mursing

Well, I’ve just been kind of soaking in being a nurse but more importantly I have been trying to spend time with my beautiful wife in what little time I do have off. I have had the troublesome problem of insomnia creep up on me and when your work nights, that absolutely sucks. I’ll write some post later about that. The other problem I currently have is that my pc has decided to try and take the eternal dirt nap for computers. Good ridance Microsoft. I think I may be able to convince the Mrs. that it’s time to switch back to an Apple. I just hope I can make the conversion and save my (blog) files in the transfer. I am in no hurry.

Anyway, I came across this little gem and I have every intention of sending to the folks at M.D.O.D. just to get their spin on it. I sure do enjoy their educational material. So check out the following and see what has been bankrupting our health care, let alone our ER’s.

Tags: politics, ramblings, video // Add Comment »

Tags: politics, rants, video // Add Comment »

Thanks Mr. President and the politicians in government.

This could be said to Bush since he dropped his fiscal conservative approach at the end of his presidency and wanted to push a ‘stimulus’ package. The current moron is going to be no better with him wanting an additional bazillion dollars. The frustrating part is now he has morons in D.C. willing to agree with him. Wait. Did we see any change in the recent elections? We may have seen faces and names change but the concept of fiscal conservancy has long left the Republic in the hands of a bunch of spend-thrift goombahs.

Lets examine what the bible says about debt and lets see what our government has done to us with the passing of the past 2 ‘stimulus’ packages. Maybe politics and religion should mix. Maybe the crocks in office should refer to some old-time religion (but wait we can’t allow that) for some common sense regarding the financial strains and problems they are tying to our future generations.

Proverbs 6:1-5

¹My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
if you have struck hands in pledge for another,
²if you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth,
³then do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go and humble yourself;
press your plea with your neighbor!
⁴Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.
⁵Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

Proverbs 20:16

¹⁶Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.

Proverbs 22:7

⁷The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.

Proverbs 22:26-27

²⁶Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge
or puts up security for debts;
²⁷if you lack the means to pay,
your very bed will be snatched from under you.

Proverbs 24:3-4

³By wisdom a house is built,
and through understanding it is established;
⁴through knowledge its rooms are filled
with rare and beautiful treasures.

http://www.biblegateway.com/

Tags: politics, rants // Add Comment »

I tell you what ICU psychosis is. It’s much like the definition of insanity…doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  We’re actually going to focus on the aspect of this very serious and very dangerous occurrence in the ICU setting when this form of delirium, or acute brain failure occurs in your nurses.

There are plenty of valid reasons and research that back the validity of this illness. For the patient it can be a combination of medical and environmental factors. Clinical issues for the patient can include uncontrolled pain, the actual illness or trauma they may be experiencing, drug reactions, fever, electrolyte imbalances, lack of oxygen to the brain etc.

I want to focus on the environmental aspects. I have recently been wondering if there is any research indicating alterations in the mental capacities of medical employees being in the same environmental as their patients.

Environmental Causes

• Sensory deprivation: A nurse being put in a room that often has no windows, and is away from family, friends, and all that is familiar and comforting. Also occurs in nurses working nights.

• Sleep disturbance and deprivation: The constant disturbance and noise with the hospital staff going into the rooms at all hours to check vital signs, give medications, etc. Also seen in nurses working nights.

• Continuous light levels: Continuous disruption of the normal biorhythms with lights on continually (when working nights and no reference to day or night).

• Stress: Nurses in an ICU frequently feel the almost total loss of control over their life.

• Lack of orientation: (Some) nurses loss of time and date.

Lastly and certainly not the least:

• Medical monitoring: The continuous monitoring of the patient’s vital signs, and the noise monitoring devices produce can be disturbing and create sensory overload

Let’s take for instance the last 6 days of work. Mind you I have had 2 one-on-one patients for those 6 days. Thankfully I had a 2 day respite in the middle of all the nonsense. But I swear to you, in each case, both patients being on a ventilator, cardiac monitoring and some triple pump concoction of something or another. If it wasn’t the monitor beeping, it was the one the pumps. And if it wasn’t the pump, it was the alarms on the ventilator. As soon as you get one working, the other would one would frak up and start all over again. And then run to the other patient…rinse, repeat and do the same cycle over again about 300 times during the shift.

They never tell you in nursing school that you need minor degrees or apprenticeships in plumbing, electricity and computer networking. I have recently felt that you end up trouble shooting electronics more so that trouble shooting your patient. So as you watch your equipment blink on and off and watch the thing drop vital signs and randomly turn on and off, the real kick in the arse is when BIOMED shows up and the damn things work like a charm. GGRRRR…

Tags: humor, rants // 1 Comment »

I found an old email and I was amused at how relevant this was to any working environment:

1. BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

2. SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager, who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, and then leaves.

