an oldie but goodie

[amoLucia]

For all us ancient ones, how about remembering an oldie - aramine IV drip!

Was watching an oldie TV channel and Dragnet, Squad 51 (can't remember the real name, but it was with firemen/paramedics Gage & Desoto) and then Emergency came on. Some snakebite pt had bottomed out and was in the ER. All nurse Dixie McCall was doing was taking a manual blood pressure, handing the docs meds (that docs administered) and making phone calls.

No specific directions; just "an aramine drip".

I got the biggest kick watching the nurses walking around in their white uniform dresses and their white heeled shoes (beige pantyhose) and wearing their caps. (I am an antique nurse who loves nursing caps!).

So for you all you nurses out there, what are some of the obscure and oft forgotten meds that we all used to use at some time can you name???

Aramine precipitated this thread, but I also offer that oldie, aldomet. Any others???

[amoLucia]

Boy, do I ever remember Darvocet. You could get generic white tabs instead of those pretty pink ones. I know because I had some reax with the pink ones, but not the white ones. The best were the original orange ones by Eli Lilly, the manufacturer.

Darvocet was sorely missed when they pulled it off the market. Now if they could just reformulate it and remarket it ... Haven't found a comparable pain med.

Speaking of oldie TV medical shows, remember Kate Jackson, the brainy Charley's Angel, as a nurse on The Rookies? I remember thinking she was "super nurse". Every week she was in another specialty - L&D, peds, OR, then ER, general floor. I realize today that many nurses are multi-skilled, but back then on the TV, she was just too multi.

A PP mentioned croup tents - was watching an old Dragnet. A policeman had been shot and was in ICU. He was in one of those plastic tents. I remember them from my school pedi rotation.

And speaking of oldies, anyone else remember old kids' toys of Etch-a-Sketch, Lite Brite,and Spyro-Graph? Saw a TV commercial with a bunch of loop-de-loops and I thought of the Spyro-Graph. As I remember, there was a template form that you put your pen or colored pencil in and then you swirled it around and it made pretty loopy designs. Lite Brite used a black sheet of paper and you would poke clear little pegs in to make a house or dog or flower design. The underneath background would have a color that would shine thru the design & lite up the design. (My sister was the talented one to use this.) And I think they still have Etch-a-Sketch today.

Toys for the artistically challenged ones like me.

[AmyRN303, BSN, RN]

And speaking of oldies, anyone else remember old kids' toys of Etch-a-Sketch, Lite Brite,and Spyro-Graph? Saw a TV commercial with a bunch of loop-de-loops and I thought of the Spyro-Graph. As I remember, there was a template form that you put your pen or colored pencil in and then you swirled it around and it made pretty loopy designs. Lite Brite used a black sheet of paper and you would poke clear little pegs in to make a house or dog or flower design. The underneath background would have a color that would shine thru the design & lite up the design. (My sister was the talented one to use this.) And I think they still have Etch-a-Sketch today.

Toys for the artistically challenged ones like me.

I could have spyro-graphed for days. My favorite toy ever.

[Muser69]

Paraldehyde for alcohol withdrawal (would melt plastic syringes!) and chloral hydrate (Noctec) for sleep. Chloral hydrate was used in old movies to pour into someones's drink "slipping them a Mickey Finn".

We used paraldehyde like water at the VA. I saw so many Vets over sedated, get pneumonia and die. Glad to see that drug go away. I can still smell it!

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Darvon/Darvocet are off the market.

Oh, yes, and I think Talwin isn't used much anymore either.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

My nursing school required a drug screen for Darvocet as recently as last year. Because I'm sure there's sooooooo much of it being traded on the streets! LOL

[DoGoodThenGo]

I remember fetching ash trays for physicians who were smoking in ICU to prevent them from dropping their cigarette ashes on the floor.

Was watching the latest series of Call the Midwife the other night and "Sister" Jenny Lee was examining a really antsy mom to be what wanted to get up and out ASAP. Jenny told her she could go soon as she did a really quick urine test. Sure enough as Jenny stepped out of the curtained examining area Dr. Turner passed right in front of her and said "Nurse, there aren't any clean ash trays in my office...". Sister Jenny responded "Yes, doctor I'll see to it right away..." and was off. By the time she came back from sorting out that request and was ready to do the urine test the patient had gotten up and left! *LOL*

[Do-over, ASN, RN]

I remember (not that long ago) using pieces of tape to label every channel manually for what drip we were giving on it, then making little tape flags at the end of the lines where they plugged into the CVL to keep them all straight. Now if you program the pump the preferred way, using the "smart" database, all of the med names will display on the pump. Good luck getting anyone to do THAT though. Not nearly as fun as tape flag arts and crafts, I guess.

I still put tape labels near the distal ports on my lines - good to know where I can push meds without having to untangle the whole mess every dang time... And, we'll get our bums smacked if we don't program the pumps correctly.

[edimo]

I do remember Amphotericin and calling it Amphoterrible. I remember the rigors patient got with it and we used to give Demerol IV with it to prevent them...Ribovarin for RSV (could not be around it if you were pregnant).

Haha we still call amphotericin "amphoterrible" mainly due to the effects on the kidney and liver...and we also still use ribavirin for RSV. We had an outbreak last summer of RSV and it could not have ended soon enough lol

[Sunflowerinsc, ADN, RN]

My nursing school required a drug screen for Darvocet as recently as last year. Because I'm sure there's sooooooo much of it being traded on the streets! LOL

Darvocet was taken off the market about 4 -5 years ago. What ever they are trading is a little old!

[Christy1019, ASN, RN]

Omg so I'm watching Emergency! And its cracking me up how Nurse Dixie is literally just standing watching the doc do compressions (5:2 mind you lol) and pushing the meds. Plus there's a TON of silence during action scenes, other than that I'm quite entertained! Thanks for letting me know about this show!

[uRNmyway, ASN, RN]

Pyridium! That made some pretty pee!

They still give that where I work.

[uRNmyway, ASN, RN]

Azo and Cystex are two UTI pain relief drugs that have the same effect as pyridium. It's like a sunset in a bowl (or Foley bag).

Fun fact. If you take it and accidentally pee on the toilet seat, you've permanently tie-dyed your throne. Ask how I know that one....