This week I have learned (6/20, a day late)

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in critical care.

I almost didn't start one of these this week because I did the "I am thankful for" list a few days ago, but I just love, love, love the way these conversations go! I'm keeping it rolling!

This week I have learned.....

1. A healthy young man who uses toilet time to escape the kids for 30-60 minutes a day can cause a bleeder that bleeds to the point of a 6.5 hgb and three blood transfusions during an inpatient stay.

2. I will always be so deeply touched and amazed at the endurance of humans who truly want to have it.

3. I married a person so colossally different from myself, which lately is starting to be more and more of a problem.

4. I'm really starting to lose patience and understanding for the young exaggerating patients. I had one this week in a room next to a 94 year old walkie talkie CVA that manages to have zero residuals and got frustrated because we wouldn't let her get up and move around as much as she wanted to at night. This other woman.... I can't tell if she's having some kind of somatoform disorder legitimately or if truly she was making it all up. What she said was going on, though, wasn't. She hit jackpot gold because her hospitalist was the one who does next to nothing anytime he can get away with it, so he'll turn what should be 2 night admissions into 6 nights just to pass the buck to the next guy. So lucky young lady got to soak up all the pampering at hotel d'ixchel with complete room service.

5. I want to precept. Like, I'm craving it. I know only a year in on this gig is too soon, but God I love working with the noobs. I had a brand new right off orientation nurse take report from me the other day and we shared a patient who straight up sounded terrifying. But really, he was just way more complex than we might see, even in a really sick patient. Heck, he might be the most complex I've had yet. But I loved helping her regain footing, walking her through how things aren't really as scary as they seemed, reassuring her that she will have the charge nurse keeping an eye out for her knowing she's going to be nervous anyway. *sigh* I think I've found my next adventure. Just not sure how I'll know I'm ready.

I don't have much this week. Been a bit boring! How about you? What have you learned?

Specializes in critical care.

Oh! One more thing!

I learned blueberry plants get sweet berries after waiting for a few years. We have 4 blueberry bushes that have put out sour, terrible fruit. But this year the berries are giant and amazing!!!

Specializes in critical care.

I've learned that I am the only person on my husband's side of the family that can keep eating dinner as my very animated 23 year old nephew talked to me about his anal fissure.

I'm just commenting to make sure this gets bookmarked because sometimes just selecting it to do so doesn't work.

Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

I learned that pushing out a frank breech 9# baby in only 30 minutes makes it hard to walk for a few days.....

Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.

This happened tonight-I can find a vein on one of society's own "fluffier people's and get a forearm IV at the same time-SCORE! :D

I learned how truly freeing it is to get a schedule that works for you, and to leave a job you're ambivalent about to get into something you love.

I'm leaving a full time, 80 hour position for something 64 hours and less pay, but it's in an area I couldn't love more. And because it's both 8's and 12's, it leaves me time for per diem or agency work.

I'm so incredibly excited, and I feel like I've been freed of a weight I didn't know I was carrying.

I've also learned to always be patient with people, because you don't know their story. I was out with my boyfriend's friend and a few people he knows, and one of his friends was talking to me about nursing and asking a lot of ignorant questions, but I could tell he just didn't know any better so I educated him. I had said something about him to my boyfriend, and he informed me that that was the friend who just got out of rehab and had been a heroin addict. Once he said that, it all made sense and I was very glad that I was nice and not snarky with him.

Specializes in Surgical, quality,management.

I have learned that even a graphic discussion of FMT cannot put me off a free lunch.

Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

I've learned that no matter how hard you try, you are nothing but a body and that as a person you don't matter. Whether you are the best nurse or the worst, you are a number.

"Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer give a damn"

I've learned that no matter how hard you try, you are nothing but a body and that as a person you don't matter. Whether you are the best nurse or the worst, you are a number.

"Never push a loyal person to the point where they no longer give a damn"

I've felt that way. It's actually why I quit my job after 22 years. And yea, there were people who looked at me as "well, we have Far, we can keep her there, she's worked 22 years here, she's not leaving..." and I did.

But there's also those people who know what I did there, who miss me desperately, and to whom I will never be a number.

Unfortunately, they have about as much say as I did.

I'm sorry.

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