Rocking up to a busy orthopaedics ward, and they say: "you have 6 heavy patients, and one needs to go down to OT now, who have been ringing like mad for them (there was no-one to escort them down b4). You also have 4 post ops on top of that already here, and most of them need 15 minute obs - with no extra help".
That's the problem. They are supposed to wean. Most baby's who have been on gtts, that long do fine to be extubated by just weaning a bit. And when you go cold turkey like that, it's just asking for the kid to seize.
That's the problem. They are supposed to wean. Most baby's who have been on gtts, that long do fine to be extubated by just weaning a bit. And when you go cold turkey like that, it's just asking for the kid to seize.
That's what I thought....just what you need with fragile cerebral vessels.
Oh, tell me about it. To top it off, when the kid starts seizing, the doc is so confused, because he's never done it before.
Yeah....on the other end of the life span, in LTC, benzodiazepines were often d/c'd cold turkey (on a Friday)....when Bertha seized Sunday afternoon, the on-call doc would be in a panic... Even when I'd mention to the nurse taking care of the patient to tell the doc that benzo's had been hacked 2 days earlier, the doc wouldn't always know that seizures are a major complication of cold-turkey benzo withdrawal.
If I was working, I'd get on the phone, and explain I'd worked at a drug/alcohol rehab place, and ask if we could TRY a taper...most were just glad someone else had an idea- and they'd go for it (plus small town, limited # of docs, so we all knew who we were talking to, and if they were suggestible). The nurses weren't used to detoxing patients, so it wasn't their fault (or responsibility) to teach the docs not to just drop a med....but they didn't want to mess with seizures, possible falls/incident reports/ER transfers/family notifications, etc. so they would derail the cold-turkey plan as often as possible.
Yikes.... with a little runt, I can imagine the damage it could do to a little brain. I would float to NICU when I worked pediatrics, and while I only took care of the feed/grow kids, I saw the micros. And, on peds, NICU was the place they started. It was good to see how they started :)
hahahaha! Also great to hear as you walk in the door at home ... "oh, so glad that you're home, now we can tackle that clogged toilet, clean the crayon off the wall, jr has a fever, history project, fill in the blank." :)
Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.
There is actually a lot of insight in this thread! From the vet tech to the baby nurses I have learned a lot about what other folks have to contend with! The comments on the baby on Fentanyl ran a chill up my spine when I looked at my little Em in her swing!
"The agency nurse who was going to be an hour late because she didn't know about the Day Light Savings change has decided not to come in. So you'll have to be in charge and take a load - sorry!"
"The storm's caused flooding in rooms 13, 14 and 17/18 but we're at capacity, hospital-wide, so try to work around it. Oh, and engineering say it's not safe to use the lights, so here's a torch [flashlight if you're American/Canadian]."
"That ex-ICU closed head injury IVDU's starting to arc up - Trauma says he's Neuro Surg, Neuro Surg say he's Trauma, and neither of them will review him."
That was a fun afternoon, but the following morning was even more brilliant - me, my pregnant NUM, the Behaviours of Concern coordinator, the psych emergency response nurse, the patient's psych nurse [or so we thought - or PCA, as it turns out] and two security guards running down the street. Oh, and we're a medical ward...
i would think they would be in real trouble w/detox....????? 
I would float to NICU when I worked pediatrics, and while I only took care of the feed/grow kids, I saw the micros. And, on peds, NICU was the place they started. It was good to see how they started :) 
Dalzac, LPN, LVN, RN
697 Posts
The float nurse from the floor won't take any vents so you get 3.