1950s nursing

kwagner_51 · Mar 26, 2005

Still can't figure out why he needs us to make rounds wih him! He talks, we stand there and then we go to the next room. Never a verbal order, assistance with a dsg, nothing. Just stand there. Thank goodness he usually doesn't have more than 3 or 4 on the floor at any one time.

Is he an older docter? If he is, it probably has to do with the fear of being in the room alone with a female patient.

_________________________________________

In His Grace,

Karen

Failure is NOT an option!!

allamericangirl · Mar 26, 2005

There is no greater honor than to be complemented by your peers. I am very flattered by your thoughtful words. Thank you, nursebee, housecat, colrainr, and kiyasmom. I hope that I didn't miss anyone. :)

I'm glad that you enjoyed my reminiscing. Things that I remember most vividly from my childhood were trips to the doctor and the dentist office. I think these things were so eventful because we didn't have shopping malls to hang out in, back in the 1950's. Going to the doctor's or dentist's office, Woolworth's and Ben Franklin Dime Stores, and Walgreen's, where you had an ice cream soda, or lemon or cherry coke at the lunch counter while they filled your RX , were eventful outings.

Do any of you watch American Dreams on Wednesday nights. Last week they showed a scene in a hospital. It is a great series and does a beautiful job of depicting life in the 1960s?

LPNer · Mar 26, 2005

Is he an older docter? If he is, it probably has to do with the fear of being in the room alone with a female patient.
_________________________________________
In His Grace,
Karen
Failure is NOT an option!!

Actually, no he is not. He goes in, sits on the loveseat (if it's not still pulled out to a bed) and talks. That's about it, sometimes he looks at the dsg, but not very often. He looks at our notes for the change, almost always done just minutes before he gets there in the AM.

allnurses Guide · Mar 27, 2005

"We learned to make a bed with 2 flat sheets (hospital corners and all), lol, haven't even had to use that knowledge."

Still doing that in the 80's. Had an LPN student take apart a bed I had made, because it was in her assigned area, and I had put the top sheet on with the SEAMS up, where they might touch the patient! and her instructor would be checking for that.

apaisRN, RN, CRNA · Mar 27, 2005

Nurses being asked to leave a postition for being sexually active and talking about it (I remember two such cases, one was a married nurse)

Was the married nurse talking about sex with her husband or someone else? Seems like that might make a difference. :rolleyes:

LPNer · Mar 27, 2005

Was the married nurse talking about sex with her husband or someone else? Seems like that might make a difference.

She was talking about some of the things she and her husband had tried while being silly. There was a time not so long ago that nurses were not sexual beings, I remember and I've only been a nurse since 1977. Well, we were not sexual beings at work and she was talking about such things.

We were all laughing hysterically, in the back room of the nurses station mind you, but the supervisor over-heard her as she stood in the nurses station talking to the unit clerk. Of course there could have been more to it than just that one instance, there is no way for me to know.

The other nurse, I did not know, so specifics are completely unknown to me.

Jamesdotter · Mar 27, 2005

I would love to hear how a nurses day went in the 1940s,50s, early 60s. Any major differences between now and then...any good stories to share?

My first job (in the 60s) was in a county hospital. We boiled instruments on the gyn floor, used rubber tubing for ivs--we did have plastic for blood--, central supply resterilized urinary catheters, on quiet(!) days we mended surgical gloves, which were then used for procedures, and folded and wrapped the OR and L&D linens to be autoclaved, passed meds from a central closet, as someone else here mentioned. Our Wangensteen suction was a gerry-built device made from glass gallon jugs, rubber tubing, big black rubber stoppers and glass tubes, one jug hanging from the curtain rods in a canvas cage and the other two sitting on the floor. I think I could still put one together. Urinary catheters drained into still more glass jugs which were open at the top. I think nearly every one of us managed to kick one over and break it on the marble floor. The institution which now has a level 3 emergency department with trauma service didn't even have an ER in those days. We could easily manage an assignment of 10 patients because the med nurse passed meds, the treatment nurse did dressings, etc and at least half of the patients wouldn't even be admitted today--they'd be cared for on an outpatient basis.

rnbackagain · Mar 27, 2005

I really enjoyed your post, it was quite compelling. Have you ever considered writing? Your post could easily be expanded into a very interesting short story. You should give it some thought. There are a few "special interest" magazines you could submit to, nursing mags and maybe even the readers digest. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I thought it was great.

