monkeybug

Based on the thank you card thread, what's the most bizarre thing said to you by management or administration? I can think of a few that will always stand out in my mind. When discussing our patient satisfaction surveys, our manager told me in a st...

I think out of my 15 years, the one thing that really seemed the strangest to me was the following story: I had a middle aged married couple. Both were employed, and in fairly responsible jobs. She had done well all during labor, and she reached 10...

One of the first things we did on our unit was to teach the laboring woman how to unplug her monitors and go to the bathroom without help. We were always happy to come assist with the IV pole, but if they needed to go immediately (as is often the ca...

First of all, best wishes for you. I'll say a prayer for you. I worked in L&D all during my infertility escapades. I would go in for ultrasounds and blood draws before my 3-11 shifts. Looking back, I really think it would have been better for...

I have seen a bedside committal. It actually happened pretty quickly. In small towns, the doctors and judges may be friends, and it might not take more than a phone call. At least that's the way it happened in what I witnessed. And in the end, th...

I'm also a labor nurse who seriously considered homebirth. If we're so great, why did I consider it? Much as I love my coworkers, I was embarrassed about the idea of delivering in front of them. Also, due to some medical issues, I cannot have an e...

The very fact that Ina May has a maneuver named after her proves that dystocias can happen anywhere, even at home. I support the right of women to deliver at home, safely and legally. But we have come so far in medical advancements that we have for...

The hospital where I delivered and worked for years did use LPNs in L&D! They were scrub techs primarily, but could also recover patients. We adored our LPNs!

If you are a nurse, I'm sure that at some point you've practiced some defensive nursing. We all know the risk of lawsuit, and in OB it's worse than anywhere else. I've seen a crunchy couple that refused monitoring and interventions have a bad outco...

I can promise you that laughing at a birth plan with things like "ask me before you circumcise my child" has NOTHING to do with the C-section rate. The decision to proceed to the OR is made by the baby, the doctor, the mother, or some combination of...

My dear grandmother was truly from the backwoods. Think Deliverance. She had some interesting terms. Deaf was pronounced "deef" with a long E. Vomit was always vomick. One I hear a lot (from nurses and patients, it's definitely a regional thing...

I would have a very difficult time biting my tongue and taking that. I feel for you!

I'm from the Deep South, and have lived here my entire life (except for travel gigs) and I have NEVER heard it pronounced that way. Maybe she was eccentric.

Oh, man, I used to have an exhaustive list of terminology for the female reproductive organs, collected over many years. Some of the ones I remember: Pocket book Rose Cat Monkey Angina (I guess their vagina hurt) My Business My Stuff

In nursing school I did clinicals in a small hospital that had some interesting charting I've never seen anywhere else. I wonder if anyone else has heard of it? At the end of the shift, say 3-11, you'd chart, "2200 Stable hrs.-----A Nurse, RN" to i...

When our employee surveys indicated incredibly low morale and extreme dissatisfaction with management, we were forced to attend meetings where we (the staff nurses) had to come up with ideas about how we could improve things. I think they missed the...

But again, how is THIS ambulatory care center preventing anyone from abortion? Or birth control? Is every health care operation supposed to take care of this? Do you expect an orthopedic surgeon's office to provide murder on demand too? I know it...

I've been working M-F for almost 2 years, and I'm still undecided. I love having weekends and holidays off. Knowing I'll be off every single Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is awesome. (Thanksgiving I could do without, I spend that with the in law...

I find it difficult to believe that this hospital is the only place a woman can go in NYC to get rid of her "little problem." I'm in a smallish city in the south, and we even have an abortionist. He's quite a charmer, too, one of the most repulsive ...

Typically they use Pitocin for inductions. It doesn't suppress lactation, but it does affect the physicality of breastfeeding. Pit causes retention of fluids (and we tend to give lots of fluid in L&D) which flattens out the nipples. I had extr...

I worked for years with a dear, sweet nurse who, well, just wasn't right, as we say here in the South. If the unit was peaceful and all the planets aligned correctly, she was a joy to be around. If something went wrong (and often whatever was wrong...

I think you handled it well, but that doesn't mean she got the answer she wanted, and it could affect your job prospects. Illegal or not (and it most definitely was), if you don't get the job, how in the world could you prove it was due to religion?...

LOL, I can imagine the disgust on the face of the doctor, if he's like many I've known over the years. One of our best OBs was also one of our most handsome, too. The patients (and nurses) would swoon over him. Want to get him out of a patient's r...

Are you really, really sure you want her to become your mother-in-law? Will he change his ways after he gets a wife, or will you, too, be hostage to her wants and whims? Regardless of how awful she is, if he doesn't put a stop to it then he's just ...

If you're going to work on your BSN, then I'm guessing you're an ADN. In many facilities, ADNs are not eligible for leadership positions. Have you considered that this might be why some people are getting promotions and you aren't? As for someone ...