mkeep74

Also, forgot to mention this, but at least half the time your so much into data collection and what this smell of poo or pee can tell you about your pt's condition that, you may notice the smell, but your mind is more busy on the technical aspect of things and you're able to focus more on that than the smell.

This is sooo funny! I have a VERY acute sense of smell. I've always been able to tell what perfume a person is wearing, can notice different notes in a good wine and so forth. When I did my first clinical in nursing school, I thought I was going to be sick every day. I would literally go home every day and rinse the inside of my nostrils because otherwise I would go the rest of the day wondering why I was still smelling poo. I don't know if the memory of the smell stayed with me or if the smell was jsut embedded in my nose after spending so much time around it, but usually "cleaning" my nose after clinical seemed to work. C-Diff is bad!!!! I also had a pt. w/ cancer who's urostomy drainage was just beyond belief. One of my resident's vomited on the floor in the hallway and I had to clean it up so noone would step in it or slip in it and choked and gagged the whole time. Also had a woman who I had to cath, whose genital area gave off a very foul odor. This woman had a neurogenic bladder and had orders to be cathed twice during my shift. NICE. Plenty of more bad smells but not enough time to list them. My point is, I tend to get through it every day. I even manage to go immediately afterwards and wash my hands and go on dinner break to eat. If you had told me a couple of years ago that I could do this, I wouldn't have believed you. I've also had throughout my life, an inordinate fear of dead bodies. I don't know why it never occured to me, but when someone first brought up post mortum care in nsg. school, I was like NO WAY. I still get slightly dizzy when dealing with a dead body, but I get through it. I guess I just handle it better now. You get used to it. Someone's gotta do it. These people can't do it for themselves, so you just step up and push through. Try the tricks listed, and yes, if you really have a problem it is perfectly ok to wear a mask. Good Luck.

I started labor at 3 am and when I got to the hospital 2 hrs later at 5am i was already 9cm and almost completely efaced. I was in so much pain that I think I resembled the girl from the exorcist. I may have actually scared the woman pushing my W/C down to L+D. She didn't stop the chair when I asked her to, and I was having a massive contraction. ( I had the good grace to feel bad after) Anyway, they immediately had me pushing but DD would not progress. I couldn't focus and couldn't even stay still, the pain was soooo bad. I was begging for an epidural, but they wouldn't give it to me, because they said the position I would have to be in for the epi would make me sit on the baby's head. After an hour of this, they finally agreed I should get the epi. Anasthesiologist comes up and they sat me up, and the pain was so excruciating from that(sitting up, I hadn't even gotten a needle yet), I couldn't make a sound nor could I even drag in a breath of air. So then they had me lay on my side and gave me the epi. (After having DD I finally wondered, if they could do it on my side, why didn't they just do that to begin with?) Anyway, once the epi was in, the very next contraction didn't hurt a bit. I could feel some pressure but it wasn't uncomfortable. They let me relax for a bit, but after a while had to give me Pitocin because my contractions were slowing down. We were still having trouble with DD progressing. However, once the MD started mentioning forceps, vacuum or CS, I got that baby out. My point after this long drawn out post is, I was very far along in my labor, but they were giving me a hard time about the epi. Said it was too late, but they finally consented to let me have it. That just made me feel like they were lying to me. I wasn't very trusting of anyone there after that. i agree that the epi probably slowed down my labor, but for me I think that may have been a good thing considering it onlt took 2 hours for me to completely dilate and my contractions almost ran into each other they were coming so fast. i barely had time in between to catch my breath. Would I ahve another baby? ABSOLUTELY!! Would I have the epi again? I'd try, but considering I seem to have fast labor, who knows. I just believe that noone should make another person feel bad for it. Pain is subjective. I would not wish that pain on anyone, so if they feel they need it I believe they should have it. It's not up to me or anyone else to tell that person how much they can endure. I do know that I told the anasthesiologist that I loved him!!! For me it was what made the difference to give me a chance to breath and summon my strength. And when she ws born,..... God, how beautiful. PS my sister in law had the epidural and it only worked on one side of her body. Yikes, that was pretty bad.

OK. Sorry, but in my experience with people in recovery from any anasthetic, they rarely know what the hell they are alking about. Yes, you may occasionally get a recognizable answer from them, but it could just as easily be that they did not really process the question given to them to begin with. Are you having any pain? Pt responds no, but is trying to pull out every tube or device around. They simply don't know what they are doing. The person in question, whether it be nurse, CNA, MD or whatever, should not have said that. It was a misleading comment. People under the effects of anasthesia will say and do alot of things. None of which can be taken seriously. The issue should definately have been taken to a nurse manager or supervisor for the floor though.

