My Dog Undermines My "Nursing Authority"

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I had a good laugh this morning and figured it would be nice to share something light hearted on the website.

I am only a new nursing student who hasn't even almost made it to clinicals, so my only patients so far have been my husband (poor Guy) and my dog. This morning I was "administering" my dogs ear drops for his ear infection and as usual he wouldn't cooperate. But this morning he decided to run around the house and make it so that I had to catch him. He would run, look at me, and bark; then when I got close he would run and do that all over again. I finally caught him and when I went to clean his ears he shook his head and got the liquid in my mouth, gross!

I can't even keep control of this patient and I own him..... Hopefully my patients in the future will cooperate more. It would be pretty amusing if a patient ran away from me and barked but I guess you never really know what to expect from people these days.....

I figured this would be a good opening for funny stories about your "patients" no matter how legit they are :D

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Thanks for sharing! They just love ear drops.:rolleyes:

Right now, I am caring for my Old English Sheepdog who

had developed some very serious medical issues. I can only wish for the

days when he would run away from ear cleaning/drops.

Please keep him in your thoughts, this is a new and scary journey for us.

As for clinical and patients-don't worry in advance about clinical.

Be well rested and ready to start the day prepared and take each

day as it comes. There will be good and no so good days. Patients who are angels

and a few :devil:. Overall, it will be a great learning experience and most patients

really appreciate having a student to help them with their care.

Best wishes!

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Specializes in School Nursing.

Try giving antibiotic eye ointment to a semi-feral barn kitten. Tons of fun! On the bright side, although I have owned horses all my life, it was not until I became a nurse that I got proficient in giving horses meds IV. I'm now the go-to girl at our barn for all the "hard sticks". Lol.

I have caught a few colics in horses before they became severe just by observing them with a nurse's eye. I also won a bet with my Vet because I was convinced my horse had a UTI. He said horses almost never get UTIs and didn't want to do a UA. I bet him a farm call that he had one. Guess what? I got a free farm call and my horse got a round of antibiotics :) Nursing instincts definitely help!

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Jahra,

I am sorry to hear about your dog. I have two and they are my kids, they are members of the family, so I know it must be hard for you and yours. Send warm wishes your way!

LOL, Purple Scrubs!

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Jahra,

I am sorry to hear about your dog. I have two and they are my kids, they are members of the family, so I know it must be hard for you and yours. Send warm wishes your way!

LOL, Purple Scrubs!

Thanks so much Kris. This is a recent development, he was a healthy and happy guy in October.

We just have to support him on this journey, and we are lucky to have a great vet team and

their staff. It is just difficult to see him this way, he is a sweet and gentle dog.

You are right, he is my kid :redbeathe.

Thanks so much for you wishes, we appreciate the support .

Hugs,

Jahra

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Specializes in Emergency & Trauma/Adult ICU.

I have actually encountered 2 patients who did indeed bark ... :rolleyes:

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No problem Jahra!

LOL, Altra I am not sure I would be able to keep a straight face and professional demeanor if someone barked at me. :lol2::eek::rotfl:

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Sitting on the ground. Put your Elbow under his chin. Arm around head in "headlock" if you will. Then roll to get him to fall over and expose ear. Watch for scratching. German shepards with their pointy ears get them all the time.. then they get partial dog radar as only one ear fully stands up. Your dog may not weigh 80lbs so headlock might be excessive.

Good way to catch mine when they conveniently forget to listen is to lay on the floor and play dead. Almost always they will come check on me and lick my face. Poof. Trap is sprung.

Dogs are great though.

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