Silkybo

My dream is to do a short term volunteer project with MEDICO, a non sectarian group in Texas that sends health professionals and students to do one or two week clinics in Honduras and Nicaragua. They charge a reasonable fee, most of the money being used for meds and supplies. You can go as a pre organized crew, like from your hospital or nursing school class (reunion anyone?) or join one of their pre planned excursions. Your accomodations will BASIC and the food is simple but delicious. My 1st trip to Honduras was as a student in my early 20's there to improve my Spanish skills. Instead, it tranformed my life, and I need to give back a little to this Marvelous land now that I am an RN and have a useful skill to offer. I did a lot of research, and MEDICO seemed to have the best combination of short, frequent affordable trips that didn't include a heavy religious bias. If anyone has travelled with them, I'd love to hear firsthand experiences

One of my faves is "Ativan, Ativan, also known as Lorezapam" sung to the tune of "Spiderman". Another is the catchline from the Offspring's Come Out and Play rephrased as "Ya gotta keep em all sedated"!

One of my most vivid: This was a few years ago when I was a brand new med-surg nurse. I dreamed our charge nurse let me know I was getting an admit, and the patient was already in the room. I walked into the room and found writhing in the bed a very large, bright red Chinese dragon, just like the ones on placemats and take-out menus. It had smoke coming out of its nostrils. I turned out of the room and told my charge I couldn't take the assignment. She replied, "now, we don't discriminate here." I answered, "but its a F***ing DRAGON and I have no training for that!" Now, in real life this charge is very knowledgeable and well respected, but kind of uptight. I told her about this dream, and she actually laughed, not her usual delicate giggle but a real guffaw. I had never seen her do that before, and she has always been less uptight with me since.

I stepped wrong off a loose concrete step in my cousin's garage. HURT. tried to stand up, absolutely not a possibility. My immediate thought was "oh, this isn't good." Since I was on vacation visiting family, had to be taken to local ER about 30 country miles across cornfields in the middle of the night. Was treated really well, X-rayed and splinted, informed of fracture, directed to follow up with Ortho. I decided to wait, fly home and get it fixed in my own hospital for reasons of money, insurance and professionaly courtesy. So, 4 days later I flew from the rust belt to the sunbelt, using airport wheelchair "service" got home and saw my orthodoc. He look at x-ray, says, holy scheizze, were going to the OR NOW. I nove have pilon fracture of right ankle reconstructed with multiple plates, screws and pins.....5 months off work, still digging out of financial quagmire. But I learned a lot whitch makes me a better nurse now....thats a whole nother thang.

I usually replay in such a way a to be superficially polite, but make then realize how condecending they are being. Wow, thanks Nancy Nurse, for pointing out that we try and leave our patients clean and dry. I'm awfullly sorry he got out of his 5 point restraints, chewed through his foley catheter with his gold teeth and and is bleeding profusely from his former CVL site during shift change report. Next time I'll ask admin to sent a gorilla, grizzly bear or possibly a velociraptor to be his sitter since I haven't found any diversional activities that will help with his acute withdrawl symptoms. Oh, and since Ive been cleaning up his excrement all nite, you may find the tubing needs to be changed in my other patient's room. So Sorry. Enjoy your day, and remember I get the missing link back in 12 hours.....bring it ON!

yes, In FL we can pronounce inpatients if the death is not unexpected....always been fuzzy on how that is defined, but I've made many pronouncements, then informed MD and supervisor, never been told my pronouncement wasn't valid

I think its the O'Jays....early 70's soul/funk band. I remember it, can sing it, not sure about the band. None of the lyrics engines I can find go back that far. I found out today I'm old enough to be the ER tech's mommy! Where was I when we went and got old!

crackacardia....the arhythmia caused by too much cocaine whackacardia....the (apparent) arhythymia caused by patient masturbating

I've always loved the smell and taste of Fletcher's Castoria, a children's rootbeer flavoured laxative...it has a new name now, I'm not sure what. Dopamine surely does smell of sweat. Rocephin and Fortaz are representatives of the catpiss family of antibiotics....awful. I always haaate making people drink mucomyst for acetominophen overdoses....yucky! Alll those pink antibiotic elixirs give me horrid childhood flashbacks....

a determined patient can CHEW thru their foley tubing. Not the soft rubber of the catheter itself, the clear plastic connected to the bag. I guess it helped that she had a gold tooth.

I have several print sets, matching tops and bottoms with such motifs as strawberries, tropical fish, etc. Fortunately for me, my mom is a professional seamstress and craft coach, and we design my scrubs together with special features like zip shut pockets to put meds in, or little epaulettes to hold your stethascope in place. NOT CHEAP, but custom to your exact specifications for fabric, style, size, and extras.private message for more info...she ships throught the us and canada.....Silkybo,RN

Whenever a death affects me a little bit more than average, cuz I got attached or it was sudden, I have to play Dont Fear the Reaper at cerebral hemmorage volume and sob my eyes out, and then Im better. Very few hard rock bands have the poetic depth of Blue Oyster Cult, and I can think of no other song that embraces death without being maudlin.

when I was born in 1969, my dad tried to follow my mom into the delivery room. The nurse barred his way, saying "you can't go in there, you aren't sterile!" my dad replied "damn right I'm not, how do you think she got that way?"

