Psyc wards, jail and your average night out in Vancouver

Oh wow. Nice face. Sorry for the overweight eye luggage. It's a direct result of nursing school. I'm finishing up my clinical rotation on a psychiatric ward and it's been a very enlightening experience. In the beginning I found it difficult as I'm not actually doing task-oriented nursing. Meaning, I'm not going into their room to change a dressing or apply oxygen. Mental illness is so taboo. My family kept asking why they would let me work with "crazy" people who were dangerous...  Most of the patients are there voluntarily to get help. I'd say it's more safe on a Psyc ward amongst people who want help than in your everyday community. I'm thinking I may specialize in that area. We shall see. I used to major in Psyc (but then I decided I actually wanted a job after I graduated, haha kidding)(not really), before nursing so it's always been an area of interest.

For our clinical experience we were able to visit a jail (turns out some criminals are more polite than the people I work with at my part-time job!) and another institution for those who are in conflict with the law, but are not responsible due to mental illness. (Formally known as "criminally insanse").

Whilst on a tour, seven us of young female nursing students were standing in a lockdown glass walled nursing station. The patients were walking up to the window eyeing us up and just generally glaring at us, someone even waved, but mysteriously forgot the other four fingers. Talk about... uncomfortable. We were discussing how each of the staff must wear a personal alarm that is linked to a tower and if someone is in danger (like being attacked) they pull it and you can immediately see who pulled it and where they are. No joke, right as they were saying it an ear-piercing screech went off and every single staff member in the room leapt to their feet and raced towards the panel and out the door. Sweet mother of - where do they keep the spare pants? They left us locked in the 360 glass room being eye molested by the patients. Turned out to be a false alarm and the whole event was maybe 2 minutes long. Frightening then, funny now. You might be surprised to know there is a lot of joking between the staff. In private of course, safety first, but behind closed doors there is some hilarious banter going on. I guess you kind of have to in this line of work.

Also, I thought you all should know as we left the unit the psyc patients serenaded us with a lively rendition of Bon Jovi's "Halfway there".

Apparently a Corrections Nurse makes unbelievably sick money. Lesley the jail nurse? Hmmm...



Now for a smooth transition into the topic of the weekend.. I spent Saturday evening in Yaletown (snotbag section of Vancouver) hating the human race in general. We were trying to enjoy ourselves in some sort of establishment called the Society Lounge, but it turns out they serve sneers and snide comments with their $10 weak drinks. What a steal! Somone in our group ordered some kind of drink that had 151 in it and the waiter said in a very derogatory manner, uh we don't serve that, let me check the trunk of my car, is that a Surrey thing? What the F would imply we're from Surrey, you little zit? Even if we were (and we aren't), it's a still a super rude thing to say). It was my nursing friend's birthday and they were really giving her the run around. She had reserved a table, but they double booked it and told us we would have to move upstairs (carrying our drinks and food up there!) where we sat on friggin ottomans. We peace'd out immediately after, really now.. who does that?

After that pleasant experience we went to a nightclub still in Yaletown (there was my second mistake), called Bar None, where the None must have implied personality, generosity, friendliness or quality customer service. $18 cover? Are you out of your mind? Don't sit here, sit over there, dance here, not there. I did it for the birthday gal because she's a good friend of mine. Otherwise I would have never set foot inside. I would have liked to set foot in a couple people's jugulars though.

One girl in my nursing class LOVES these kind of bars and I just can't wrap my head around it. She says she loves how everyone dresses classy and the more money you spend, typically the better the people are that surround you. Mmmmm no. See above?

I can't imagine frequently spending this kind of money, only to be told you don't look good enough, your clothes aren't expensive enough and you aren't VIP enough to sit here. It's a good thing I dance like none of them exist mwahah! I left around midnight and met up with Cam who was coincidentally down the road on Granville street for another friend's birthday at a place called The Forum which was SO MUCH BETTER. Amazing live band, people dressed in all sort of different, yet unique styles, but who freaking cares right? I firmly believe if you're having a good time while laughing, drinking and dancing with your friends then who cares what you're wearing, how much it cost or how much money you spent to get into the club.

I try very hard to never bag on a person's outfit, no matter how much I may dislike it. Everyone is entitled to their own personal style and to express themselves freely. Compared to some, I don't own many clothes, but I know many people who only own a few things and are grateful for them in that they offer just the basic coverage and warmth. So the fact that I can mix and add pieces just because they're "pretty" or "well-made"... well I'm very grateful for that. But that is another topic for another time :)

There's my long winded tour de vancouver d-bag avoidance club guide. Now I will say something nice so I don't look like a d-bag too.... maybe they were all having an off night? I hope my completely unbiased and objective stance was helpful - wink!



And friggin finally (high-five if you got through my novel)
What I wore that night:

{Jacket - Jones New York - thrifted}
{Top - Winners}
{Belt - Forever 21}
{Pants - Mavi from Off the Wall}
{Shoes - Payless}

I'm smitten with the top. $19 from Winners, you honestly can't beat that eh? It has pretty little leaves with pearl buttons in the front, so much more feminine than anything I typically own. Cut-out heart in the back, golden right? Clearly there to show you that after this post I still have one ;)