Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

Nothing, what's the motto with you? Just kidding. I do have a motto. If I were into tattoos, I'd get it stamped on my skin as a permanent reminder. Just Breathe. I have no idea why I haven't thought of this before. It is THE PERFECT motto for nursing life. Firstly, because it is the best advice to give to patients to keep them alive. Secondly, because it is the best reminder to myself to stay calm. Lately I've been getting some strange situations at work. As in a patient requested that I not be their nurse because the IV pump was beeping and I told them the tubing was kinked as I straightened it out. As in I got into an argument with an OR technician about the logic of taking off a pain pump just to fit in the elevator. As in my patient's chest tube became disconnected, which left a straight path for air into the thoracic cavity, which FYI is not good. Well, let me tell you how I handled it. I focused on what I can do. Which is breathing.

I don't watch television. Nor do I read newspapers. Nor do I follow any news feeds. And, while I'm confessing, let me add that I also usually do not use the internet for news purposes, and I don't usually talk to people about the news either. Which makes this post epic, because I am going to discuss a bit of news I heard on the radio. [Okay, I should probably disclaim my disclaimer. I am not in radio silence as far as news goes. I pick up a lot from social media, from news shows that play while I'm at the gym or at work, and from NPR, which I listen to sporadically. Really, the point I was trying to make is that you shouldn't expect a reader's digest of current events from me, at least on a regular basis.] The topic of NPR for the hour ( Houston Matters ) was video games. Admittedly I didn't hear the whole show, but I heard the take-home message, and I decided that the presenter needed to hear another point of view. Apparently, a recent study showed a