ryanfocker

does anybody have any great ideas for inventions for nurses or medicine? here are a few I would like to see....though i haven't the slightest idea on how to build them. 1) bloodless device to check blood sugar (something like a pulse ox) 2) hemodyalisis machine that fits in a purse of back pack (for home use) 3) a perfusion device to keep recovered organs useable for longer periods of time 4) wireless telepack/telebox 5) iv pumps that NEVER BEEP, that is, self correcting iv pumps 6) implantable dialisis machine (like an artificial kidney) just a few ideas. wondering if there are any other inspiring inventers out there

i have a confession...i like codes, ok, i love codes. i don't like that i like them, because, i know it means a human being is in big trouble. but my heart gets pumping, pin point pupils, adrenaline racing, my entire being focuses intesely on the moment....just thinking about it gets me excited. even when they are over, the after glow keeps me going for hours. sometimes when the floor gets slow, i "almost" want a code. my moral compass tells me this is wrong. i should not "want" a human to code. but i know they will, and the hospital is the safest place on earth for it to happen, and i want to be there when it happens. does any body else feel this way?? i should also point out....i get very anxious and nervous when pt's expire. and aftercare makes me shake for about a day or two. i don't like death. any meaningful comment would be appreciated.

its funny how having so many options "at your fingertips" doesn't always make you happy, but makes you nervous you might not make the right choice. i feel the same stress as the OP. thought the options would would it easier, but now i feel confused as to where to go next. started taking the masters "core classes"...will either go crit care NP or anesthesia (if i can get in)

question--where are all the women like you in philadelphia?? most women either don't care that i'm a nurse (i profession i am VERY proud of), or think i'm gay....even though i constantly talk about football and women. i really don't get women sometimes.

you need only two things to be a great nurse 1. patients 2. patience

i feel that when patients consent to care, there should be some sort of clause that excludes from the pt the right to pick caregivers based on race, religion, creed, gender, and age. just as a healthcare employee ought not have the right to reject a pt based on those same criteria. as a pt, you came to the hospital knowing the staff at the hospital contain the knowledge, ability, and materials to return you to a state of better health. pts come to hospitals and sign themselves over to the "experts". certainly, one can reject the care of an incomptent care giver, or a care giver that is dangerous, or a treatment they do not agree is beneficial. but race, religion, creed, age, and gender have to part in these standards.

she is certainly "allowed" to feel how ever she wants. however, her "feelings" are biggoted, no matter how long she spent on earth. this is biggotry, plain and simple. replace the word "male" with "jew" or "black"; and it would be clear that this woman is a biggot.

the docs/nurses in our ed rarely give (much) insulin. they just do the nss wide open thing..............and water down their electrolytes in the process. i blame the nurses as much as the docs since we know what do to as well. when they come to my cardiac floor, we inevitably give hefty doses of lantis and correct their electrolytes. i don't get it. also, another reply mentioned education. i can't agree with that more. pt should not live in the 300's, that is not safe. they need to be educated, I always take the time to find out why people are in the 300's, 500's, 800's. there is usually a reason-like they got kicked out of their house; they're depressed; no money for meds; didn't know or they don't care. glad somebody brought up this topic, it really irks me, and is one big reason I no longer want to work in an er.

i feel that this highlights a major problem of nurse/doctor communication; or lack there of. we truly need to sit down and come up with better communication systems. i see this as a system error more than as a human error. pointing fingers will not help the patient's hg/hct. coming up with a solution however will help. any new order entered prints to our printer and the unit secretary puts it in our box; decent but not perfect. if i'm busy, it might sit for a few hours. i feel like medical and nursing schools should be intertwined, classes should be together (when possible); hospital orientation should be together (when possible) and open communication should be nurtured (always). there is still the invisible wall between us. it need to be ripped down. we should speak openly with docs and them with us.

I can not imagine the heart ache you must feel Julie. You have been a nurse for 15 years, and have had 15 years to touch peoples lives, improve the quality of their lives, and extend the years they can spend with their loved ones. And certainly this has been your intention for 15 years, and was your intention when you went to work that day. I believe we are ultimately judged by our intentions and our actions rather than our mistakes, or our unintended actions. Your 15 years of service has done more in many senses then 5 minutes of one singular mistake. No single mistake can negate all the positive you have done. Godspeed in finding the comfort and support you need at this moment. There will be more moments, and more moments for you to touch and improve upon the lives and the health of others. Your life and your career are not over.

i just graduated from thomas jefferson and did clinicals everywhere. i decided that cooper was the best for me. the general consensus of my class was that pennsylvania hospital seemed like a good place to work. as a student, we were treated horribly at methodist and einstein, and mixed results at jefferson. i realize that everybody has different experience though. everybody that did clinicals at penn and cooper agreed they were the best place to work.

the workers are the union, period. once we remember that, we will stop skwabbling and realize who we should be fighting.

