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Sometimes good...sometimes bad
A whiteboard for nurses
DATE: July 21, 2023
I LIKE TO BE CALLED: “Get me a sandwich”
CARE MEME TEAM:
Totally
TODAYS PLAN: Change someone’s life…it doesn’t always take much.
Parent of chronically sick kids know the inside and out of hospitals. While I’m sure parents question why this would happen to them, they soon grasp they are in it for the long haul and their demeanor changes. These parents can be a little demanding, a little OCD, but full of love. Pulmonary hypertension is a crazy disease that a lot nurses probably have not seen. Patients get an enlarged right ventricle as it tries to push blood into the lungs to get oxygenated. Towards end stage, patients often run very low O2 saturations. Sats so low, it wouldn’t be compatible for life, for most people. These patients cope with it slowly over time and its not uncommon to see someone with their sats in the 70s and their lips are blue. This becomes the normal.
A young girl well known to the ICU is back again. This time its just a little different. While she is technically an adult, through her years in the hospital and not being able to participate in normal kid activities, she seems more like a big kid. Kind, happy, full of fun and laughter. She’s become a friend of everyone though everyone seems to know this admission is not the same as a normal. The nurses’ instinct tells them this will likely be their last admission with her. Through the pressures of nursing, the burn out, poor management and what not, we often find jaded nurses. Though jaded, in most circumstances, nurses have a small spot in their heart that brings them back to the abuse of nursing. The little things that nurses do for patients can completely change someone’s world. Not to long after the young girl was admitted, she passed. A mother left without her child made everyone cry. Not a dry eye in the nursing station or in the room. While an inevitable outcome to a horrible disease, the mother knew and was mentally prepared for this day. Before she left, she came to say her thanks to her second family and hugged everyone one by one. When she got to one nurse she started to cry. Through the tears and sob, she said the words “She loved you because you let her color”.
That nurse was an amazing person. The staff never really realized what had happened. The nurse would bring the patient new coloring books once a week to help the patient pass the countless hours living in an ICU. These small things that people do for a patient can change a person’s world. While we all live in the grind of healthcare but remember, you really can make the difference someone. That is the reward of nursing.
Advertisement… maybe? Any suckers out there ? 😄
PAIN LEVEL: Feel the pain - Its the Wall of Shame
Who doesn’t love TikTok? Apparently this lady’s patients 😲 No worries… she will probably end up with a new license in a new state.
CARE SANITY PLAN: Who doesnt love a mid summer July day?
***Disclaimer - All of these stories are may or may not based on true stories. They are told from many different people all over the world. We can’t confirm or deny any of the details. All stories are sent anonymously. It might happened…but you should consider these as a “fictional” story 🙃.
If you haven't ever worked in a teaching hospital, you need to know July is a special time of year. Fresh residents that are just out of medical school are here to save lives. July is a special time for all nurses in the hospital but even more so in the ICU where a baby doctors is in charge of critically ill patients. July is the month of chaos but usually ends up ok...although, unneeded deaths are probably going to be a non-zero number. Ok…to the story.
There they were, a small group of nurses, respiratory therapists, a pharmacist and a chaplain. The prevailing alarms of the monitor, the honking of the ventilator and the code blue alarm in harmony like the concerto of death nearing its finale. The code was ongoing for 6 minutes, the smell of sweat building, the pile of trash growing on the floor and the sighs of the staff wondering when this would be over. But never fear!! The resident is here! Sprinting from across a giant hospital the resident has come panting and out of breath to save the day. His white coat flapping in the wind like Superman’s flowing red cape. With his oversized scrub top and no undershirt on, you can see the glimpse of this superman spandex and the top of the large “S” he wore upon his bare hairy chest. From the hall we heard the gasps and the cheer. Its a bird, no its a plane, no its SUPER RESIDENT. With his chest puffed out he orates in his deep voice. “Im a doctor, I’ll be running this code”. Alas, our hero has arrived, for this code could never run for the last 6-7 minutes without him. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out this folded card. Ok, let’s just set some things straight real quick. Super resident is basically a mix of Superman and Batman. We all know Superman doesnt need tools and couldn’t hold them in his spandex tights….Batman on the other hand has all sort of cool tools but isnt nearly as cool as Superman. Ok, back to the story. Super Resident reaches into his pocket and pulls out his trusty tool. The confused faces of the team suddenly appears….what amazing tool could this be? A trusty POCKET ACLS ALGORITHM!!!!! In that same deep voice he says “have you guys tried giving any epinephrine yet?”. The whole team rolls their eyes and the primary nurse says loudly with the thickest sarcasm man has ever heard. “That's what we forgot”. 🙄
(ok…for the non-nurses… epinephrine is the most basic drug that's been around for decades and is basically the first drug you would give a patient when their heart stops…. The patient should have had 2-3 doses by now. The resident has no clue what he's doing and just reading off the card.)
I & O’s: (In one ear, out the other….news you can use)
How long do you want to live? I have always figured anything past 80, Im ripe for kicking the bucket. Is Harvard going to make us live forever?
DISCHARGE ESCAPE PLAN: SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!!!
btw - if you know the inside scoop why these hospitals are desperate…let us know!! Email us [email protected]
PICU: 48hrs a week $5774/wk Night Shift New York $120.29/hr
ER: 48hrs a week $4942/wk Night Shift New York $102.98/hr
L&D 48hrs a week $6156/wk Bakersfield CA $128.25/hr
CVOR 40hrs a week $5126/wk Sacramento, CA $128.15/hr