Trips to Byron Bay and Stradbroke (Round 2)

A little Slideshow from a trip to Byron Bay (a couple hrs south of us in New South Wales) and Stradbroke Island (second time to go there...this time with my sister and Bobbi). This time on the island we saw dolphins, whales, sea turles, and HUGE sting rays. It was warm enough for us to FINALLY swim, so we sure took advantage of that! I came home tired and sunburned...Totally worth it! :)

Australian nursing - sorry non-nurses, you might not "get" this one.

SOOO, working in the PICU is quite different than working in the states...we have respiratory therapists in the states who look after the ventilators, understand them, set them up, clean em up, troubleshoot them, run our gases, etc....however, here in Australia it's all the nurses responsibility. My first week in the PICU, i had a crash course (and i mean CRASH course) on ventilators. Crazy. Now that i've been working for over a month, i feel pretty comfortable with them (I never thought I would - in fact, I almost didn't come over to Australia for this very reason). Nurses only ever have one patient, so it gives us time to do everything (meds, vitals, keep our patient from dying) and manage the vents! I actually prefer it this way because I finally see the big "picture" of my patient. I set up my first ventilator yesterday, which is not easy by the way.
We do have to double-check ALL MEDS (not in the states), so that's time-consuming, but in the end, a lot safer.
That's PICU nursing for ya!
Overall, it's WAY easier than in the states....especially if your patient is not on the vent.
Yesterday I went to the "ward" (aka pediatric floor) to take care of a kid with EVD's and then they didn't need me after 1pm, so I went back up to our overstaffed PICU all to sit around for the next 6 hrs and read.
Today I had an EASY SHMEEZY kid who didn't need to be in the PICU, so I planned our trips for the rest of our time here. Can't complain.
I decided we HAVE to go to Tasmania now (after talking to my patient's mom and Andrea back home) so we're gonna go in September~any takers???
Oh, and we get two, yes two "tea breaks" during the day AND a lunch. (i'm lucky if I get a 20 minute lunch back home) People drink hot tea here like it's water... they have converted me.
Ok, more nurse talk later AND pics of our HOT uniforms (my patient's mom today said the shirts look like a tampon wrapper...I'll let you ponder that before i send you pics!)

I love my days off!

Typical Australia

Whale-watching off the coast

Last week Bobbi and i had 5 days off of work to rest up and play. I don't know which one I one did more of, but I had a blast! One day we headed to Stradbroke Island ("Straddie" as the locals call it). It's about a 3 hour journey from our apt to the island which is just to the east of Brisbane. We got on a bus from our apt to the train station, took the train to another bus which then took us to a ferry, and once we arrived on the island, we took another bus to our destination- Point Lookout. We were travelling fools. There were some awesome walks on the island and some serious scenery - we saw lots of dolphins, humpback whales on their migration north to Great Barrier Reef (this happens once a year around this time), and some amazing surfers! It was probably one of the warmest days we've had here since beginning of June, so it was perfect!

"Barbie" (that's what the Aussie's think her name is) got in trouble for this one on the ferry

Spotting the whales

Three surfers with a dolphin!

Proud of this pic!

Surfers in the front, humpback whale in the back (right) - you can see the mist he made.

Crystal clear water.

Do not fall, do not fall....

Then after Straddie we rented a car and headed north to Montville, Maleny, and Mooloolaba. Montville and Maleny are cute little towns inland with little shops and cafes. Mooloolaba has become one of our favorite beach towns - we visited the aquarium there :)

Montville - you can see the ocean WAY off in the distance

For those of you who know me best...

Sharks!

Holding a starfish!

Sara's Wedding in Texas and the Mashed Potato Bar

I finally got the pics from Sara's wedding, and had to post some pics from it! The mashed potato bar was a hit~and yes, we got a little carried away....

The Sara(h)'s

College Roomates!

Bobbi, Me, and Brooke indulging

Jealous?

After the wedding....

Cheers!

MY FIRST MONTH IN AUSTRALIA:

Hello from Brisbane, Australia! It's winter here- 70's during the day- and I keep thinking that back home it's proabably hit 100 already!
I moved here May 29, 2 hrs later had a bank account, 5hrs later had a cell phone, 3 days later had an apartment, 5 days later started a new job at the hospital! It was a whirlwind of my first week here, but luckily made it through, with the help of Gloria Jean's coffee of course. I'm starting to feel settled here, and still can't believe I live in Australia. Work is going very well, besides the 3 nightshifts I have already endured. I think nightshifts should be outlawed! But for the most part, with a few bumps in the road, it's been a smooth transition! I'm learning a lot about ventilators and all the different meds they use here!! I gave my first dose of IV Tylenol yesterday which was pretty exciting (The US needs to jump onboard with that one), and my roomate, Bobbi, has already had a patient with LEECH THERAPY! Sick!

We've had our first visitor...my sister! We drove about an hour and a half south of Brisbane to Lamington National Park and stayed at a rainforest lodge - paradise!! We skipped out on the 50 dollar dinner at the lodge, and made our own appetizers, watched the sunset, slipped in the hot tub, went on a glowworms tour (yes, we saw real glowworms in the rainforest!), and got lots of sleep for the big day of "bushwalking" (aka hiking) ahead of us. We woke up bright and early, hiked the Treetops Walk, saw some gardens, and then hiked through the rainforest to Moran WaterFalls. It was beautiful! We sat over the bridge of the creek and ate a picnic lunch. We saw tons of beautiful birds, possums, and a platypus! We headed to Surfer's Paradise beach the next day, checked in our hotel, and explored the beach town. The beaches are beautiful, clean, with bright white sand! I can't wait until it's warm enough to surf. :) Later that week, my sister and I went to a Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane and saw over 130 koalas and tons of kangaroos! I included some pictures from our adventures!


I have been able to keep up with friends and family with the help of my cell phone and Skype - it makes the US seem close by. :)
More later!
Cheers,
Sarah