Crusty Old Bats

[Been there,done that]

Share your ancient memories. One of mine is Kardexes.  We used them in report.  Updated them with pencil and eraser ! 

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

Other distant memories:

Reading blood sugars manually off a colour chart. You never got a spot on 4.2 mmols or 8.5 mmols. Your blood sugar was in a range so you said your patient's blood sugar was between 0-4 mmols, 4-7, 7-11, 11-15 or HI. (Sorry, I know you do mgs in the US).

Doing a set of vitals took ages as you had a mercury thermometer which took a mimimum 2 minutes to cook, in which time you counted a manual pulse, did a BP with a sphyg, then counted resps. As a student on some massive 30 bedded ward you could be sent off to "do the obs" on the whole ward. 2 hours later.....

Looking for signs of cyanosis because pulse oxymetry didn't exist.

Doing IM's like crazy. Rarely do one these days.

Two of you doing a simultaneous apex/radial pulse for AF because nurses didn't do ECGs. Calling the "cardiographer" to do your ECGs. Do they even exist now?

Not wearing gloves for anything.

Weird pressure sore treatments like egg white and oxygen.

Starving patients with pancreatitis for weeks on end. They're allowed to eat now!

Keeping people in for days after a haemorrhoidectomy  just to supervise the saline baths.

All the patronising bull**** on the admission form about "expressing sexuality" and how many flights of stairs at home.

Weekend cleaning. Weekend "wees and weights".

Sister's (ward manager's) bowel book and TPR book.

Getting perfectly mobile, independent patients to stand up, drop their pants and have their backsides rubbed with talcum powder because "all patients are at risk of pressure sores" ?‍♂️

Two hourly turns.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

DavidFR said:

I remember consultants being treated like Gods and the ward round being a major panic.

One ward in my training was an old fashioned open Nightingale ward - (for you in the US basically a long corridor with beds down either side, all patients visible and just curtains drawn round them when intimate care was going on). The Ward sister (head nurse) insisted that on consultant ward round day ALL the patients be washed and ready, sat up straight in bed regardless of medical condition, with immaculate hair and nails before the round started at 9am. This meant night staff starting some washes before they went off. Beds were all pumped up to the same height and all lockers, chairs and bed tables had to be in identical spots around the bed. The domestics had to have the place spotless. Having had to do a last tidy of the ward, we students then had to hide out of sight in the sluice. Having done the ward round sister then served tea and cakes (bought with her own money) to the doctors in the office while the rest of us pretended to look busy. In reality there was nothing left to do since all the work had been done in a mad rush before 9am, so we pathetically pretended to look at charts, plump up pillows etc. Total madness. 

I can only say wow! Seems like the consultants were treated like royalty at the expense of patients and staff.

[GrumpyRN, NP]

DavidFR said:

Other distant memories:

Reading blood sugars manually off a colour chart. You never got a spot on 4.2 mmols or 8.5 mmols. Your blood sugar was in a range so you said your patient's blood sugar was between 0-4 mmols, 4-7, 7-11, 11-15 or HI. (Sorry, I know you do mgs in the US).

Doing a set of vitals took ages as you had a mercury thermometer which took a mimimum 2 minutes to cook, in which time you counted a manual pulse, did a BP with a sphyg, then counted resps. As a student on some massive 30 bedded ward you could be sent off to "do the obs" on the whole ward. 2 hours later.....

Looking for signs of cyanosis because pulse oxymetry didn't exist.

Doing IM's like crazy. Rarely do one these days.

Two of you doing a simultaneous apex/radial pulse for AF because nurses didn't do ECGs. Calling the "cardiographer" to do your ECGs. Do they even exist now?

Not wearing gloves for anything.

Weird pressure sore treatments like egg white and oxygen.

Starving patients with pancreatitis for weeks on end. They're allowed to eat now!

Keeping people in for days after a haemorrhoidectomy  just to supervise the saline baths.

All the patronising bull**** on the admission form about "expressing sexuality" and how many flights of stairs at home.

Weekend cleaning. Weekend "wees and weights".

Sister's (ward manager's) bowel book and TPR book.

