frannybee

It's easy to say don't work nights if you can't go a full shift without sleep, but some of us work rotating shifts and don't have the luxury of being able to refuse nights. The staff that do our rotas think nothing of putting you on for PM/AM/PM then 4 nights, with no regard for the health and safety of us or our patients. We are never given enough time to prepare properly for the night shift routine, nor to come back to days. Yes, we have challenged this practice; no, it didn't make a lick of difference. We get unpaid breaks on a ten-hour night shift, and generally we get those breaks. We take them as one longer break, and the choice to sleep on your break, in your own time, is yours. The ward is always covered by at least two other staff (one RN, one AN) when breaks start, and the proviso for going on break is being aware that you may be called back if needed. This is different from day shift where we can leave the ward and be uncontactable for our whole break. Sleeping when not on breaks is unacceptable. I think of how many times I've not heard a buzzer go off when I'm wide awake on a day shift, and it scares me how easy it would be to miss one even if you are a light sleeper with exceptionally sensitive hearing. I don't condone it and I wouldn't expect to be let off lightly if it was me.

I thought it had to be 5% dex, incompatible with N/S. Could be wrong though, I've only given it a couple of times. Do a Google search for the product info and compatibilities, should tell you what you need to know.

:chuckle Actually, I was in a student bar, playing pool with my bf and two of his lovely mates. Alas, I can't even use rampant rumpy pumpy as an excuse.

Thanks to all of you for your concern and suggestions. The pain is *much* better now, only hurts if I move too quickly without thinking or turn too far. Physio next Tuesday, hopefully be able to go back to work tomorrow night.

:chuckle

My neighbour's baby had a meningitis scare last week - I had to calm my bf down when I told him I had a headache and sore throat to boot (both gone now, and no spots). The headache's prolly due to holding my head differently and the sore throat was from sitting with his best mate while they shared a cigar. Jim's massaged me but my neck doesn't actually feel sore to the touch and the massage didn't do much good. He's kinda heavy handed. As for the electric massager, I have a variety and none of them has helped. Well, not my neck, anyways Thanks for all your suggestions. I've asked Jim to go to the pharmacy for me tomorrow while I'm in physio to get me something topical. Hopefully it'll only be a day or two til it eases.

I'd feel better if I knew what I'd done for it to hurt so much. I've been off for 3 days, so it's not from lifting, I haven't pranged my car, and my partying has been very quiet, honest guv! My mattress and pillows are the same, and I haven't fallen asleep on a sofa or whilst sitting up, so I really have *no* idea what I've done to myself.

I woke up yesterday with a very sore stiff neck. I figured I'd just slept funny so I took some ibuprofen and applied heat, thinking it'd pass by bedtime. Unfortunately it's much worse today, to the point where I can barely move my head from side to side (think I'm in pain all the time and the brufen's doing bugger-all. Codeine/paracetamol don't help, and the dihydrocodeine I took last night gave me awful abdo pain so I daren't take it again. I'm alternating heat-packs with wearing the collar. This is really getting me down now, and it's not helping that I can't get sick pay since I've only been with the NHS for 4 mths. Any other suggestions on how to ease this pain til I can get to the physios?

^ Say no more. My nails stay naked.

We have a freezer full of frozen meals (curries, cottage pies etc) that we can bung in the microwave if we need a meal in a hurry. We also have a little oven and bags of frozen chips (fries) that we can cook up if we have a picky eater. As for the Coke/Pepsi battle, we have drink machines. That's it. You want anything other than tea/coffee/hot chocolate/cordial/horlicks or water, you bring it in yourself or have your family do so.

After having to special a patient who had been given 10x too much insulin (40u instead of 4u) I always check with another nurse. The nurse who made the error was off for a month on stress leave even though the pt was fine. She hadn't had it checked because she was in a hurry to get home to her children. It doesn't have to be signed that it's been checked, but our policy is to have someone cast their eyes over the script and the syringe. Yes, all meds have the potential to cause damage, but these meds are particularly easy to get wrong if you're tired or rushed or just not thinking straight.

That's the one, except the last two words were 'and hymen'!

I vaguely remember being taught a vulgar one but it escapes me....I'll try and find it for you though.

I know you're probably aware of it but I'll bring it up anyway (pet awareness project). If any of your students are having fainting spells, please don't let them play sport until they've been seen by a GP or cardiologist and had an ECG to rule out Long Q-T and other 'hidden' arrhythmias. You more than likely do that anyway but it's something dear to my heart and gets missed far too often. If I can stop *one* child from having a cardiac arrest on a playing field, all the awareness-raising will have been worth it. I'm not trying to teach you to suck eggs, so please accept my apologies if it's come across that way!

'Everybody Hurts' by REM 'No Angel' by Dido 'Hopelessly Addicted' and 'No Good for Me' by The Corrs