Back in the day......

[meanmaryjean]

I was regaling a new grad the other night as to how things have changed in the 35+ years since I became a nurse.

She was appalled to hear that:

Gloves were for surgery. Only. Yes, we cleaned up messes and changed dressings/ started IVs with our bare hands

The only 'treatment' for hypoplastic left heart was to place the baby in the mother's arms.

We mixed our own TPN.

Benadryl and ibuprofen were only available with a prescription.

PLEASE share you 'back in the day' stories!

[DoGoodThenGo]

So many places (I don't know of any facilities that do waterless baths) still use basins I don't think that it's a "back in the day" kind of thing. Maybe in another 5 years.

It's not like the basins are used from patient to patient. I have taken baths after other people and sometimes used their old water too but that was my own family. I'm thinking I'll wipe down basins with those sanitizer wipes after each use now. Thanks for the info!

Quite honestly between shorter inpatient stays and lack of staff you'd be surprised how many patients aren't bathed at all, and of those that do a majority are often those able to do so on their own.

Yes, bad baths have been part of the nursing arts for ages with the only major difference is today plastic basins are used instead of enameled porcelain. One huge difference today is nursing is no longer purely a task driven profession. That is you don't do something the exact way you were taught just because that is the way you are supposed to, rather at the bedside EBP allows doing what is best for the patient.

With HAI rates ever increasing everything that is done to the patient and or they are exposed to must be examined. Even if a basin is used for one patient only (as it should) there are many ways it can be colonized with bacteria. Even if the bed bath involve several changes of water one highly doubts the thing is "scrubbed out" or otherwise cleaned before being filled with fresh water, that just adds more time to what is already a time consuming task. Rather dirty water is dumped out, container is rinsed (maybe) and filled with fresh water. However this does not remove all the filth from previous use, thus whatever is in there lives on and can be transferred to the patient.

Friend of mine uses a new plastic basin each time a change of water is required for a bed bath.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

oh and let us not forget metal bedpans, that were cleansed and sanituzed in the bed pan hopper

I did clinicals THIS YEAR in a facility that had metal bedpans and re-used those plastic bins for other patients after Central Supply "sanitized" them.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

We still pass out basins for baths for the stay. I encourage anyone that can to get to the sink/shower. We have disposable wipes and for my patients that can't get up I use those heated + clean towels. I want to use the basins cause I feel instinctively that its cleaner but with the evidence mounting I've switched to the wipes. They are easier. My patients get bathed daily and I think it's crazy that this doesn't happen everywhere, tough if you've got an 8 patient assignment and 3 of those patients are pretty unstable I can see why. It's sad.

I can't believe how much has changed in the last 5 years.

[JDZ344]

The good old days :)

[JBudd, MSN]

Instead of pt stickers to put on pages, we had metal plates with the name and number punch typed in; really noisy machine in admissions. You put the metal plate in a credit card type roller, and ran the inker over it to mark the page, the lab slips, everything. Smeared and unreadable sometimes, you had to practice to get good at clear impressions consistently.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Instead of pt stickers to put on pages, we had metal plates with the name and number punch typed in; really noisy machine in admissions. You put the metal plate in a credit card type roller, and ran the inker over it to mark the page, the lab slips, everything. Smeared and unreadable sometimes, you had to practice to get good at clear impressions consistently.

We still use that, but much fewer sheets since we only do a page or two in case of a computer downtime.

[tewdles, RN]

We taped glass chest tube bottles to the floor...

[DoeRN]

I still say the old way of keeping pts in Isolation - double bagging clean nurse, dirty nurse etc, was much better and we should go back to it![/quote']

I agree 100%

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[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

We used to have fun

[sallyrnrrt, ADN, RN]

We used to have fun

yes "ThatGuy" is correct, we did use to have fun......... those were the days, pay horrid, but we did have fun

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Yes, work used to be so much more fun. Much less drama.

I was thinking on the way to work this am that we don't see many Barium Enemas anymore. Remember them? Such fun. Bowel prep for like 3 days. Pt would have the test. And then you would have to give them even more laxs to make sure all the Barium was passed. Because if it didnt... wow, man, did that stuff turn to cement!

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

We used to have fun

No kidding!!!