What do I mean obsession? Well, the stuff that interests you the most with nursing, the stuff that you are compulsive about, etc.
My nursing obsession are bowel movements. My patients better be gettin' rid of the brown stuff or I will be questioning it all day! During patient teaching, regardless of the subject, I ALWAYS talk about the importance of fibre.
Side note: the inspiration of this thread stems from this big bowl of strawberry All-Bran I'm eating.
I'd like to add to my original post: I LOVE WOUNDS. As deranged as that sounds, I love packing, dressing, and cleaning them. The bigger, the better (for me, that is)!
I found this on page four and I couldn't stop laughing:
Great thread!
I am obsessed with my patients' pee. I need to know how much, how often, what it looks like, what's in it...I just have a urine issue, I guess! I also (this is kinda sick) sort of like cathing patients. Okay, I do like it. That way I can actually observe it at its finest! I enjoy hanging bolusus to encourage urination. And, in that respect, I am anal about documenting when I clear my pumps. To the point that I was known for it.
Let them know when you go to lunch and who to call if they need things then.
YESS!!!!! As a patient this is a wonderful thing to have done. When I was in the ER in Dec I had one nurse, she comes in, "I am going to dinner, ______ from triage is going to be filling in for me, if you need anything call her." I loved it SO much.
When I was an NA, it was making sure pts. got their teeth brushed. Often the baths got done but never the teeth. As an RN, HAVE THEY VOIDED? Drives me crazy when no-one charts this. And pts. scrunched down in bed, esp. if they are trying to eat, and most of all dirty food trays and half-eaten bowls of whatever lying around. Nasty, nasty, nasty!
:spbox: don't get me started!! this could be rather lengthy...
1. must have my med cart neat, organized, before i start. clean on top and papers all in order
2. nurses (or other employees) that backbite other employees. my med cart is a no gossip zone! if ya got a problem with someone,,,tell it to their face and get on with the job we are all here for...our patients.
3. fresh ice and drinking water
4. at meal time, all patients pulled up so they can reach their trays, open the milk cartons, straws, margarine, sugar, ect.
5. radio's that are at the bedside tables not tuned to rap or alt heavy metal stations.
oral care on intubated patients. there's nothing better than freshening up a smelly crusty mouth. love brushing those teeth and deep glottic suctioning. another obsession- i have to have the IV bags hanging directly over it's corresponding pumps.
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
1) HANDWASHING!! I am totally anal-retentive about hand hygiene and nag my staff and family about it all the time. Hmmm........could it be a coincidence that I'm almost never ill?
2) Hydration---I'm always running around the facility reminding residents to drink, drink, and drink some more. I have at least a fourth of them on formal hydration programs to prevent UTIs, and during the summer I make the dietary manager stock Popsicles and have the staff offer them to the residents at several times during the day.
3) Even though I'd never go back to Med/Surg, I do miss starting IVs and inserting Foleys. I was excellent at both and prided myself on getting 'em in the most difficult patients.
4) Never, ever leave a hairbrush (or anything even remotely to do with hair) on the same bedside table as someone's food. That is GROSS and is likely to send me into orbit. YECCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHH. Same goes for teaching my staff to wash their hands and don a fresh apron before entering the kitchen to serve out a meal.........the idea of doing incontinence care and then serving food without a barrier of some kind makes my toes curl!
A true conversion disorder?? Fascinating. AIMS- Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale. Used when patients are taking antipsychotics. Here's a nice PDF...explains it and has worksheet. http://www.doc.state.ok.us/Offtech/140201c.pdf
Thanks! AIMS is SO important for these patients because the movements can become irreversible. :nuke:
I love getting the ornery old men...young men..whatever. With ornery male pts it's easy to be firm, objective and to the point. You can set boundaries, joke, have fun etc.. THey're usually so easy to read from the get go.
Old ladies...sigh..this is my difficult area. You never know when they'll take something the wrong way or get offended.
that's so funny when i was in the hospital having my (beautiful) baby girl; the nurse I had used the alcohol foam eveytime she came in and left my room. It made me feel better to see her do something so simple. As a nurse we all know how bad hospitals themselves are. From then on I did the same. I try so hard to be a very good nurse and in being a good nurse I know I can learn from other nurses and pick up their good habits.
BrokenRNheart
367 Posts
Oh....another...
Water splashed all over the sink and not wiped up and
Usable items on the sink getting splashed
I want to work with ALL OF YOU. Wow, all you neurotic anal nurses could keep a floor running smoothly. My kind of co-workers!!