Fun At Work

Working in a hospital can be stressful. Working 12 hour shifts is exhausting, especially when you work three or four days (or more) in a row. Four 12-hour shifts (48 hours) is the equivalent of Monday thru Friday and another Monday in the 8-hour shift world. (My friends never seem to grasp that. They always four days for me are the same as four days for them. WRONG.) So keeping sane at work and having a bit of fun is a must. And I ALWAYS include EVERYONE (nurses, PCTs, housekeeping, students, doctors, cafeteria people, etc.), whether I know them or not.

Recently I posted about how we celebrated the eclipse. I brought the "eclipse cookies" and recorded the day with pictures. While I'm not saying I am the life of the party (far from it), I do try to bring the fun (when I can) . No matter how small my efforts may be, I try to make the day special...and I try to record it all with pictures. Here is a look at some of our "special days" at work:

PIMPLE POP:
On my recent big road trip to Southern California and Nevada, I had taken pictures of some weird sodas I encountered. One of my co-workers, Melaney, said she wished she could try some of them. So I ordered a bunch once I was home...and we sampled them. I made a (low resolution) video of the photos of the day we tried Pimple Pop (which is not as gross as it sounds. It's marshmallow flavored soda). Here's the video (with Melaney, the nurse who mentioned wanting to try the sodas, as the cover star):

MARTIAN POOP SODA:
Another soda sampled...

Mike (RN)

Michele (RN)

Mohinder (RT)

Dr. Hauser

We've also had a couple of "cocktail parties" (of sorts). Here's a peek:

COCKTAIL CLASSICS DAY:

Utilizing Jelly Bell cocktail-flavored jelly beans, I hosted a "cocktail party" at work. The (non-alcoholic) jelly bean "cocktails" were served out of a giant martini glass. CHEERS!

Sandy (RN)

Kari (RN)

Shaq (RT)

Shaq (RT) and Sandy (RN)

Dr. Howell

Magen (Former PCT now RN), Jaspreet, and Sam (former PCT now RN)

Juan (PCT) and Magen (former PCT now RN)

MOJITO MADNESS:

Similar to Cocktail Classics Day, the "mojitos" were actually non-alcoholic (waaagh) gummi bears. Bottoms up!

Marie (RN)

A new girl whose name I do not know yet and April (Housekeeping)

Miriam (PCT)

Bao (HUC)

EARTH DAY:

Cookies are a quick way to make an instant celebration. The cafeteria usually has a big batch available (although they are not exactly cheap).

Yvonne (RT)

Dustin (Travel RN)

Mandy (RN)

Some guy (me)

April (Housekeeping)

MINI-WONKA BARS:

One of my favorite days was when I brought in Mini-Wonka Bars. The film from the early 70s is a favorite and, after my slot machine wins in New Orleans and Las Vegas on the Wonka machines (Thank you, Mr. Wonka!), how could I not have a huge soft spot for all things Wonka? I wanted to share some of the Wonka magic with my co-workers, so I got these little bars for them.

Theresa (RT) and Tiffany (House HUC)

Tamra (RN)

Anna (House RN and my amazing preceptor)

Jacque (Charge RN and my boss)

I don't know her name...but she is from the cafeteria

Yvette (House RN)

Oh gosh... this is one of our new doctors and I can't think of her name at the moment.

Dr. Quigley

Miguel (Cafeteria)

Dena (PCT)

David (PCT/HUC)

CLOWN HOTEL NOSES DAY:

Probably my absolute favorite day to date has got to be the day I brought in clown noses for everyone. I had been to the infamous Clown Hotel in Tonopah, Nevada on one of my road trips (click HERE and HERE for details, one of which features a ghost story of sorts! EEK!). The hotel was selling clown noses in its lobby. I had purchased one for Erich and myself...and later wished I had gotten one for everyone at work. So, I later ordered a batch from the hotel. When the package arrived, it didn't come from the Clown Hotel. In fact, it didn't even come from Nevada. It came from China. Ha! Oh well. I tried.