Nursing the old fashioned way

Nurses General Nursing

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hi all,

i just read a thread asking about older nursing interventions and it made me think of the older techniques that we really did use before so many modern meds and procedures.

for a lower gi bleed we used to do strong tea enemas. the rational was the tannic acid in the tea helped constrict the small bleeders in the colon.

we also used maalox and methiolate for bed sores or a sugar and betadine mixture if it needed packing.

i also remember when patients were impacted and the doctors would order 3 h enemas.

of course i still remember glass iv bottles and metal bedpans. anyone else want to regress and reflect?

Specializes in Geriatrics/LTC.

I knew what HHH was, when giving one be ready to RUN!!!! ;)

Or your clean whites would be "brown" in a hury....:p

"Thar she blows!!!!"

Well, I was in school to be an LPN 25 years ago, working as a nurses aide at the time. I remember many of these things, as well as a total lack of gloves for routine patient care. Depends briefs were brand new and on a trial basis. We all thought they were sent directly from Heaven, but were told they were "demeaning" by the management and could not use them.

One thing I will say is, my 120 hour CNA course this past year with 2 weeks of clinicals covered as much or more than the first 6 months of LPN training did 25 years ago. I never finished back then becasue I gave birth to a sick child. Now I am happily back at it, but as a CNA studying for Renal dialysis tech.

Specializes in SICU.

hahaha!!- i like the one about the misspell of hospital...not hospitality because seriously- it seems like a hotel these days!!

High Hot and a H** of a lot. Is that correct?

Specializes in M/S, ICU, ICP.
what was the rationale here?

let me see if i remember. one line of thought was that the ice and cold could cause vagal stimulation i believe... and then some nurses also believed it would shunt blood to the stomach that was needed for cardiac function if the patient ate anything too hot or too cold so hot coffee or tea was also a no-no. everything was room temperature. anyone else have a different theory in their area for this one?

i remember glass thermometers and when one broke we played with the mercury.

heat lamps also went with the sitz baths post partum and after having a baby lady partslly those heat lamps felt good! that was before fetal monitors and they straped you down to have babies so "you won't accidently touch the doctor's sterile field."

used many a b/p cuff on arms and legs and rotated them for chf as well.

right with the triple h enemas. high...hot...and h*ll of a lot! first time the doctor "explained" what it was i blushed. boy was i green. :eek:

chest tubes drained by a glass bottle system and the old suction set up had to be put together and all the tubing checked before you cut the motors on.

gloves were only worn in or. nurses wore only starched white with a cap and thier nursing pin and name badge. nurses got up when the doctor's came and gave them our seat. (i could kick my big booty myself for doing that one now)

Specializes in M/S, ICU, ICP.
ohhhhh my! do i remember those days ....

i too remember m&m (maalox and methiolate) for pressure areas along with the heat lamp, packing wounds with betadine ointment mixed with sugar, pelvic, wrist and leg restraints, gerichairs with locking trays to prevent the patient form getting up. feeding pureed diets to a difficult patient with an asepto. very seldom did we have g/tubes. it was usually ng tubes for feeding patients with swallowing problems. testing diabetics urine for sugar levels and coverage.

it scares me now to think of covering a patient with insulin based on their urine glucose.

i remember the first hiv patient our hospital ever had. they put them on my floor in total isolation, negative pressure room, and people actually came from other floors to peak in the glass window of the inner isolation room to "see what an aids patient looked like." even nursing was naive back then and did not understand because the medical community didn't know what caused it but they all agreed it was a killer.

i am glad we have learned since then.

pediatric patients were not allowed to see their parents except during visiting hours each day. i remember being in the hospital when i was 4 and crying and screaming for my mom and dad. the nurses were nice, but they were not mom and dad!

Nobody's responded to the HHH enema mention. Wonder how many newer nurses know that one?

Hahaha..I gave one Wednesday and I've been in for 3 years.

Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.

Red rubber catheters and Gomco suction.

Milk and molasses enema's!

Maybe we're old fashioned at my hospital, but we still have metal bedpans and gerichairs :S

Placing babies on their bellies to sleep, discouraging breastfeeding, smoking at the nurse's station, episiotomies, patients with 02! smoking in their rooms.

We still use geri chairs with locking trays.

Wangensteen suction device was used to handle secretions after cholecystectomy. Emptying and cleaning the big glass jugs was obnoxious task.

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