3. ASSMOSIS: The process by which some people seem to absorb success and advancement by kissing up to the boss rather than working hard.

4. SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.

5. CUBE FARM : An office filled with cubicles.

6. PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people’s heads pop up over the walls to see what’s going on.

7. MOUSE POTATO: The on-line, wired generation’s answer to the couch potato.

8. STRESS PUPPY: A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

9. XEROX SUBSIDY: Euphemism for swiping free photocopies from one’s workplace.

10. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking the crap out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

11. OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize that you’ve just made a BIG mistake. (Like after hitting send on an email by mistake).

12. CROP DUSTING: Surreptitiously passing gas while passing through a Cube Farm.

Tags: humor // Add Comment »

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!

Tags: motivation, nursing, random thoughts // Add Comment »

For the first time in the 6 presidential elections I have been a part of, this one ’scares’ me the most. You stupid morons who think those of us with conservative leanings were afraid because he is a black man?! Get a grip of yourselves! It’s his policies stupid! The fear I speak of is the utter blindness of the those wanting to elect this socialist pig for a president. There is evidence in the words that have come from the man’s mouth and yet the stupidity of the masses is prevalent channel surfing and seeing his supporters on the tele.

1 Thessalonians 5:3

³While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

The interesting thing about politics is that the same principles applied to Christians can be applied to those who have fallen for this morass that spills from this puppet’s piehole:

 2 Timothy 4:3-4

³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

My encouragement comes from the confidence in this present situation is that regardless of what happens in the world, it is all part of God’s good plan.

Proverbs 16:4

⁴The LORD works out everything for his own ends- even the wicked for a day of disaster.

http://www.biblegateway.com/

Tags: politics // Add Comment »

I may have said it before but I try not to dwell on politics but it’s crammed in my face of late and every thing I hear seems to send my blood boiling. I listened to the two monkey puppets we have in place and it scares me. I think, “This is who we really have to choose from for our highest office?!” The more saddening fact is the blinding stupidity of those who cannot see Obama (forthwith, Sorry Sack of Bones) for the socialist he is. Socialism is not a new idea! Look at what it did to the U.S.S.R.! Please! Both candidates tout their records and you look at them and SSOB is a freaking communist. He even says so through what he proposes and people are taking it hook line and sinker.

The debate last night about made me puke. SSOB is willing to reward those in this great nation to not strive to work hard and tax anyone making over $250k. What an absolute moron! wah! wah! wah! It’s not fair. wah! wah! wah! I know he’s trying to target folks like me that as a nurse will not come close to making $250k a year but I am not stupid like a large number of his constituency. Heaven help them…and us. I look at the entrepreneurs in my family. The parents owned a construction company, the brother has a couple of start ups and my wife and girlfriend have started their own bakery business. Not to forget other friends that have their own businesses. What pray tell would cause them to strive to achieve financial freedom under SSOB?! They will work their heart out right up to $250k and then stop?! They go above that number and under SSOB’s plan; he takes money from ‘the rich’ to give to ‘the poor’. Don’t get me wrong I am all for helping those in true need but SSOB’s definition of poor include those that have bilked the system already, not willing to get out and work but would rather suck from the teat of free governmental handouts. Supposedly it’s only a 3% tax increase, but when will the government stop at taking more to reward those who are not responsible? The recent bailout is a perfect example.

Tags: politics, rants // Add Comment »

A friend of mine sent the following:

“When it’s OK to say Oh sh#t.”

“

Tags: humor, politics // Add Comment »

Yeah, I passed the NCLEX. I am legit. I am surprised that I am not more excited. Actually I am more surprised at the whole anti-climatic aspect considering the feelings and emotions that I experienced through nursing school. I may address the stupidity of the NCLEX and how it DOES NOT test nursing knowledge but purely test taking skills. I think it’s just another bureaucratic sham crammed down our throats from nursing boards. Needless to say that was not what I am writing about today.

I wanted to rant about one of our own for those that are in our extended family. I was off to work the other a.m. and an ambulance passes on a call, lights blaring, obviously in a hurry to get to the hospital. Out in front is some stupid jackass in a Mini-Coop not yielding the right-of-way. Having had aspirations to be a firefighter in my previous life, I rode out with the fellas on a few occasions. I have more respect for those nuts that will run into a burning building because it obviously takes a level of courage (not insanity) many of us are unable to fathom.

At some point in their lack of common sense, said Mini-Coop decided to pull their dumb a$$ out of the way and let the ambulance pass. Interesting to see that Mini-dumb-a$$ pulls into the parking lot for the physicians at our hospital. I can see why said resident emerging from the Mini-Coop has garnered little respect among their peers and why the nurses that daily interact with them, have little to no respect either. And some doctors wonder why nurses call their intelligence into question.

Tags: rants // Add Comment »