Mary Dover

"Welcome to the Jungle"

My question is, why do you ask?

From: Santa Claus I regret to inform you that, effective immediately, I will no longer serve the States of Georgia, Florida, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, and Arkansas on Christmas Eve. Due to the overwhelming current population of the earth, my contract was renegotiated by North AmericanFairies and Elves Local 209. As part of the new and better contract I also get longer breaks for milk and cookies so keep that in mind. However, I'm certain that your children will be in good hands with your local replacement, who happens to be my third cousin, Bubba Claus. His side of the family is from the South Pole. He shares my goal of delivering toys to all the good boys and girls; however, there are a few differences between us. Differences such as: 1. There is no danger of the Grinch stealing your presents from Bubba Claus. He has a gun rack on his sleigh and a bumper sticker that reads:"These toys insured by Smith and Wesson." 2. Instead of milk and cookies, Bubba Claus prefers that children leave an RC-cola and pork rinds [or a moon pie] on the fireplace. And Bubba doesn't smoke a pipe. He dips a little snuff though, so please have an empty spit can handy. 3. Bubba Claus' sleigh is pulled by floppy-eared, flyin' coon dogs instead of reindeer. I made the mistake of loaning him a couple of my reindeer one time, and Blitzen's head now overlooks Bubba's fireplace. 4. You won't hear "On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen.." when Bubba Claus arrives. Instead, you'll hear, "On Earnhardt, on Andretti, on Elliott and Petty." 5. "Ho, Ho, Ho!" has been replaced by "Yee Haw!" And you also are likely to hear Bubba's elves respond, "I her'd dat!" 6. As required by Southern highway laws, Bubba Claus' sleigh does have a Yosemite Sam safety triangle on the back with the words "Back Off." 7. The usual Christmas movie classics such as "Miracle on 34th Street" and It's a Wonderful Life" will not be shown in your negotiated viewing area. Instead, you'll see "Boss Hogg Saves Christmas" and "Smokey and the Bandit IV" featuring Burt Reynolds as Bubba Claus and dozens of state patrol cars crashing into each other. And Finally, 8. Bubba Claus doesn't wear a belt. If I were you, I'd make sure you, the wife, and the kids turn the other way when he bends over to put presents under the tree. Sincerely Yours, Santa Claus

In NC ANYONE who has direct knowledge that a person presents a danger to themselves or others, can petition the magistrate to have them picked up by law enforcement. If the magistrate finds that there is enough information to support the request, he completes the affadavit. Once that happens, and they are taken into custody, they are taken before a physician (doesn't necessarily even have to be a psychiatrist) OR a licensed psychologist who does an initial assessment to determine if they meet criteria for involuntary committment. If they do, they are then sent to a psychiatric facility where a 2nd physician assessment must be done within 24 hours. At that point, they are either "committed" or discharged. If they are involuntarily committed - they have the option of signing themselves in, voluntarily (although that may not always be explained to them). At that point, technically, they can sign what's called a 72 hour hold, which means that they can legally be held for up to 72 more hours and if there is no evidence that supports they are still a danger, they must be distcharged - although it may be considered AMA.

KaraLea, Glad you clarified that. Here's the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for dysthymia: 1.Occurs over a 2 year period (1 year for children and adolescents), presence of depressed mood. 2.Sx cause clinically significant distress in social, occupational, and other important areas of functioning. 3. Presence of 2 or more of the following: Decreased or increased appetite Insomnia or hypersomnia Anergia or chronic fatigue Anhedonia Decreased sef-esteem Poor concentration or difficulty making decisions Perceived inability to cope with routine responsibilities Feelings of hopelessness and despair Pessimistic about the future, brooding over the past, or feeling sorry for self Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide Hope the info helps. Mary

MHN, soo funny! You coming to work at OUR hospital?

My husband's in the Air Force, but he's not a nurse - not in the medical field at all. But if there are any general Air Force questions you may have, I can try to find out some answers maybe. Mary

Yeah, and fedup, with laughter being the best medicine, just think of the shorter length of stays for pts. HMO's would LOVE us.

This stuff is soooo funny, I was still laughing for several minutes after I walked away from the computer to go get more coffee. You guys are great! Here's an idea - let's open our own 'Allnurses' hospital. Sure would be a great team to work with.

OK - here is a list of the tokens I received for nurse week during the 7 years I was at my last agency: 1) nothing 2) notta 3) zilch 4) nil 5) goose egg 6) blankers 7) and last but not least, not a da*m thing I don't work there anymore, as of 3/28/02

I will say that the w/e diff at the job I'm about to start is $10.00/hr.

Brownms - my dad told us something similar, only it was fish and ice cream. He swore it was true. I'm still living, so I doubt it - if I get a hankerin for ice cream, doesn't matter what I ate previously. :uhoh21:

My husband got IV Phenergan recently for N/V during a GI virus. REALLY messed his vein up. IV fluids were finished, so I guess it was given as an afterthought. By late that evening, he started to experience a lot of localized reaction at the IV insertion site, and all the way up his arm, a path that was clear to me, was the path of the vein. I was ready to take him for immediate follow up of course, but men can me hard-headed sometimes(lol). The inflammatory process subsided after a couple of days, but he still has some distal tenderness.

Find a "worry tree". An actual tree, somewhere between home and work/school, on which to visualize yourself hanging worries from home - when on your way to work, then respectively hanging work worries upon during the trip home. That way, never the 2 shall meet. Can pick up the respective 'concerns' (rather than "worries") on the way back to wherever they can most appropriately be dealt with. Not always easy to do, takes practice, but with enough visual imagery, can be quite effective. Mary

Perhaps it was the leather pants that you appear to be sporting in your most recent avatar. Maybe you had them pulled up a little too high that day.