cc08

I've encountered several people from time to time with allergies to oranges and citrus. Funny/scary story about citrus allergy: I was having some work done on my house, and there was an electrician in my crawl space doing some wiring. His buddy was at the bottom of the ladder handing him stuff, giving him help, etc. The guy in the attic had been up there a while and it was getting hot, so he asked for some water. So his buddy at the bottom of the ladder handed him a bottle of water. The guy took it, drank it (didn't look at the bottle....couldn't really, the attic was dark), and with a couple of seconds, he stopped responding to his friend. We kept saying, "Hello, hello, what's up?" The guy's allergy to citrus was so severe, that his throat closed up IMMEDIATELY, because his friend had given him lemon Dasani without realizing it. Next thing we knew, the bottle of Dasani came falling out of the attic, dropped at the guy's feet and the second he looked at it, he realized that he'd given his buddy the lemon water. He looked at me with humongous bug-eyes, and yelled like in some crazy alien voice "He's allergic! He's allergic!" I said, "To water?" (which sounds so stupid now, but that was my immediate reaction). But then he said no, he was allergic to the lemon water. I ran in to the bathroom and got some benadryl and we had to put a straw in his throat to get him to be able to take it. (that's the only airway I've ever had to put in, by the way!.....a bendable straw!) Turns out he had an epipen in his tool box, but we didn't even think to look for it. The benadryl worked within a minute it seemed like. Then the guy just kept working. He wasn't even sick. Crazy thing.

I always have a "planned" response to a patient or family member's ranting. I say "What can I do to make you feel better about the care we're providing?" This FORCES that person to evaluate whether or not their complaint is legitimate or if it's picky or if it's absolutely constructive. (i.e. if my daughter whines "MOOOOMMM, this commercial is tooooo long!" I respond, "What would you like me to do about it?" That usually shuts my daughter up because she realizes that's a dumb thing to whine to ME about!). This works with patients and family members, too. I had a lady to was complaining, complaining, complaining about how long she had to wait (that's our biggest complaint, actually!). Instead of making excuses, I acknowledged her frustration and asked if there was anything I could do to make her wait more comfortable. (I never asked her if there was anything I could do to make it shorter! That would be stupid, obviously, I can't do that! That made her feel stupid, really, for complaining to ME about the wait...I had NOTHING to do with it, and she knew it. She was just whining, just like my daughter does, and I knew it and she knew it.) At one point when she got REALLY frustrated and asked, "What ARE we waiting for?!!!!" And I responded, "The surgeon." And she said, "What IS he doing?!!!!" And I responded, "He's operating." That shut the patient up pretty quick, because it made her realize that she wasn't the only person on this planet getting operated on that day! (and I got her to realize it without actually coming right out and saying, "Hey, princess, you are not the only patient in this facility...you know, we don't have all this staff running around like chickens with their heads cut off just for YOU, Miss High and Mighty!" ....although I'd like to sometimes!) Sometimes, I do have patients who just CAN'T STAND to wait, and they end up leaving. I even had one lady pull out her own IV, get dressed and walk out of the pre-op area. The receptionist happened to catch her on her way out and we were able to talk to her before she left. She ended up rescheduling, and I INSISTED to her that she make it for a day when she could be the first case of the day, and she was happy as a clam. I guess the point of all of this is that people who feel helpless NEED to feel like they're doing something....so they lash out at whoever is closest. God forbid if they ever yelled at a doctor! Geez! Just look them right in the eye, have a PLANNED response (that way you won't walk away and 5 minutes later think of the perfect thing that you SHOULD have said), try to do your job, give all the compassion you can muster, and MOVE ON! Don't take it home in your head! Some people are just not good under stress and others are just plain jerks! If you've done what you can, then MOVE ON, MOVE ON, MOVE ON!!!!

Yes, I work in an ASC, and Versed and Fentanyl is what we use for conscious sedation. The amnesic side-effect is desirable for these surgical situations, because you don't want the patient to remember hearing the saw or smelling the drill or the hyfercater burning their flesh! Sometimes these patients have full conversations with me and never remember! And the funniest ones are the ones who keep asking me the same questions over and over again in recovery! Too funny! Some guy had foot surgery and kept asking me if his foot was still there, even though he was looking right at it! And this older woman (about mid 70s) kept telling the surgeon that she LOVED him and would leave her husband for him! (she could barely look at the doctor when she returned for her office visits, she was so embarrassed...her daughter had told her later what she had said!)

I was a stockbroker for 9 years, and one day I told my mother that I had always thought about how cool it would be to be a nurse (I was good at finance, but never had much passion for it). I was going through all kinds of changes in my life at that time (getting divorced, just had a child), so the idea of going back to school and changing careers seemed crazy! But, my mother, being the pit bull that she is, didn't let go of the idea and practically forced me to pursue it! I thank her every chance I get!

I agree with the stethoscope idea. That's what my family got me. I found a Cardio II online for $170, and I LOVE it! (and get it engraved for him...that would be special!)

Heck, no! I like being a nurse because everyone seems to love nurses! But if everyone found out that nurses didn't have to pay taxes, we'd all be hated!

I don't work as a floor nurse, so my situation is a little different. I can really take a break whenever I want to, and whenever the work load will allow. If I need a break, I just have someone cover for me for 5 minutes and I go get a drink of water or a snack or whatever. There are only 15 people there, so it's never really a problem. In an 8-hour day, I take 2-3 five minute breaks and one 20 minute lunch.

I think you have a moral responsibility to respond to ANYONE who is in real trouble ANYWHERE, but it does sound like you're getting taken advantage of. I have no idea about legalities in Florida, but in Missouri, I can really use my nursing expertise any way I see fit, but I don't dole it out for free willy nilly, the way your employer is asking you to do! good luck!

Nurses in the midwest make about $18 per hour right out of school and in the mid $20 range ($24-$26) with a few years' experience. In a decent neighborhood, you can expect to pay no less than $250,000 for a house. (the city I live in has WIDE ranges of real estate costs depending on the area as low as $75,000 in outlying areas to $500-$600,000 in more desirable areas, but I think $250K is about average).

good orthotic inserts for your shoes, leather tennis shoes, a really good study partner, Advil and coffee.