"Best Of" Thread

Nurses General Nursing

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I read a post by brownbook that seemed to contain a pretty good idea:

I think Allnurses should have a way to nominate responses for Best Answer of the Month award!

brownbook was complimenting and referring to a post by KatieMI. This was my favorite part of Katie's post:

Study your pharm, pathophysiology and, first and foremost, know and access your patient. Then you will know what is the best choice in every clinical situation. Treat patient, not numbers, charts or monitor screen.

So, I thought, "Why not start a 'Best Of' Thread where we can copy portions of posts that we found to be the most interesting, intriguing, funny, or whatever?"

Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

From the lovely and wise hppygr8ful, in response to a new poster's question about hospice nurses overdosing patients on morphine:

For many patient's dying is an active and terrifying process. One only has to look into the eyes of someone actively dying to experience the terror some feel. I am for what ever helps the patient relax and spend those last moments with family. There are protections in place to prevent a "Euthanasia" episode but the OP should remember that the patient is in fact dying and the job of hospice is to make that process as comfortable as possible. If the patient is conscious enough to ask for the morphine we give it. If not conscious or aware but struggling we medicate per protocol.

As nurses we want to help patients recover and live good healthy lives - but sometimes we have to help them in their final journey. Virginia Henderson in her definition of nursing stated:

The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or peaceful death) that he/she would perform unaided if he/she had the necessary strength, will or knowledge

Hppy

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).

From:https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/wearing-gloves-with-1155483.html

Yesterday during my clinical, I was interviewing a HIV positive patient. Half way through, the primary nurse asked me to talk with her in the hall, and when we spoke she told me to wear gloves whenever I was with the patient or touching things in his environment.

The patient didn't have any open cuts or bodily fluids out, and I didn't have any cuts and was just talking with the patient. There weren't any signs saying to use any special precautions either...

I personally don't think that situation necessitated the need for gloves, but I was hoping to get someone else's opinion on this.

I can't like this (ElvishDNP's post) enough:
If you don't want to contract HIV from your patients, don't have sex with them, share tattoo or IV drug needles with them, or transfuse yourself with their blood. If you don't do those things, you will be fine.

Furthermore, the CDC's most recent statement suggests that if the pt's viral load is undetectable, then they really can't transmit HIV.

Years ago, when I was a brand new nurse, I had a pt whose AV fistula had abscessed. He was HIV+. His fistula ruptured on my shift, and I ran into his room and instinctively slammed my bare hand down on top of the artery shooting blood shooting out of his arm onto the walls and ceiling. He yelled at me to grab gloves, but I wasn't moving my hand, and at that point my hand was already covered in his blood.

If I didn't get HIV from that, there is no way you will get HIV from a pt interview.

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

This is from "The Pain Scale Has Been Harmful":

I feel so much emotional angst and ethical conflict inside over the current opioid crisis. There is little doubt that healthcare providers are part of the problem and that the impression of a pain-free life or full access to endless narcotics is the other part. At the same time though, people are hurting. I want to say that people just need to accept that pain is part of life and if you are unlucky enough to have severe Crohn's or arthritis or migraines or fibromyalgia or whatever the diagnosis is, that pain is going to be part of YOUR life. And then I put myself in those people's shoes and the compassion and sorrow for them is near to crippling. Sadly though, behaviorally I see these same populations often medicating in anticipation of pain rather than in treatment of it. And then they want benzos for that anxiety because benzos work AND potentiate the pain meds. And then they start to develop tolerance to both the benzos and the opioids, so then we send them to pain management, who enact a contract with them and manage high doses and/or dangerous prescriptions. And then the patient begins to hoard or hide meds and other "addictive" or "manipulative" behaviors begin.

I have family members with this problem. Genuine pain. Out of control need for meds combined with a sense of being entitled to them. Subsequent mistrust of any and everyone in the medical field because we try to put the brakes on the consumption of these meds. Manipulative behavior to get around having the brakes put on. That anxiety leading to increased need. If one is counting pills, hiding pills, searching for reasons to go to the doc to try to get more pills....there's a problem ....

Round and round it goes. I don't know how to stop it. I feel cruel to say "Some people are going to have to live in pain". But right now, that seems to be what needs to happen. And that sucks. There has to be a middle ground. I need there to be a middle ground. And I don't see one.

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

The question is, "Can nurses live a luxurious life?"

You can project an image of living luxuriously if you want to work 80 hour weeks and max out your credit cards. Freedom is luxury, to me. I have to work very little to maintain my modest lifestyle.
Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

This is in answer to a first-year night nurse who says. "I'm so tired all the time, all I want to do on my few and far between days off is sleep. I feel so alone. I want to meet new friends, I want to meet a guy, but how the heck do you do that when your life is the opposite of everyone else's?"

Night shift never worked for me either. I loved my coworkers and job but became very depressed on night shift. I was lonely and felt separated from "normal" life...and I am in a good, strong marriage! Having a significant other would not solve this. It is very possible you just need to get on days. In the meantime, do what you can to improve sleep quality, make sure you are exercising and focusing on nutrition and start reaching out to other nurses who work nights to "hang out" at Waffle House at 2 AM or your local late night Thai/sushi joint or whatever floats your boat. They might not be boys, but chances are they know some, so why not get to know them just in case?

As an aside, it has been my personal experience that the more you yearn for and chase "love", the more elusive it is. Use this time to really get to know yourself and enjoy being single. Romance yourself. You will be happier - Happy women are confident and confidence is sexy.

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

Advice to a new nurse with school loans to pay, trying to decide whether to stay with parents while working at a small hospital or to move to the big city with all the opportunities there.

Stay at home for 1-2 years. Work OT if possible. Pay your nice parents some sort of rent even it it's just a token. Throw as much money as possible into paying off the student loans. Remainder of money goes into savings. Do not go on spending sprees. Get nursing experience to make yourself marketable. After gaining said experiencing and paying off loans land job in city of your choice with no financial worries. Get on with the rest of your life continuing to be a financial smarty pants so you don't go into retirement with nothing to live on but social security. Enjoy your life.
Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

We need to get this thread going again. We used some quotes from this thread in the Spring Issue of the allnurses Magazine. I am looking for more posts that you find to be the most interesting, inspiring, funny.....whatever.

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
We need to get this thread going again.

Nominating hppygr8ful's recent thread!

https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/advice-to-the-1164465.html

Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

I second that emotion!!

Specializes in School nursing.

Come on over to the School Nurses' forum. So many wonderful, helpful posts I wish I could post them all here.

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