I thought the EXACT same thing!!!! I loved reading the post!

LPNer · Mar 27, 2005

This has all reminded me of a couple of other things that are not so "old" but so totally unacceptable today.

We all carried scissors and hemostats for use during dsg changes. Not like I do now, just for cutting clean items at the bedside BEFORE pt contamination, but for help removing dirty dsgs, cutting new ones to size, etc! How gross! (Unless it was a sterile dsg change, then we used those from CSS, which would be returned for proccessing.)
Almost everything was sent to CSS for cleaning and repackaging. Scissors, stats, isolation gowns, bedpans, urinals, bath basins, pitchers, plastic medication cups were cleaned as much as possible, glass straws (for HCL and K).
Each floor had a bathtub for oatmeal baths or other bathing treatments.
There was one sitz bath on the floor, all patients needing it used the same one.
We did not wear gloves for personal care unless there was a reason other than yuck! (or sterility needed)
MRSA and others did not exist
IVs did not come premixed. We mixed them on the floor.
Wow, it could take forever to make a complete list of all the gross things we used to do, and it was right!

lpnadmin · Mar 27, 2005

My first job (long before I became an LPN) was in a county hospital in 1990, after getting out of the Army. We used two flat sheets for the bottom sheet (with hospital corners, a skill I learned in basic training). Don't remember about the pillowcase-not-facing- the-door rule though.

There was a glucose test that we did with a urine/water mixture, then put a tablet in it that, while dissolving, would get VERY HOT. After it settled down, we compared the colors on a chart, then reported the findings accordingly.

There's a few things I remember about the hospital and the patients I helped take care of. One was a retired RN who told me that cancer was once called "galloping consumption". In the lobby, there was a patient list and the room they were in. (Can't do that nowadays: HIPPA!) And there was one RN who ALWAYS wore the white nurses' hat. She was the 3-11 supervisor and great to work with.

I make sure I have a pair of scissors with me while I'm on duty:) Sometimes I'm the only one who has them when needed.

Titiana · Mar 27, 2005

"We learned to make a bed with 2 flat sheets (hospital corners and all), lol, haven't even had to use that knowledge."
Still doing that in the 80's. Had an LPN student take apart a bed I had made, because it was in her assigned area, and I had put the top sheet on with the SEAMS up, where they might touch the patient! and her instructor would be checking for that.

Oh yes, we were taught that none of the sheet could have the seams touching the pt, nor could it have WRINKLES, we had to make sure that the sheets and blankets were completely flat because that will irritate the skin, we also had to make special "foot folds" that the sheet and the blanket had to be in a perfect about 4 inch fold at the bottom of the bed, so they wouldn't bother the toes. We were also taught to fold back the sheet, and there were ways to do it, multiple folds, different folds for weither they were coming back from surgery...

What a waste of time, I wish we had spent more time on learning usefull stuff. But if then if I deside to change careers I can always make beds for a living/ :rolleyes:

cibils · Mar 28, 2005

I don't have a reply I have a question. Does anyone think the whole nursing shortage starts in the schools, that alot of would be nurses are discouraged right from the begining by there instrutors in nursing school. I have had 5 clinical instuctors and only one of them has been professional. I have also talked to other students from different schools. We all say the same thing we are belittled, made to feel stupid, expected to be mind readers, If we are not quick enough, IVs grabbed out of our hands, asked questions about things we were never taught intimadated, screamed at, threatened. I think we better look at the beganing and where it all starts. I am trying to find some one to do an article on this is there anyone out there?