WILTW: 11/12 - It's Beginning to look a lot like...Pickets...

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

This week has been very interesting-I actually had four days off this week. I took this week to refresh and relax-despite the many changes and challenges in front of us as a nation-and even at my facility.

We nurses, as a collective bargaining unit have had to make a conscious decision to increase efforts of making an example of how we need change in order to adequately serve our community. The energy behind the decision has been positive; the action will be next week, so to be continued...

What I have learned this week:

1. That coworkers can be dumbfounded on otherwise intelligent coworkers beliefs, making them more discerning and skeptical;

2. That there is support in unexpected places, and that support can be enough that it can be enough to make progress worth it;

3. The side effects of epinephrine can helped be remedied by placing the patient in Trendelenberg, as well as not change the vital signs despite the side effects.

4. That pts with underlying psychosocial issues use this time of the year to get warm and seek solace, even when they are aging out and make it challenging to give them the resources they really need.

I sure the upcoming week will be filled with more learning...I also learned that I needed those 4 days off.

So, what did you learn this week?

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

I learned that cooking for someone in renal failure can be challenging, costly, and especially time-consuming. All labels must be read carefully, and most dishes need to be home-made in order to avoid the salt, potassium, etc. I'm not doing the cooking myself, but I do help in meal prep and washing dishes. Lots of dishes.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I learned about hypothyroid myopathy...which kinda depresses me. I've been hypothyroid for 11 years. Because I am hypothyroid, I am more likely to develop an assortment of disease processes such as hyperlipidemia, CAD, myopathy, chronic kidney disease, bone disorders, etc.

Slowed muscle contraction and relaxation, known as hypothyroid myopathy, may be caused by a shift in the distribution of muscle fiber types from fast-twitch fibers to slow-twitch fibers. A reduction in muscle mitochondrial oxidative capacity and beta-adrenergic receptors, as well as the induction of an insulin-resistant state, may result in these changes.

Hypothyroid Myopathy: Background, Pathophysiology, Epidemiology

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

I went to the hospital on Saturday night (11/12) due to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea & cramping. I knew I was cramping because I was dehydrated but I couldn't even keep water in. So I went & they admitted me to L&D overnight to observe me. I started having contractions every 2-5 minutes but thankfully the LR helped & calmed my contractions down.

I barely got any sleep. Between being in a super uncomfortable bed, having an IV & being hooked up on the monitor, no sleep was had. I'm a side sleeper &I it was driving me nuts not to be on my side. Since I'm only 21 weeks it was also hard to find & keep my baby's HR. Once it was found, I really couldn't move. Also the bed pad would mold to my butt which made me even more uncomfortable.

I got so lucky because the nurses I had were super sweet & nice to me. Even the nurse who had to clean up after I sharted on the bed (never trust a fart people!). I kept apologizing & thanking her. I felt so bad (& embarrassed).

I was discharged yesterday (11/13) since I only had diarrhea, no vomiting & the contractions stopped. Watching the nurses work kinda made me miss nursing but on the other hand, I know all patients aren't like me.

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Specializes in NICU.

I learned the joys of caring for a patient with factitious disorder/Munchausens. When my obs patient with a long history of admissions for nonspecific ailments was due to be discharged the next day, he suddenly developed a new headache that was "intolerable" (yet he could still play games on his phone), and complaints of nausea (yet he ate 100% of his meals), in addition to his original complaint. Could he have some IV Dilaudid for the headache and some IV Phenergan for the nausea, please? He pulled out 3 IVs in 2 days because they were "burning." Couldn't we just put in a PICC line like last time, please? One psych consult, coming up!

I learned that the sweetest, kindest little old lady on earth can still swear a blue streak when having an NG tube inserted. Man, did she blister some ears! I was rather impressed with her vocabulary, to be honest. She'd have made a Marine blush.

I learned that the minimum safe distance to stand while assessing a patient with altered mental status is about a foot more than I thought it was. i got a bloody nose to prove it. :bluecry1:

...and because of that incident, I learned about the wonderful kindness of my coworkers, and the way that they will rush to one's aid when one gets socked in the snoot by a man with hypercalcemia! :up:

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Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.

I have learnt in the last 24 hours, its not very fun trying to hold it together at work when the earth keeps moving on you. We got hit by a 7.5 earthquake almost 24 hours ago. Since that big one, we have had about another 300 more. Some barely noticeable, but sitting in my car having a lunch break and the car started rocking, and rocking, and rocking. It turned out what had appeared to be another really long earthquake was about three rolling together, a 4.2, 5.6 and a 6.6. Took me a wee while to clamp down on the anxiety :(

Fortunately where I am, was the site on the big earthquakes back in 2011 so pretty much everything that would have fallen down has fallen down. However one small coastal town is completely cut off, and several other places that rely on tourism are pretty munted and will take along time to get up and running

We have a thing called geonet which logs any earthquakes incase anyones interested.

GeoNet - Quakes

Appreciate all the postive thoughts, mine and many other nerves are rattled tonight.

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I have learnt in the last 24 hours, its not very fun trying to hold it together at work when the earth keeps moving on you. We got hit by a 7.5 earthquake almost 24 hours ago. Since that big one, we have had about another 300 more. Some barely noticeable, but sitting in my car having a lunch break and the car started rocking, and rocking, and rocking. It turned out what had appeared to be another really long earthquake was about three rolling together, a 4.2, 5.6 and a 6.6. Took me a wee while to clamp down on the anxiety :(

Fortunately where I am, was the site on the big earthquakes back in 2011 so pretty much everything that would have fallen down has fallen down. However one small coastal town is completely cut off, and several other places that rely on tourism are pretty munted and will take along time to get up and running

We have a thing called geonet which logs any earthquakes incase anyones interested.

