This week. I got asked by my bosses boss to pick up a shift. I used the weakest excuse there is and I stuck to it: my group was just too much, I haven't gotten sleep, and I desperately need my days off.
So now, I bring to you what I learned while sitting in my home ED triage wearing an N95. Yup. It's been that kinda week.
1. I have yet to meet a grumpy person who didn't perk up after giving them a shift of kindness. It feels like the biggest victory, too.
2. It sucks that being required to report abuse and self harm means destroying the trust you'd achieved before that point.
3. Some patients make me hate nursing homes. I'm so sorry to the NH staff we have on here. I understand you function under terrible limitations. However.... When a nursing home gets a patient they are unequipped to handle, they don't realize how horrible the outcome can be. One such patient made me cry. HARD. I found a dark corner of the hospital and just hid. Some things we'll never let go of.
4. We have a patient with us who has been with us three times over 3 months and was not shown to have TB until last week. For some reason only those of us directly exposed seem to be freaking out at all over this. Sputum results would be nice, please.
5. You can do everything in your power on the planet to fight hard to end abuse and make progress for a patient. And then you can find that it did absolutely nothing. Your time was wasted. THIS is where burnout begins.
6. When you FINALLY feel awake enough to get your URI checked out, and you're honest about your TB exposure, you'll get turned away by everyone but the ED. What a waste. Honestly.
7. I don't want to be a psych nurse. I tip my hat to all of you out there. I don't want to be a psych nurse, but you know what? I'm good at it.
8. I don't know what is going to happen if I'm positive for TB. My kids have fevers this morning. Maybe they'll let us room together. [emoji22]
-This week I learnt I've lost 5 pounds in the past month, in addition to 3 pounds lost from October to January.
-This week I learnt patients can take IV dilaudid at home, if they have a port or PICC line. Is it legit, I don't know. I question the practices of the medical practice group that allows non-cancer patients to have permanent access and IV opioids at home, outside a controlled setting. I highly doubt it is legal. This is not the first time I've seen a non-cancer patient seen by this medical practice.
-This week I learnt fentanyl, the drug I give out like candy in the PACU, can actually cause hyperalgesia. Given that a small dose is 10x more potent than morphine, it makes some sense. Fentanyl also wears off fast and oftentimes it may not work as well as morphine or dilaudid.
Specializes in Pharmaceutical Research, Operating Room.
Ixchel I hope you are in the clear!!! Keeping my fingers crossed.....
This week I learned:
1. My company apparently has enough confidence in my abilities that they've requested I be on a special project to track queries from our pharmaceutical company client regarding adverse events and product complaints that our consumers file with us.
2. Pharmaceutical companies and the things they have to report to the FDA are insane. Completely insane. I mean, I get it!! But still.....nutso......
3. I do not, in fact, have a kidney issue or ovarian issue. Verified by Xray and CT scan. I may, however, have a little bit of an issue in being a hypochondriac..... Still good to know it's nothing serious, especially given family history!
4. People being extremely judgmental and rude regarding a shared financial goal my husband and I have only means that we are on the right track to being successful.
I relearned that I have no affinity for treating psych patients. Bless the nurses who work in psych. I had 2 psych patients, one who had a behavior of crying and the other with hallucinations.
I get annoyed by people easily. I have a very questionable personality, but I'm friendly towards everyone. However, I learned that the people who annoy me can sometimes not annoy me, and I like them in those moments. (Don't judge me)
Facilities are coming into our capstone class to do mock interviews, give us feedback, and possibly extend job offers.
As I followed a RT for several patients, just to get a feel for her job, she said that the #1 advice she gives to new nurses is be friends with RT.
I don't like it when people expect me to be on time but they are habitually late.
As I followed a RT for several patients, just to get a feel for her job, she said that the #1 advice she gives to new nurses is be friends with RT.
This! RTs are amazing. They will tube the patient and put in arterial lines for you. They are awesomesauce. The RNs on my unit have a great relationship with the RTs, and that's the way it should be!
I just learned that CoolSculpting is crazy expensive... but it is thoroughly supported by research and I am too lazy to lose weight the right way, so I'm going for it anyway. First appointment is March 9th! I am more excited for this than I've been for anything in a long time.
Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
I've learned that there are nurses who don't know how to convert inches to centimeters. Our EMR requires heights to be entered in cm. So instead of asking for help, this person simply enters the height elsewhere in the chart. This means pharmacy can't calculate dosing weights, BMI isn't calculated, and so many other things. I was late taking my patient to the OR because I was doing the preop nurse's work. It's simple basic math.
