Dad Jokes…It’s Great Craic, So It Is

I can easily lose my train of thought, forget why I was searching the internet, if video of dad jokes come along -- two guys telling these lame, pun-ending jokes in Poker Face monotone as a contest to see who will first break their composure. It's good craic. Dad jokes help hospice visits during stressful, … Continue reading Dad Jokes…It’s Great Craic, So It Is →

Suicide: Some Talk and Behaviors

Numbers out of context irritate me. Random statistics sprout everywhere. Could it be the Science Effect that we are not certain something exists unless it can be measured? My dislike started early at museums, world's fairs, or any tour. Guides, like overgrown children reciting their lessons, talked to us in measurements -- say, gallons per … Continue reading Suicide: Some Talk and Behaviors →

Ghee and The Guy: Another Look At Big Fat

I'm cooking tonight's meal using the ghee found to the right of my stove, typically stored by itself back and against the wall, tucked into the shadow of an angled countertop microwave. Sometimes I don't see the ghee, then reach for avocado oil instead. Olive oil shouldn't be heated. A good single-sourced, cold-pressed, organic extra … Continue reading Ghee and The Guy: Another Look At Big Fat →

Depression: Grief’s Forgotten Middle Child

I texted advice to a patient's wife (typically to patient partners who must, perforce, be patient) after she thanked me for talking to him about how realistic he is in perceiving his situation, and how giving my considered opinion that he was right on time to be feeling shity and depressed. After our talk, he … Continue reading Depression: Grief’s Forgotten Middle Child →

Vaguely, About Hospice Sex

Happy Nurses Week, or Day. This year RNs renew their licenses. During the renewal year I'm mailed course catalogues to help me gather the necessary and approved (in Illinois) 20 CEUs. Nothing this year about opioid addiction; the court settlement about Oxycontin/oxycodone is forgotten news. Today I find CEUs in my workday. We've covered Sex … Continue reading Vaguely, About Hospice Sex →

Blankets: Our Need For Comfort

One of my guys in hospice seems to have retreated further within himself. Today he barely acknowledged me in this noisiest of urban nursing facilities specializing in mental health. He seems to be busy or preoccupied now, trying to concentrate. Perhaps he's let go of all volition and has something to teach me. I sit. … Continue reading Blankets: Our Need For Comfort →

Smoking Rights and Things Gone Wrong

Since I'm a nurse, I'm sitting here at the nurse's station but feeling like an idiot in this multi-use community resource center on the psychiatric floor, trying to finish my charting after my regular quitting time. I feel like an idiot anyway for not leaving, not so much because it's after my quitting time and … Continue reading Smoking Rights and Things Gone Wrong →

That Ain’t Nursing (That’s the Way You Do It)

This crap we're forced to do all throughout the day, more and more of it every year, ordering supplies, arranging for deliveries of medications and diapers, scheduling visits for the CNA. What days are the CNAs visiting? Mondays and Fridays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays -- I can't keep the half-dozen different hospice aides' schedules straight, which … Continue reading That Ain’t Nursing (That’s the Way You Do It) →

On Merit: One Approach to a “Good Death”

During my 7th grade at St. Eulalia Catholic school, a former student named Dave asked to come talk to us about his faith. Before that morning all I remember of him was how I wished that his sister, whom I never talked to, would be my girlfriend. The nun let him talk and play guitar … Continue reading On Merit: One Approach to a “Good Death” →

The Free Market Capitalist Will See You Now: When Being Sick is Your Fault

"The sick can't get no respect", would have been a great moment for Rodney Dangerfield as a dying patient. He got respect. He got noticed. Comedy is saying what's not expected. A regular white guy like Rodney is automatically accorded respect. Capitalists know they're seeing a paying customer of some (permissible) weight when he comes … Continue reading The Free Market Capitalist Will See You Now: When Being Sick is Your Fault →