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?
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.
I actually use this a lot for smoking cessation education. I dumb it down of course.
I say how the cilia is damaged, therefore the trachea is unable to bring all the gunk up and away from the lungs. And that is what a "smoker's cough" is. And yadda yadda....
Its not useless but I haven't needed this information in 6 years as a nurse.
It wasn't even talked about much, but I never forget "red man syndrome" which is an allergic reaction to vancomycin where the upper body, usually especially the face, turn red soon after the start of an IV vancomycin infusion. Edema and itching can be seen as well.
I have given vanc sooo many times and it always pops into my head but I've never seen it. I think properly diluted vanc can help prevent it though I am sure it still happens.
Red Man's syndrome is not an allergy in the truest sense of the word (not histamine mediated). Slowing down the infusion is usually sufficient treatment.
CO2 is acidic. Once I learned that, interpreting ABG's and respiratory acidosis, etc. was a breeze. Why did no one say this until my 4th semester? Never heard it in A&P even though we learned about acidosis/alkalosis.
If you push Zofran IV too fast, the patients will feel genital burning. Never saw this one, I always push it slow.
Oh, man, I'll never forget the time I pushed Benadryl (not fast!) on a dementia patient and she shouted "Oh, my cooch is on fire!" in front of her family.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
Oh, man, I'll never forget the time I pushed Benadryl (not fast!) on a dementia patient and she shouted "Oh, my cooch is on fire!" in front of her family.
It was a smidgen awkward.
OMG IV Benadryl is terrible. I hate it. It's worse than any IV narcotic I've ever gotten.
I was a CNA waaaaay back in 1992, and I distinctly remember having a patient that took some round green tablets that smelled very GREEN...almost like kale and spearmint had a baby...and they were to minimize the odors from his colostomy. Worked pretty well. Anyone know what that mystery pill was? I've asked the COBs at work and no one knows what I'm talking about
morte, LPN, LVN
7,015 Posts
that would be gluteal cleft.