Since ixchel is taking a much deserved break, she was gracious enough to allow me to fill in for her. Here's hoping I don't blow up her thread.
My next door neighbor is a retired nurse. She frequently comes over to visit me, which leads me to the title of the thread: where two or more retired nurses are gathered, the talk eventually turns to nursing.
Sharon (not her real name) has a son who works at a local hospital. He frequently fills his mother in with his experiences. She'll often share them with me, and many times the two of us end up shaking our heads in disbelief at how nursing has changed, sometimes for the good, often for the bad.
So what did I learn? I know that now, with greater certainty than before, that I dearly miss nursing, but not what it has become.
I've also learned that I must have some sort of invisible "Welcome, Free Lodging" sign over my head that only respiratory bugs can see. Every year like clockwork these invaders turn me into a coughing, sneezing, snotting host for them. It will get better, but by Oct/Nov. it will happen again.
And when a doctor gives you abx. for a sinus infection from Hades and tells you to make sure you take it with a probiotic, believe. him/her.
So, what have you learned this week? Hope you had a good one!
Wouldn't it be great if we could use our retired nurses who still wanted to work a few hours a week to help teach skills. Win:win for for all involved.
He wrote Being Mortal, Complications, Better, and The Checklist Manifesto. They are all typically about the healthcare system and the many double edged swords we face when trying to do what is best and ethical.
....I feel like I know what you're referencing about the doctor with cancer writing a book but, like yourself, can't quite recall which book it is....
JUST CAME UP WITH IT:When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
He wrote Being Mortal, Complications, Better, and The Checklist Manifesto. They are all typically about the healthcare system and the many double edged swords we face when trying to do what is best and ethical.
....I feel like I know what you're referencing about the doctor with cancer writing a book but, like yourself, can't quite recall which book it is....
JUST CAME UP WITH IT:When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Thanks. I'm always looking for new reads. I will check him out.
He wrote Being Mortal, Complications, Better, and The Checklist Manifesto. They are all typically about the healthcare system and the many double edged swords we face when trying to do what is best and ethical.
....I feel like I know what you're referencing about the doctor with cancer writing a book but, like yourself, can't quite recall which book it is....
JUST CAME UP WITH IT:When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Actually, the book I was thinking of was The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. But I'll be sure to look into that book - I'm a book nerd. I hope to have a library in my future house.
ETA: Has anyone read Survival of the Sickest by Sharon Moalem? It was an interesting book.
Re:Atul Gawande - Complications is his best one; none of the others are as good IMO. My health system actually had us read Being Mortal last year (gave us BRANDED copies of the book; it had the hospital system logo on the front cover and an insert with a message from our CEO, and was thus CONTAMINATED by filth) and had him come speak at my hospital at the conference center. I missed it. I probably would have made an effort to go see him if it wasn't sponsored by my employer, but as it was, the experience felt tainted for me.
This week, I learned that all the talk of only letting people who want to precept be preceptors was a load of bull. Our version of API notifies us when self-scheduling is available for the next time tract. Usually I get two emails for various profiles I'm under - one that says "Telemonitor RN" and another that says "ICU RN," but this time I got a third for a profile of "Preceptor RN." Really? REALLY?!
I don't mean to sound ungrateful or spoiled, but when they insist that they are only going to use volunteers for preceptors, I'm going to be a teensy bit angry when my profile includes "Preceptor" without me volunteering first. Good job on keeping your word, boss people. I also really think I am not preceptor material because I just about snapped somebody's head off last night for doing something really stupid. I'm not old enough to be old (even though I am starting to FEEL old), but I think my crust is starting to show. Just... can't... deal with the stupid... anymore...
I also learned I will go to the ends of the earth for my coworkers, even in the "other" units if they are struggling, but I will feel taken advantage of if I go off my side to help someone with an URGENT! request, and that request is that I make the pot of coffee for that unit. ***, dude. You can make your own dang pot of coffee, especially if you are sitting at a different coworker's pod and socializing when I walk around. I kind of had a work crush on you up until this point, but you just killed it dead. At least you made my life easier because I'm too busy being irritated by you to think inappropriate thoughts about you now.
Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.
1) I must be the Black Cloud this week. 3 patients bounced to ICU (2 later intubated), 1 in Afib/RVR, 1 in SVT this week. I suppose RRTs no longer make me nervous.
2) Working night shift understaffed totally sucks. Having 1 aide on the floor with insulin drips, post-surg patients that have to be toileted RIGHT NOW due to Lasix, etc. isn't safe for anyone. We had our first fall on day shift in months because a sitter wasn't provided when we asked for one. We're agitating for better staffing. This isn't my first rodeo; don't feed me malarkey about not "having the budget" when you just hired multiple nurses to get another aide. Our aides keep quitting because they're so overworked.
3) I no longer trust any type of report from nurses from smaller hospital hospitals and/or the transporters. I've had patients show up in absolutely ridiculous conditions that I'm surprised didn't die in the ambulance. Two of those aforementioned patients ended up going straight to our Level 1 CTICU.
1) I no longer trust any type of report from nurses from smaller hospital hospitals and/or the transporters. I've had patients show up in absolutely ridiculous conditions that I'm surprised didn't die in the ambulance. Two of those aforementioned patients ended up going straight to our Level 1 CTICU.
This seriously perplexes me. I worked as a medic for 6 years and didn't understand the gripe of nursing staff in hospital about EMS- until I started working as a nurse. Seriously, good EMS reports are the exception and not the rule in the ED. I am shocked at the number of questions I ask them that they then have to turn and ask the patient or get annoyed that I'm asking them for more info. Dude, I assumed you got a history on your patient, my bad.
Conversely, I also dealt with many nurses in my time on the truck who would tell me "you're just transport, I called report to the receiving nurse". Uh, this patient is vented with multiple pressors and 2 sedation drips. I think maybe I deserve a little bit of a report, after all I am assuming care for this patient for the next hour......
This week, I learned that the number of people who show up to a code is inversely proportional to the amount of space the code is taking place in.
There is one unit in my facility that still has 4-bed wards, and as luck would have it, the code was in one of the beds in the back corner. I feel like we were practically standing on her roommate's bed, there were so many of us. It seemed like there were about 50 people in there. Safety issue, anyone??
smartassmommy
324 Posts
That is a genius idea!