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Discussion

What a Day (*rant*)

This was just one of those days that made ya wish you had stayed in bed. I got "showered" three times by machines this morning when I was setting up (at 4:30am). We've been having trouble with the "quick-disconnect" water supply hoses. We use Braun machines & get a "water supply disturbance" message sometimes in the mornings. We think it may be the cleaning crew...maybe. Anyway, ususally if you push the two bits of hose together tightly, it solves the problem. Well, I did this to one of our machines first thing this morning & it blew apart on me & I got SOAKED. I looked like I had wet myself! :imbar Then it happened again. :rolleyes:

Then I was disconnecting a patient and instead of connecting the arterial line to the saline line for rinseback, I connected it to the wrong end and ended up dumping about 200cc NS on my shoe. Loooovely. :stone

Later, I was flipping through a patient's chart & caught my middle fingertip on a staple and punctured it...OUCH. :angryfire

And did I mention that it was my birthday today too?

On a sad note...today one of our patients took a turn. She'd been going downhill for awhile now & was always on O2 during tx. Well, she started turning blue around the gills (while on O2) and asked that her husband be called to come in. Then she started saying good-bye to the staff. (I wasn't in the section that she was in, so I heard all of this from a co-worker who was working that section.) Apparently she let a sigh/shudder out at one point and my co-workers told me that they looked at each other, knowing that this lady had just given off a "death rattle". She refused to be taken off of dialysis because she was worried that she would die before her husband would get there. Well, he got there ok and she told him that she loved him and asked him to tell some of her friends that she'll miss them and she loves them. Finally her tx was over, they disconnected her and she went back to the nursing home where she's been living. They called a cab for her husband to take to the nursing home. We're laying odds that she didn't last much longer. I'm wondering if she even made it back to the home, from the way everyone was talking. Poor thing. She was a sweet lady & a former nurse. :o We've lost patients along the way, but usually they aren't THAT close to dying when they're at the clinic. This was pretty unusual.

Featured Replies

(((HUGS))) AmyLiz ! Welcome to the world of Dialysis.

Sorry to hear of your patient's downhill turn... always very sad, even more so when you've known them for several years. It's hard on the other patients as well, as they bond, too. :o At least she was aware enough to call her DH and have him by her side... a comfort to both.

As for the waterline disconnect... ha ha ha !!! So you were initiated ! :chuckle Happens to us all sooner or later. Has happened to me several times as well.. I got soaked from head to toe once. The patients get a kick out of it, as do the rest of the staff. Always some little surprises lurking in this field.

So how are things going for you now? Haven't heard from you in awhile. You doing ok? Are you liking it? Fill me in. :)

Some people reckon "Magic Happens".

In truth "Sh*t Happens". Someday's it pays not to get out of bed!

  • Author

So far so good. I like it. Only thing I don't like is in the afternoons in the downtime between turnovers. I get bored just sitting there. We usually get our run sheets done for the day & for the first shift of the next day early on, so there's not much else to do by the afternoon. I'm just glad I'm working the early shift (4:30a-5p) since it seems to be the busiest.

I'm no longer being followed around by my preceptor and seem to be doing quite well from what everyone's been telling me. I'm enjoying it...luckily I work with a good group of people. :)

So far so good. I like it. Only thing I don't like is in the afternoons in the downtime between turnovers. I get bored just sitting there. We usually get our run sheets done for the day & for the first shift of the next day early on, so there's not much else to do by the afternoon. I'm just glad I'm working the early shift (4:30a-5p) since it seems to be the busiest.

I'm no longer being followed around by my preceptor and seem to be doing quite well from what everyone's been telling me. I'm enjoying it...luckily I work with a good group of people. :)

Good for you ! That's so kool. And you very fortunate to be working with great ppl.

We don't have a "downtime" between our first and second shift of pts. Our first ones come off starting about 0800 and the second group is waiting in the wings to be put on. We put them on as just as soon as the first ones are off, the machines torn down, cleaned, reset up and tested. So we're actually taking off and putting on all at the same time. It's what we call "crazy time.." it is VERY hectic during turnover. Our last patient is on usually by 1030... then we can breathe again, get our sheets in, and start going to luch about 11... our last patient is done by 1400, and we usually leave the clinic by 3 pm. Sometimes I wish we had that "downtime", but then again, it would mean we all would end up staying later... nah ! :chuckle

Glad you're enjoying and doing well... proud of you !

Keep me posted from time to time !

  • Author

We've got 3 shifts of patients. We start early as we can (usually around 5:30am) and if we're lucky, they're spaced out so that we don't have 3 or 4 coming off at the same time (which unfortunately happened in my section yesterday!). Usually the "boring" downtime is in the afternoon around 4pm when the 3rd shift is on. I leave at 5 and they're usually still on. On M,W,F's we have a small 4th shift of patients that come on around 5:30-6:30, but there are only a few of those...and I'm long gone by then. ;)

Hi,

We've got 8 chairs, 2 shifts, 6 days a week and we are full. We also don't have any downtime, we just work like crazy during turnaround. My favorite is when I'm the only RN with 2 PCTs and we have 3 IJs on the same shift. On that day, I'm running from pt to pt doing assessments, signing off on machine settings, putting the 3 IJs on, then pulling up meds. And those days are the ones where I have all the newer pts. FUN!!

My favorite soaking is when a PCT let the water running into the Bicarb mixer and flooded the water room, hallway, and the bosses office with about 2 inches of water. And we're on the 4th floor of a hospital. :rotfl: We were doing a lot of running and splashing to get it cleaned up.

I've only been doing dialysis since March 2003 but I love it. One nurse decided to start a home health service a couple months after I started and another just decided to join her so I am senior nurse already. We've had a PCT decide to go to nursing school and that made me most senior of all the PCTs and RNs except my boss! :uhoh21:

jnette, how long have you been in dialysis, you sound like you have alot of experience. I may need you for advice here. :uhoh3:

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