Entries Tagged as 'nursing'

Where have I been

Well first, I’ve been hijacked. By a silly game. Yes, my incredible capacity to make good grades and graduate on the dean’s list won the argument with my wife to allow us to purchase a gaming system. Not that it matters which one, but Guitar Hero is an amazingly addictive game. And a few others could be included but if I allowed myself, I could spend inordinate amounts of time mindlessly playing games. Thankfully I have matured some and now know when to turn the thing off (hence my blog going to the wayside). My wife all too often reminds me the bachelor days of spending days on end trying to conquer the likes of Halo with the old roomie are over. She however will not confess to the fact that one snow-filled day that shut down Austin a couple of years ago, she kicked me off the Playstation and proceeded to sit in front of the boob tube for 6 hours in a land of fun filled fantasy fights and conquests.

Second, I am working nights and having a hard time adjusting to screwy schedules. Enough said.

Third, back to the main reason I haven’t written lately. I guess I can call myself an author. It’s incredibly difficult to write original material. I have always thought myself to be a creative person and for the most part, all of us have some sort of hidden talent that if we do not try to tap into the potential then something could be amiss. I hit a wall when I realized that I had originally though I was only going to write about nursing and all the things that male nurses seem to struggle with in the industry, etc. No biggie. We struggle with the same things that female nurses tend to, but we’re just much less expressive about those things. Silly bosses, goofy management and administration are relatively the same at most hospitals. Guys tend to roll with it much better and not get into cat fights about all the hubbub. So the stories from nursing blog to nursing blog tend to run together. We can all gripe about the same thing but where would that get us? Blogs do allow for venting and I will still use this as outlet from time to time but I want my blog to be creative and thoughtful. And I certainly DO NOT want this to turn into something like a Twitter update or a status post on Facebook where (some) people live out their boring existence from day to day hoping that someone cares about what they are doing every…5…minutes… of the day. So stay tuned to those 3 of you my audience as I try to get the creative juices flowing again. In the meantime, I need to unlock another level so I can be my wife’s Guitar Hero. Rock on!

I Will Do My Best…

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?

    Is ignorance really bliss?

    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.

    Strive

    Watching the athletes that have sold themselves to their dreams and desires makes me think about the impact the nursing profession could continue to have with the numerous people that have chosen this path as their profession. What if we strove to reach our fullest potential? This brings me to the point of my post. I can be a sap. I watch the Olympics and get emotional. Hey, guys are allowed. Especially watching athletes strive to do their best. Ask any man that has ever fought in the trenches in some sport and then have them relate the camaraderie they have experienced to the movie Brian’s Song. Ask any athlete that performs in an individual sport and ask them why it is they seek the joy that causes them to strive through all the hurt and pain for their achievements.

    We are designed for relationship. The frustrating thing about nursing is that many of us have to forego those emotional ties when dealing with our patients. The constant struggle I have had in completing nursing school is that I thought I would become some automaton with no emotion. There is some logic that needs to be taken into account when dealing with our patients. We can’t become some illogical, emotional sap because we would then be pulled in numerous directions but we wouldn’t have chosen this unless we had some amount of heart. I am ready for the real education, the process of nearing but not crossing the fine line of losing my caring abilities in this crazy career of nursing.