After last week's fun and games, I'm feeling rather boring!
Here is what I've learned:
1. Hepatitis, PVD and pyoderma gangrenosum are a horrible combination for medical history. HORRIBLE!
2. Chasing a person's heart rate, blood sugar and blood pressure all night long while this normally walkie/talkie person won't wake up, makes it a bit frustrating to have an extremely conservative hospitalist on board that night.
3. Going completely out of your way for a complex dressing change (moving slowly to let pain ease, knowing the lady in #2 will be crashing again soon) makes it incredibly frustrating to learn this guy complained about getting two changes in one shift. Dude. First time was for assessment and that shizz was nasty. Second time was because dude acted like he had compartment syndrome (he did not), and the bandage was again nasty.
4. I've been a city mouse in the country way too long.
5. My little girl does not want to be a nurse when she grows up, but she does very much want to learn nursing stuff. Her timing could not be more perfect. My son helped me study for my bachelors degree. Now she can help me with my doctorate!
6. That same little girl has been a wonderful wound care nurse for my biopsy site.
7. The original Siamese Twins had 21 total children. Their cause of death - one had a stroke and died a few days later. Apparently you don't survive having a dead person's blood running through you. Incidentally, they shared a liver.
8. Morphine is a hell of a drug.
9. It is actually possible for a systolic blood pressure to go from 90s to 190s and back to 90s in the span of a half hour without medication being administered and with absolutely no change whatsoever in patient or blood pressure cuff. (Would absolutely love to hear theories on this.)
10. People respond better to smoking cessation education when you cut them some slack.
11. Smokers can also sniff out a never-smoker from a mile away. I'm sorry to say it, guys, but many (if not most) of these smokers are tuning your out as soon as they hear, "quit smoking". It has nothing to do whether they're considering quitting or not. They know you don't know how hard it is to quit and they feel judged.
12. Scarlet fever comes with a white strawberry tongue.
13. If you're getting lidocaine SQ/IM, ask for a nurse to give it to you. I have gotten this stuff from doctors and they just go grab the biggest needle, draw a bunch up, and shove it in. This NP grabbed an SQ of reasonable size, injected a tiny bit, waited, then injected the rest rather slowly, making sure the first part was able to numb the rest. This is why nurses rock. We think of stuff like this.
14. Hope for Alzheimer's research: the brain of a mouse has lymphatic vessels, draining fluid and WBCs from the brain. Also, medications which enhance the "brain cleaning" system (preventing/decreasing the amount of tau buildup) are being researched. Unfortunately, those already known to be affected won't benefit from this research. But it is certainly promising for those of us being left behind by Alzheimer's sufferers.
15. Apparently a kid played a trick on his nurse mom by convincing her she won the Powerball. If any of you is that mom, I'm sorry. So, so sorry.
Alright, peeps. How about you? Learn anything good?
I'm learning this week that there must be some big, deep, dark hole out there in the universe that swallows up all the snow shovels that were purchased the previous year. Like they become an outdated model or something??
Am watching the TV weather news clips about folk running out to buy snow shovels - didn't they have any last year? Are they the wrong color? I still have my original 1992 snow shovel - works fine.
I know what you mean and I think gloves end up there as well!
Even though I'm not currently working or in school- I did learn some things this week:
-- 2-3 doses/day of alka seltzer over 3-4 days can put an 89y/o man in CHF (new onset- but hx of heart disease & CABG)
--instead of just stressing to nursing staff that pt WILL sundown in hospital & to make sure he gets clonopin so he'll sleep, I need to stay to make sure it gets done properly. (It was found in his bed the next morning)
-- if an 89 y/o man with dementia doesn't sleep all night, he is a different person the next morning. Not a pleasant one either. Threats were made with a cane, restraints were used, bad things were said.
This 89 y/o man is my Dad. The meds were finally adjusted & he finally got some sleep. Was more like his slightly confused but joking self when he woke. But dammit, it was really hard.
I read on here and know many of you take care of parents, spouses, ((((viva))) and I feel a bit of kinship with you all.
