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!

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Okay....so I am allowed to openly admit that I HATE 12 hour shifts?

It is one of the reasons I left the hospital for home health. I love my 10p-6a shifts. And I never leave with the feeling of utter exhaustion and weariness that I did during the (seems like they will never end...) 12 hour shifts.

Oh, absolutely! I'm not a fan either. I would WAY rather work an extra eight-hour night or two- than be the sleep-deprived zombie I sometimes am after a twelve.

[heron, ASN, RN]

from amoLucia

Help! To all you grande dames out there. What was the name of a liquid med that we used to give for acute DTs/alcoholic withdrawal???

Paraldehyde-we gave it rectally with a glass syringe because it melted the plastic ones.

[DoGoodThenGo]

Ha ha... I remember tying sheets! I've been out of floor nursing for years and didn't realize fitted sheets were now used.

I remember in nursing school learning how to miter sheets! Do they still do that?

Only time remember anyone tying sheets is for patients that were so restless even the tightest mitered corners wouldn't hold. Even then it would be hard to do in an occupied bed. We did it when the pt was up and out even if just sitting in a chair.

[DoGoodThenGo]

from amoLucia

Paraldehyde-we gave it rectally with a glass syringe because it melted the plastic ones.

Remember that episode. It was the one with the nurse who had a drinking problem. Major Houlihan got wind of it via Klinger who caught said nurse hitting the bottle and tried to cover for her because they were friends. However MH did warn the nurse that if she was caught again it go on her record, something the nurse feared as she was "an OR nurse" only and the notation probably would mean removal from at least that post.

Of course the stuff would hit the fan in the officer's mess when the nurse came down with a serious case of the DTs (IIRC she thought ants were crawling over her), Col Potter ever the down to earth sharp one knew at once what he was seeing and ordered Radar to fetch several CC's of Paraldehyde.

[DoGoodThenGo]

Full vest restraints and wrist and ankle restraints were used in the nursing homes...back in the late eighties when I was a CNA. I had not (until the last year) been back in a nursing home since then now even side rails are considered restraints. Everyone gets a pressure or tab alarm now a days with of course only a Dr. s order.

Had them in hospitals as well back then. Sadly many a pt was put into them first and the order *ahem* signed later.

[silverbat]

*****I remember in nursing school learning how to miter sheets! Do they still do that? *****

I STILL miter my sheet corners at home!!!!

[DoGoodThenGo]

DoGoodThenGo: We still use cotton washcloths! My hospital refuses to give us disposable wipes. The nasty washcloths (complete with poop) go right into the same linen as everything else. They have assured us that whatever they wash the linens with, kills all germs. Grosses me out, but the linens always look clean and white, with no smell.

Friend of mine ran a commercial laundry that processed hospital and clinic linens. He always insisted all linens contaminated with human fluids of any sort from OR to bed linens be sorted and labeled as such. Something about OSHA and not wanting to expose his workers to the unknown as it were.

Looked it up once and as far as OSHA and other rules seem to be concerned linen/laundry needs only to be sorted/labeled with fouled with blood and or perhaps a few other fluids, but feces and urine were not on the list.

[DoGoodThenGo]

We had 2 sets of narc keys (large floor), and anyone might have them. We'd go around asking "who has the keys?", since they were small everyone denied it because they'd get lost in those cavernous pockets in the white uniforms.

I made brightly colored neck lanyards, so no one could deny having them anymore.........

and went one night to a favorite watering hole of hospital staff at 2330, where the evening shift supervisor looked at me and said "narcotic keys?" with a smile. Looked down, and oops! there they were! Immediate about face and rush back to the hospital.

Oh the joys of "who has the narc keys"? When they couldn't be found a round of telephone calls to all nurses from the previous shift would begin. In an era before pagers were had by everyone (don't even ask about cell phones) it often could be difficult to run the offending nurse to ground. She may have stopped to pick up the children from babysitter and or do errands before arriving home. Once there greeting her would be an answering machine blowing up with messages to call her unit ASAP.

In a place like NYC where nurses could say work at a hospital in Manhattan but live on Staten Island or Brooklyn, etc... and public transportation was the norm instead of car, can you imagine getting home after say working 7-11 only to find you've got the narc keys? This could mean several buses and or subway rides back to the hospital (and often a pretty good walk) to return.

For this reason usually second sets were held by supervisors or in the DONs office, but that would involve getting either or both involved something you'd rather avoid if possible *LOL*

[amoLucia]

To heron - Thank you thank you thank you! I've been going nuts trying to remember it.

To DoGood - You remembered that episode spot on.

And we've all gone home with the keys. Oh, the feeling when you reach in your pocket and feel that bulge! You just want to crawl in a hole...

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

We used to say you weren't "real" nurse u til you went home with the keys! And how we would laugh when some new grad would comment that it would never happen to her, and the it did. Ah, the good ole days"

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Kind of had this in mind: see 4:51 to end. *LOL*

That's Our Miss Brooks! Oh, my.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Paragoric - now that's an oldie! And the old Coke syrup for upset tummies and whiskey on the gums for teething babies.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Help! To all you grande dames out there. What was the name of a liquid med that we used to give for acute DTs/alcoholic withdrawal???

I just remember it smelling sooooo nasty (made me gag)! I used to pour it inside the old med closets we had back then because there was a circulating fan inside that could suck out the odor. What was it???

There was a TV episode on M*A*S*H where Col Potter orders it STAT for a nsg school friend of Margaret's who flips out on the chow line from her alcohol withdrawal.

What was it? HELP!

Paraldehyde!