[talaxandra]

Originally Posted by ZASHAGALKA

Let me add while I'm thinking about it:
I've learned that, just the reverse of cars that never make 'that' noise for the mechanic, no matter how many times my patient denies chest pain overnight, the moment the doc or day shift nurse comes into the room, patients will pipe up "my chest has been hurting ALL NIGHT!"
And let me name this one Timothy's Razor: "If something goes wrong with a patient, it'll tend to go wrong JUST after I gave report and said it was fine."

You are so right, on both fronts.

[DutchgirlRN]

Originally Posted by ZASHAGALKA

no matter how many times my patient denies chest pain overnight, the moment the doc or day shift nurse comes into the room, patients will pipe up "my chest has been hurting ALL NIGHT".

Wow if I had a nickel for everytime that has happened to me I'd be able to retire.

[grace90]

here's a few more...

that sometimes the best way to deal with a grouchy co-worker is to chart somewhere else

that when we're working short-staffed I can't possibly catch everything or give the care that I really want to give

that we would work short A LOT

that when I got out of school I would not know everything

that when I got out of school I really wouldn't know anything except that potassium is never given IV push, noses are suctioned before mouths, and cold water is never used to flush a G or NG or J tube

that an effective way to deal with being chewed out on the phone by a doctor is to draw funny faces and/or write DSIAB on your report sheet while holding the phone a few inches from your ear until they finish their tyrade (DSIAB= Dr. So-&-So Is A Buttmunch)

that I have, do and will make big booboos

how to smile and say sweetly "Can I help you?" when the patient rings for the 50th time on my shift

that a little extra pampering such as a pillow fluff and a warm blanket does a lot to calm an anxious patient -or family member

not to be intimidated when I enter a patient room for the first time in a shift and am received with a glare

[kadokin]

Originally Posted by A476

I THINK THAT ALL OF THAT IS NEED TO KNOW INFORMATION. HOW DARE THEY NOT SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THAT STUFF. WHEN I START SCHOOL I WILL HAVE ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS ANSWERED BEFORE I SET FOOT IN A CLINICAL . BUT MAYBE NOT. I HOPE I NEVER RUN INTO PROJECTILE VOMMITTING OR TOO MUCH POOP.

Keep dreamin'

[Manley71704LPN]

Originally Posted by Debbie_LPN

Wouldn't it have been great if they told us this stuff in nursing school?

NOTE: A LOT OF MINE WERE MEANT FOR LTC NURSES

The human body is capable of holding 200 cups of H2O/coffee in your bladder....literally.

We were always instructed "Your body needs sleep to heal, rest, ect...",yeah that's funny.

Practicing sterile procedures for EVERYTHING is a waste of time(except catheters).

Of the 40 pts I have, I know what all the side effects of their meds are(yeah, all 50 meds per pt!!!). Oh yeah, and I know the GENERIC-TRADE names too.

Remember calcuating drip rates for G-tubes??? I don't.

They won't tell you what a med-cocktail is in school.

Anyone else wanna share????

yeah, what they fail to tell you...

what to say when a pt says "My poop TASTE bitter" Do you think there's something wrong with me? uh yeah! your eating your poop!!!

or how to explain test results or anything to a pt on their level.....which is unknown day to day.

Or my favorite.... What if Q's (questions).... What if i'm in pain tomorrow but i has no pain today? you wanted to say "well let's worry about that tomorrow!"

I Love nursing....everyday is a new and exciting as the first. Nothing surprises me anymore!

[Ruby Vee]

That a sat probe on the penis doesn't have a very good tracing.

That a male patient is obsessed with his penis and will attach to it things that ought not to be attached, and will remove from it things which ought to stay attached. (Sat probes do not belong on the penis; Foley catheters do!).

That there is no creature as strong as a demented little old lady.

That willingness to make Dad a DNR is inversely proportional to the quality of relationship they had with Dad.

That managers lie when they're trying to get you to come and work for them.

That you probably don't really want your manager to come out of the office and give you a hand, no matter HOW busy you are. (You're an ICU manager, you used to be an ICU nurse. So how come you can't recognize VT on the little screen above the patient's bed? Now is NOT the time for a complete neuro exam to figure out why he's not responding to you!)

Some of your coworkers are lazy, some lie, and some are lazy liars.

That you should be wary of eating anything the family made at home and brought in for the nurses.]

That you will get along with some of the patients no one else can stand, and that sometimes you can't stand everybody's favorite patients. Ditto with families.

That when the patient's family member is having hysterics and the patient's physician orders Valium 10 mg. IM for the family member, you really ought to consider sending/taking the family member to ER rather than carrying out the order. Even if your nurse manager insists that if you won't give it, she will, and you'd better be waiting for her in her office when she's done. (Nurse manager couldn't recognize respiratory arrest, either. Patient's physician intubated family member on the floor of patient's room, and nurse manager assisted with transfer to the ER. Subsequent conversation in nurse manager's office did not go precisely as nurse manager initially intended it to, and much better than RN expected it to!)

That if you don't want to explain to journalists on TV why you did what you did, you probably ought not to do it.

That if you have no sense of humor, you have no business in nursing and probably won't last long anyway!

Ruby

[talaxandra]

Originally Posted by Ruby Vee

That you will get along with some of the patients no one else can stand, and that sometimes you can't stand everybody's favorite patients. Ditto with families.

That when the patient's family member is having hysterics and the patient's physician orders Valium 10 mg. IM for the family member, you really ought to consider sending/taking the family member to ER rather than carrying out the order. Even if your nurse manager insists that if you won't give it, she will, and you'd better be waiting for her in her office when she's done. (Nurse manager couldn't recognize respiratory arrest, either. Patient's physician intubated family member on the floor of patient's room, and nurse manager assisted with transfer to the ER. Subsequent conversation in nurse manager's office did not go precisely as nurse manager initially intended it to, and much better than RN expected it to!)

That? Awesome!

[Lisa CCU RN]

Originally Posted by A476

I THINK THAT ALL OF THAT IS NEED TO KNOW INFORMATION. HOW DARE THEY NOT SAY SOMETHING ABOUT THAT STUFF. WHEN I START SCHOOL I WILL HAVE ALL OF THOSE QUESTIONS ANSWERED BEFORE I SET FOOT IN A CLINICAL . BUT MAYBE NOT. I HOPE I NEVER RUN INTO PROJECTILE VOMMITTING OR TOO MUCH POOP.

I can guarentee you will see both and i am just I tech.

[elizabells]

Originally Posted by Ruby Vee

That you should be wary of eating anything the family made at home and brought in for the nurses.

I keep hearing this...why? Do they poison you or something? Seriously, I'm confused.......

[Ruby Vee]

Originally Posted by elizabells

I keep hearing this...why? Do they poison you or something? Seriously, I'm confused.......

You don't always know how clean their kitchen is . . . and once a whole shift of nurses got some sort of intestinal problem from goodies a family brought in. The whole shift of CCU nurses -- nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Not pretty!