It's Ed Stern, RN (...and his big mouth)

Great Relaxing Weekends of Photo-age

Well I had two great weekends.  It was like the old days, mixed with the new.  My Best "girl" by my side (the new) and a camera in my hand (the old).  I saw a large hole in the ground (Meteor City AZ), a ghost town (Jerome AZ) and some amazing flowers at the Desert Botanical Garden.  We even saw the great and remarkable Frank Lloyd Wright home.  Joined by good friend from DC, what more could a guy ask for?  (OK other than a million dollars and cool job).

Check out what life had to offer at these great locations

The Desert Botanical was a highlight (photo wise) here are some quick samples:

See all my pics by going to any of my Galleries (see the right column)

What's up with Ed

Hi Ya’all…

Nope they don’t say Ya’all in Arizona.  It’s more an “east coast” thing.  OK actually more a south east coast thing.  Well it’s been 6 months since I moved to Arizona and I thought you all deserved an update on what’s up.  So here’s the list of greatness that has occurred:

- Um… OK wait.  There was, no that didn’t happen.  OK yeah I’ve got it..  No wait that wasn’t here.  OK I’ve got it..  No dang, that happened a while ago.

Ok Ok, I exaggerate but let’s say that AZ wasn’t what it was cracked up to be.  It’s a long story, and if you really want to have some bathroom reading I’d be happy to share with you the long saga.  Bottom line is the hospital I moved out here for didn’t meet the promises they made nor my personal goals I set.  So after 6 months of trying I gave up and went a new direction.

I have accepted a job as a Senior Consultant for a company called ACS Healthcare Solutions.  ACS is a Fortune 500 company that has most of its 5 billion dollar market share in healthcare, government, and various other industries.  My role will be as a Work-Flow and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) consultant.  I’ll be focusing specifically on Emergency Department EMR. Roughly translated, I’ll be helping hospital ERs define their work flow and integrate it into any number of software packages.  My initial software focus will be the Epic software.  Epic is an industry leader in EMR so it will be an interesting ride.  I’ll be on the road 4 days a week and home on weekends.

I’m sorry to be so quickly leaving the bedside nursing, I still have a lot to learn and the past 2 years (and of course Marymount) have taught me a great deal.  I really do enjoy the excitement of ER patient care.  But there’s still too much business process and technology left in my blood.  (Thanks to my nurse training I now know which cells in my blood those specifically are.)  I was frustrated (that’s an understatement) when I looked at the leadership of some hospitals (some not all) and seeing how stuck the staff were.  I hope as a part of the ACS team I’ll be able to work with the hospitals that have realized that electronic clinical documentation and a progressive leadership approach is going to be part of their next step forward.  I can’t let my clinical and teaching side die, so I plan on doing some agency work and teach a little on weekends, if I can find an agency as good as the one I used back east (they are lame here).

I realized the place I was, probably wasn’t the right move, almost 3 months into my tenure here.  Originally I looked at other nursing and “nursing informatics” roles throughout the country and was so desperate I was willing to enslave myself and pay out my contract with the hospital, but I wasn’t sure I was willing to break the lease on top of that.  That was one reason to have me stay in Phoenix

The other was that I “accidentally” met someone and she and I are having too good a time for me to up and move right away.  I figure I’ve messed up with relationships in the past due to work, so I wasn’t going to try the long distance thing again.

So here I am, in triple digit heat on weekends and god knows where on weekdays… and we’ll just see what happens.  In the mean time.  Be well and enjoy the Fall!

The Eagle has landed... The Transformation begins

Well what an interesting last day on the road.  Just under 600 miles and some serious transition.  New Mexico has "nothing" on the road but what a great view of nothing (click on the pic to see a larger version).  It's kinda an interesting transition to move from Oklahoma to New Mexico. 

The one thing I didn't mention about OK is it seems they take that "God thing" seriously.  Check out this cross it looks kinda big doesn't it.  Well let me tell you how interesting it is to drive through a lot of nothing and see this tower in the distance.  At first your not sure what it is, then you get closer and closer and closer and BAM it's a not so subtle reminder that you're in the bible belt... that's for sure.  Now to put things in perspective for you this is what the cross looks like with an 18 wheeler driving past it.  Now I'm clearly no theological expert, but I honestly don't think that Jesus and the Giant from Jack and the Bean Stalk were related... So just who or what gets pinned to that cross?  OK, OK now I don't mean to be anti God and all but that's a bit big isn't it?

OK so back to NM.  Wow I loved the views...  Of course other than the few roadside truck stops there wasn't much in the way of society to see but as a nature lover I was very impressed.  What did I like the most?  hummm... well it's a toss up, but I'd have to say the 75 MPH speed limit was really nice.  Oh sure the vistas, views and nature were really cool too.