i saw "meet the parents" and just knew i had to be a male nurse. actually, i always wanted to save the world, involved in green politics, the union movement and such. and realized the only way to help people was to get hands on. 9-11 played a big role too, i wanted so bad to help but realized i had no skill to help. i realized my psychology degree would not enough. now with the asian tsunami i am convinced that i must do nursing and help when another catastrophe occurs. my ultimate goals are to get into doctors without borders and really get my hands dirty and get my heart pumping, i figure to save the world around 2043 or so, if it all goes according to plan......which it won't.

first off, thank you nurse ratched for coming to my defense, i was not meaning to be condescending, i meant it to be matter or fact and to the point. i'm from nj/philly, we often sound mean when we don't try to, sorry for the confusion. again, the post by ceg would break laws of science. they said their was "heavy petting' involved but no penetration". ok, if semen never "penetrated" the lady parts, then how exactly did a sperm find its way into the lady parts, past the cervix and into the uterine tubes and finally implant itselt in the egg. how do you get to the egg if the lady parts was "never penetrated"? clearly a member, finger or something else penetrated the lady parts, i think we can all agree on that. i suppose it is possible to ejaculate on a hand and quickly ..........i think you get where i'm going. surely this has never been properly studied because of ethical dilemma's; i hope that answers the original question. as far as lying about sex and knowing the definition of sex. A. people always lie about sex, even married people (bill clinton) B. many people don't know the definition of sex (bill clinton). also many religious people don't properly teach their children about sex, in fact, the leaders of our country don't want to teach kids about sex, only abstinance and the judeo-christian version of intercourse. i find it very likely that there are people who don't know what sex is and how babies are made, and what condoms are for. i recently had to explain to an acquantance the anatomy of a woman, what condoms are for, and how and when pregnancy occurs. and he is a masters student in an ivy league school getting all A's, and he's 26, and lives in a major city. moreover, i don't believe he is an acception. i realize this may all sound harsh, but i feel its very realistic. people lie to nurses, doctors, their parents, and to themselves. at times, nurses will need to use their hearts and their heads to figure out fact from fiction.

sperm CAN NOT live outside the body for very long at all. hand washing with soap is extremely effective at removing them from skin. sperm are NOT determined whatsoever, they swim rather randomly and often bumb into each other. the reason there is so much sperm in a normal ejacualtion(tens of millions) is that they are highly ineffective at finding the egg. with out an extremely high number, implantation would be extremely rare. those people who say they "didn't have sex" are probably lying or uninformed as to what sex is. use your common sense? what is more likely? a person lying about a sensitive subject, or nearly all rules of science are suddenly broken for their "miracle baby"?

dude, its really not a big deal, you just run a rag over somebody's body.

there is two different things to study for 1. anatomy 2. physilogy anatomy is simply the names of parts of the body. physiology is how things work for the anatomy, it is simply rote memorization. flash cards and pnuemonic devices are the best way, hands down. i can still recite my pneumonic devices with ease. physiology is all form and function. think function and you can understand everything else. spleen-filter.....red pulp, white pulp are there for filtering.....whate do they filter? use an easy pneumonic device.... studying isn't about remembering, i can't say that enough times. studying isn't about remembering. your brain is powerful enough to remember details of your childhood 80 years prior. studying is about RECALL. testing is about recall. read a page, close your eyes, and with your eyes closed recall it. keep doing it until you can recall all your notes. and most important, stay calm and believe in yourself. i sprinter runs fastest when relaxed. you can't do a thing with negative self image. i aced all my prereqs using this advice, i always believe i can get an A. and i breathe deep and stay calm.

question? how long did "unsubstantiated rumors" and "gossip" go on in the church? how many kids had there lives ruined because abused kids wouldn't stick up for themselves. why do rapists rape 20-30 women before they are caught? often, the abused are targeted due to low self esteem and because they come off as "weak". it is for that reason that other people must stick up for them and do something about it, not simply wait for the abused to go to the cops. although i am not christian, i believe we are our brothers' keeper. if i am wrong, i will say "i'm sorry"

also, a little background history of unions. union are responsible for such things as: 1. weekends.....evil i know? 2. paid holidays.....shudder with fear 3. sick days......how mediocre 4. social security......who needs it? 5. free speech.......nah uh the government loves free speech.....right...look up the history of the IWW, they are the ONLY AMERICANS who routinely fought for free speech while town ALL OVER AMERICA denied that right. 6. worker safety/OSHA.......i don't need all 10 fingers 7. the eight hour work day......americans are soo lazy, we should go back to the 16 hours days 8. union member were the FIRST to join the military during the civil war. 9. while america let general franco slaughter the spanish, union members went to spain and fought franco. 10. high pay......i almost forgot, your salary is only what it is because of unions...."but i'm not in a union" ........yeah but if non-union hospitals paid $6 an hour and the union hospital pays $25, where do you think people will go work. 11. job security........what? my boss loves me 12. healthcare......what, i watch my carbs should i keep going.....if you don't like unions, work 6 and a half days a week in unsafe conditions, for a fraction of the pay, without sick days or healthcare of holidays. without the right to say anything or the boss might fire you. do this for 40 years and retire without money. this would be your life without unions. don't believe me, go to a third world country, and see what conditions are like.

