1/16 What I learned this week: Siamese Twins be Pimpin'

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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?

Specializes in Urology, HH, med/Surg.
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...

Must be related to that 'nice lady' on the flu vaccine thread. If I remember correctly, Vit C was her med of choice for everything!!

Specializes in retired LTC.

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 realize this was answered, but Gastric Tubes (the first ones from insertion) also are 'milked or stripped' for much the same reason to clear out the lumen of junky clogged-up formula residue. This usually (99.44%) is a direct result of failure to water-flush adequately. When you milk a GT, you usually can express some yucky curdled yuk. Just FYI.

Moral of this post - remember to flush your GTs!

I love my BOGS!!! And they come in so many pretty patterns.

Mine:

Plimsoll Prince of Wales High Women's Insulated Boots - 71540

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Holy crap from the Target bargain hunter- those are expensive!

Holy crap from the Target bargain hunter- those are expensive!

Nein. Not too much.

:bag:

Must be related to that 'nice lady' on the flu vaccine thread. If I remember correctly, Vit C was her med of choice for everything!!

Ah, that's who I was thinking of!

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
Holy crap from the Target bargain hunter- those are expensive!

You think those are bad, try these:

warmest winter boots and outdoor wear

a gal I work with loves outdoorsy things and swears by them. I am not nearly outdoorsy enough to invest that much, but I suppose if you spend a lot of time outdoors in the winter they may be worth it.

Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.
You think those are bad, try these:

warmest winter boots and outdoor wear

Gah! I think I can hear my bank account screaming just because I looked!

You think those are bad, try these:

warmest winter boots and outdoor wear

a gal I work with loves outdoorsy things and swears by them. I am not nearly outdoorsy enough to invest that much, but I suppose if you spend a lot of time outdoors in the winter they may be worth it.

I don't have those, but I have Minnetonkas.

I also have Uggs.

Ugg snowboots!

What I want? Frye. Haven't been able to justify spending the dough.

I like boots.

Specializes in allergy and asthma, urgent care.
I don't have those, but I have Minnetonkas.

I also have Uggs.

Ugg snowboots!

What I want? Frye. Haven't been able to justify spending the dough.

I like boots.

Mine:

Classic Winter Blooms Mid Women's Insulated Boots - 71533

I have a boot fetish. The only thing I like about winter is that I can wear my boots. I also want Fryes...

Tomorrow's my very first day of for real nursing school.

I'm so excited.

But so nervous and scared.

Specializes in Telemetry.
Tomorrow's my very first day of for real nursing school.

I'm so excited.

But so nervous and scared.

Best of luck!

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