Good_Queen_Bess

I hate it when a nurse call goes off and you are busy and nurses are sat at the nursing station doing nothing and ignore it! "It's not my patient": So? Or they are lazy people who always avoid buzzers, or pretend to be busy. Or in "in charge" so "can't possibly move" from the nursing station. Have you noticed it tends to be always be the same people who do this and when there are ward meetings, it is mentioned yet again (no names obviously), but nothing happens.

I have no children, so in reality I cannot understand how it feels to have a troublesome toddler. It sounds like you are bringing up a lovely boy though FutureNrse! I agree entirley with you on this. I often see parents loosing it with their children. It must be hard after you've had a hard day and the child has done nothing but misbehave all day, but you cannot reward bad behaviour. It isn't the child's fault, it's a learned behaviour. If the child realises that if he/she misbehaves, screams etc then gets what he/she wants, ie: the toy or attention, the child will misbehave! Children aren't stupid. Or the other side when a child's behaviour is disruppting others and they totally ignore it. ie: kicking seats infront deliberatley on planes or not getting out the way for some poor old lady who can't move quickly. I feel sorry for some children as they are often then punished for this learned behaviour by being shouted at/hit/sworn at. I have seen too often children innocently playing whilst mummy/daddy talking, and obviously getting bored may do something that is a little naughty, but not THAT bad and getting "Stop that you f***ing little b****rd!" in an angry and threatning tone. I could cry when I hear this abusive language towards children. The worst one I saw was when a mum and dad were arguing, walking up the street and little boy in the buggy was getting upset at the shouting and after a minute, the poor boy wet himself and started to cry. To this mum got so angry, and literally screamed so loud you would have heard it 2 streets away. "What the **** did you do THAT for you little ******! Just wait til you get home!" She carried on ranting at him. It was the viciousness in her voice that upset me and her tone of voice. As I was at the other end of the street, I couldn't get an decent description of them nor did I know where they lived or I would have reported them.

I've only been working in NICU for about 3 months or so, but have a neuro background. I love it! It's so interesting! I like only having one patient as you can dedicate all your care and skills to that one person. I like the technical side of it, the monitoring and the figures and number-crunching. Although it can be emotionally hard at times, we have a good support network and everyone helps each other. It can also be emotionally rewarding when all your hard work pays off when people survive and come back and see you when they are well. I could go on, but I know for certain that the move to NICU was the best move I have made in my career.

One of my concerns is that your patient hasn´t got an arterial line. Surely it is of importance that her BP is monitored constantly as she is obviously unstable. (Sorry can´t go on for too long as I´m on holiday in Algarve in Portugal and have only come onto the internet for a couple of minutes in the hotel lobby! I am NOT missing work, but was checking my emails etc)

Well at the time of this posting, I've been on the unit now for nearly 6 weeks. I have been supernumery all this time and go into the numbers next week. So far, I have really loved working there. Yes, there have been times when I have been a little overwhelmed by things, but mostly I have coped with it. I thought I wouldn't know a thing, but as I've worked on NHDU, this has helped a great deal. The support I (and everyone) gets is brilliant and the unit offers it's own support groups too. There are many sad times as obviously, due to the nature of neuro, there are a lot of deaths. But most of the work is so interesting and varied. Infact, I like it so much, that you couldn't drag me away from it to go back and work on NHDU or the ward! Anyway, that's just my little waffle for the day! Thanks for sharing.

Cheers chuck!

I agree. IMO, whoever thinks that nurses who speak to brain dead patients means that we misunderstand brain death, are patronising and insulting.

Interesting topic. I think the subject has wandered off-track a little. People seem to be misunderstanding one another about whether other people mean by coma/pvs/brain dead/brain-stem dead/dead. I think the question really boils down to, "do you talk to people when they are dead?" Yes, sometimes I do. What's wrong with that? Just because this person no longer exists physically, does not mean that I treat them like a piece of meat. Yes, it might well be my way of coping with death, but that's my choice. Some nurses don't talk to their dead patients and that's their business too. Where I work, when someone dies, we wrap them up in a sheet and I always say "goodnight " before I cover their faces. I would hope when my time comes, someone treats me with respect too.

I am due to rotate to NICU at the end of November. I have worked in neurosciences for 4 1/2 years since qualifying, I had 18 months NHDU experience approx 2 1/2 years ago until I went to work on neurology for a while. I have now been back on NHDU for the last 4 months or so "helping out" as they were short-staffed, and have really enjoyed my experience again and felt "back home" and settled. However, now that NHDU are fully staffed again (blimey), I am no longer needed. I didn't want to go back out on the ward, and NICU was advertising for nurses, so I am going there instead! I am really looking forward to it, but I am nervous! Obviously, I often interact with NICU staff anyway, ie when patients come to NHDU, vice versa and have been there last week to sort out my off-duty and have had a general chit-chat with people there. One of the nurses there is lending me a book, which is really good of her, but I'd really like some tips or suggestions or any general advice really. Thanks v much.

I think the GCS is a good basic tool, but I acknowledge that it does have limitations. How we document these "problems" is to put a "D" for dysphasic or "T" for trache in the verbal response box where no. 1 or nil is. As a side note, do other people find it almost amusing when you receive a referral or call telling you that a patient has a GCS of 1 or 2. What? How? Or when you ask what the patients GCS is, the other person says, "er.. er.." and you have to go through with them step by step as to what the patient is doing. I know we all have different skills, but GCS is a basic necessary skill IMHO. BTW NICU RN, LOVE the avatar!! Good luck on tuesday.

That is such a sad story, and I suspect an all too common one. People are saying that "people should take responsibility for themselves", well I have no idea how much healthcare insurance costs, but what if you can only afford a $40 a month premium? And you or your child falls ill with something that isn't covered in this price bracket? Tough ****? It is totally beyond my comprehension that a person's health is at the mercy of the amount of insurance they can afford or amount their employers will pay for. I may sound over-dramatic, but what price life? The NHS isn't perfect and you do hear some bad stories. But compare this to the thousands of lives saved every year. We pay for it in our taxes and I find that more than acceptable, in fact, I think it is my duty as a citizen. The most important aspect for me? FREE on the basis of need, not on the ability to pay.

Reminds me of something Will. E Coyote would do. :chuckle

I actually did something very similar to my husband re the remote control thing. I went to the shop with it in my pocket! It was only the corner shop 5 minutes away but I didn't stop laughing for a week.

Ohhh! That's so gross! It's one of the funniest things I have heard in ages!

Yes, that positively proves that cats are cleverer than men.