I know bottles were made of glass, but what was IV tubing made of before the invention and widespread use of plastics?
What other common devices used in heathcare (latex gloves, syringes, needles, pulse-ox machines, anesthesia equipment) have changed since World War II and The Korean War?
I know most people here were nota round then, but I thought some folks might know from stories of family and friends.
I have been watching M*A*S*H and it has really got me thinking of nursing in the last half century.
Getting those mitered corners exactly right and very tight was a huge deal!
My mom was an RN during WW2 and told me when she went to Nursing school in the early fourties, supposedly the instructors said you had to make a bed so tight and smooth that a quarter could be bounced on it.
I remember everyone smoking during change of shift report. The docs ran around with pipes and cigars. Our dress code was very stict in the 70's and I liked it. You absolutely could tell who was an RN versus other disciplines. Getting "capped" was so important in the educational process. I ended up working where I trained and the sinks were in a narrow space that connected two patients rooms. I remember my cap getting knocked off my head just about every time I went to the next room through that path.
In the 80's one of our alcohol detox docs would sometimes order IV paraldehyde for his patients. It had to be given with a glass syringe which had to be hunted up in central service. This drug literallly "melts" plastic. We we told to inject it in the nearest port to the IV site and then flush afterwards with a lot of saline. Then hold your nose when you went into that patient's room because paraldehyde is excreted through the lungs and it stunk of the intense, nasty fruity smell as only an aldehyde can.
This thread has really taken me back to both the amusing and the amazing! What I remember about paraldehyde was not the IV method, but we used to have to mix it in some juice in a glass...right, NOT PLASTIC...and have those alcoholics drink it!
:wink2: I haven't seen mention of those old glass thermometers that had to be shaken down by hand or, if you were lucky, put into a centrifuge machine (before soaking in alcohol) which, as sometimes might occur, if they weren't seated just right every one of those old mercury thermometers would go flying as soon as that centrifuge was turned on. Also made a racket similar to those metal bedpans.
Now that we're down memory lane, every now and then I think of those poor psych patients, who had to undergo ECT "cold turkey", with no benefit of tranquilization of any kind. We had to drag them bodily to the stretcher, place a padded tongue blade between their teeth, then had to practically sit on them to hold them down (often took more than one person for this part) to keep them from thrashing around and getting hurt when the 'juice' was turned on. Thankfully, things have changed considerably! They used ECT much more freely then than now.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
I remember all the old techniques you're all mentioning. Hey, anybody remember Dakins solution and what it was used for? How about Benzoin? An Np told me recently no one uses that anymore.
Well, a few years ago we had a doc in LTC order Dakins solution soaks for a patient's stasis ulcer. Has an odor reminiscent of bleach. It came from the pharmacy in unit dose packets. We used to use tincture of Benzoin to keep Buck's traction intact. We occassionally used it when I was on an IV team to keep tape plastered down. However, the colostomy suppliers came up with a better alternative to make the skin tacky so tape would stick.
How about Unna boots (actually Unna wrap) for leg ulcers complicated by edema?
Well, a few years ago we had a doc in LTC order Dakins solution soaks for a patient's stasis ulcer. Has an odor reminiscent of bleach. It came from the pharmacy in unit dose packets. We used to use tincture of Benzoin to keep Buck's traction intact. We occassionally used it when I was on an IV team to keep tape plastered down. However, the colostomy suppliers came up with a better alternative to make the skin tacky so tape would stick.
How about Unna boots (actually Unna wrap) for leg ulcers complicated by edema?
You got it- good old Dakins. Benzoin is good stuff for colostomies because if I recall it was felt to toughen the skin as well as create a more adherent surface. The paste for colostomies is terrific because it fills in gaps as post surgical edema decreases or if the T-Bar is still in place. Please educate me: what is Bucks traction?
Dakin's is a weak bleach solution. Our wound care nurse uses it frequently for those wet, weepy, green-slimy kinds and it works great. They use benzoin spray in the ICU here frequently. And I still see Unna boots! (No, I don't live in the sticks, either!)
i know bottles were made of glass, but what was iv tubing made of before the invention and widespread use of plastics?
what other common devices used in heathcare (latex gloves, syringes, needles, pulse-ox machines, anesthesia equipment) have changed since world war ii and the korean war?
i know most people here were nota round then, but i thought some folks might know from stories of family and friends.
i have been watching m*a*s*h and it has really got me thinking of nursing in the last half century.
This was not so long ago... (1979) we had metal everything... bedpans, emesis basins everything... and yes we had to wash them BY HAND in a large utility sink. Clanking and banging... all night long. We had an OOOLLLDDD nurse that got peeved at us one night for laffing while cleaning the pans... she took a bedpan and threw it at us.. it hit the window, hit the floor, banged on everything, broke the window...(thank goodness it was spring time)... she got fired for disturbing the patients!!! Our unit was 31 patients and I think 29 of them complained the next morning!!! gone are those days!
Also, thermometers were glass and no covers... we had 31 of each... oral and rectal and we sterilized them in alcohol 6 times a day!!! Not fun!!! and yes I have chased mercury around the floor!
Anyone remember the red rubber hoses they used for enemas. The metal bed pans that were dropped on the floor and sent everyone to the morgue because of the noise. We had one nurse and q noc she would drag out the pans wash them and clatter all over the place
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Please educate me: what is Bucks traction?
It is a tape (moleskin, I believe) that is wrapped on the lower leg along with a metal attachment at the bottom of the foot. Weighted traction is placed on the leg to prevent muscle spasm and shortening after a hip fracture until they can get the patient in to surgery to fix them up.
Dakins is saline, bleach and bicarb. I love it and am sorry to see it's use decline. It's one of the best things to clean up infected wounds, esp. psuedomonas. And I've seen Unna Boot do an amazing job. I remember when Skin Prep came out in the early 80's. It's made for stoma care, but at the time I worked on a med/surg floor and we discovered very quickly that it prevented skin breakdown on pts. with fecal incontinence. Now it seems to be used mostly as an adhesive booster for IV/TLC dressings.
Now that we're down memory lane, every now and then I think of those poor psych patients, who had to undergo ECT "cold turkey", with no benefit of tranquilization of any kind. We had to drag them bodily to the stretcher, place a padded tongue blade between their teeth, then had to practically sit on them to hold them down (often took more than one person for this part) to keep them from thrashing around and getting hurt when the 'juice' was turned on. Thankfully, things have changed considerably! They used ECT much more freely then than now.
I work in a psychiatric facility, and one of the patients has been going out for ECT for the past few months. I could have asked one of the nurses or docs at work but it always slipped my mind while at work and now Im on my "vacation before I have no life for four months!" so Im asking before it slips my mind AGAIN! Im a secretary who starts NS in a week and I was wondering how ECTs are done now days? Is it still the same as what you described?
I am not sure about the other things you asked about but as far as glvoes go...I don't think they used anything. When I was in school we watched a really really outdated video on Pelvic exams.... and the lady doing the exam washed her hands and did not wear gloves at all. I think the video was fromt he late 70's or early 80's. But I remember thinking when we were watching it... EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Thankfully, things have changed considerably! They used ECT much more freely then than now.
Im a secretary who starts NS in a week and I was wondering how ECTs are done now days? Is it still the same as what you described?
jsteine1
325 Posts
Getting those mitered corners exactly right and very tight was a huge deal!
My mom was an RN during WW2 and told me when she went to Nursing school in the early fourties, supposedly the instructors said you had to make a bed so tight and smooth that a quarter could be bounced on it.