debo_lpnER

I work in the ER so all nurses have certs in ACLS and PALS. The hosp I work for foots the bill for the class plus pays for our time, but we have to sign a 6 month commitment form. We are a small hosp and see around 2000 pt a month. Deb

Well after being off from the ER for one month while taking steroids for my "allergic bronchitis" they finally found me a place within one of our MD's offices. The DON promised to have the office cleared off all latex and cleaned several times over the Thanksgiving week (so to get all the fallout from the gloves) So when I showed up I found that they moved the gloves out of the exam room to a back storage room. The sterile latex gloves had not been delivered. The tape and bandaids not changed and we still had the old BP cuffs with the latex cords. I was beet red by noon. Then as I opened a drawer in one of the exam rooms I found loose latex gloves everywhere. They were in every room. By the 2nd morning the bronchitis was returning and I had swollen lips and my tongue was numb. So now I am home again and the DON asked if I wanted to resign my position since there was no safe job for me within the hospital. I called my lawyer - he is starting to file against them. The industrial med MD told me that he felt that the hospital wasn't responsible for my allergy. It was just unfortunate that I am someone with this problem. Of course he works for them. He did tell me before I went home to find a lawyer ... I didn't tell him that I already had. I'm thinking I might check into working for an insurance co - checking claims. At least I can get a check. If the rubber bands and erasers don't do me in. Deb

I work with a really funny Er doc. He loves to call us "Nurse" and for us to call him "Doctor". The pt just love him. He gives us a hard time when we tell him not to give so much pain med. He warns us to not let the "milk of human kindness" dry up in us as some have. He will also say "Well nurse, I like to think of myself as the hurting man's friend" Our reply is "You mean Dr. Feelgood" We had one of our frequent flyers- somehow this idiot ran over herself with the car. You know when you want good pain meds sometimes your accidents have to escalate.:roll Well when I went in the with the DOCTOR ... he goes right into his spill ... Miss you have been through a tramatic experience ... it's a wonder you are alive. ( I was waiting to hear some type of soap opera music) I just wanted you to know I am here to meet your pain needs. (OMG - I'm going to have to kill him - I know that he has a big script coming). He continues to tell her how lucky she is.( All she had was a little road rash. I wanted to say .. hey idiot .. people can't stop cars with their bodies.) He tells her that he is here for the next 2 days and if she anything more for pain to call him. That he is here to meet her pain needs. Oh and she is weepy and saying "You are the best doctor ever" He just sucks that up. Well she does get a pretty good script and I give the dc orders and she and her family leaves. So then I think I'll teach Dr. Feelgood a lesson. I waited about 30 minutes, and I went and said "Doctor , you remember that pt ... well she wanted to know if she started hurting at 2am could she call here and talk to you ... I told her no ... then she wanted your home number" "Now nurse you know you can't give that out" I told him I knew that ... that I didn't even know his home # , then I reminded him that he said " Now I am here to meet your pain needs." Then I told him since I didn't know his home # that I had to give her his cell #. He got a little excited then ... studdering a bit ... now nurse .. that really didn't happen did it. Yeah ... you said to call anytime. you did say I'm here to meet your pain needs. I let this go on for an hour or two before I finally told him that I didn't give his # out. we all got a good laugh and he did tone it down ... for a little while that is. Deb :chuckle

Whenever I triage someone with that line I find out when they called and what they said and then after triage I let them sit in the lobby while I go and call the MD. The girls in the office have become real familiar with me calling. They will check with all staff to make sure if they were told that or not. I will give them the pt c/o and see if I can schedule an appointment. 90% didn't even call. shocker I know. Now I on;y send the ones to their PCP that are fast track crap. But I love to see their faces when I call the up and they think they are getting back quickly. I hand them a piece of paper with their appointment time and tell them that their MD and I agree that it needs to be seen in the office since this is not an emergency. :imbar I highly reccommend calling and trying to set up appointments. It takes a little time up front but has cut down with repeat business. They know now that we will call and that this is not a drive thru window. Deb

