Help me pass time as an inpatient with something useful

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Apr 21, 2007

If the hospital has teaching videos that you can watch on the TV, watch them all. I know the hospital in my area has a TV education channel on it. When my mom and I were inpatients we watched some of the videos that they had. Some of the departments have patient teaching information. If the hospital has a wound care nurse or diabetic educator, give them a call and see if there is any information they can bring you that you could read. These people usually have tons of patient education information.

Also, ask the nurses if you could have any of their policy manuals to read. Don't leave out the lab and x-ray manuals. They might let you if you are also a student that does clinicals there. What better time to read this boring stuff. You might actually find something interesting in them! If worse comes to worse, ask the nurse educator (get her number from the operator) if she has any self-study packets of nursing procedures or nursing subjects that she would be willing to share with a bored student. You might get lucky! Also see if you can get any of the nurses to give up copies of blank care plans, Kardexes, admission assessment sheets or the report sheets they use. You can use them later.

Since you have your own computer and you have time to surf, I have found lots of information on the internet by searching for a topic and adding the word "tutorial". And, be specific on topics. If you have a specific subject, PM me and I'll send you some weblinks to check out. I have over a hundred files of nursing subjects with weblinks in them. Also, check out the websites of the various big health insurance companies or medical centers. They have lots of information for the public.

When I'm absolutely done with playing around on allnurses I have a game called Prime Suspects from Big Fish Games.com which I think you can download and play for free on the Internet. I call it "Where's Waldo" because there is no skill involved. It's one of those games where they have hidden articles inside pictures and you have to find them. Drives me nuts. I used to love to play Roller Coaster Tycoon because it was so creative, but you have to have the disc to play it. The other game I really like is Sudoku which you can play online at sudoku.com or have someone buy you a book of the puzzles. The rules are easy. The level of difficulty, however, is quite another thing depending on how many numbers they give you to start off with in a puzzle.

Hope you feel better soon. I've always been an inpatient during the weekdays when I could watch the soaps (there are two that I follow faithfully). Weekends are another thing. Not much I like to watch on TV on the weekends.

trellimana · Apr 22, 2007

Thanks Daytonite, that was most helpful. The hospital and its employees have been most generous in sharing information and resources, and I'm trying to see this hospitilization as a positive thing. I've gotten a ton of exposure that I would have otherwise missed, soooooo much patient education materials (thanks for that idea!), met so many wonderful people, and have studied and read everything we're covering this quarter so I'm ahead of the game for the moment. That can't be a bad thing! Now I just have to be well enough to complete my clinicals for the next 7 weeks and I'll be fine!

I'm going home today I think.