mursing

2: government characterized by specialization of functions, adherence to fixed rules, and a hierarchy of authority

3: a system of administration marked by officialism, red tape, and proliferation

A.K.A. stupidity.

I had to write about it. The ‘burden’ placed on our current cost of medical insurance in this country is certainly NOT the medical industry. It is the vast paper pushing bureaucrats in the insurance industry itself that is the cause of these dreaded financial woes.

Cutting out the middle man of TPA’s would create so much less a hassle. Let me build this incredibly exciting scene. Yeah…right. So I recently accepted my new job at General Hospitals Are Us. Your (a)typical County Medical, largest employee in the area etc. HR says, “Well all you need to do is show our TPA your records that you had credible coverage and you will not have to proceed through medical questionnaires proving that you had coverage for you and your spouse while you were in school”.  The onslaught of the paper wave tsunami hit the house. Granted it didn’t help that we had 3 changes of coverage while I was in school but I am sure it is a HIPPA initiated requirement that every time any smidgen of information is changed or requested in your coverage, you are to be notified. So along with the 3 changes, I think we received them all in duplicate. From each provider. As well as from the TPA. Seriously. I have a stack of paper requesting the same information 3 times and getting letters from the TPA that inquiries have been made regarding coverages. So the TPA is sending letters, the previous providers are sending letters. You get the picture?

So I receive a final letter from the TPA indicated that now they have received my (patch worked) proof of coverage over the following year, but yet they need the medical questionnaires anyway. WHAT?! Egg sucking, mother trucking, gosh for saken *&%$#@! You mean to tell me this could have been nipped in the bud 4 weeks ago when I specifically asked the TPA which would be easier, filling out the medical questionnaire or sending in proof of coverage?! We could have saved a couple of trees during the process. I swear it must be a set-up between the insurance industry and the postal service for job security.

Tags: politics, rants by qec
No Comments »

On my honor, I will do my best - to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the law; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Well, I have plenty to write about, however, I have had little time to express the things that running through the vast amount of grey matter I have added over the course of nursing school considering I have been on orientation and studying for the dreaded NCLEX.

During the absolutely mind blowing (ahem) orientation where it seems the nurse educators are trying to cover the entirety of nursing school in 5 days, I realize that nurses should do more for themselves when it comes to preparedness. We are the Boy (or Girl) Scouts of the medical field along with our First Responders. It’s required that we show up with our pencil, pen, eraser, calculator, stethoscope, scissors and especially our brain. I want to thank the Civil Air Patrol for providing the following suggestions for creating your own emergency pack. However, if you don’t want to spend a bazillion dollars, here’s one that an incredible nursing instructor from the beloved state of Arkansas suggested:

1. Vinyl gloves 1 box: Walmart

2. 4×4 dressings/OTC dressing materials

3. Roll of tape (pink plastic? waterproof tape)

4. Vaseline gauze

5. Ace bandages

6. Alcohol handwash/foam cleanser

7. Old sheets and old towels kept CLEAN in plastic bag (The plastic bag can double as a waterproof field…under a woman’s bottom when she is delivering in the back seat of a car stopped in front of you…some old sheets may be torn up for slings)

8. Blanket (for shock and warmth if weather is freezing)

9. S tube (local medical supply house…we have Ladrael…our CPR manikin suppliers…you do not have to put your mouth on anybody…and there is a side vent so you do not come in contact with their exhaled air either)

10. Tourniquet (to control arterial hemorrhage)…if you need to do other things than hold pressure

11. Premoistened wipes…like pampers for cleaning babies…wipes up all kinds of stuff

12. Floor mats in your car may be used for splints with a roll of duct tape to secure them around a limb

13. Two sanitary napkins in a ziplock baggie (for emergency delivery)

14. plastic cup and scissors (to stabilize penetrating objects…cut a hole in the end of the cup and tape it down over the penetrating object so it can’t wiggle and cause more damage)

15. Umbrella (sometimes all you can do is sit with somebody on the highway and keep the rain out of their faces) plastic poncho’s can be purchased for $1 at Dollar Tree

16. Duct tape can be used to bind a flair chest that is ballooning out on exhalation…wait for the chest to suck in…then quickly apply the tape over the caved in area to stabilize the chest wall.

17. Paper bag for rebreathing if hysteria has caused rapid breathing and respiratory alkalosis

Suggestions?

Tags: nursing, random thoughts by qec
No Comments »

Your perspective seems to be different when death affects someone other than those close to you. Does that mean I don’t care? Am I already cold hearted because I (may) appear unfazed by death? Am I a slug when I am emotionless while taking care of someone that means nothing to me other than from what I have seen from them lying in a comatose state in a Rotorest? When I see they have been told repeatedly over and over about their lifestyle and yet continue down a path that involves terrible choices or they refuse to accept the information provided, how am I supposed to feel? Futility can be humbling.

Tags: nursing, ramblings by qec
No Comments »