My friend and co worker Misty and I took care of a possible OD that came by EMS, after doing the whole lavage and narcan thing her ekg showed lots of changes compared to her last visit. Well we not only had an OD but some big tombstoning to boot. Well as you know that charcoal can do wonders for their bowels. It was dripping so bad off the stretcher that we just brought a second one into the trauma room so we could move her to a clean bed. Before we could even get her up off the bed there was a loud BOOM. Projectile diarrhea hurdling at the both of us. We are diving into different directions just as that black spray goes by. It was so close that we began to laugh. Everything from that point just kept us laughing. The ER was so full we already had 2 stretchers in the hall and one in the hall in a WC. We changed this woman's brief 3 times before getting her off the stretcher. As she amb to the other ST her brief sounded like it had fireworks going off. The families in the other rooms stated that we must really love our jobs because we sounded like we were having such a great time at it. Misty gets gagged by BM, so while we are laughing :chuckle our heads off, she has to take little breaks to puke. :roll

Don't let anyone keep you from what you feel called to do. I sometimes do hospice as an agency nurse and I love it. I work full time in the ER and would pick up extra shifts with an agency in chattanooga. I feel honored to be a part of such an important part of my patients life. I lost my best friend in hospice 6 years ago and that is why I think I went into nursing. I find that Hospice gives me a chance to give back. When I help a family member be able to say goodbye and feel true closure I really feel I have made a difference. You know most of my patients had come to terms with their dying, they needed me to help their family with it. It allows the patient to pass knowning that they will be ok. I think you would make a great hospice nurse and I encourage you to follow your calling. Deb:p

Probably the worst was a 400+ lb guy brought in by EMS because he couldn't care for himself any longer. He was early 50's and was still wearing the hosp gown he was d/c in 3 weeks before. He was so big and the house was so piled up with garbage they had to cut a section of wall out to get to him. When he got to us he was covered neck to toe in fecal material. Me and 2 other nurses went in to start giving him a bath. Lots of hot soapy water and about 50 towels. As we turned him onto his R side, we noticed something hairy stuck in a fold. It was covered in poop, and upon futher inspection we noticed it had blown pupils. That was the first rat I have ever had to pull out of a fold. We also recovered some Little Debbie wrappers in other folds and a crushed coke bottle stuck in his a$$ We did get this guy admitted and sent to a nursing home for better care.

We are so glad when we have our orderly. We generally hire guys for the Er , just for extra muscle. They have numerous duties: set up heart monitors/ O2/ VS transport for test / admission to floors assist with CPR in codes catheters/ obtain spec/ assist with OCL's restaining pt ... for this I am truly thankful I was a CNA in the ER before going to nursing school and I also worked the Chest Pain Obs unit behind the ED when busy. Good luck ...

I've worked in the Er for 2 yrs now. Over the last year I have developed a latex allergy. Last Wednesday I was sent home on Emergency Medical leave because it has now started affecting my resp tract. The Ind Med MD dx me with allergic bronchitis-latex allergy. The problem is the D.O.N. has been dancing around the workman comp issue and I am home on my own sick time and PTO time until they figure out where a safe place for me is. I have a positive RAST test and have taken a 2nd one this week to see if my levels have shot through the roof. I am seriously thinking of seeing a lawyer this week to see where I stand. Do any of you know a nurse who has had to leave nursing because of Latex? Do you know a good Lawyer? If I am on leave from the hospital because it is not safe d/t latex, can I go to work in a latex free environment without messing myself up legally? What really sucks is that I am a good nurse and I love my job in the ER and now it's not safe for me to be there. We tried removing all latex from the Er, the only latex I was exposed to was the EMS or lab who carried gloves in their pockets. You don't even have to touch me with them. I can feel latex from across the room before I even see it. My skin flushes, my lips swell and I have had bronchitis for the last 12 weeks. My allergist said that it may take months to get out of my system. I welcome any advise, please email me if you like. [email protected] :)