How nursing has changed over the years...

[nurse2be2010]

Hi "allnurses" family!!

I am working on a presentation about how nursing has changed over the years through evidenced based practice. I was wondering if anyone had any input on the topic. An example would be:

before- when you had hip surgery you were on strict bedrest

now- we try and get you out of bed as soon as possible!

Let me know what you think!

Thanks in advance!

[cmonkey]

I'm not a nurse, but most of my friends are :heartbeat. A topic that comes up a lot with them is the use of gloves (or non-use of gloves) then vs. now. Before universal precautions, glove use was not only discouraged, but PROHIBITED for most everything except surgery itself. I don't know, I just think that's particularly fascinating (and gross).

While I'm too young to have gotten two weeks' bedrest and an ambulance ride, I am old enough to have had a dentist who didn't use gloves. He was a smoker. :imbar

[cmonkey]

I forgot one: my grandmother had her own syringe, made of glass and steel, which she used for all patients. And she had to sharpen the needle herself. HELLO, hepatitis!

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

oh my goodness! you just took me back!lab test on carbon paper, kardex, gravity ivs and caculating drip rates (a skill that should always be kept accurate, never know where you will end up during your career). filling water pitchers (had all sorts in my day, including metal), from the ice machine.

umm.. i still do this stuff at my current hospital, which are a few more reasons why i am leaving!!! i honestly cannot wait to join the army in a few years... working in rural areas is like working in the stone age. thanks for letting me know that kardexes, filling pitchers of water from a metal ice machine that makes a lot of noise, and gravity drips are out dated! btw, calculating drip rates is safe practice... our iv machines (that are outdated as well) were not configured correctly once and there were many bad outcomes as you can suspect.