IV lamps

These are so cool

I want one in my living room!

Ok. I love my job. Call me  crazy but I think these mock intravenous pole lamps totally rock! Sure most house guest may not even realize the mock IV pole lamps but who cares! I think they would make interesting decor! They should have wheels though, that would make these lamps even cooler, but they are just ice as is. Found over here:http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2008/03/lichtinfusion_l.php

It gets easier

Every time.

This Pharmicist hates Nurse

Most of the pharmacists where I work are great and are super smart~ They can be super helpful and reassuring such as dealing with the multiple calls from nurses about dosage, compatibility, missing medications, administration timing etc…I mean I am not sure how many times I have called  the pharmacy to confirm gtt rates for certain medications, or to check the compatibility of antibiotics with say…heparin infusions (saving me from putting in additional lines in the patient.)

There is however this one  pharmacist who always likes to as nurse K would put it “jack my sh**t”.     I am serious! Here is my latest scenario with Pharmacist who hates Nurse: I have a patient circling the drain and a rapid response is called: Amongst the rapid response team is a Pharmacist who should always respond as well.  After 15 minutes it is determined that The patient is going to be transferred to ICU  –but the problem is that no beds are available. The situation during those first 15 minutes is deemed stable so the the pharmacist leaves, and the ICU nurse continues to treat the patient with assistance from myself and my charge nurse and the attending MD. Hours go by, and the patient still does not have a bed yet because ICU is full. This is all taking place in a telemetry floor. Well…the situation is deteriorating quickly and the patient needs to beintubated.  Medication orders were faxed to the pharmacy for diprovan needed for the impending intubation. So I ask one of the other nurses on the floor to walk down to the pharmacy and get the diprovan gtt for me because I knew that the ICU nurse was going to get the bolus out of the pyxis or that she was going to get it out of the code cart. Well…The pharmacist who is known for hating nurses gives her a hard time telling her to call some other pharmacist etc…The nurse leaves without the diprovan. So I call the pharmacist who hates nurses and ask why are you giving us a hard time, and he states something about a label printing out etc…I tell him…My patient is being intubated, we had to tether the patient to the bed, the patient keeps waking up, and we need the diprovan NOW, I ask the pharmacist who hates nurses if he will bring us the drip now. He then proceeds to tell me that it will take longer then.   WHAT?   I mean the orders for the diprovan were faxed to the pharmacist  at least 30 minutes prior to the intubation, at that point intubation could not be put off any longer and the MD and the RT had to proceed with tubing this patient. I mean we could not just wait around all day for the pharmacist to “get around” to dispensing the diprovan. This pharmacist who hates nurses should team up with the Angry Pharmacist (I love reading the Angry Pharmacist!!) , they would make a great duo and we would end up in tears when looking for STAT medications.  It is like  a big huge lack of communication~ Doesn’t the pharm remember that this patient was rapidly responded, is now in critical condition and near code status and we need the drugs NOW?

Ahhh….This Pharmacist HATES us!!!!!!

Alcoholism-The Game

See Alcoholism The Game  By 3amArt on deviantArt site.

It is pretty self explanatory and explains complications of Alcoholism including: frequent falls, blaming others, jail, DUI, fines, legal problems, binge drinking,  yelling, crying, ending up with liver failure and death and that is the “You Win” aspect at the end. I thought this was creative.

Alcoholics

So I get the phone call to go and check on my relative who suffers from alcoholism, who verbalizes a wish to go to a detox center (again).  Me Nurse Jane with my never ending inkling of optimism and hope drive on over to pick up my relative with the intent of going to a detox center self paid.  I was not ready to detox my relative on my “couch” with a bottle of librium, folic acid, thiamine, multivitamin, bananas, and Gatorade like I just did last month. 

I get there, the place is a mess and there has to be at least 25 gallon or half gallon sized empty rum bottles, my relative can not talk, looks as though a stroke is taking place, and is covered in urine from head to toe.  My relative looks like an insane person.

If anyone ever doubts that alcoholismis not a disease, than they have never experienced it close at hand.  It is easy for those in the health care profession to become jaded, to give up, but it is easy to see the insanity, hard to feel compassion and hope. It is insanity. No one would “want” to keep doing the same thing over and over again. The sickness, the detox, the losing your wife, your car, your job, your mind, your family.

For the people caring for alcoholics the emotional drain can be great and is not to be underestimated. I include in this family members as well as those in the health care profession. The ED techs who keep these patients from falling, the nurses and doctors who “sober” them up before sending them out the door (if they are stable) and the EMTs who usually pick them up off the streets or out of their homes.

The bottom line is that drunks have to want to get sober. They have to get of the self pity train and on to the I am responsible train, and that is not easy for them. They have to relearn how to be a human again. One method that really seems to work is Alcoholics Annonymous.   I have not done the research as to why it works the best for alcoholics but it does. It is working through 12 steps, finding a sponsor, and helping other drunks get sober that helps others find and keep sobriety. Without this support it just does not work.

Unfortunately it was another trip to the ED because I could not possible get my relative to detox in that condition, and 18 hours later with a blood alcohol level back to acceptable levels my relative was released with some librium and we went straight to the detox center. Unfortunately it is only jails, institutions or death as the end point for alcoholics.

Anyway I will not give up hope!  There is always hope. People can get sober if they want to and when my relative is ready I will be there to help. There is always hope.

ETOH

When the sick person in the ED is your relative, you just feel like sick because you know the implications and complications of the situation. Alcoholism just sucks.  This particular ED has a crisis center and this particular hospital has a detox center, but you just can not “force” someone into detox.

The discharge instructions read as follows: You have a serious drinking/alcohol problem. Continued consumption of alcohol will have serious effects on your health such as liver damage and heart problems. You are refered to AA and should get a sponsor immediately.

Not Quiet

Unlike where KeepBreathing is working, community X has been super busy or at least on telemetry the place has been busy and I am pretty sure the whole place was busy.  The RTs I know have been super busy getting all those blood gases and  setting up bipaps all day today.  I am not sure if it is that time of the year or what is going on.  I am happy my 3 shifts for the week are done because I need some serious rest.

I want a new stethoscope.

  I am offically obsessed. Last week I somehow lost my stethoscope and had to “borrow” one from the drawer of left behind stethoscopes at work. There is usually the garden variety in that drawer, the disposables, the one without ear pieces, the big heavy one with 3 bells that looks funny. Well last week I grabbed the steth on top and had no idea the amazement that was to follow during my morning assessments! It was black, had no bell, and the tubing was engraved with the name of some nurse that did not work on our floor. The acoustics were so awesome that I could actually hear turbulent blood flow in the heart chambers! I swear I could hear that! Can you imagine? I found out that it was a Littman Master Cardiology Stethoscope.  What is neat is that there is no bell needed! Just by pressing lighter or with more pressure, low and high frequency sounds can be auscultated. It is so neat! I just want one!

A great week!

I am so tired! I worked extra this week plus stayed up late on Tuesday watching the historical event of Barack Obama get elected to the presidency.

Understaffed

Last week the problem was not lack of beds it was a lack of nurses that kept the ED at community from bedding the ED “holds”.

It was just a slow hot mess on the floor.