Too Funny

Strange laws that are still on the books.

Indiana:

You can get out of paying for a dependant's medical care by praying for him/her. (Good thing to keep in mind next time I am up there.... how does it go... Hail Mary???)

You may not bathe between October and March (I think some of my patients here must be from Indiana)

New York

The penalty for jumping off a building is death. (Hmmm.. wonder how they enforce that one?)

These just make no sense, not that the above ones did....

DELAWARE
Condoms may only be sold by doctors and wholesale druggists.
MAINE
Condom sellers must be licensed and the license must always be on public display.
NEVADA
The use of condoms in Nevada brothels is compulsory. (Really!!! )

Busy, Busy, Busy

Not sure what is going on, but we have had a increase in the acuity of the patients coming in. I wonder if all the hospitals are getting their butts kicked as hard. It had gotten so bad today that I opened up the rooms to hold 2 patients instead of the normal 1 patient per room and our trauma bay I opened up to 4 patients. 5 vents in the ER at the same time is not a fun day for a charge nurse, staff nurses, nor the Docs. To put the number of patients into perspective. We have 30 rooms in the back that can hold 60 patients, but normally we try to keep to them private rooms, and we have 2 trauma rooms that can hold 4 patients in each, 1 minor med area that has 6 rooms that can hold 2 patients each, plus our lovely stretchers we can place along the halls. I am on call for Sane the next 36 hours and looking forward to the TNCC class I have to teach the next 2 days. A little role playing trauma will be a nice break from the real trauma, and hopefully no one gets assaulted. Don't get me wrong, I love the trauma, codes, freak accidents, and at times the clinic side of working in the ER, but this week has really brunt me out. Need a recharge :)

ouch

Now this ends the day on a good note....
guy comes in and we are told that it is a possible stroke. One minute we are talking to him and hooking everything up, the next he stopped breathing. Felt for a pulse, found none, thumped him, that did no good, started CPR and after 10 to 15 compressions I hear, DAMN IT, I look down and he is awake, did rhythm check and he had a NSR. Now that is one of the reasons that I became a nurse. Outcome for him was that he did have a stroke, we have no clue why he arrested, but he should be fine.... Just a little sore for the 1 broke rib, opps

Okay, you are sick so you get to be a jerk

Some how, it has been commonly believed that when you are sick, you have the right to treat everyone like crap. I worked triage today and here are a few of the wonderful praises I received.


7am:
Him, "What do you mean I can't go right back, are you an idiot, can't you see I am in pain"

Me, "I know you do not feel well and I will get you a room as soon as possible"

Him, "You just let them cut in line on me, they came right in and you gave them a room, you are a racist cracker"

Me, "you have a back pain for 6 months, they cut off their finger, they get a room first"

8am:
Her, "this is bulls##@!, why can't I bring my McDonald's back, I paid for this"

Me, "It is policy that there is no food or drinks allowed in the back, as I point to the 4 large signs displayed in the waiting area. You should not be eating, you complain of abd pain, and n/v"

Her. "you bi@# h, you can't tell me what to do"

9am:
Them, "I have been here for 30 minutes waiting on a room, my head is killing me, can't you just take me back?"
Me, "Sorry, I do not have a room for you at this time, when one comes open I will place you in it"
Them, "you just expect me to sit out her with all of these people, I am going to catch the swine flu and then I am going to sue you"

10am
them, "i waited all this time and the doc sent me home with nothing, I have the flu and he won't give me an antibiotic"

Me, "the flu is a virus and an antibiotic will not help"

Them, "fine then you have it," then he spit on me

10:30
patient asked me what determines who gets seen first, I told him that the sickest have a higher priority, he then falls to the floor and look up at me and states with a straight face, "I keep fainting, you saw it, I get to go straight back now, right"

11am
Patient walks in and asks "are you busy today, can I be seen fast?
I say yes we are busy, but it depends on your acuity to how fast you get seen, the sickest are seen first.
then they just threw their clip board at me

these are just a few. Today I have had food, clipboards, soda and an unknown object thrown at me. I have been called every name in the book. I have been spit on and threatened with violence. All because people had to wait for a room, wait to be seen, not happy with the toradol prescription, and referred to walk in clinic.

I just love my job some days!!!

Bored and ranting

Okay, so it is raining and chilly out, which means that it would be dumb of me to go putter in the garden, play with the goats, chase the chickens, or do what ever chore that needs to be done. Due to the weather, my joints are stiff, swollen, and sore. Wow that makes me sound old. I am 33 years old and had bilateral knee replacements less than a year ago due to complications of EDS. So, no I am not that old. In fact, after my surgeries I would say that my quality of life has improved greatly. However, I do have my rough day, like today with the weather. I am one of those stubborn people who refuse to take medication for pain relief. This is for two reasons, 1. I am afraid of becoming addicted to narcotics. I have seen this too many times with clients coming and out of the ER searching for pain medications when they no longer needed them. I do not want to become one of those clients. Reason #2, I know that over the years I will need more surgeries. When that time comes, I do not want to have any tolerance built up with medications. I would like to be able to have the pain medication work without having to increase the doses over and over again to get just a little relief. So, back to being bored. Not sure what i am going to do. Maybe bake some bread, laundry, or something. What ever i do, I need to stop spending my day off from the ER looking at other ER blogs. :)