Cobweb

I have an incoming problem. I have a half-time position, a desk job, which probably will soon be going to full-time. That's a pretty big load for me. There's no possibility of working at home or getting help. I have lupus. I'm a year post-cancer...

I can't even achieve a fall rate of zero on myself ;p I used to get pulled to psych a lot and they had patients 1:1 fall all the time. I myself saw a big guy tear up a steel bedframe, shred 4-point leather restraints, escape 5 aides, and fall on t...

A friend of mine recently had to put her mom in the nursing home. Now, a couple of things she told me had me raising my eyebrows. She said they weren't allowed to bring her mom's own wheelchair in--that the facility required her to use the facility...

No, I flatly refused the patient, as they would have had an unsafe environment, and casually reminded them that state was coming pretty soon and did they want patients to be telling stuff like that to the inspectors?

We ran out of beds once. We had open rooms, just no beds to put in them. I had one electric bed shoved out in the hall and the unnamed management person was yelling at me, "Why don't you use that one?" "Because it caught on fire when the patient r...

We have a lot of ingrained behaviors, though, that we don't really think about. For instance, in one facility, when they banned the housekeepers and laundry people from speaking Spanish in front of patients, I banned people from speaking English in ...

One time I was transferring an elderly gentleman to his wheelchair. He would go where you steered him, but didn't speak, or look you in the eye, or register people in any way. I had been taking care of him for over a month, and never saw one sign o...

That's right, I'm gonna be on the other side of the bedpan ;p I am gonna have a pretty big operation next week, and am I worried about chemo? Nah. What about radiation? No. What about blood clots or dying? Newp. The thing that has me in a stew ...

Thanks, guys, I didn't even know you could ask for an OT consult. And thanks for the tip about the wipes; I've never used them and the last thing I am gonna need is a stopped-up toilet, hehe :)

I don't have a good answer for you, but I can tell you what one friend of mine did. She studied the whole program ahead of time. She devoured nursing books like I read trashy romances. Then, when she did go to school, she already knew most of the ...

Think of it this way--if everybody who was horrified by what happened to this family was not able to take care of the little girl, what would happen to her? She'd be surrounded by people who didn't give a damn. It is perfectly normal to have those ...

Speaking as a disabled person (and I'm not even a spinal cord patient), I wonder if they have considered how hideously uncomfortable it could be for your relative. If it is like the campground here, there's no hot water to bathe her with. She may h...

I just wanted to mention a couple of things that I don't think have been thrown in yet. Some people have little dinky arms and some people have great big arms--they won't measure well on "Nurse Nancy," even with the special cuffs. People who have ...

Dear Allnurses: I will recap as briefly as a gabby old lady can :) I have to thank all of you for your support, through posts and private messages. Last year I lifted weights and didn't really feel like it was helping me. My son suggested I try w...

I've been diagnosed with lupus almost 25 years. I love nursing, but you do have to take care of yourself. Nurses tend to be pretty co-dependent, and you need to know right away that YOUR issues come before your employers. You need to eat right, ta...

Another thing to remember is that this more than likely is not about you. This is about covering themselves. Now, when upper management says, "What did you do about this fall?", they can say, "We had a meeting, gave the responsible nurse education,...

Zoo vet Edit: or training search and rescue dogs

I can put the seat down OK, and I wash my hands before I use the bathroom anyway. I'd rather be in charge of my own safety than depend on someone else. You know 99 out of a hundred guys will be great...but then there's that one...

Things that made me crusty: I used to spend 75 percent of my time with patients and 25 percent charting. Now I spend 75 percent of my time on the computer and 25 percent of my time with patients. We used to keep patients in the hospital until they w...

It's a weird system. I had a hard time getting a powerchair. I explained that I needed it to work. "Oh no," they said, "You are only supposed to use it at home." I don't need it at home (mostly), but I work in a hospital, and you know everything i...

If God ever gave me a gift, it is getting the plugs out of trachs. It's an unusual gift, I admit. Anyway, my first week in the hospital on the cardiopulmonary floor, a guy came in with a really difficult plug. I start working on the guy, and appar...

I kept emergency food in my locker all the time, mostly not for me, but for my CNAs, who often got mandated to work a double shift and had no way to get food. If I had 2 or more people working doubles, we ordered pizza :) I always made sure everybo...

They just banned wearing dresses or skirts at my facility. I was a little dismayed because I just read "The World According to Garp" and was thinking of wearing my old whites and cap all the time, like Garp's mom did :)

I went for a job interview with a group of interviewers from the new facility, and they asked what I thought would be best about my new job, and just joking around, I said, "No double shifts 4 times a week and weekends off--I have worked every weeken...

Here's some reading you might like: Warning: Tight pants, skinny jeans and Spanx may be hazardous to your health - CBS News Why control pants can give you panic attacks... and the other hazards of too-tight clothes | Mail Online The dangers of squeez...