So I got into PHX around 4pm.  I stopped at a rest stop just outside of Phoenix when I was introduced to what is clearly a "trend change" for me.  Now if you're an east coaster, you know the things you're supposed to watch out for at a rest stop right?

• dirty "things"
• gang activity
• dirty men lurking in corners who may jump you
• hey you... stop stealing my car

Well here in Arizona it's a little more complicated than that.  It seems like you probably have to worry less about the dirty old men that may jump you and a heck of a lot more about the "critters" that may jump up at you.  Needless to say I stayed on the path and let this little 6 year old kid go ahead of me.  I mean heck, he probably tasted better than I did anyway.  I'm happy to report that I made it in and out of the rest stop alive (like a few dozen before this one on my trip) and I am now Terra-Firma (or however you spell it) in Glendale AZ (a burb of Phoenix).

I sign the lease on Wednesday, my stuff arrives Saturday and I start work on Monday.  Not much time to relax...  Heck somewhere in there I have to get a Physical for work... they'll love my blood pressure I'm sure!

Smell it... Day 3

Well it's day 3 of the trip, technically day 2.5 but who's counting.  Today I only did 789 miles, but I promise to entertain as much as possible on this update even though the miles are fewer.

Well today the best 2 expressions I can share with you are "I didn't mean to kill it" and "Smell this."  Perhaps I should explain.

Today I transversed Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas..  No small feat if I do say so myself.  Leaving North Little Rock (I was corrected this morning by the front desk clerk at the Fairfield Inn, that I "weren't in Little Rock" I was in North Little Rock.)  I thought I'd have another butt numbing trip.  I was wrong.  Not only was my butt numb but I had a few adventures on the road.

Let's cover some of the smells I encountered along the way, shall we.

• I enjoyed the smell of ionized air in preparation for the massive rain storms that followed me through the rest of Arkansas.
• I enjoyed the smell of many cattle haulers as they passed and encircled me as I moved through Oklahoma.
• It seems many Skunk families have given their lives along the side of the road in OK.  In fact I'm not sure but I think they do it on purpose to get you to drive faster through the state.  -- By the way the wind really does come "sweeping down the plains" - the gusts were moving me from lane to lane through the entire state.
• Perhaps the worst smell of all was in Texas, outside of Amarillo (where you can get a 72 ounce steak for free if you eat the entire thing... I had to pay ;-(  As I left the town I noticed a dense fog ahead.  What I didn't realize was that the valley I was driving into was a huge cattle "processing ranch type place"  The fog... was more like something from a horror film.  It was in fact the worst "fecal" smell I've ever smelt... and I'm a frigin' ER nurse who knows what GI Bleeds smell like.

Well enough of my trips version of "smell-a-vision."  Let's talk about the life I took today.  It seems that while driving through OK, this family of criters ran across the road right in front of me.  Now when you're doin' 80 it's kinda hard to stop short.  So I'm sorry to say the last of them ran into my tire.  That poor little Tumble Weed never had a chance.  It just broke into dust.  The Mommy tumble and other baby tumbles, I'm happy to say made it across my lanes, and narrowly missed an 18 wheeler going the other way.  Geez, why don't they put up warning signs?

Well tomorrow should be the rest of the trip.  I have about 675 miles to go..  Wish my nose and butt luck (and everything in between please).

Day 2 and my butt is sore

I know you're waiting to hear if my stay last night at the Holiday Inn Express made me "smarter"...  Well I'm still driving west, what's that tell ya?  Geez I should have never given up my marketing career.  Did you know that Holiday Inn and Kohler have entered into a joint venture to market a "smarter" shower head... geez I could have done so much better!

Well day 2 of the trip to Phoenix and yes my butt is sore.  807 miles today.  Yup 807 long drawn out miles.  Again thank god for XM Radio to help keep me sane.  I've spent a lot of time today listening to the comedy channel, a few news channels and even on occasion the traffic and weather channel for DC (OK so I'm home sick, shoot me)

Today I saw a few scary things while on the road.  I wasn't sure if my eye's had played tricks on me or not.  While driving some 80 MPH I saw this image (click on it to see full size) in front of me.  At 1st I thought "OH MY GOD, he's coming right for me", then I realized... OK stupid it's a truck towing an exact same model truck.  As you pass this buy it reminded me of a push-me pull-you from Dr Dolittle.  After my heart returned to a relative norm, I'm happy to say I continued down the road without wetting the car seat.

