maryb

Personal favorite didn't happen in a hospital... I'm active in Cub Scouts with my stepsons and husband. When camping, I'm the "unofficial" nurse. (Unofficial cause I don't do prehospital care, as I've often told them..:)) Went camping at a lovely site in Arkansas this past spring. One of the kids gets hurt. We get an ambulance out to the site to take him to local ER. I guess neighboring campers saw us, and decided we had a first aid kit. A little while after the ambulance leaves, a teenage? guy and girl come over to our campsite and ask if we have a bandaid. Their friend has cut his leg. I go over there........he wants a bandaid after laying open his shin with a machete????!!!! I tell him I'm going to clean it out with sterile NS, slap a couple 4x4s on it, then he needs to go get it sewn up. He asks "Will they have to use a needle?" Anybody know any other method of sewing I missed? We're talking visible bone here.... And it's gotta be something in the South (born and bred, so don't think I'm a Yankee talking bad about Southerners). The guy finally goes to the hospital. Method of transporation? He's sitting in the back of the pick-up truck in a lawn chair sippin a Bud. By the way.....our Cub Scout and beer swilling machete swinging guy were both fine. :) Would you believe his tetorifice was actually up to date?

And sometimes your patient has a guardian angel. The last time I gave a patient the wrong meds (patients next door to each other with same name, different middle initial), I freaked too. I was sooo upset, called the doc, and he had me run some basic labs on the patient to check things. The patient was scheduled to be discharged, but the doc held him for assessment and these labs. Turned out, the guy's H/H was VERY low, needed a transfusion. It didn't have anything to do with the meds I gave him. And if I hadn't made the mistake, he would have went home like that and come back to us in WORSE shape. Turned out, he had a small GI bleed. Moral of the story? I was still upset over the mistake I had made, but it wasn't the end of the world. In fact, the doctor came to floor, hugged me and said "Mary, we all make mistakes, and it doesn't make you a bad nurse" You don't often get that kind of support from the physician community, so I was able to put the experience in perspective.

janleb, If you have access and know anyone, I would recommend trying to follow an RT around for a couple of days over the summer. My start in pulmonary was transfer to a new unit pulmonary only, everyone was learning. I had gotten out of nursing school 4 months earlier. Where did I learn the most? From the RTs. They taught me most of what I know and understand about ventilators, ABGs, and treating pulmonary patients. A good RT can be your best friend if they are willing to teach. I worked with a great bunch that found a lot of joy in teaching "us nurses" about their area of specialty. After a couple of years, they were helping pull patients up in bed, give baths when they weren't busy, and we helped with the vents, O2 checks, etc when we weren't busy :). Nothing like true teamwork.