with all due respect, not a single one of you know what a union is, not one of you. a union IS THE WORKERS, working together. it is not the STAFF of the union. a union IS NOT something you "have" it is something you "are" you do not have a union in your hospital. you ARE the union. you CANNOT speak as though it is an outside entity. that is a incorrect. a union is a team, working as a team, nothing more, nothing less. you can work extremely hard together as a team and win like the new york yankees. or you can point fingers, place blame and generally ignore responsibility like the phillies. success or failure at contract time has to do with you and your co-workers, not union staff. every one of you made this mistake, it is the classic mistake. almost nobody gets it. i went through the AFL-CIO orgainizing school, and spent a year travelling the country organizing new unions in new jersey(ghettos), st. louis(ghettos), missiouri(county, mostly nice people, some hicks pointing shotguns at me), lincoln(neither country nor ghetto), and milwaukee(ghetto). i never protected lazy workers, i protected EVERY worker without prejudice. becaue that is the job of union staff. to be anti-union is to be against yourself. YOU are the union. how can you be against yourself? it is impossible. people who are anti-union are uneducated on the topic. would you try to fight walmart by yourself(non-union) or with a thousand co-workers (union). the answer is so obvious a child can understand, if they have the right information.

one more quick story to share in a similar vane: i am currently a home health aid(in nursing school) for a 21 year old quadropolegic. yesterday morning i locked myself out, and he was laying in bed, not in his chair. so i had to walk to the managers office. let me add a few things, i was barefoot, in pj's, and in WEST PHILADELPHIA. not a nice place, bums, broken bottle's, dog poop, crack head's....the works. so i walk four blocks. and the mangers WON'T GIVE ME THE KEYS, cuz i'm not on the lease. i asked to speak to a boss, one comes back, i say "i am the nurse for a man who can't use his arms and legs; i am the ONE PERSON who takes care of him, if you don't let me in, HE WILL DIE".............................here the kicker..............he says "yeah, but not TODAY" bravo, applause, you're officially a minion of the devil. so i argue i bit more, very close to going postal, and they eventually give me the keys, and the keys don't work so i eventually break a window and crawl in. luckily, my patient didn't break my balls, i wasn't in the mood. overall it was kinda funny me walking around barefoot and all. some bum almost asked me for change, then saw i was barefoot and stopped mid breath. i shot him the scariest look this side of Sin City.

if this person has not been arrested labman, it is YOUR responsibility to contact the authorities. do not wait for somebody else to make this decision. let me explain. this past summer, i was a counselor at summer camp for the 15-16 year olds. one day, two of my kids explained a cook was coming on to them in an extremely inappropriate way. i told my boss, the number 2 guy at the camp. apparently i didn't explain the severity properly and the guy wasn't fired; apparently, telling my boss that the cook asked to see their memberes wasn't enough. after a week or so of me wondering why the guy wasn't fired i angrily went to the owner of camp, i was furious. apparently the owner hadn't gotten the whole story, as soon as he did, the piece of filth was fired and authorities contacted. this whole time i wonder to myself, what if a kid had been molested because i sat on my hands and didn't press the issue. i will always press the issue from now on. thats why, lab man, you need to press it hard. i understand how furious you are. it bothers me that i have to breathe the same air as people like this. i hope there is a special hell for these people.

hi, i really like this thread. i am also a male nursing student with a lot of ink on my arms (and chest, sides etc.) i have made the professional decision to keep ink off my forearms because of discrimination. i find it appaulling that skin color is still such a big issue in this country, whether you are born with a certain skin color or put in on yourself. as far as regrets....the only regret i have is there are still so many close minded people in this country. i regret i will where long sleeve shirts in business settings to protect my reputation. i regret people thinking i can't make decisions because i have 8 tattooes. i have been told "i should be ashamed of myself"; "i look ugly", "i don't take care of my body" just because of tattoes. btw, its usually/unhealthy people who tell me this, which is strange since i have modeled, and i do long distance triathlons. its a shame we will have to cover our art that we love so much

i am starting nursing school next month, and i have had an overwhelmingly positive response from friends, family, etc....and i'm a guy!! atleast in the northeast(i'm in philly); nurses are highly respected professionals. it is extremely common to hear people say they would rather see a nurse than a doctor, and to hear that many nurses these days KNOW more than the doctors. schwartsnegger is moron and frankly, california deserves what its getting in my east coast opinion.

hi, i'm a home health aid right now in nursing school. i probably only got hired because of my gender, its seems most people prefer a caregiver of their own gender. personally, i would rather have a woman around. i also feel i haven't gotten other jobs because i am a man and they were looking for a female. so i have never had the chance to work with female patients. from talking with coworkers though, it seems like men want the mechanical part done well and fast, with less chit chat, and women want to discuss how they feel more....not a slight to the women who are looking in....just an observation. my patient and i almost never talk about feelings, we almost exclusively talk shop, or about the eagles, the ncaa, or baseball.