Category Archives: My Life
A Brief Update
In other news… I’ve graduated, passed boards, been duly board certified, applied for licensure in two states, and can now proudly claim to be an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) in the state of Washington. All I’m lacking now is a DEA number to prescribe controlled substances. Until then, all I can prescribe are “legacy drugs,” which basically means aspirin. I’m still awaiting for my Oregon licensure to be finalized. It was a much more tedious process and took me a lot longer to finish, so I predict it will … Continue reading
How Not to Recruit Nurse Practitioners
Here is a message I received in my email today, completely out of the blue, from a nurse recruiter. (As Dave Barry says, I am NOT making this up. This is the actual, unaltered text of the message): Dear Ruth, Please tell me you can move to wherever there are jobs. If you cannot I am so very sorry but I cannot help you. My focus is on meeting the needs of my communities and find them candidates who will practice there. It is not, sorry, on focusing on the … Continue reading
My DIY Chicken Coop and Run
One of the things I’ve missed since moving north from our country home in Texas 13 years ago has been having chickens, and our own fresh eggs. Having a new grandbaby made my chicken longing all the more compelling–I might be able to accept eating store-bought eggs for myself, but my granddaughter must have only the best and most nutritious! Being a busy grad student and nurse meant I thought I didn’t have time for DIY projects, so my original intent was to purchase a pre-made coop and chicken run. … Continue reading
Eating in the Zone: My new Menieres Diet
I’ve gotten a lot of requests for more information since Twittering about the new diet my vestibular specialist has put me on, so I thought I’d try to summarize it here for everyone who is interested. My particular vestibular disorder, Menieres Disease (aka endolymphatic hydrops) is caused by excess fluid in the inner ear’s hearing and balance structures. Normally these structures are independent of the body’s fluid system, but in Menieres Disease the independent fluid control is lost, causing fluctuating fluid volumes and concentrations in the inner ear, which in … Continue reading
Seven Things You May Not Know About Me
I was in labor for two months with my 3rd child (which probably explains why I don’t have a 4th). I went into premature labor at 24 weeks on August 4, 1986. My due date was November 28. The doctors didn’t hold out much hope, and despite using every tactic in their arsenals they never could stop the contractions completely. They did, however, manage to slow the progress of my labor for 8 long weeks, which gave Rusty time to get big enough to survive. (If you medical sorts are … Continue reading
Post-Election Thoughts
The time for choosing sides for or against a candidate is past. Now it’s time to unite as Americans and move forward. I’ve had enough of the badmouthing and doubt-casting and the “just wait, you’ll see!” doom and gloom negativity. What’s done is done. There is no longer a choice of candidates before us – what’s before us now is a choice between sitting on our butts complaining to whoever will listen because our guy didn’t get elected and we don’t think the new guy is going to be any … Continue reading