GeoNet - Quakes

Appreciate all the postive thoughts, mine and many other nerves are rattled tonight.

I'm not liking the post because of content, but for hugs. I'm sending positive thoughts your way!

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Specializes in ICU.

I learned that I am probably about to dig myself into another hole that is not going to be a good thing, as I spent the entirety of my last shift at my second job texting one of my coworkers at my main job (after completing all patient care, of course). I had an extraordinarily slow night, and so did this coworker at the other job, so we kept each other entertained. I have zero common sense when it comes to my personal life and I am very impulsive, so I usually figure out I've done something I shouldn't after the fact.

I don't have much of a personal life, which is why I get so attached to my coworkers, I suppose, but that's nothing that's going to change any time soon. Full time school + full time work + PRN work is not conducive to having free time, and the fact that 99% of the people I know have small children and can't do anything doesn't help. I literally have no one to spend time with when I do have free time (SO is an over the road truck driver so I can't even spend time with him), and I'm getting some serious cabin fever being stuck in the house with no one to talk to and nothing to do besides school work all of the time. Saying I'm starting to feel like I'm losing my mind is an understatement.

What are you all's tricks for keeping your personal and professional lives separate? Do you have a mantra you repeat when you're really dying to say/do something stupid that's good for talking you down off the ledge? Do you have any sort of mental checklist that you review regularly to make sure the decisions you're making are good ones?

Surely I can't be the only one with this problem. If I am... well... :bag:

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Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I learned that I am probably about to dig myself into another hole that is not going to be a good thing, as I spent the entirety of my last shift at my second job texting one of my coworkers at my main job (after completing all patient care, of course). I had an extraordinarily slow night, and so did this coworker at the other job, so we kept each other entertained. I have zero common sense when it comes to my personal life and I am very impulsive, so I usually figure out I've done something I shouldn't after the fact.

I don't have much of a personal life, which is why I get so attached to my coworkers, I suppose, but that's nothing that's going to change any time soon. Full time school + full time work + PRN work is not conducive to having free time, and the fact that 99% of the people I know have small children and can't do anything doesn't help. I literally have no one to spend time with when I do have free time (SO is an over the road truck driver so I can't even spend time with him), and I'm getting some serious cabin fever being stuck in the house with no one to talk to and nothing to do besides school work all of the time. Saying I'm starting to feel like I'm losing my mind is an understatement.

What are you all's tricks for keeping your personal and professional lives separate? Do you have a mantra you repeat when you're really dying to say/do something stupid that's good for talking you down off the ledge? Do you have any sort of mental checklist that you review regularly to make sure the decisions you're making are good ones?

Surely I can't be the only one with this problem. If I am... well... :bag:

After I got burned by coworkers a few times it was easy for me to not want to divulge any details about my person life to them.

Why don't you join a club or something or go somewhere where you can meet people?

I hope you can make friends outside of work, good luck!

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
What are you all's tricks for keeping your personal and professional lives separate? Do you have a mantra you repeat when you're really dying to say/do something stupid that's good for talking you down off the ledge? Do you have any sort of mental checklist that you review regularly to make sure the decisions you're making are good ones?

Surely I can't be the only one with this problem. If I am... well... :bag:

I ended up joining a direct sales organization. I have met a lot of people this way (and made extra money). Not everyone can be a salesperson, though. What about things like Meetup, where you can join groups dedicated to some of your hobbies? I've thought about joining the photography one near me, but it always meets on nights I end up being on call.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTACH, LTC, Home Health.

Warning: only those with a profound sense of humor will find this funny.

There was a patient who we found on the floor. Her room was next to the nurses' station. Her husband had gone home to take care of their two female pooches (Remember this). The patient got up out of the bed, urinated on the floor, and laid down in it. She then called her husband from her cell phone, claiming to have fallen. The husband called the nurses station to inform us of this. Several of us went in and indeed found the patient on the floor with the most photographic pose you'd ever want to see...just calm, cool, and collected with the bedside table strategically moved away from the bed, all items in place, including the call bell and the side rails, narry a hair out of place. No one heard anything, the patient had NOT utilized the call light, and had been really running her nurse since the start of the shift....very demanding and entitled.

Five hours later, the patient asked had her husband called back since he had not shown up, and we said no. She asked that he be called. We did, and he said that he told her that he had to go home to tend to the dogs.

WILTW? Apparently, the husband cared more for the two b***** at home than he did for the b**** in the bed.

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Specializes in Med Surg, ICU, Infection, Home Health, and LTC.
Warning: only those with a profound sense of humor will find this funny.

There was a patient who we found on the floor. Her room was next to the nurses' station. Her husband had gone home to take care of their two female pooches (Remember this). The patient got up out of the bed, urinated on the floor, and laid down in it. She then called her husband from her cell phone, claiming to have fallen. The husband called the nurses station to inform us of this. Several of us went in and indeed found the patient on the floor with the most photographic pose you'd ever want to see...just calm, cool, and collected with the bedside table strategically moved away from the bed, all items in place, including the call bell and the side rails, narry a hair out of place. No one heard anything, the patient had NOT utilized the call light, and had been really running her nurse since the start of the shift....very demanding and entitled.

Five hours later, the patient asked had her husband called back since he had not shown up, and we said no. She asked that he be called. We did, and he said that he told her that he had to go home to tend to the dogs.

WILTW? Apparently, the husband cared more for the two b***** at home than he did for the b**** in the bed.

Um, he may very well have. LMAO.

Ms. B**t*h gave her nurse a shift-load of grief on the call bell but can you imagine living what she does at home? The spouse was probably begging for a reason, any reason, to get away from her. I have always dreaded and hated those types. I always secretly pray that one day Karma bites them in the butt!

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