I've been an LPN for almost a year now and work in a convalescent home. I frequently toilet, shower, transfer, fetch, bedpan, feed and numerous other things that, in my facility, are technically the CNA's job. I have absolutely no problem doing that for them. When someone has to go to the bathroom, are you going to walk away and not help them? How would you feel if it was you? These are the questions I ask myself and so I just do it. The only problem is my med pass consists of 32 residents and more meds than I care to count. Not to mention the treatments I have to do. Those meds have to be given in a certain time frame to meet the state's requirements or else I get in trouble. We are frequently short staffed and my poor aids are running around sweating and don't even have time to take a break. Nor, for that matter, do I. I rarely sit down except when I'm charting. In between my med passes, which are extremely long, I sit whith residents or answer call lights, but I learned right away that my med pass comes first or else I will get in trouble. I haven't even mentioned the charting I have to do, and that is expected to be done during my shift not after. Where I work all charting is done on computer and they know exactly when you charted it. Then if someone falls, gets a skin tear or bruise or you get an admission or send someone out to the hospital, the charting time increases. It's insane!!!!!! But, don't punch out too late. It's all a balancing act. It's a good thing I was a waitress for so long!!!! I learned to prioritize and move quick. Sorry for the rant. I guess my point is, there is never enough time for everything, but you just do what needs to be done. I became a nurse because I enjoy making people fell better. What good would I be, if I walked away from someone who needed an extra glass of water or had to pee? You just do what you have to do.Thanks for listening.

The whole principle behind nursing is the holistic approach. The meaning of this is that we treat the whole person, not just the disease. We take into account their religion, culture and what their family life is like. Treating the disease is great! However, if it makes the person miserable in the long run it's no good. Nurses want to treat people. We want their QUALITY of life to be better. Doctors can treat the disease, but we treat the people. Some doctors get this, but most are still looking at the disease. This is the diffence between doctors and nurses. Many times it is the nurses who point out the mistakes to doctors and often bring them back to earth as far as the PATIENT is concerned. We do this because we are the ones with the patients all the time, and MD's simply don't have the time for it. Hope this answers your Question.

Actually this was just on a repeat episode of CSI the other night. People believe that drinking your own "fresh" urine has anti-aging benefits and they have actually interpreted Bible sections to back it up. Crazy but true. I don't know about anyone else, but even if scientific proof does back this up, it would take some severe hydration to even make me consider it. Wrinkles or not.:barf01

That's basically what it means. I, however, think it goes beyond this to include nursing instructors. They all went through school, and know how hard and demanding it can be, but most of them seem to take a secret thrill in watching us crumble. I say this as a recent graduate from LPN school. I plan to continue my education and hope to someday have my Masters so that I can teach, but the question is, will I be as sadistic as they were? I really don't know. My friends all laugh at me when I say that my thesis paper for getting my Masters will be of why nursing instructors are the way they are. I'm going to blow the whole thing wide open!!!!! They think I'm nuts. I might be a little. :rotfl: Anyway, in all fairness I have to say that my instructors were great, (even if a little sadistic at times), and that I learned alot from them. I think they are the way they are, and I'm including the ones who eat their young, because they need to make us tough. They need to make sure that we can stand up under the pressure and keep moving. Well, at least that's the reason for most of them. Their are some who are just plain mean. You'll get that anywhere you go, in any profession. Sorry for my soapbox, but yeah that's basically what it means. :chuckle

:roll :roll :rotfl: :yelclap: Merry toot!!!

I can tell you that in Connecticut where I am from LPN's in LTC work as charge nurses. They pass meds, do treatments, breathing treatments, trach care, tube feeds etc. It states in the scope of practice for LPN's in this state that they can do everything that an RN can do as long as they work under the general direction of an RN. LPN's in this state can't really work in a critical care setting, but with stable patients. This is because RN's have more training to work with critical patients. LPN's don't. I am studying for my state boards at this time as an LPN, but plan on continuing my education. Not because I believe that it's not worth it to be an LPN, but because I love learning. As far as doing ADL's with Patients in long term care, I would definately help out in any way I could if I had the time. (Most of the time you're so busy you don't have time to breathe!!!) This is one of the reasons I went into nursing in the first place, to take care of people. What kind of nurse would I be if someone needed to be changed and I said "that's not my job, it's the CNA's job." Any RN who says derogatory things about CNA's, LPN's really shouldn't be a nurse. Most RN's I know see the hard work that CNA, LPN's do and commend them for it. It's not a question of who is better than who, but how you care for the patient. I guess I've gone on enough, but let me leave you with this thought. Usually when someone is putting someone else down, it's because they need to feel better about themselves and putting other people down makes them feeel superior. I guess you should pity them, and continue on with your education in whatever way works for you. If you truly want to be a great nurse, no matter what your title, you will be. Good Luck!