This! RTs are amazing. They will tube the patient and put in arterial lines for you. They are awesomesauce. The RNs on my unit have a great relationship with the RTs, and that's the way it should be!
I just learned that CoolSculpting is crazy expensive... but it is thoroughly supported by research and I am too lazy to lose weight the right way, so I'm going for it anyway. First appointment is March 9th! I am more excited for this than I've been for anything in a long time.
Repeating my stats class three times did not appreciably increase my understanding of, or reduce my loathing for, statistics. Even though I'm not even in school anymore I still put off writing papers till the last possible moment. Someone please remind me of this three years down the road when I decide to go for my masters.
Sending a patient out is no fun. Sending a patient out twice in a week for the same problem is even less fun.
My spouse makes a mean shepherds pie. Also, he knows how to program the oven.
Stats made zero sense to me until I took genetics and we discussed population stats. That was when (2 semesters post-stats class) that it finally all made sense LOL
I learned this week that a verbal abuser who is a resident in our LTC is going to be extremely difficult for me to deal with. I work part time and each time I was at work this week, he yelled at me, called me names and incompetent because he thinks he is the only one who needs help and should get what he wants, when he wants it and if not, then you are a very horrible person. I can usually talk with people and come to some sort of meeting of the minds, but this guy just wants to yell and shout at you.
I have one of those too. Flat out said "I dont care if you have other people to see, I come first!"Then he proceeds to yell at the top of his lungs if someone doesn't answer the call light right away. The poor room mates this guy has had cant wait to get moved or d/c'd. You can not reason with this guy. There are no excuses. Some people are so selfish
I am scared to death of being sent to another floor. I work MS but we have no surgical patients on our floor, they are all on another floor. Well, guess who got sent there this week? LOL I seriously need to brush up on dressings and post-op care so that I don't nearly poop myself if I see myself moved to that floor again.
Dawn dishwashing soap will take set in grease/oil stains out of clothing :)
Sometimes the little old 90-something confused lady is the most fun and awesome patient!
The number of patients who come through our doors with exacerbations of their disease processes because they can't afford their meds is staggering. And sad. And you'd think it'd be cheaper to get someone their meds than treat them because they gained 70 pounds since the first of the year (CHF) and now have so many blood clots that you can't even list them.
Low-dose Primidone can be used to shorten QT in long QT syndrome.
Making sure someone gets a shower or shave in the hospital can make all the difference in their disposition.
The patients who NEED a shower are the ones who always refuse
I am sad that it's suppose to snow this week. We've had a really easy winter but that doesn't negate the fact that I am ready for spring
I am scared to death of being sent to another floor. I work MS but we have no surgical patients on our floor, they are all on another floor. Well, guess who got sent there this week? LOL I seriously need to brush up on dressings and post-op care so that I don't nearly poop myself if I see myself moved to that floor again.
Dawn dishwashing soap will take set in grease/oil stains out of clothing :)
Sometimes the little old 90-something confused lady is the most fun and awesome patient!
The number of patients who come through our doors with exacerbations of their disease processes because they can't afford their meds is staggering. And sad. And you'd think it'd be cheaper to get someone their meds than treat them because they gained 70 pounds since the first of the year (CHF) and now have so many blood clots that you can't even list them.
Low-dose Primidone can be used to shorten QT in long QT syndrome.
Making sure someone gets a shower or shave in the hospital can make all the difference in their disposition.
The patients who NEED a shower are the ones who always refuse
I am sad that it's suppose to snow this week. We've had a really easy winter but that doesn't negate the fact that I am ready for spring
I didn't like floating either, so when my floor combined with another vent floor and I was floating between the 2 anyway, I became a Float Pool RN!
It was the best thing, nursing wise, I could have done. I saw so much and became a sort of jack of all trades. Admin. knew they could plug me in anywhere.
I networked and I got to choose my shifts and days when I went per diem, and also ended up in Employee Health for a spell, the plumbest of all hospital jobs.
Don't be afraid. Go in, look people in the eye, introduce yourself and tell them from whence you came. Tell them right off the bat if you are not up on something, like a wound vac.
Introduce yourself to charge. Be clear with your CNA. Make sure you know who the secretary is.
Still good to know it's nothing serious, especially given family history!
First appointment is March 9th! I am more excited for this than I've been for anything in a long time.
ixchel
4,547 Posts
Naughty By Nature - Hip Hop Hooray *HQ* - YouTube