[Diahni]

Originally Posted by mom4josh

What???

I second that, mom4josh! I didn't know that nursing students/beginning nurses got to vote! I am very aware of the "you have to do a year of med-surg before you do anything else" philososphy - I suspect that this may change as the shortage worsens. As well, I have never heard of the rules being changed for the benefit of the nurse or student. Maybe I should put this in another thread, since it's only gross, yucky and disgusting if you don't want to do med-surg, but my impression of WHY this remains so is this: In med-surg, you see a variety of medical situtions to make you well-rounded." I was given this line from a psych unit, whose director told me they more or less require this from their employees. His rationale is that let's say you're assess a person in alcohol withdrawal - what symptom are the withdrawal, and which ones are additional physical/psych medical issues for the person? Makes sense to me up to a point. On the other hand, every specialty has a lot of info and skills specific to that specialty, so in this way the year of med/surg might be a waste of time.
I'd like to know people's experience/opinions on this!
Diahni

[Diahni]

Originally Posted by fey_lassRN

I worked with a nurse who was stuck in one of the hospitals in NO. She didn't really talk about it, and no one asked much because we knew how hard it had been on her. She did say something about having nightmares sometimes. Now she's left us and gone back to Metairie. We miss her! I think she needed that bit of time far from home to recover.

lassRN - I am sure it was a nightmare. I admire people who rise to the challenge, but they do pay a price. A lot of people from my area went to NO to do other stuff. It does a soul good, but at what cost? Too bad there isn't some kind of pill we could take for these situations that make us be invulnerable, but it's just the human condition. I think of all the people coming back from Iraq all messed up. Same thing. Rather than be rewarded, they can have life long physical and psych problems. In your friend's case, the nurse became a patient.
Diahni

[Diahni]

Originally Posted by Ayrman

I only read those that others bought, I never purchased one myself. Thus, I am only semi-guilty as there never was a steady supply.

Ayrman

Ayrman,
I was that kid whose magazines were read by the kids whose parents wouldn't buy them. I am sure Mad shaped my sense of humor, absolutely. One of my faves was "Dr. Kilgore" from way back - "That's not a bloody sponge, doctor, it's the patient's brain."
diahni

[Franemtnurse]

Originally Posted by Daywalker

Bah! I ALWAYS tell my tales at the supper table....and now everyone has a VERY strong stomach!

Yep, it's either sink or swim, hunh honey.

[Franemtnurse]

I have no idea if it's the horrible environment I lived in when I was growing up, or if it was science fiction movies like The Night of the Living Dead, or other things I have seen on TV or read in books, but I was watching Prison Break last night, and one of the prisoners said he murdered his father with a knife, then removed his brain and took a bite out of it. That didn't fase me one little bit. It just took me back to the days of Hannibal Lechter. Personally, I feel that this type of thing is one of the reasons nurses love nursing. They can take most of it. I can't stand to bear the injury of a little one though, because they are helpless victims of their environment, and that makes me want to get the proverbial shotgun out and take action.

[fey_lassRN]

Originally Posted by Diahni

I second that, mom4josh! I didn't know that nursing students/beginning nurses got to vote! I am very aware of the "you have to do a year of med-surg before you do anything else" philososphy - I suspect that this may change as the shortage worsens. As well, I have never heard of the rules being changed for the benefit of the nurse or student. Maybe I should put this in another thread, since it's only gross, yucky and disgusting if you don't want to do med-surg, but my impression of WHY this remains so is this: In med-surg, you see a variety of medical situtions to make you well-rounded." I was given this line from a psych unit, whose director told me they more or less require this from their employees. His rationale is that let's say you're assess a person in alcohol withdrawal - what symptom are the withdrawal, and which ones are additional physical/psych medical issues for the person? Makes sense to me up to a point. On the other hand, every specialty has a lot of info and skills specific to that specialty, so in this way the year of med/surg might be a waste of time.
I'd like to know people's experience/opinions on this!
Diahni

Well, most of the L&Ds I've worked in will only hire those with some experience, and they count preceptorships and internships towards that. And nurses, even young nurses, should have a choice. I'm a great L&D nurse, but I'd make a horrible med-surg nurse (I'd probably spend most of the shift hiding in the linen closet sobbing). We do deal with medical issues in L&D, but they all center around the pregnancy. An extra semester in med surg, on top of the two I'd already had in school, would have driven me out of nursing. Instead I was allowed in my niche, and I've been fairly happy there.

[Daywalker]

Originally Posted by Franemtnurse

Yep, it's either sink or swim, hunh honey.

You bet!

[xviii-xxv]

a loogie flying acroos the room just an inch away ur face... disgusting

[Jessiedog]

Originally Posted by xviii-xxv

a loogie flying acroos the room just an inch away ur face... disgusting

This one reminds me of so many times I have ducked and dodged various wet substances that come flying towards me from my patients. Some of the best ones are:

1. I now KNOW that when you suction a new tracheostomy, you do it from the side, even if your vision of the stoma is not as clear. When you get close up, squinting as you insert that Y-Suction catheter, you have much less reaction time to dodge that ''green projectile'' which the cough reflex launches!
2. Helping a person with two broken arms to blow their nose is not as problem-free as it sounds! I got the gloves, got a HUGE bunch of tissues, and stood well to the side. (The above experience had taught me not to stand straight-on.) Pt takes a big breath in, and blows HARD into the tissues. He does very well, except one string of snot richochets off the tissue and strikes me fair on my glasses!! My self-command was admirable - apart from a flinch and a verbal exclamation of Ahhh!, I managed not to embarrass my patient. I was VERY thankful for the glasses, which recieved a thorough scrubbing. If we'd still had autoclaves on the ward, I would have considered that too!

[Franemtnurse]

Originally Posted by Jessiedog

This one reminds me of so many times I have ducked and dodged various wet substances that come flying towards me from my patients. Some of the best ones are:

1. I now KNOW that when you suction a new tracheostomy, you do it from the side, even if your vision of the stoma is not as clear. When you get close up, squinting as you insert that Y-Suction catheter, you have much less reaction time to dodge that ''green projectile'' which the cough reflex launches!
2. Helping a person with two broken arms to blow their nose is not as problem-free as it sounds! I got the gloves, got a HUGE bunch of tissues, and stood well to the side. (The above experience had taught me not to stand straight-on.) Pt takes a big breath in, and blows HARD into the tissues. He does very well, except one string of snot richochets off the tissue and strikes me fair on my glasses!! My self-command was admirable - apart from a flinch and a verbal exclamation of Ahhh!, I managed not to embarrass my patient. I was VERY thankful for the glasses, which recieved a thorough scrubbing. If we'd still had autoclaves on the ward, I would have considered that too!