Getting perfectly mobile, independent patients to stand up, drop their pants and have their backsides rubbed with talcum powder because "all patients are at risk of pressure sores" ?‍♂️

Two hourly turns.

David, did you work at the same hospital I did? ??

That is identical to my early experiences. Must have been a training thing because you did it as a junior then all juniors will do it. Sister's word was law and matron (the old fashioned ones, not the new models) answered only to god.

There was the old joke - Whats the difference between matron and a consultant? The consultant only thinks they are god... (For Americans, a consultant is a senior doctor and is in charge of a whole team).

[GrumpyRN, NP]

Been there,done that said:

I can only say wow! Seems like the consultants were treated like royalty at the expense of patients and staff.

Absolutely, one consultant threw a patient kardex at a nurse because she was talking to a patient during his ward round. Nothing happened to the consultant and the nurse was told never to talk again during ward round.

This all changed when more male nurses came in because it is difficult to bully another man who could in probability kick your butt. Yes it is the law of the school yard but it worked.

Knew one male nurse who was shouted at in the middle of an operation for no reason and after the op was finished he turned to the consultant and told him that "if you ever shout at me like that again I will ram this (surgical instrument) right up your nose." I'm not one for violence but occasionally as a male you have to threaten it. It worked though as the consultant never bothered him again.

[Cattz, ADN]

These are so good- and true. Thanks for a bit of good entertainment to get the week started. Glad to know that I'm in good company in the "crusty old bat club" ?

[londonflo]

DavidFR said:

Reading blood sugars manually off a colour chart.

When I started we had urine dipsticks (for "sugar and acetone" ) to determine possible blood glucose levels - probably so inaccurate as we know renal threshold may increase in long-term diabetics and the urine could sit in the bladder over a couple of meals. 

To make it worse, we read these in the utility room which was usually yellow to yellowish green in color. But to be honest. when you called the result to the MD, the order obtained was usually 1-3 units of regular insulin. 

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

Been there,done that said:

Somebody else remembers kardexes! I used to smoke  while  updated them.

I recently worked in a NICU that uses kardexes to this day. It was like stepping back in time. God forbid you lose it, or everybody panics (but at least nowadays it's all in Epic).

This is such a fascinating topic--I'm not quite as crusty as many AN members (just crispy round the edges), but I love reading these stories. Thanks for posting @Been there,done that.

[DavidFR, BSN, MSN, RN]

The Nelson's Inhaler. Sure they're banned now under health and safety regulations. How many 1st degree burns did we cause?

Glycerine and Icthamol dressings on IV sites that had tissued. Like slapping tar on people.

Great thread! Love it!! 

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

canoehead said:

One more.

I miss the Rolodexes that had numbers available from the dawn of time. You had extensions for unlisted government offices, doctors relatives and their side chicks, the maintenance number plus a few home numbers to try, and then Joe Plumber that helped us out Christmas Eve in a pinch. Any number that might be needed we added it. So much history and knowledge

Our 70 year-old unit secretary still uses a Rolodex and actually updates it so she can call numbers that aren't in the electronic chart, or other departments in the hospital.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

I remember good old kardexes.  We'd gather our patient's kardexes and make our report sheet off of them and take report in the lounge.  No bedside report.   Often I would hear when asked about something "I don't know it wasn't on the kardex".  

The drama and controversy when we went smoke-free.

[londonflo]

DavidFR said:

 How many 1st degree burns did we cause?

We did our own respiratory treatments at the VA (not RTs then) and not knowing where to grab = yow wee!

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

GrumpyRN said:

Absolutely, one consultant threw a patient kardex at a nurse because she was talking to a patient during his ward round. Nothing happened to the consultant and the nurse was told never to talk again during ward round.

This all changed when more male nurses came in because it is difficult to bully another man who could in probability kick your butt. Yes it is the law of the school yard but it worked.

Knew one male nurse who was shouted at in the middle of an operation for no reason and after the op was finished he turned to the consultant and told him that "if you ever shout at me like that again I will ram this (surgical instrument) right up your nose." I'm not one for violence but occasionally as a male you have to threaten it. It worked though as the consultant never bothered him again.

Wow. This has given me a couple of more ideas for threads. I imagine the difference between relationships with doctors and male nurses.. and female nurses has been done.