[mitchsmom]

Originally Posted by LLLRN

That if you choose to work in home health you will be inserting a foley into an elderly woman that weighs about 90lbs, but has the strength of 10 men. The room will be about 100 degrees, you will be sweating like a pig and the only light in the room will be a 25 watt light bulb on the other side of the room. In order to insert the catheter you will be on your knees in the bed with a pen light in your mouth and your elbow will be trying to hold her knees apart...oh yeah and don't forget sterile technique because this is the last catheter you have in your car and you are about 65 miles from your office.
Also, when you go to admit your patient for service, again about 65-70 miles from the office, the patient will be dead when you get there. Unfortunately, the family will not realize that grandma is not just sleeping and so when you let them know that she has expired the will all become so hysterical that the pregnant niece will start having contractions and need an ambulance. There will not be a current DNR order and you will need to carry your own phone because the family will have a phone that does not dial out long distance and you will be in the middle of nowhere.
And last but not least, a bad day in home health will include running over a chicken.

[tencat]

If you had three hours of sleep the night before, don't drink six cups of coffee and try to start an IV (Ain't pretty.......)

[SRbear]

That a hospital hallway is the best place to fart.
That diarrhea is hereditary, it runs in your genes.
That if you find a man on the hospital floor and he is not unconscious,and you shock him, he will cuss.....a lot.
That it is fun to ask new grads about normal lab values, and then ask them what the normal alcohol level is.
That if you are trying to put a foley in a woman, and miss, leave it in place, then get new cath and try again, you can then tell where you do not want to put it.
If you are putting a foley in an 80 year old maid, try not to miss.
Never laugh or snicker when you are putting a catheter in a man And never ever say out loud "would you look at the size of this thing"
Treat your pct's with respect and help em out, they could save your butt.
Never put an ng tube in, allow it to come out the mouth, and then allow pt to grab both ends and pull.

[Annor]

Stop.....I think I peed in my pants!!!

[organichombre]

What about the postop hip who tells you "Oh I guess you don't have to stick me for blood now huh"?, as you're emptying his hemovac full of bloody drainage!
Or how come your postop will deny pain all day till the doctor comes around and then suddenly they are dying?

[mstigerlily]

Here is something that was never even HINTED upon in nursing school I wish they would have covered:

Hierarchy/chain of command at the hospital. All the workplace dynamics you will have to deal with and how to deal with them. Oh, that would have been helpful information. I'm no kids, I'm in my 30's, I've had many, many jobs but I was no prepared for the stuff I had to deal with in the hospital setting that had little or nothing to do with nursing skills or performing your job description.

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????

[Victoriakem]

Originally Posted by Ruby Vee

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!

I had a guy bring in a whole cooked turkey, mashed potatoes, & veggies & pumpkin pie, because he said we were so nice to him last week, when he had his surgery. This was during my days as a Med/Surg RN. We ate it all & didn't have any bad effects. It was still warm & what the heck, nurses can eat anything.

[Franemtnurse]

How back-biting and nasty nurses can be with one another. How sad and shocking!!! These are people who have the lives of patients in their hands and have to do teamwork at times whether or not they like it. Why not do it in a friendly atmosphere? And an aide who has been there for ever think s/he has authority over a newly hired BSN and can tell him/her how to do his/her job.

[jess78911]

I have learned...
that the patient having severe left arm/chest pain will not tell you about this pain (while waiting for the scheduled cardiac cath..), but instead let the spouse tell you...and then the dr's will not return your 3-4 pages...and have not written any angina parameters...

that your patient in isolation will need something every 10 minutes

that it pays to smile and laugh (no matter how rough your day is)

if you have a chance to go to lunch early, GO!! You will not get a chance later

no matter how you describe your day to your significant other, they will never understand what your day at work has been like (wouldn't you love to be able to bring them to work for a day?)

you can be waiting all day for the patient to be called to surgery, and when you are THE BUSIEST, they'll call and want them there 15 minutes ago

Enjoy the patients and families that you get along with!! They make your day and nursing experience a better one! Our patients can teach us so much!

[Franemtnurse]

Originally Posted by jess78911

I have learned...
that the patient having severe left arm/chest pain will not tell you about this pain (while waiting for the scheduled cardiac cath..), but instead let the spouse tell you...and then the dr's will not return your 3-4 pages...and have not written any angina parameters...

that your patient in isolation will need something every 10 minutes

that it pays to smile and laugh (no matter how rough your day is)

if you have a chance to go to lunch early, GO!! You will not get a chance later

no matter how you describe your day to your significant other, they will never understand what your day at work has been like (wouldn't you love to be able to bring them to work for a day?)

you can be waiting all day for the patient to be called to surgery, and when you are THE BUSIEST, they'll call and want them there 15 minutes ago

Enjoy the patients and families that you get along with!! They make your day and nursing experience a better one! Our patients can teach us so much!

God bless you, Jess. You have gained a lot of wisdom. And yes, no matter what, if you are able to at all, do smile. It will make someone's day a little bit brighter. It may be the only good thing in someone's life that has happened in a long time.