Team ICU

ICU nursing is a team sport.  Some nurses don't get that.  They are too insecure to admit they need help, so they try to do everything themselves to prove their competence.  Offers of aid or advice can cause them to boil over with intense anger.  

Would you go into a basketball game and yell, "I got this!  Stay out!  I can do it myself!"

Your co-worker's eyes and ears and experience are like silver in a mine.  Use them.  A group is always stronger than an individual.  We are all learning and growing.  Policies, protocols and equipment change constantly.  Don't be afraid to say, "Will you take a look at this Arctic Sun and see if I've got it set up right?"  or, "I can't figure out why this balloon pump keeps alarming," or, "I'm concerned that I'm missing something here--got any ideas?"

And if a co-workers says, "Hey, that's not how this Swan is supposed to be hooked up," or, "Do you want your dopamine  running at this rate?" or "The heating coil should be on this return line," be strong and secure enough not to take it as a personal affront.  People who reach out with constructive criticism are trying to HELP YOU.  Getting angry and defensive and making stupid excuses will make you co-workers go silent, step back and let you fall. 

Take a deep breath and say, "Thanks for catching that!"

Together, we make a great team. 

Mos Def, be Les Dum

There's an online video showing the rapper Mos Def attempting to tolerate having a small-bore feeding tube placed.  I have to say this to his outraged audience:  you don't need to go all the way to Guantanamo Bay to see this.  Poke your head out your door and peer down the street at the nearest hospital.  There are dozens of patients right there with feeding tubes.  

Besides that, brides pay big bucks to have feeding tubes so they can lose weight before their horrific weddings and exercise fanatics proudly wear them to control every calorie.   

I have placed plenty of feeding tubes, mostly in frail, elderly people.  But I've NEVER seen a wild, sobbing breakdown like Mos Def's.  Only about 10 cm of his tube went down--but I guess that's more than this delicate flower can handle.  Where's his murderous public persona when it counts?  Man up, Mos Def!  Be Les Dum!   

I've also never seen handcuffs disappear like they do in this video, (although it allowed his hands to flail around desperately and then cover his eyes while he cried piteously).  And how did his head strap come loose from the chair where it was clearly shown in the first take?

Mos Def--you're a bad actor and you have a very bad film editor. 
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About Mos Def's statement that this was the worst pain he's ever experienced--what a sheltered, petted life he must have!  What if he had to give birth or something that is actually uncomfortable?


Nurse's Note:  To the upset people posting comments about how "the doctors" were trying to get the feeding tube down:  doctors don't place small bore feeding tubes.  Nurses do.