AND I did not go on fb and rant about the mistakes that were made in the hospital! Didn't even go over anyone's head as it could've happened to anyone. The nurses my Dad had were really great with him!
Hopefully no more lessons like that coming up!!
I'm ready to go back to work, just don't know what I really want to do.
Ideally wanted to do inpatient hospice but don't have one around here. Second choice????
Nurse Leigh- did I see on here that you might be looking into doing something different?
Nursing or out of it entirely? I'm just taking in information & ideas at this stage...
I know I don't want bedside. I like clinics, but very few here hire RNs. Have read posts about CM with insurance companies but don't have a full understanding of what that entails.
Ok! Rambling all over the place. As you can see, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up!! Lol
Nurse Leigh- did I see on here that you might be looking into doing something different?
Nursing or out of it entirely? I'm just taking in information & ideas at this stage...
I know I don't want bedside. I like clinics, but very few here hire RNs. Have read posts about CM with insurance companies but don't have a full understanding of what that entails.
Ok! Rambling all over the place. As you can see, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up!! Lol
My only nursing experience was about 5 years on a (pseudo) tele floor. I have to say that as crazy as it was, I learned so much and I'm glad to have it on my resume. If I stick with nursing, I have a couple (ok, several) things I'd like to try.
If there were an inpatient hospice facility near here I might try it. ED would be interesting, but I've also considered getting certified in wound nursing. Oh yeah, my first job after college (but before nursing school) was case management in a community mental health organization and I think the nurses who worked there had it pretty sweet - they filled med boxes for our clients among other things but they also seemed able to take the time and converse with our clients and help them as they learned to navigate the community.
So yeah, it's kinda all over the place for me. Lol
Even though I'm not currently working or in school- I did learn some things this week:
-- 2-3 doses/day of alka seltzer over 3-4 days can put an 89y/o man in CHF (new onset- but hx of heart disease & CABG)
--instead of just stressing to nursing staff that pt WILL sundown in hospital & to make sure he gets clonopin so he'll sleep, I need to stay to make sure it gets done properly. (It was found in his bed the next morning)
-- if an 89 y/o man with dementia doesn't sleep all night, he is a different person the next morning. Not a pleasant one either. Threats were made with a cane, restraints were used, bad things were said.
This 89 y/o man is my Dad. The meds were finally adjusted & he finally got some sleep. Was more like his slightly confused but joking self when he woke. But dammit, it was really hard.
I read on here and know many of you take care of parents, spouses, ((((viva))) and I feel a bit of kinship with you all.
AND I did not go on fb and rant about the mistakes that were made in the hospital! Didn't even go over anyone's head as it could've happened to anyone. The nurses my Dad had were really great with him!
Hopefully no more lessons like that coming up!!
I'm ready to go back to work, just don't know what I really want to do.
Ideally wanted to do inpatient hospice but don't have one around here. Second choice????
School Nurse.
I'm sorry about your Dad. My Dad has been sick for years. He doesn't have dementia, he has multiple head trauma and MS. He gets pretty loopy. Last time he was in the hospital he thought he was landing a plane at JFK airport.
This is what some of the Can't Pass NCLEX in xxxxx Attempts makes me want to do. God forbid you be realistic - you are told you are a mean bully dream killer who should leave the site.
Oh I wish there were more stringent standardization regarding NCLEX throughout the states. Five, six, ten, fifteen attempts is beyond excessive, beyond "test anxiety" - it's insane.
This is what some of the Can't Pass NCLEX in xxxxx Attempts makes me want to do. God forbid you be realistic - you are told you are a mean bully dream killer who should leave the site.
Oh I wish there were more stringent standardization regarding NCLEX throughout the states. Five, six, ten, fifteen attempts is beyond excessive, beyond "test anxiety" - it's insane.
:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
Carry on.
Agreed. There should be a limit. 3.
I don't look at those threads. Unless Jensmom tells me to.
:banghead: 
Nurse Leigh
1,149 Posts
I know what you mean and I think gloves end up there as well!