Code Brown RN

Lets bump this thread... its a good one!

Doctors treat illnesses, nurses treat patients.

Gangrene... for some reason we are getting a lot more gangrene in... I think one of our surgeons is taking on more amputation cases. Either that or we are a pirate hospital in the 1700's and nobody told me. The smell.... oh god, it stinks up the whole floor. And when the skin pops or falls off.... bleh.

Denim.

Skin flakes on the sheets is the WORST. The smell of betadine mixed with a yeast infection. Emptying the NG canister if its bloody/clotty. The smell of bloody urine. I always feel like my shoes smell like bloody urine after having prostatectomy pts, even if I didnt even TOUCH the catheter. Odd, I know. The way our soiled utility smells. Its an odd potpourri of bodily fluids, expired foods, TPN/lipids, mucomyst and other strongly scented drugs and bleach. Ick.

If you don't know what a Code Brown is by now, I don't want to be the one to tell you!

I have to brag, that I read EVERY post in this thread. Patients have taught me to use Pond's Cold Cream, to be nice to my family, to shave my legs often, not to use Freeze-Away on spider bites, to quit smoking before i lose my third limb, not to perf my bowel with a Pronto Pup stick because I was double fisting corn dogs at the state fair, to appreciate every moment I have, to never drink and drive, to always wear a seatbelt, to never do meth, to be honest with people who are trying to help me, that pulling out your catheter is only going to buy you another one, to give compliments freely and often, that death can be a blessing, that people do know their own bodies best, to double check your tubing and pumps before you leave the room, that all women are pregnant until proven otherwise, coke-a-cola addiction is almost as serious as cocaine addiction, you can please most of the people most of the time but you can never please the family, geriatrics are sexually active, tattoos change shape and color after 30 years, to wash my feet, its a good idea to ask if somebody ate beets for dinner before calling to get a guiac order, succeed at suicide on your first attempt, WebMD is the greatest evil ever unleashed onto this planet, wheelchair rides do more good than Ativan, almost nothing you do to a patient will actually kill them, people forgive, patients are pranksters and nurses are easy targets, a squeeze on the toe or a pat on the shoulder can change the world, morphine and toradol are the worlds two most common allergies, "the little white one" and "the one for my heart" are the worlds two most common medications, and in the word of Dr. House: "everybody lies. Except for me."