Quick answer to question, pls..

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What is the sign of infection in a neutropenic patient ? Heat, redness, pus or difficulty swallowing.

Thank you :)

Oh xtrn! Not directed at you at all!

A previous poster named "wooh" commented on my poor academics and mediocre status as a student... I was just hoping they had run out of sweetener for their coffee...

I am so very grateful for your posts :)

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Oh xtrn! Not directed at you at all!

A previous poster named "wooh" commented on my poor academics and mediocre status as a student... I was just hoping they had run out of sweetener forbtheir coffee...

I am so very grateful for your posts :)

OK- I want to make sure I wasn't being offensive :)

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Yes, you can get s/s of a 'typical' infection w/neutropenia.....

My ANC was extremely low....I ended up with otitis externa that went into cellulitis of my upper neck/jaw.....there was heat, redness, pain, and fever (103). The symptoms weren't as easily identifiable by me (so didn't know to ask one of the nurses to check-- it was the ear 'away' from the door, so not 'out there' and seen by someone who walked in the room) until my outer ear was swollen shut. Later, the ENT suctioned pus out once the swelling went down enough to get a look inside. I was already on vanc and gent when this occurred.

JME

Completely off topic, but unless the otitis externa and cellulitis evolved within a few hours how did the nurse assigned to your care miss it? Did they not do an assessment at all?

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
Oh xtrn! Not directed at you at all!

A previous poster named "wooh" commented on my poor academics and mediocre status as a student... I was just hoping they had run out of sweetener for their coffee...

I am so very grateful for your posts :)

I'm not wooh, but if I may chime in (because I totally understood her post):

As a professor, I have been on the other side of this quite often. When a student is facing dismissal from the program, they tend to grasp at straws; looking for any little thing that could save them. I have been brought in to my superiors asking ME to defend specific test questions (because a student who is facing dismissal is looking for points). The worst part was when it was on exam 2 (which was 2 months after the fact). Where was this student when she got it wrong 2 months ago? Where was she last semester when she just passed the course? Most likely kneeling down thanking God she squeaked by.

My point (and I'm not sure if it was Wooh's point) is that students who do not succeed in nursing programs are not failing by one point (or one question). You can argue till your blue in the face, but I know what I've seen. It follows a trend.

Please don't tell me that I have run out of sweetener too. I don't know you, so I have no reason to be mean to you. You are probably a very lovely person, but maybe not cut out for nursing. I read your other thread about the Cs and the Ds. Regardless of what went down there, it is not a good idea to bring others into your case. Each case should be looked at individually, and there may be things about the other people you don't know (but think you do). I'm trying in the nicest way possible to objectively give my opinion, based on being on the other side of the equation.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Also, regarding the exam item you are challenging: My thought was "heat" was referring to a local heat (ie, a 'warmth' at the site of infection) not temperature. This is why it is often difficult to see the signs of infection in the neutropenic patient: their WBCs are not doing their job. If they were, you'd see the inflammatory response; heat, redness, pus. The only viable option is sore throat.

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Nurse Educate..

I appreciate your reply. It is actually people at your level that I was hoping to approach on the other thread. To bring up grades and calling me a mediocre student on this thread seemed " non-sweet" thus the comment.

Though I wish I could comment to you on the other thread, I will do so here.

I and other students signed a page of the syllabus that was required of us. The professor in this class refuses to use the online system to post grades, so students are T the merc of keeping tally of their own percentages... Not a hard thing to do. But when the syllabus states in bold that a 78% is needed to pass the course, and you are held to that standard for two months of a grievance process to find out two months in that students were passed well below that point, of course it makes you wonder.

I state all of this very respectfully. I am being held to a standard, where a professor who needed to fill another semester and had a high percentage of non-passing students is not.

I also only asked this one question because it was one of a few examples from a final question where discussion was not available. When a few questions that determine a passing grade are as controversial as this, then perhaps further examination into all aspects of this course is warranted.

I brought other students into my argument because they sat in the same spot as I. ... Watching other students passing on that achieved the same level. It is not an ideal situation for the future of nursing, I can assure you. However, if I was to share the name of the professor with you, you will find research supporting that I am not the first.

I just happen to be a more mature student, who is not afraid to look into things.

Again, I thank you for your insight here.

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Specializes in PICU, ICU, Hospice, Mgmt, DON.

Honey, you have now had many opinions from a variety of nurses. More importantly you have had an excellent reponse from a Professor of Nursing.

Will you please stop beating a dead horse....and get on with your life?

Get over this please. I felt badly for you at first but you lost me somewhere in the rant....if you do continue to pursue nursing you will be continually bombarded with situations where you feel a "major injustice" is being heaped upon you...you learn to deal with it ... it happens with employers, fellow nurses, doctors and patients and especially their families....

So, if you react this way now, and can not simply let this go, maybe this profession is not for you.

Please think about this.

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Why is research and asking "beating a dead horse" ? I have spent two days asking questions on this forum.

Am I not permitted to look deeper ? Positive change is brought about by people not afraid to look deeper.

As I nurse, I would do nothing different.

Thank you for your response as well.

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I'm trying to understand WHY people are making RUDE comments about a thread YOU started? If they don't have anything POSITIVE to say, then they should NOT say ANYTHING! Good grief! Let the person ask WHATEVER questions they choose...if you don't want to answer it...DON'T. But don't ask her to "move on with her life"...rude, rude, rude!

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Thank you sj :)

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OK- I want to make sure I wasn't being offensive :)

but then again, there are many who take offense, when none was intended.

leslie :-|

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... and, (:cool:), there are some are offended by answers they don't want to hear, but still need to hear.

that doesn't make the person rude or ignorant for posting to the 'contrary'.

leslie

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