tutorial on how to back up a Blogger Blog.

Happy Back Up!