The Russians insist for gastroenteritis vodka with black pepper. A couple of kids even got out of detention when they found vodka in their rooms, because the parents explained it was medicinal. It turns out this was not just an excuse, but is widely believed. They use vodka for many of their health problems. I've never tested this theory out, but they truly believe it, Who knows?
A grain of sugar in a hard to get out splinter - a Zimbabwean nurse showed me this, and it really worked. The sugar apparently draws in fluid, and the splinter works its way out. Never used it myself, but watched the result when my colleague has. There have been some stories in the papers about the use of sugar lately, so they might have some hard evidence soon.
Fractured clavicles - we had some problems because the Russian parents insisted a middle clavicle fracture should be operated and put back in alignment, while local doctor's said no. Parents still angry despite 3 doctor's recommendations, and flew child home for surgery.
Bedrest - for minor coughs/colds, Russian parents insist on complete rest in bed, and the insist that a temp of 37.0 centigrade is a fever.
Just some of the interesting things I've come across.
I don't know if this counts as an old wives tale, but whenever I would get the hiccups as a kid my grandma would give me a spoonful of sugar and water to wash it down. It always works without fail for me. Not just water, not just sugar, but sugar followed by water.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
This made me lol. You're trying, OP. Keep fighting the good fight!
I had an impossible to remove splinter once and trusting my body would do its job, I gave up and waited. Rather than simply push it out, my body broke it down. So, so gross! I do wonder about the sugar - I imagine the sugar encourages bacteria which then promotes an immune/inflammatory response. That's interesting.
The sugar works by simple osmosis with moisture drawn water from a high level of concentration to one of low concentration and thus expelling the splinter - I haven't tried this myself but in theory it should work . I will do the experiment the next time I get a splinter.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
I'm going to try that sugar trick for splinters. I wonder if it would work with the spike of a goat head getting broken off in your foot? That happens to me constantly.
Thanks OP. Seriously. Never heard that before.
I have horny goat heads in my garden and have been rooting them out for years - those suckers hurt.
In the psych unit I've started doing some of the stuff from this book, which the patients generally hate ("Can't I just have Ativan... and trazodone... and maybe Zyprexa... or Restoril?"), but I'm the anti-drug nurse.
I'm really enjoying this thread but I cringed when I read this post. If the people are in a psych unit, there should be a medical condition that would warrant the use of medication. You wouldn't withhold Bp Meds on a cardiac floor so please don't hold ordered psych Meds. As a person who dealt with post-Partum anxiety, there is nothing worse than having the uncontrollable thoughts and worries racing and not being able to stop them. Sometimes Meds are needed at least in the short-term. A chemical imbalance in the brain can not simply be helped with meditation, therapeutic environment, etc. That is perhaps the worst thing about mental illness, you may appear complete and together on the outside but could be falling apart on the inside.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
I don't know if this counts as an old wives tale, but whenever I would get the hiccups as a kid my grandma would give me a spoonful of sugar and water to wash it down. It always works without fail for me. Not just water, not just sugar, but sugar followed by water.
My grand father used to treat nosebleeds by dropping a set of keys down the back of my blouse - no reason at all why it should work but it did every time.
I'm really enjoying this thread but I cringed when I read this post. If the people are in a psych unit, there should be a medical condition that would warrant the use of medication. You wouldn't withhold Bp Meds on a cardiac floor so please don't hold ordered psych Meds. As a person who dealt with post-Partum anxiety, there is nothing worse than having the uncontrollable thoughts and worries racing and not being able to stop them. Sometimes Meds are needed at least in the short-term. A chemical imbalance in the brain can not simply be helped with meditation, therapeutic environment, etc. That is perhaps the worst thing about mental illness, you may appear complete and together on the outside but could be falling apart on the inside.
Hold your horses there, Trigger. Maybe ask at least one question before you assume I'm holding scheduled meds or mistreating my patients. Have you ever worked psych? Easily half of the meds that are prescribed are PRNs, not scheduled. I have patients who get one scheduled med (say Zyprexa), but I'll have Haldol (PO and IM), Ativan (PO and IM), benadryl (PO and IM), trazodone, benztropine, ibuprofen, and Zyprexa ordered PRN.
Why? Lots of reasons. Part of it is proactive, we have standing orders in case any patient becomes dangerous to themselves or others. Our units are also sometimes loud, such as if we have a new patient with psychosis or mania who is up all night. Some patients are understandably anxious when they're held against their will. Some have actual anxiety disorders. In those cases we can offer something to help patients try to get sleep.
We also have patients who go through a revolving door of emergency rooms, inpatient units, the state hospital, the street, and back to the ED, who have been massively overprescribed benzos by providers who don't know what to do with them and who have become addicted. A patient on Ativan is a patient that's easy to control. We have patients who have a history of abusing benzos, often with a dual mental health and substance use diagnosis, who either can't have benzos or for whom they're tightly controlled. We have axis 2 patients (now called cluster B) who just want whatever meds they can talk you into giving them. They'll stumble up to you, slurring their words, barely able to stand, and swear they're racked with anxiety and need Ativan. We have patients who were prescribed a benzo by a PCP who should have known better (happens all the time). And, honestly, we have staff who will pass out PRNs like candy. It's understood that one of our shifts would have Ativan in a candy dish in the middle of the unit if they could, and that's a common perspective among medical providers.
Benzos are also massively addictive, and withdrawal is brutal. I have one day a week (two starting in July!) where I work in a practice seeing homeless patients. Half of what we do is ween them off of a benzo or z-drug addiction that someone else started. So, when I say that I'm an anti-drug nurse it comes from a place of experience and the deepest compassion, because the worst thing I can do for them is give them a med they don't need. And yes, I'm totally qualified to make that determination. :)
Dried urine is very sticky, even without the presence of glucose.
My husband's urine is way stickier when he is in ketoacidosis than normal everyday urine . . . . . and I know that because I'm the one who has always cleaned the toilet.
My husband's urine is way stickier when he is in ketoacidosis than normal everyday urine . . . . . and I know that because I'm the one who has always cleaned the toilet.
I forget what non-nurses talk about, but I bet it's not the stickiness of dried urine. I love nurses.
I forget what non-nurses talk about, but I bet it's not the stickiness of dried urine. I love nurses.
I see you are from Portland, Oregon. My eldest son and his wife lived there with their baby until recently. My daughter is still there and she works at a restaurant learning to be a chef. We love it up there.
BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN
3,520 Posts
As in "op was all b*tth*rt that no one responded to his thread"