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?
Here's one that actually came up the other day and the other nurse in the room thought I was a little nuts, I think....but I remembered that we should NOT allow more than like 700cc of urine to exit via foley without clamping for a bit. Too much coming out at once is not good. I think this was back in LPN school 1989-1990.
This is an old wives' tale from I can't think when. I can't believe we still hear about this. But the, "We were taught..." and "I always heard that ..." never seem to have heard any evidence-based basis for the practice when they learned it. I can find exactly no experimental or evidence-based support for the idea that draining a big bladder is gonna invite vascular disaster.
Here's a paper from 1989 entitled "The Mythical Danger of Rapid Urinary Drainage." (LOVE the title!) Nice study, with more references at the end.
Here's a link to another AN thread about this. Seems lots of people have drained lots of liters with little ill effect. I know anecdote is not the singular of data, but on the other hand, a huge number of anecdotes isn't entirely meaningless. See study, above.
Here's one that actually came up the other day and the other nurse in the room thought I was a little nuts, I think....but I remembered that we should NOT allow more than like 700cc of urine to exit via foley without clamping for a bit. Too much coming out at once is not good. I think this was back in LPN school 1989-1990.
They still teach this in nursing school. We are told that the Foley needs to be clamped after 1,000mL due to bladder spasms. After about 30 minutes we can unclamp and drain another 1,000mL (if needed). I even saw a NP do this at clinical. I think the pt was a little annoyed at her clamping it though....he had severe urinary retention and was in a lot of pain, he just wanted relief. The NP told the RN to return in 15 minutes to unclamp the Foley. In total, just over 1,700mL was drained:eek:
When a patient says they feel that they're about to die (impending doom), PAY ATTENTION!
I was in clinicals one day at an LTAC. My patient, who was nearly dead anyway, as far as I could tell, started exhibiting air hunger and saying that he felt as if he were about to die. I hightailed it to the RN who had him, but she was very dismissive, saying "oh, he says that all the time."
Ran and got my clinical instructor, who eventually called a code. Poor guy didn't make it. I avoided eye contact with that RN until my rotation was over.
They still teach this in nursing school. We are told that the Foley needs to be clamped after 1,000mL due to bladder spasms. After about 30 minutes we can unclamp and drain another 1,000mL (if needed). I even saw a NP do this at clinical. I think the pt was a little annoyed at her clamping it though....he had severe urinary retention and was in a lot of pain, he just wanted relief. The NP told the RN to return in 15 minutes to unclamp the Foley. In total, just over 1,700mL was drained:eek:
Yes. "This is what we learned" too.
I have to admit I loosely followed this on my days on the floors.
I would insert the foley and go about my business. ..whoops 1500cc, would ya look at that!
I honestly don't remember learning it in nursing school but it may be one of those nuggets you hear and forget.
I'm still wracking my brain trying to remember a random piece of info from nursing school . . . . .
edited . . .wait! My favorite instructor who taught us about personal care of patients was adamant that the linen closet door never be left open because that looked tacky. And there was a special way to put a pillowcase on a pillow without putting the pillow under your chin. Never throw dirty laundry on the floor!!
I still close the linen closet door when I walk down the hallway and see it open. I put pillow cases on at home the way she taught me.
Random and mostly useless info but I never forget.
I was also taught not to leave the linen cart open but they told us it was for infection control reasons. And if an instructor ever saw me toss dirty linen on the floor, I'm pretty sure I'd leave clinical in a body bag.
Glabella: The space between your eyebrows, just above the nose
Tragus: the cartilage flap that juts out over the ear hole at the front of the ear. There's also an antitragus, which lives in eternal opposition to the tragus.
There are 13 vitamins: 4 fat-soluble (A, D, E, and K) and 9 water-soluble (8 -B vitamins and vitamin C). Not useless info, but nothing too exciting.
Another nugget! Since people with cystic fibrosis have a hard time absorbing those fat soluble vitamins, they make them in water soluble forms called AQUADEKS. And apparently it's insanely expensive.
Tragus: the cartilage flap that juts out over the ear hole at the front of the ear. There's also an antitragus, which lives in eternal opposition to the tragus.
my tragus is pierced! The philthrum is also the little groove under your nose. You know, the one that funnels snot directly into your mouth when you're sick?
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!
You never realize how much you actually raise your arms above you head until you're not allowed to do it for a month. I'm glad you're okay now though!
nurseprnRN, BSN, RN
1 Article; 5,116 Posts
This is an old wives' tale from I can't think when. I can't believe we still hear about this. But the, "We were taught..." and "I always heard that ..." never seem to have heard any evidence-based basis for the practice when they learned it. I can find exactly no experimental or evidence-based support for the idea that draining a big bladder is gonna invite vascular disaster.
Here's a paper from 1989 entitled "The Mythical Danger of Rapid Urinary Drainage." (LOVE the title!) Nice study, with more references at the end.
http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=nursing_fac
Here's a link to another AN thread about this. Seems lots of people have drained lots of liters with little ill effect. I know anecdote is not the singular of data, but on the other hand, a huge number of anecdotes isn't entirely meaningless. See study, above.
https://allnurses.com/general-nursing...ne-686914.html