😒 Scrubs and Side Eyes

Author: Julie Kay

  • Paradise Shift🌞: Don’t Get Too Comfortable

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    Julie Kay
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    Back at it again. Different shift.Different unit.Different residents.Different vibe.and whew…. what a change of pace. Covering some vacation shifts and I’m not even going to lie — this feels like paradise. No major behaviors. Residents are mostly independent.And right now? We’ve got gospel reggae playing in the background and it’s a whole mood. Like….smooth sailing…

  • The Final Shift: (Don’t Say the Q Word) 🤐

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    Julie Kay
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    The double has officially started. And surprisingly… this morning has been calm. Too calm. And if you work in healthcare, you already know — we don’t say the Q word. I’m not about to jinx the rest of this shift by getting too comfortable. So for now, I’m just going to take it for what it…

  • Birthday Shift (Because Of Course I’m Working 😏)

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    Julie Kay
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    I’m back! And… it’s my birthday 🎉 And yes — I’m currently working a 12-hour shift. Honestly though, it’s been filled with so much love already. Text messages, a little dance party, cake…actually, a lot of cake. Happy 39 to me! 🎂🥳🙌🏼🎉 The shift overall has been good — but let me be real, all…

  • Double Shifts & Full Moons 🌕

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    Julie Kay
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    Saturday is here again 🙌 A great way to start the weekend is knowing you have a solid team behind you — and this weekend, that’s exactly the case. Working with people you can truly depend on changes everything. In nursing, when you’ve got your “dream team,” the shift just flows. Things get done, stress…

  • 👀 I See You – Appreciation Post

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    Julie Kay
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    There are moments in this job that remind you exactly why the right people matter. This weekend, one of our newer aides — who just graduated — showed what real care looks like. We had a new resident who was struggling with confusion and anxiety (which is completely expected). Instead of rushing through the moment…

  • A Stable Father’s Day Weekend (Suspiciously Stable)

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    Julie Kay
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    This weekend was…..stable. And in long-term care, stable is basically the gold standard — like, we don’t ask questions, we just say thank you and keep it moving. It was Father’s Day weekend, which was noticeably quieter than Mother’s Day. We only have five men on our unit, so it wasn’t exactly a full production.…

  • Back in the Groove…Kind of

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    Julie Kay
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    Senior Week is officially behind us, and my daughter has wrapped up her primary school era. Between end‑of‑May chaos and early‑June celebrations, life has been a whirlwind. Beautiful, emotional, exhausting — all of it. But now that graduation is over, I can finally feel some of that weight sliding off my shoulders. It’s been about…

  • So Much for a Quiet Weekend😂

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    Julie Kay
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    So much for a quiet weekend…who am I kidding? I had to send another resident out. At this point, it’s becoming a trend —- every weekend I worked lately, someone ends up taking a little filed trip to the hospital. Love that for me. 😏 This one was different, though. He’s on hospice…and of course…

  • And It’s Only 1030….😒

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    Julie Kay
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    This weekend has been one of those “is it the full moon or just healthcare?” kind of weekends. One of the residents had an unwitnessed fall – totally fine all day and night – then wakes up confused, incoherent and seeing bugs on the dining room table. Of course. He’s a frequent fall, stubborn, independent…

  • 🩺 When You Lose a Resident You Barely Knew

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    Julie Kay
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    Losing residents is part of the job.You know that going in. But no one really talks about what it feels like when you lose someone…and you’re not sure how you’re supposed to feel. Within a few weeks, we lost two residents. And I sat there thinking—am I sad?I think I am… but not the way…