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?
19 years ago, 3 days after the birth of my eldest...I had 5100cc (yes, that is 5 liters) drained out of my bladder continuously and without a bladder spasm...I did have a foley for 2 days to allow the bladder to return to normal size... (no nurse actually assessed my bladder or even fundus in the two days I was in the hospital..they only asked me if I was peeing and the honest answer was "I was")
Sad that they didn't require a real I and O and check the fundus. With my first they massaged the fundus more than once a day ((1966, I was there five days) and with my others (last one in 1975)), never!
It's not super random and is helpful, but I've never forgotten a few things, first of which, is the call light "thing". I was doing my first skills test and did my first observed assessment fine, but had forgotten to put the call light back on the bed. The lady (who is SO precious and still does clinical skills tests at that school) told me I'd done everything else right, but I had to make an appointment to retest. So I did, two days later, and she said, "Now put the call light on the bed". I did and she congratulated me on passing my exam.
I asked when I was going to get to redo the assessment test and she said that I'd passed and that she wanted me to have to come back for the call light so I wouldn't forget it. She was so right!
In the throes of transition I tell the nurse I need to use the bathroom. She reassures me that it's just the baby pushing down through the birth canal. I insisted. She insisted. I was squatting on the side of the bed. I said ok, I'll just push...
Let's just say I was right
She knew...but better poop in the bed, than a baby in the toilet. Don't even worry about it.
LittleOldLadyWho, ADN, BSN, LPN, RN
39 Posts
Sad that they didn't require a real I and O and check the fundus. With my first they massaged the fundus more than once a day ((1966, I was there five days) and with my others (last one in 1975)), never!