I have done nights for years, and have no trouble with it. However, sometimes I have to leave my vampire reality to attend an inservice or staff meeting or dentist appointment or baby shower or something and function in the daytime. EEK. Provigil is kinder and gentler than 6 shots of ulcerating expresso with a protonix chaser. Im all in favor of reality modification via the miracles of pharmaceuticals

My best advice is get comfortable. Sit down in a chair, adjust the patient's bed, kneel on the floor, whatever you have to do so you aren't in an ackward position. If your back is hurting or you are at a funny angle, its harder to get the stick. Also, take advantage of gravity. Have the patient hang their arm off the bed to fill up the veins in their lower arm and hand. Close your eyes when looking for the vein and find it by feel. Veins that are visible aren't always the best. Find your vein before you glove up. Ask for help if you need it. Sometimes if you have a tech hold the patient's arm still, or work the syringe to pull blood while you do the stick, it helps. Most of all.....practice! It took me a long time to get good at blood draws and IV's. We have a supervisor who can get blood from a stone, and I used to ask her to do a lot of my draws. Recently she said she misses when my requests were easy. "Now when you say somebody is a hard stick, they are REALLY hard!"

there is an 18 year old in the UK. The little girl I know was on Maury Povitch's show at age 7. Its rare, but possible.

I have taken care of a child with this condition. She was about 9 years old at the time and was never expected to live so long. She is lovely, articulate, and an ambassador for her condition. She has a peg as well as eating normally to fulfill her nutritional needs. She needs frequent treatments with lotions, but otherwise lives a normal life.

Lower Keys Medical Center in Key West and Fisherman's Hopital in Marathon are HMA affiliates, use contract nurses mostly for ER and ICU, some med/surg and peds. You can contact them directly via websites...very short staffed especially nights right now...LKMC main phone number 305-294-5531 Mary Kelly HR manager. Pay low compared to SKYHIGH cost of living, but a fun work atmosphere and great place to live, as long as you know its expensive... come on down

Hey yall...I am trying to organize a volunteer graduation trip for my ADN class for 1 yr from now. Im looking for a reputable organization to go with for 1 week to 10 days in Central/South America or the Caribbean for a reasonable price. We'd like to do some public health or rural clinic nursing. We'll be GN's, not yet having taken boards...anybody have good/bad experiences or info on something like this? I'm looking at a group called MEDICO that goes to Honduras...any advice...thanx!

I can't imagine wearing makeup...this is what I look like...no artificial colours. When men are expected to wear makeup everyday too, perhaps Id consider it. Until then its sexist to think I don't look presentable without paint but my male coworkers do. Then again, I think its sexist that I have to wear a top to the beach but men don't. I just want equal standards for grooming and dress...no so much to ask.

Everyone I know with fibromyalgia is A. A hypochondriac B. Clinically depressed or C. a drug seeker. I dont believe in this diagnosis. Throwing oxycontin at aches and pains is like killing mosquitos with a sledgehammer. I am not against appropriate pain meds, especially in the terminal patient....dose 'em up, I say, but not for people who are just not facing life square on...I hurt too after lifting obese geriatrics all night, but Im not going to whine for narcs!

Everyone I know with fibromyalgia is A. A hypochondriac B. Clinically depressed or C. a drug seeker. I dont believe in this diagnosis. Throwing oxycontin at aches and pains is like killing mosquitos with a sledgehammer. I am not against appropriate pain meds, especially in the terminal patient....dose 'em up, I say, but not for people who are just not facing life square on...I hurt too after lifting obese geriatrics all night, but Im not going to whine for narcs!

I am 34 yrs old and still can't swallow pills, and neither can my 61 yr old father. I can drink an entire glass of water and the pill just tucks up against the ridge on the roof of my mouth and sits there. I have had several dentists tell me I have an unusually shaped palate or torus, so this may contribute to my difficulty. Ive tried the chin down trick, the applesauce and crackers and everything else, and I also chew all my food to puree before attempting to swallow. I even have to chew up the time release enteric coated pills, even though I know better...its chew it or don't take it at all. Most pills taste really nasty, so Id much prefer to swallow them...I just can't. Its durn embarassing to ask for liquids, and a lot of meds don't come that way, or insurance wont cover a more expensive liquid when there is a generic pill available....please understand some patients may have a real problem with pills, and we are sick and tired of being told we just aren't trying...trust me, Id love to be able to take pills like everybody else, and so would most of your patients!