stumpy1

I am happy to say that I did have a friend look at my bottom while camping as I inadvertantly sat on a stinging nettle. MY BUTT WAS NUMB and I needed someone to remove it. Luckily the friend was also my husband:yeah: and he had a first aide kit......GOTTCHA.

I would hope you don't have any discharges at 2,000 feet:uhoh3:

In my opinion, "back stabbing" results from insecurities that are not related to only to nursing. Many people who choose nursing have come from backgrounds from which they feel a need to care for other people. For myself, I needed to "rescue" people from the hurt I felt when both of my parents were killed in a car accident. Critical care provided the opportunity to do just that. When I finally realized what was happening, I was able to transition into another area of nursing that was less stressful. In the course of working critical care, I thought I was "back stabbed" innumerable times when promotions were given to others. Reflectively, I now realize we were all responding to stress of caring for patients who were one step away from death. It is the same today. Do not give up on nursing. We need you. The experience you have as a pilot will serve you well as you care for your patients as you prioritize needs. You will find support, especially as you gain experience. Those that lash out are usually doing so under stress but are to busy to realize the full scope of what the real problem is.

:yeah:Bravo! You have assessed the situation accurately. My question is how do we encourage others to deliver the same care you are. The computer is a tool that older nurses steer away from. My concern is we are overlooking assessments that will show up prior to changes in computers, monitors, etc. For example, a patient with a pulmonary embolus may be short of breath ambulating to the BR. He/she may not develop O2 sat changes until they develop a crisis state. You are an asset to our profession. Thank you.

Amen to that. I would like to condense information and only concentrate on the information that is essential in a court of law showing excellent nursing care. The rest is superfulous and will eventually burn up anyway. Thank you. :typing

:(I am concerned we are leaving a large knowledge base of patient care behind as we move forward electronically. It is very easy to "show off" technology and how we are "experts" in nursing. My concern is helping older nurses and those of non English ethnicity using the most valuable tool ever invented in patient care. I see many younger nurses viewing only computer data rather than learning to ascultate lungs, suction, or turn the patient to prevent breakdowns. We are increasing the average length of stay for patients by not performing routine ADL's on each patient. I have NEVER refused to clean a patient when they have vomited or soiled themselves. Have you? or assigned it to a technical nurse due to odor? I was recently in an Emergency Room and the assigned nurse did not even check to see if I had a call light or attach me to the monitor. She prejudged my condition and did not know my family history includes sudden cardiac death. Need I continue?

Are we making the assumption that when we make fun of those we care for, we are better than they are? Christ only heals when we are humble and meet every patients needs as a servant. Not with arrogance or with lewd remarks. I have always ignored any comment that started with "Oh, you're a nurse, you must of heard this one." I apologize to any patient I have cared for in the 33 years I have been an RN if I have demeaned them in any way. KSH:bow:

I had been having years of infertility problems. At one point, I developed petechiae on my chest and made an appointment with an internal medicine specialist to have him evaluate the reason they had developed. Of course, by the time he examined me, they were gone. A few weeks later, I discovered I was pregnant. I saw the same physician in the CCU where I had been working. I saw him and exclaimed with delight "Dr. Sweetheart (he was/obvious an alias), I'm pregnant since the last time I saw you." He turned beet red, the entire nursing staff and physicians surrounding him laughed and he stated, "what they are thinking is not true, but you just made my day.":jester:

I have always wondered how/why/ and what are they thinking? Thanks for answering all of those questions. Its' amazing what we are exposed to as nurses.

The first pediatric patient I cared for with a trach was good as gold the entire time he was trached for epiglottitis. It was a metal trach, if that tells you how long ago it was. He allowed us to suction him, change the dressing, and administer oxygen/respiratory treatments and we did not need to restrain him. He could not write since he was only 4 years old. The entire staff was amazed that he was so cooperative. I was caring for him the day the md removed the infamous trach. After it was removed and he could speak, his mother asked him why he had been so good. His precious reply was, "Mommy, the doctors made me BIONIC.":redpinkhe I melted. Now does that tell you how long I have been a nurse? (Please don't email me if you don't remember the 6 Million Dollar Man)...It effectively shows how our culture has been affected by television.

I am currently employed teaching use of the computer and moving forward towards total documentation in the computer from paper. One half of our hospital has already been documenting the majority of patient care on the computer. Those departments love using the system. We are meeting resistence from the higher acuity areas from nursing staff that are not effectively documenting in the computer. They document the majority of care on paper. I understand their resistence yet know in the long run, they will appreciate the changes. It's as if I am trying to get someone to eat spinach because it is good for them.:argue: Any suggestions for improving compliance? I feel like the "little engine that could stating Yes you can, yes you can." Then staff resumes what they have become used to doing. I am teaching new hires the correct method only to have preceptors undo what I am trying to accomplish. HELP!!!:typing

I have worked for over 30 years as a nurse. I had to take a year off at one point because I felt I needed to do EVERYTHING for my patients. It is called burnout. Now as a charge nurse, I make staff take breaks by taking over their tasks so they can regroup/refresh. The only exceptions are when we have a patient's condition rapidly deteriorate...which are unpredictable. At that time, I offer support offering support to nurse caring for the patient as well as the patient. If we do not care for ourselves, we will not have anyone left to care for the patients.:redbeathe