Shamrock

May I ask what state you are in?

Hi Betty - my name is Valerie and I've been in the D.D. nursing field going on 5 years. I have obtained certification in the area. Your best place to start would be with the West Tennessee DD Nurses Network. According to the newsletter they are having a quarterly meeting in Arlington sometime this month. Another excellent resource would be the Developmental Disabilities Nurses Association. (DDNA) It is the national organization. Website is: http://www.ddna.org I love this area of nursing, it's the best! Good luck.

Z-coils - the ONLY way to go in my mind and I've tried them all. Good luck.

There are some positions that will be changed from hourly to salary with this new law. Personally, I'd like to be George dubya's nurse someday after a 16 hour shift with no overtime!! :rotfl: Thanks for the update NRSKarenRN!!

Congratulations!!

:rotfl: That is beary funny!!! :imbar sorry, couldn't help myself.

I'm with Lou, what's a modrobe? Should we all be wearing it?

Patients Die After Getting Rabies-Infected Organs Thu Jul 1, 4:26 PM ET Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Paul Simao ATLANTA (Reuters) - Three U.S. transplant patients died after receiving organs from a donor who was infected with rabies, the first time the disease has been spread via transplanted organs, U.S. officials said on Thursday. The victims received organs from an Arkansas man on May 4, 2004, in separate operations at hospitals in Texas and Oklahoma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites), the federal agency responsible for tracking health threats. A fourth person who received two lungs from the same donor died during the transplant operation in Alabama. U.S. officials said the infections went undetected because the donor had shown no signs of rabies at the time of his death from a brain hemorrhage in Texas. U.S. hospitals also do not routinely screen for rabies prior to organ transplants. The CDC said it was working with health officials in the four states to determine whether family members, healthcare workers and other potential contacts of the victims required rabies treatment. Dr. Mitch Cohen, a CDC infectious diseases expert, described the outbreak as "scary" and said it was unclear how many people might have been exposed as a result of the infections. But he added that there was no reason to suspend organ transplants in the United States. "This is extremely rare, so the benefits of receiving organ transplantation far outweigh the risks of any infectious disease acquired through transplantation," Cohen said during a hastily arranged conference call. Rabies is a rare but virulent and incurable disease usually transmitted through an animal bite or contact with the secretions of infected animals with open wounds. Only a handful of cases are reported in the United States in a typical year. Early treatment consists of a shot of immune plasma followed by five jabs of vaccine over a 28-day period. Although rabies had not been known to spread through organ transplants, it has been transmitted to a handful of people during cornea transplant operations.

Patients Die After Getting Rabies-Infected Organs Thu Jul 1, 4:26 PM ET Add Health - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Paul Simao ATLANTA (Reuters) - Three U.S. transplant patients died after receiving organs from a donor who was infected with rabies, the first time the disease has been spread via transplanted organs, U.S. officials said on Thursday. The victims received organs from an Arkansas man on May 4, 2004, in separate operations at hospitals in Texas and Oklahoma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites), the federal agency responsible for tracking health threats. A fourth person who received two lungs from the same donor died during the transplant operation in Alabama. U.S. officials said the infections went undetected because the donor had shown no signs of rabies at the time of his death from a brain hemorrhage in Texas. U.S. hospitals also do not routinely screen for rabies prior to organ transplants. The CDC said it was working with health officials in the four states to determine whether family members, healthcare workers and other potential contacts of the victims required rabies treatment. Dr. Mitch Cohen, a CDC infectious diseases expert, described the outbreak as "scary" and said it was unclear how many people might have been exposed as a result of the infections. But he added that there was no reason to suspend organ transplants in the United States. "This is extremely rare, so the benefits of receiving organ transplantation far outweigh the risks of any infectious disease acquired through transplantation," Cohen said during a hastily arranged conference call. Rabies is a rare but virulent and incurable disease usually transmitted through an animal bite or contact with the secretions of infected animals with open wounds. Only a handful of cases are reported in the United States in a typical year. Early treatment consists of a shot of immune plasma followed by five jabs of vaccine over a 28-day period. Although rabies had not been known to spread through organ transplants, it has been transmitted to a handful of people during cornea transplant operations.

The way I understand the "new" technique for CPR is that lay people that call 911 and need instruction over the phone will be told to do chest compression only. I'm thinking as a nurse, etc.. and you stop, if CPR is needed, it would behoove you to do the full cycle.

Here is my favorite mammogram story: The First Time's Always the Worst By Leigh Anne Jasheway, Dayton Daily News Winner of the Erma Bombeck award The first mammogram is the worst; especially when the machine catches on fire. That's what happened to me. The technician, Gail, positioned me exactly as she wanted me (think a really complicated game of Twister - right hand on the blue, left shoulder on the yellow, right breast as far away as humanly possible from the rest of your body). Then she clamped the machine down so tight, I think my breast actually turned inside out. I'm pretty sure Victoria's Secret doesn't have a bra for that. Suddenly, there was a loud popping noise. I looked down at my right breast to make sure it hadn't exploded. Nope, it was still flat as a pancake and still attached to my body. "Oh no!" Gail said loudly. These are, perhaps, the words you least want to hear from any health professional. Suddenly, she came flying past me, her lab coat whipping behind her, on her way out the door. She yelled over her shoulder, "The machine's on fire, I'm going to get help!" I struggled for a few seconds trying to get free, but even Houdini couldn't have escaped. I decided to go to plan B: yelling at the top of my lung (the one that was still working). I hadn't seen anything on fire, so my panic hadn't quite reached epic proportions. But then I started to smell smoke coming from behind the partition. "This is ridiculous," I thought. I can't die like this. What would they put in my obituary? Cause of death: breast entrapment? I may have inhaled some fumes because I started to hallucinate: An imaginary fireman rushed in with a firehose and a hatchet. "Howdy, ma'am," he said. "What's happened here?" he asked, averting his eyes. "My breasts were too hot for the machine," I quipped, as my imaginary fireman ran out of the room again. "This is gonna take the Jaws of Life!" In reality, Gail returned with a fire extinguisher and put out the fire. She gave me a big smile and released me from the machine. "Sorry! That's the first time that's ever happened. Why don't you take a few minutes to relax before we finish up?" I think that's what she said. I was running across the parking lot in my backless paper gown at the time. After I'd relaxed for a few years, I figured I might go back. But I was bringing my own fire extinguisher!

:rotfl: Funny one jnette!

very punny. :rotfl:

Tornadoes can be very scary things but I'm more afraid of going into our storm cellar!! There are creepy, crawly things living down there!! Does not seem to matter how much I clean it out, they come scuttering back in as soon as I leave. Here in Southeast Kansas we certainly have our fair share of the twisters. I've seen a couple in the air, never personally seen on on the ground, but have witnessed the aftermath. The F5 in Andover a few years ago was devastating.

I think Caroladybelle hit the nail on the head, ask the child.