One of my coworkers has an amazing draw on women. Patients and family members attempt to get his phone number and "friend" him on Facebook. Even family members of patients he has never taken care of!
It's a kind of animal magnetism.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Extra Storage
I have a coworker who stores his car keys in an unusual place.
But his keys have never been stolen.
But his keys have never been stolen.
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Advice When Pressed
Anticipating problems is something nurses can get really good at. If you walk into your patient's room and see this:
The first thing you should ask the nurse giving you report is "Are there back up bags of levophed and phenylepherine and vasopressin in the 'fridge?"
If you forget to do this, don't worry--you'll only forget it once.
Here is an exact time sequence one what happens when a pressor runs out.
First, the pump alarms, telling the nurse that the bag is empty. A yellow alarm starts.
The nurse will feel a sudden clench in her bowels. She sprints madly down the hall, ignoring other distractions.
At this point, time goes into slow motion. The nurse gets to the med room and tries to remember the code to the door. A red alarm is going off loudly.
There's a long line in front of the Medispense machine.
The nurse rips open the refrigerator door and stares at the patient's med bin in a futile hope
Seeing it's empty, the nurse shoves other staff out of the way
Grabs the phone, dials pharmacy
Abandoning that, shoves her way to the front of the line
Struggles to remember her most recent password
Pulls the drug and the bag of saline to mix it
Primes the tubing
And hangs the drip.
Don't let this happen to you. When it comes to pressors, here is my advice: Hang one, order one. Remember it.
The first thing you should ask the nurse giving you report is "Are there back up bags of levophed and phenylepherine and vasopressin in the 'fridge?"
If you forget to do this, don't worry--you'll only forget it once.
Here is an exact time sequence one what happens when a pressor runs out.
First, the pump alarms, telling the nurse that the bag is empty. A yellow alarm starts.
The nurse will feel a sudden clench in her bowels. She sprints madly down the hall, ignoring other distractions.
At this point, time goes into slow motion. The nurse gets to the med room and tries to remember the code to the door. A red alarm is going off loudly.
There's a long line in front of the Medispense machine.
The nurse rips open the refrigerator door and stares at the patient's med bin in a futile hope
Seeing it's empty, the nurse shoves other staff out of the way
Grabs the phone, dials pharmacy
Abandoning that, shoves her way to the front of the line
Struggles to remember her most recent password
Pulls the drug and the bag of saline to mix it
Primes the tubing
And hangs the drip.
Don't let this happen to you. When it comes to pressors, here is my advice: Hang one, order one. Remember it.
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
The Mysterious Man in White
Late at night at Lone Star Hospital, the nurses of the West Ward gather around the flickering light of the cardiac monitor under the glow of the setting clock.
Out of the mists of the peaceful dawn rides a white-coated figure.
He gallops into the gathered nurses, shooting off orders and scattering them into urgent errands of mercy.
His mission accomplished, he rides off to the distant elevator, waves his hat in the air and is gone.
The nurses, their calm shattered, huddle together. They ask, "Who was that mysterious man in white?"
Nurse's Note: Thanks to A. West!
Out of the mists of the peaceful dawn rides a white-coated figure.
He gallops into the gathered nurses, shooting off orders and scattering them into urgent errands of mercy.
His mission accomplished, he rides off to the distant elevator, waves his hat in the air and is gone.
The nurses, their calm shattered, huddle together. They ask, "Who was that mysterious man in white?"
Nurse's Note: Thanks to A. West!
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