That one random nugget of information from nursing school that you've never forgotten..

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I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I seem to have a knack for remembering pointless things.

I remember the names of restaurants that I've eaten at on vacations, the servers' names, and other useless information that I will never need to recall in my life again.

This also applies to my time in nursing school, which admittedly wasn't that long ago, but long enough that a lot of the non-vital "nice to know but not need to know" information that we learned has become a little hazy.

The one random nugget of seemingly useless information that I remember from nursing school is what a scleral buckle is and what it is used to treat. It was briefly mentioned in my second semester of nursing school and for some reason it stuck with me. I've never encountered someone that has had this procedure in clinical OR in my personal life and I really have no justification for remembering it, but I do.

Does anyone else care to share a random nugget of information they learned in nursing school that they still remember, but never actually came in handy to know?

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Specializes in pediatrics; PICU; NICU.

I can't think of any right now but I'm responding because I do have a scleral buckle. Both my retinas detached at the same time in 1986. The right was 95% detached but I had no symptoms. It was found on an exam for new glasses! I had surgery the next morning. The right eye got the scleral buckle. My left was 40% detached so didn't need that extensive repair. It was repaired with cryopexy which is kind of like gluing it together. In the 29 years since, I've had to have laser treatments on 3 occasions to repair the beginnings of tiny tears in the right retina.

I have to say that the surgery when they did the buckle was the most painful thing I've ever experienced (way worse than childbirth!). It was also very freaky because I had to keep both eyes patched for 10 days so I pretty much couldn't do anything for myself.

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Specializes in ER, Medicine.

The carina is the y shaped junction at the bottom of the trachea.

The muco-ciliary (spelling?) elevator brings up sputum and mucus up from the throat and the sinuses.

Totally useless crap.

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The carina is the y shaped junction at the bottom of the trachea.

The muco-ciliary (spelling?) elevator brings up sputum and mucus up from the throat and the sinuses.

Totally useless crap.

Au contraire, abundantjoy07! Not useless crap! The carina is a major landmark when viewing a CXR (especially when identifying ETT placement) among other important functions. And, I have explained the mucociliary escalator to dozens of patients that have asked questions about sputum over the years. It is helpful information to convey to your patients that are receptive to smoking cessation education too (what smoking does to the oh-so-important mucociliary escalator).

Full disclosure: I was an RT before becoming an RN, so I'm tickled that not only do you remember those things from nursing school, but that you were taught about them in the first place! :woot:

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I can't think of any right now but I'm responding because I do have a scleral buckle. Both my retinas detached at the same time in 1986. The right was 95% detached but I had no symptoms. It was found on an exam for new glasses! I had surgery the next morning. The right eye got the scleral buckle. My left was 40% detached so didn't need that extensive repair. It was repaired with cryopexy which is kind of like gluing it together. In the 29 years since, I've had to have laser treatments on 3 occasions to repair the beginnings of tiny tears in the right retina.

I have to say that the surgery when they did the buckle was the most painful thing I've ever experienced (way worse than childbirth!). It was also very freaky because I had to keep both eyes patched for 10 days so I pretty much couldn't do anything for myself.

Ah that's so scary! Eyes are the one thing that I am really squeamish about. The thought that they are filled with jelly creeps me out.

I never thought that a scleral buckle procedure would be pleasant, but I would have hoped it wouldn't be painful, at least not DURING the procedure. So you felt it when it when they were doing the procedure or was it really painful after?

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The carina is the y shaped junction at the bottom of the trachea.

The muco-ciliary (spelling?) elevator brings up sputum and mucus up from the throat and the sinuses.

Totally useless crap.

the muco-cilirary escalator is one escalator I'd rather stay off of. Gross.

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Specializes in Emergency/Trauma/LDRP/Ortho ASC.

No grapefruit juice if the pt is on Crestor. I have NEVER given anyone Crestor. Why on earth do I remember that one of all things?

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Mittelschmerz

is a medical term for "ovulation pain" or "midcycle pain". About 20% of women experience mittelschmerz, some every cycle, some intermittently.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Here's a random nugget: never, ever allow anyone to slam potassium chloride into a patient via IV push unless the following conditions are present:

1. You are employed at at a prison, and...

2. Your patient is a confirmed death row inmate and has been scheduled to die by lethal injection on that day.

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Specializes in pediatrics; PICU; NICU.
Ah that's so scary! Eyes are the one thing that I am really squeamish about. The thought that they are filled with jelly creeps me out.

I never thought that a scleral buckle procedure would be pleasant, but I would have hoped it wouldn't be painful, at least not DURING the procedure. So you felt it when it when they were doing the procedure or was it really painful after?

No, I had general anesthesia but the pain afterward was horrible! I also wasn't allowed to raise my arms above my head for 4 weeks so I couldn't even wash or brush my own hair. I hate being dependent on someone else for personal care!

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Specializes in Hospice.

I love that word, I often use it when I am at work, " oh mittleschmerz!", instead of a curse word.

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You will poop when you give birth.

I was never an L&D nurse, and I had C-sections.

I tell my pregnant friends this all the time, though, just to watch them squirm.

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