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?
This week I learned that everybody exaggerates how difficult the NCLEX is and that if you prepare, you come out alive. Passed my boards in 75 Q and an official RN now, like most peeps here. Holla!
I would love to move home and go to Hofstra, but it is waaay too expensive. Almost all of my family that lived in NY has moved south. But I will take my kids to Jones Beach one day.
This week I learned that everybody exaggerates how difficult the NCLEX is and that if you prepare, you come out alive. Passed my boards in 75 Q and an official RN now, like most peeps here. Holla!
1. Being awake for 51 hours, with 4.25 hours of naps really sucks, and I hope I don't have to do it again for a long time. Unfortunately, with school starting back up plus working nights it may happen again sooner rather than later :-(.
2. I can't wait to have enough CNA hospital experience to be able to transfer to the ER as a tech. Med-surg is driving me bananas these days.
That there really are people out there who believe that essential oils can cure cancer. SMH.....
I was at a birthday party last night where someone was discussing how swishing a tablespoon of coconut oil in your mouth for 30 minutes keep your teeth from getting cavities. She admitted it was horrible though - trying to swish for 30 minutes and then the oiliness.
That there really are people out there who believe that essential oils can cure cancer. SMH.....
You should see that one thread about holistic nursing where an individual believed Vitamin C was the answer for all diseases. Let me see if I can find it...
And does anyone know what milking or stripping a tube is? Google has failed me. I keep getting search results that says to avoid doing it but not what it actually means.
And does anyone know what milking or stripping a tube is? Google has failed me. I keep getting search results that says to avoid doing it but not what it actually means.
I assume you mean a chest tube? Milking and stripping are a little different but they both involve manipulating and squeezing the tube and trying to promote drainage. There's little evidence that it does much for improving drainage and quite a bit of evidence that it can damage the thoracic cavity tissue. Here's a good article:
You should see that one thread about holistic nursing where an individual believed Vitamin C was the answer for all diseases. Let me see if I can find it...
And does anyone know what milking or stripping a tube is? Google has failed me. I keep getting search results that says to avoid doing it but not what it actually means.
We strip chest tubes on my floor. You hold the top of it firmly then squeeze whatever is in the proximal tube down to the first junction. It increases the pressure in the chest causing more fluid/clots to come.
I guess we are also doing a study to decide if we will continue this practice.
1. Being awake for 51 hours, with 4.25 hours of naps really sucks, and I hope I don't have to do it again for a long time. Unfortunately, with school starting back up plus working nights it may happen again sooner rather than later :-(.
2. I can't wait to have enough CNA hospital experience to be able to transfer to the ER as a tech. Med-surg is driving me bananas these days.
3. BOGS boots are awesome!
I love my BOGS!!! And they come in so many pretty patterns.
Thank you, Eliz and mysonsmama. Yes, I was referring to a chest tube. Those were very clear, helpful explanations. Now, back to studying chest tubes...
I've learned that the 3-system disposable, drainage system is used most often for chest tubes. The first chamber collects the drainage, the second chamber is the water seal (containing 2 cm of sterile water), and the suction control that determines how much suctioning there is by the amount of fluid in it.
I've learned that being able to assist someone with their emesis, clean them up & go back to nurse station starving is an actual "asset" on the Psych Unit. So is being able to perform wound care on nasty & scary wounds, clean out bedside commode,& still be hungry --- always get the "in awe" look when I wash up then head for my snack!!!
I've learned that I really am a Psych Nurse (dang it!)
Farawyn
12,646 Posts
YAY!!!!
So freaking proud of you. What's next?