The most common myth I have heard is this one. In an unnamed ITU it was noted, with great concern that on a particular weekday (let us say Thursday) that patients were dying with alarming regularity.
The management looked into this of course. It was discovered that Thursday was the cleaner's day for doing a deep-clean.
Of course! The cleaners were UNPLUGGING THE RESPIRATORS to plug in their vacuum cleaners:eek:
Alright, not to freak the guys out I promise, but when I was in NS, we had a "film strip" (yeah, film strip:) dark ages) about what to do if a man got an arousal response, during a bath or whatever. At that time, I heard over and over that the standard treatment used to be, (again, I apologize !) a sharp whack to the member with a pencil. Is this true?? Is it another nursing urban legend?
I actually had heard of that as an "old school" nursing response... haa!! That's great. Can you imagine, "sorry sir" thwwwaacckk!!! LOL!!!
would've been best to report that (anonymously) to the department of health, or whomever supervises LTC.... scary that there were nurses who would have been willing to follow this blatant unethical and illegal "order." Good for you to have left and to be able to vent about it now. Better yet, would've been better to report that MD. Too bad there are docs out there that won't accept Medicaid (so few do).... can't imagine how things will be on a national scale shortly with government healthcare... yikes!!!!
Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
I actually had heard of that as an "old school" nursing response... haa!! That's great. Can you imagine, "sorry sir" thwwwaacckk!!! LOL!!!
I haven't yet heard anyone ever say they did it, learned it, or saw it done, lol! Maybe I should add to the "You know you're Old School when. . " .thread-- "You know you're Old School when you thwack a dude's ------ with a pencil" except if it ever had been an actual nursing intervention, it was already obsolete by the seventies
Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.
When I worked in the ED in Houston we had certain predictible cycles of behavior associated with certain days, dates and phases of the moon. I don't think it was supernatural. I think for the most part it was just human behavior. Mondays were seizure day. I am not sure why but every Monday we would get lots of patients with seizures (alcohol withdrawal) or patients who had not taken their seizure medications over the weekend. On Sundays, after 12 noon, the Post Holy Ghost Rush would start. This was the routine wave of ladies with chest pain following church. Every Sunday, rain or shine. On the full moon the psych patients would come in in droves, all psychotic and fixated on either God, their mother or sex or a combination of the three. The absolute worst days to work were the days that the full moon fell on a Friday when the welfare checks were delivered. HORRIBLE!!!! Drunk and shooting each other. What fun!!
Having taken a few upper division university courses on research methods, I'm quite surprised that educated nurses believe outdated and empirically debunked myths regarding the lunar cycles and "lunacy". It is just as outdated as the notion that women who are "hysterical" would benefit from a hysterectomy or that mental/physical illness is a result of an imbalance of "humors" (thank you Galen for that oddball theory lol).
A review of the historical ideas related to mental illness is invaluable. We have come a long way in our understanding, but not as far as we need to go. Just as we have (largely) abandoned Freud's notion of neuroses, oedipal complexes, member envy, etc...I hope that we see the day where mental illness is respected as a legitimate illness (as legitimate as any physical disorder). One huge step on the road to this progress is to abandon notions that psychosis is brought about by lunar cycles. This implies that psychosis is predictable in nature, that absent a full moon, psychosis is less likely to occur, in addition to many other logical fallacies.
Please don't interpret my response as a harsh criticism against any individual. Mental illness has profoundly affected my life and it is an issue which I am rather passionate (and often times outspoken) about. :redbeathe
Yes, there are plenty of buildings in the US that have a 13th floor. The government center in Minneapolis is one I know of for fact off the top of my head.
My old hospital did not have a 13th floor, and no room 13 either.
I didn't read every single post so this might have been mentioned....
Using the 'Q' word (quiet), or someone saying "I'm bored"
Also, I have a personal superstition that other co-workers have latched onto (for me). If I wear my hair down I will have a busy night. I've 'tested' it, thinking I could try it...no such luck. In fact, if I happen to show up at work, before we get assignments/clock in, and haven't pulled my hair up yet, I will have co-workers remind me so that 'we' don't have a busy night. Haha! Whatever 'works' right (even if it is in our mind)?
"Q" word totally true, i am on placement in A&E just now, and we never ever say it, we also don't say slow. we say we would like a steady day. lol,
Also I don't have clue what other policy is, but I know that the uniform policy i have been taught is that you can only wear your hair down if it is above your collar. so basically you have to have short hair to wear it down not too relavent but it means that its unlikely i will ever have a busy night for wearing my hair down lol.
Alright, not to freak the guys out I promise, but when I was in NS, we had a "film strip" (yeah, film strip:) dark ages) about what to do if a man got an arousal response, during a bath or whatever. At that time, I heard over and over that the standard treatment used to be, (again, I apologize !) a sharp whack to the member with a pencil. Is this true?? Is it another nursing urban legend?
It wasn't a TRAINEX filmstrip was it? That's what we watched for almost every procedure we were taught. I do remember erections being mentioned in the bath and perhaps even the cath one...I don't remember any pencil whacking, I just recall you were supposed to dismiss yourself and state that you would come back when they were ready.
MassED, BSN, RN
2,636 Posts
I actually had heard of that as an "old school" nursing response... haa!! That's great. Can you imagine, "sorry sir" thwwwaacckk!!! LOL!!!