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 ! 

[DallasRN]

Goodness!  I'm sure I'm one of the oldest "Crusty Old Bats" here.  I remember almost everything mentioned.  My standouts:  A few drugs were kept in the lock box but everything else was kept in a drawer in the med room with the patient's name/room number on it.  We didn't even think about the misappropriation of narcotics or anything else except maybe an aspirin occasionally.

Also, we were literally taught...if you were titrating morphine, Demerol, etc., you labeled the syringe (Morphine 1 mg/cc, for example), and used silk tape to tape it to the patient's bed tray and another long strip to indicate times given/initials.  Therefore, if I was on break or with another pt, another nurse could administer med.  At end of shift, rip the "notes" off and document.  Heaven forbid that tape got lost!!  Wow Wow Wow

[Wuzzie]

KathyDay said:

What has happened to the basics of nursing? 

What happened is hospitals changed to a business model and are now driven by profit over providing care. Administration gets bonuses based on how much money they save and the first cut they always make is staff. Now we have minimal staffing with maximal expectations akin to a sweatshop. You can't blame the nurses. We are doing the best we can.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

jennygRN2000 said:

Just bought this pen this week because it triggered memories of charting by color, depending on which 8 hour shift..

I was so glad to have that pen. Click. click.click..cut down on the charting time. 

[Spiker, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

toomuchbaloney said:

Ohhh, Demerol! 

Remember when angiocaths became widely available for peripheral IVs?

 

Right!!  After using butterflies to start IV's, angiocaths took a few tries to get used to!   

[Spiker, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

Does anyone else remember minims, drams, grains, gtts, etc??  ?

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Spiker said:

Does anyone else remember minims, drams, grains, gtts, etc??  ?

You are crusty for sure. I remember  only one doctor using the apothecary system. We all scrambled to figure out the dose.

[RN-90]

Before I was an RN, I worked in psych as a tech which is where I remember many of these gems.  Quite a walk down memory lane!

[Spiker, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

Been there,done that said:

You are crusty for sure. I remember  only one doctor using the apothecary system. We all scrambled to figure out the dose.

LOL!  The most we used after I graduated college in the late 70's was grains: Morphine & ASA were grains, as you say, the "old" docs used it??

[I tutor SN GN LVN RN]

In 1976 as an aid I remember thinking that nursing was so glamorous because all they did was pass meds and smoke cigarettes while we did all the wiping feeding and bathing LOL I know better now

[DallasRN]

Spiker said:

Does anyone else remember minims, drams, grains, gtts, etc??  ?

Oh, yes!  And how I struggled through those pharm courses, nursing math...and the only calculator I had back then was a desk size thing with paper strips.  Basically adding and subtracting.  LOL  My grandfather bought that for me as a birthday gift and to help with school expenses.

And do you remember that formula...dose desired ÷ dose on hand x cc?  That is embedded in my brain and I'm sure one day, while sitting in a memory care unit, I'll be repeating that formula!!  ?

[Spiker, ASN, RN, EMT-P]

DallasRN said:

Oh, yes!  And how I struggled through those pharm courses, nursing math...and the only calculator I had back then was a desk size thing with paper strips.  Basically adding and subtracting.  LOL  My grandfather bought that for me as a birthday gift and to help with school expenses.

And do you remember that formula...dose desired ÷ dose on hand x cc?  That is embedded in my brain and I'm sure one day, while sitting in a memory care unit, I'll be repeating that formula!!  ?

Yes! I remember that formula!  I always had a pad in my pocket to do bedside calculations....  Then I bought a watch that had a calculator below the dial!  You just had to use a pen cap to push the tiny buttons!  As for pharmacology classes now - I think my head would explode with the numbers of new drugs coming out these days!!  We thought we had a lot then: aminophyllin drips, NTG, Isuprel, Dopamine drips calculated to patient weight & what effect was needed (dopaminergic, alpha, or beta effects).  
I ended my 35 of 40 year career in the Operating Room.  My colleagues & I were approximately the same age group, & always said we'd go to the same nursing home, sit in rocking chairs on the porch together, & work on putting instruments sets together like doing puzzles ?

[heron, ASN, RN]

I remember ...

White polyester uniforms over pantyhose with a wobbly cap to top it off. Pantsuits were a scandal in 1972.

Maalox and heat lamp for decubes.

Ventilators the size of a washing machine (MA-1), IPPB treatments Q4hrs using Byrd respirators. RTs only responsible for providing/maintaining equipment.

Cardiovascular drips on a regular medical floor (1-2 nurses/28 patients) We regulated them by counting drops. We monitored them with portable monitors the size of a large microwave connected to the patient via cables long enough to reach into the hallway. Not unusual to have multiple monitors lining the hall so the lone nurse could watch them more easily. Intensive care units were barely a thing in 1972.

4-point leathers for DTs, treated with IM Librium and rectal paraldehyde via glass syringe (‘cause it melted the plastic). Getting a clean-catch urine for the inevitable fever work-up.

Slow codes - no such thing as a DNR. Code carts with something like 40 meds - we were required to memorize the meds and their location on the cart.

Sippy diet for ulcers (pre-Tagamet). Pitressin drips or iced saline lavage for gi bleeds (my feet hurt just thinking about that).

Mixing my own IVs, including chemo, in the med room. Copying those handwritten med cards and keeping them updated. 

Kardexes that measured 8 1/2 x 11, folded in half in a flip file. The form included the MAR and nurses' notes. If there was too much going on with a patient to fit on the Kardex, we used bedside notes kept on the clipboard at the foot of the bed. VS charted on the graphic sheet, also kept at the foot of the bed.