Later in the day, I found myself sitting in a stopped traffic jam on I-40 somewhere east of Memphis.  Being an ER Nurse and former EMS guy, I know that managing the accident scene can be tough.  But I was amazed at how the TN state folks handled it.  Check this picture out (click on it).  This was easily a mile back... could you imagine some nutty ambulance guy slowing down to drop this sign on the way to the accident..  Well I guess they do things differently here.  Hey at least they knew which lane the darn thing was in.

I learned something else, while driving through all of TN.  It seems they are a god fearin' bunch down here.  There wasn't a billboard around that didn't praise someone for something.  I mean these guys John, Luke, David, and some guy Earl... sure had a lot to say.  (Yeah they actually had a billboard that quotes the scripture of Earl.)  Perhaps the oddest thing was I stopped at another Cracker Barrel for lunch today..  I never made it in the place.  An entire buss load of folks from some big church were trying to get in.  The surprising thing was they literally bus the entire load of people in from right across the highway...  Literally a stones through (no religious pun intended) away and they all got on the bus and took it across the street after the noon service.  It must be a Baptist thing...  Do Baptists drive on the sabbath?  No?  Well I ate at Burger King anyway.

Well for day 2 I put in some decent miles.  Of course my butt hurts, but I made it all the way to Little Rock AR.  Former home to Bill Clinton.  I was going to stop in as see some of Bubba's Kin folk.  I mean heck all those years he and I shared the same McD's outside the Whitehouse... I mean someone should know me... right?

Well I got settled into my hotel and was dying for a drink.  Wouldn't you know it AR is a dry state on Sundays.  Oh lucky me

Until Next time...  Night

The adventure begins

Well the adventure has started.  Mark your dates in the calendar..  At 6pm on March 5, 2005 I ventured out of the house on Gambel Oak Drive in the DC Burbs and made my way to Route 66...  Not the old fashion Rt 66 the songs are about, but the more modern HOV lane packed road west out of DC.... literally into the sunset, hell I should have been on horse back.  No wait on second thought, horse back to Arizona... now that's too damn long a trip.

Well this was a short day.  My goal was just to hit the road and get things moving.  So 236 miles later, I landed in Troutville VA (No I didn't make that up).  It's right outside Roanoke VA.

My goal this trip is to survive the road and do my best to fit in where ever I stop.  I don't "wanna be no fur-in-er"

So tonight to fit in, I ate at the Cracker Barrel.  A well known Southern USA haunt.  Good "country home cookin" as I'm told.  I got the "specialty selection" Chicken Friend Chicken (I think if you say Chicken twice it makes it better), with so much "gravy" on it I didn't see the food.  Now I say "gravy" cause this ain't no gravy my family dun ever made.  I know wall paper paste that's thinner.

Oh well it's food and the veggies were good (Boiled corn and breaded okra of course).  I made the mistake of askin' for "hot sauce" the girl was kind enough to tell me they ain't got none, but they have Tabasco...  Oh this will be a fun trip ;-)

Well bedding down for the night at Holiday inn Express...  I'll let you know if I feel smarter int he morning.

Some background...

Why this Blog, you may ask?  Darn good question.  OK so some background...

Well after something like 12 years of working in the tech market, as a Marketing Director and trainer, I finally returned to my 1st "love" - healthcare (for about 10 years befor ethat I was a Paramedic).  After pounding my way through a great nursing program, at Marymount University in Arlington VA, I've spent the last year working as an ER Nurse in the Washington DC area.

During my tech career, I've had the pleasure of working with some of the best people in the world, and I was happy to see that most of the people in the ER were equally as great to work with (albeit under a very different situation).  I also was lucky to land a nursing job and teaching job where I was able to learn a great deal.  However, something was missing.

After 12 years in a rapidly changing technology market, the hospital world was a bit "slow" moving.  Yeah I know what you're thinking.  You're probably saying "an ER is slow?, not according to the TV show."  I don't mean "slow paced," heck it's nuts when it comes to that.  I mean I'm used to aggressive technology use, and constant change.  I needed to find something that would get me a better connection between my love of tech, teaching, and my new focus on nursing.

I found it.  I was lucky to have a friend of a friend, who started with a brand new hospital in Phoenix AZ.  Banner Health Estrella, is my new work home.  They are a brand new hospital in the burbs of Phoenix and they are using technology such as paperless charting more than many hospitals I found.  They are also the pilot hospital for the entire Banner Health Network.  This should in theory mean "constant" change.  Well "constant" by healthcare standards anyway.  They will be the test site for new theories in healthcare and are practicing an "evidenced based" form of nursing care.

This Blog will outline my travels and progress through the new world I'm entering.