Or the little old man during a colonoscopy and conscious sedation: along with O2, constant monitoring VS, and medicating prn, I also could see the inside of the colon, when lo and behold, a whole bay leaf floated by. Could not resist..."Man, don't you chew your food?"
Insane amount of rules and regulations that governed nurses and UAPs to the point places often resembled a boarding school or convent.
Got Betadine or something on your uniform? Permission was sought to wear scrub pants or dress. The request would go up the ranks and often come back "denied" on the grounds "wearing scrubs might cause someone to mistake the nurse for a doctor". What about the stained uniform? "Can nurse in question send home, the nurses residence to obtain a clean one or borrow?" No? Can nurse in question wear an isolation gown to cover said stained area? Yes, but she must remain if possible within the nurses station.
Wanted to wear that new pink sweater MayDear knitted you for Christmas? Sorry, as you know very well the designated color for sweaters here is navy blue, request denied.
Almost everyone would grab one of those nice warm isolation gowns (with kitted cuffs) to keep warm if chilled, you had better watch who was around.
Common method of disciplining a nurse (or getting shot of her/him) was TFC; Transfer, Float and Vacation.
If you ticked someone off (usually a doctor or worse chief of department), or maybe acquired a reputation for being "difficult", complaints would be lodged with supervisors/administrators and the upshot usually was your being transferred off the floor/unit until the offended person cooled down or could stand the sight of you again. That or you'd be floated to another floor/unit (or several) until same or you got the hit and quit. In cases of serious egressions you'd be told to take your vacation (regardless of whatever plans you had for those days). If things hadn't cooled and or been forgiven by your return, you still could be floated and or transferred.
Many of you youngsters ask or wonder why nurses put up with all this nonsense; long story short, they often didn't.
Outside of perhaps the two world war periods there never was a true nursing shortage in much of the USA. What you had were nurses (mostly females) unwilling to put up with what places dished out.
Until the 1970's with Title IX, and various other laws and such opening up other areas of employment for women, the most common "out" for nurses was to marry. If you did so well enough you could hang up your cap and uniform for good. Some went to part-time/per diem. Others would leave for the then "less stressful" places like nursing homes or perhaps being a school nurse, working in a doctors office and so forth. Places that had more regular hours and less politics than hospitals.
Of course as noted often in this thread wages for nurses late as the 1980's and good part of the 1990's in many parts of the country, well stunk. I remember reading the employment classified of the Sunday New York Times (back when it was a full section tens of pages long), and seeing three, four or more pages of adverts for nurses. Here in NYC New grads started between $16k to around $19k, experienced RNs between $20k and $24k plus often shift differentials (nights, weekends, evenings). You could make the same money or more as a secretary, telephone operator or any other of the female "pink ghetto" jobs. Even better you had set hours, no weekends or nights, or weekends and often vastly better working conditions.
Myself and am sure others could look at a list of RN licenses for home state and see names of nurses we knew that were still listed as "active", but hadn't been near a floor/unit or whatever in years. Fast forward to modern times this is one of the reasons the so called "nurses shortage" predicted for future has gone bust. The often constant churn of nurses leaving to have their babies/get married, other jobs or whatever has largely stopped. Instead seasoned nurses are remaining and or return after maternity leave.
No, working conditions aren't always better but in many parts of the USA wages are vastly better than old days (new grads here in NYC start at mid 70k to 80k, and experienced nurses can make triple figures), and in this economy healthcare is often one of the guaranteed jobs out there
Back in the day the GI lab was referred to as "the black hole." Thankfully I never worked there although in ICU we sometimes had to assist with colonoscopies at the bedside when the black hole was closed. The worst GI bleeds tended to occur on Sunday afternoons.
Metal bedpans that doubled as code blue buttons when thrown into the doorway when your patient crumps
Green liquid soap
Sharpening needles on a whetstone
Keeping those white hose seams straight
Train of cups
Scultetus binders
Trilene masks
The only ones on this list that I can remember are the metal bedpan/code blue and Scultetus binders. But I think my Mom probably knew all the others. Oh, the talks we used to have ...
I wore nylons in high school, but pantyhose were common by the time I started nursing school. Except we called it nurse's training back then!
The only ones on this list that I can remember are the metal bedpan/code blue and Scultetus binders. But I think my Mom probably knew all the others. Oh, the talks we used to have ...
I wore nylons in high school, but pantyhose were common by the time I started nursing school. Except we called it nurse's training back then!
Hence the term "trained nurse" referring to graduates of nursing programs.
The good old days, when we knew who the volunteer is; the one in the red-and-white striped dress.
When we knew who the nurse was, because she wore white shoes, white stockings, white dress, and a white cap with a blue stripe to signify levels and schools.
When doctors ordered nurses around like domestic help.
When charting in blue ink was for day shift, green was for pm shift, and red was for night shift.
When your shoes were white, with no scuffs, scratches, or anything vaguely not white.
When only surgeons wore scrubs, and then only in the OR areas.
When it was protocol to refer to nurses by title and last name, in respectful tones.
Metal bedpans with a foot operated flushing and cleaning station on every floor.
Gloves used mainly for handling dirty things, or sterile procedures. the rest of the time, wash hands between each and every patient or face the wrath of the supervisor.
Glass syringes and sometimes on the floor sterilizers for such items, and that almost glass smooth piece of marble one takes to the sink to water hone a hypodermic needle.
Metal emesis basins, examination trays, water pitchers, and glass containers called glasses for drinking water.
Test tubes taped to the counter or headboard with bacteriostatic solutions to keep the mercury column thermometer in. And the mercury column sphygmomanometer mounted on the wall, which let you truly understand what systolic/diastolic pressure milimeters of mercury really looked like.
Mitered corners on bedsheets, and the three cranks at the bottom of the bed; raise in the middle, head on one side and knee elevation on the other. (Is that why so many of us were cranky back then? Are we less cranky today?)
And of course the glass IV bottles, needles all over the place, and glass 24 hour specimen collection bottles. Ever have one of them break? On the shiny floor? And having to clean it up, because Housekeeping was busy, in spite of the smells and gagging at times?
Ah, the good old days! So much can be said for them. So much can be said about the past being in the right place; the past where nostalgia reigns. May the "olden days" never be forgotten! May we all learn from them. And may we all thank whatever Higher Power in which we believe for the progress that has been made, such as it is, between "back then" and "these days."
Ordering comfort items for patients without worrying about insurance coverage or Medicare paying for it. Patients coming in for preps before surgery. Patients staying in the hospital longer because there was not enough help at home to care for them. Only having 8 hour shifts. No pants allowed and using a dollar bill as a guide for having your uniform the right length. Plus don't forget those lovely white panty hose that I had to replace every couple of days. lol
We used to tie knots in our bottom sheets to make them fit around the mattress, which I SWEAR was thinner than the CampRest mattress I used the last time I went camping. Still use draw sheets.
The black & white -- prune juice and MOM?
We tied a knot in the bottom sheet to prevent the patient from dying on our shift!
edna317
14 Posts
Whiskey was a lock up drug
Valium injectable and pills were not