Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

[Doctor Steuss]

Hah, no. I’ve never been an ER nurse. I did work a while in a multi-specialty clinic that included, I suppose, a colorectal clinic. Sometimes you would encounter things you wish you’d never heard. We called it the booty clinic.

I'm going to consider myself lucky that the daily ER download I had to comb over for CDC reporting wasn't overly detailed.

Or maybe unlucky? Probably would have made the job more interesting.

[msnobody]

Sadly, I learned today that the patient ( I’ll call him Patient Somebody) that I sent out to the ER on 11/25/22 passed away just five weeks later. No more struggling with mental health issues or drug addiction. RIP, my friend, Patient Somebody. You will always be fondly remembered.

[msnobody]

A call we never want to have to make for ourselves, but one I received a few minutes ago. "Am I going to die? Is there anything ya'll can do for me?"

Death is where the rubber hits the road with our faith. We all have faith in something. It is the object of that faith (or trust) that must be grounded on a sure foundation. Regarding the certainty of God's promises, for us who believe the One who made those promises, Hebrews 6:19 says "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." We have direct access to God through Jesus Christ, whose priesthood never ends.

We never know when death is going to come calling on us, whether with or without warning. We do however know that short of Jesus' return, each and every one of us will breath a last breath upon this earth. For it is appointment for man once to die, and then judgement.

Psalm 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

Regarding Jesus, "Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross... and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb. 12:2

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive together with Christ..... and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" Eph. 2:4, 5b,6

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him." Eph. 1:3-4

"when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it." Eph. 1:13b-14

And, finally, the doxology:
"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now for evermore, Amen." Jude 1:24-25

All the Father has given me, I will lose none. John 10:28, 29

No fear in death

[Physics Guy]

The gospels seem to show Jesus feeling forsaken in the face of death. The famous line is from a psalm, so conceivably he was still in control enough to be reciting it as one last bit of rabbinical teaching, but it was a pretty bleak verse to spring to his mind at the time.

I hope I'll face death with faith and courage, but if it scares me, I feel I'll at least be in good company, reaching up a hand in the dark, hoping a parent is there.

[msnobody]

So many patients with new cancer diagnosis this year. It’s always nice when something good happens.
A bright spot in the day today was speaking with a patient who just underwent a renal transplant from a deceased donor. So nice that someone would donate their kidney to help someone else. I wish the deceased donor could hear how grateful the recipient is and know that the recipient endured 8 long years of dialysis before the transplant. There is stringent criteria to qualify as a recipient. You have to be darn near healthy otherwise to qualify.

[Father Francis]

So many patients with new cancer diagnosis this year. It’s always nice when something good happens.
A bright spot in the day today was speaking with a patient who just underwent a renal transplant from a deceased donor. So nice that someone would donate their kidney to help someone else. I wish the deceased donor could hear how grateful the recipient is and know that the recipient endured 8 long years of dialysis before the transplant. There is stringent criteria to qualify as a recipient. You have to be darn near healthy otherwise to qualify.

Oncology must be a hard place to work. I work in hospice and have a lot of cancer patients.

I was working as a dialysis tech when I got into nursing school. For end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients not participating in dialysis will lead to death and participating might cause a stroke. If you don't get a transplant ESRD will kill you either way. So many patients passed out and face planted walking out the door, and so many died over the weekend after their Friday treatment.

Eight years is a long time to be on dialysis! As RNs these are the cases we live for.

[Marcus]

So many patients with new cancer diagnosis this year. It’s always nice when something good happens.
A bright spot in the day today was speaking with a patient who just underwent a renal transplant from a deceased donor. So nice that someone would donate their kidney to help someone else. I wish the deceased donor could hear how grateful the recipient is and know that the recipient endured 8 long years of dialysis before the transplant. There is stringent criteria to qualify as a recipient. You have to be darn near healthy otherwise to qualify.

Last weekend we had to make the impossibly difficult decision to allow a DNR and let a very close family member go who had a traumatic brain injury. They passed within minutes, and donated two kidneys. This coincidence I will accept as the good news that it is, and let my family members read your comments. I wish your patient health.

[msnobody]

So many patients with new cancer diagnosis this year. It’s always nice when something good happens.
A bright spot in the day today was speaking with a patient who just underwent a renal transplant from a deceased donor. So nice that someone would donate their kidney to help someone else. I wish the deceased donor could hear how grateful the recipient is and know that the recipient endured 8 long years of dialysis before the transplant. There is stringent criteria to qualify as a recipient. You have to be darn near healthy otherwise to qualify.

Oncology must be a hard place to work. I work in hospice and have a lot of cancer patients.

I was working as a dialysis tech when I got into nursing school. For end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients not participating in dialysis will lead to death and participating might cause a stroke. If you don't get a transplant ESRD will kill you either way. So many patients passed out and face planted walking out the door, and so many died over the weekend after their Friday treatment.

Eight years is a long time to be on dialysis! As RNs these are the cases we live for.

I work in primary care in a setting where we have access to the specialty clinic notes as well. It’s nice being able to access a comprehensive patient record and to be able to see a need or when something important is falling through the cracks, and being able to close the loop. As for the less compliant patients, it’s like herding wandering sheep. Now that I’ve gotten old, primary care is a good setting for me. Most of my nursing career has been with surgical patients.

Kudos to you working in hospice. I was so very thankful for my mother’s hospice nurses/team. It was like having a team of extra people looking out for her. Not only did my mother need them, I needed them. God was so merciful to me, an only child, in guiding me to people to care for her. It was so hard, but God was merciful. On behalf of patients and families, thank you for the loving care you provide.

As far as ESRD and dialysis, that’s got to be tough as a patient. Patients vying for those M,W,F spots. Being tied down to having to have dialysis so often. They sometimes come into our clinic right afterwards feeling so very wiped out. When I went back to school and was precepting in CICU, I saw continuous renal replacement therapy (C R T) and that along with seeing people’s bodies being kept alive (if that is even life) by artificial means, made me say, no, this isn’t for me in this stage in my life. Often other types of patients overflowed into CICU depending on dx and bed availability.

Back when I got my CML diagnosis, I remember walking into the large teaching hospital clinic and feeling so very overwhelmed by “The nurse has become the patient.” I had thoughts of back when I was young, my cousin being #53 of the patients who received an experimental kidney transplant from his mother. He always said if you had something wrong with you, that particular teaching hospital was the place to be. As I stood there looking up, new CML diagnosis, and read the silver letters on the wall in the various languages, and took in the vastness of the setting, and the number of patients I saw, it was a lot to take in. I get labs every 3 months to monitor my CML, and always wonder if the other patients waiting along side me at the Hem/Onc lab wonder what the nurse is scrubs is doing there.

If I were to pursue further education, I’d probably have to manage nurses, and I’d much rather provide patient care. patient care is where it’s at as they say.

Sorry for going on and on. That same cousin who had the kidney transplant got me an artificial kidney (the filter basically) for my 8th grade science fair project.

I’ll stop now. Love caring for patient’s healthcare needs. Hopefully we help to make a difference in people’s lives. I know patients have made a difference in my life.

[msnobody]

So many patients with new cancer diagnosis this year. It’s always nice when something good happens.
A bright spot in the day today was speaking with a patient who just underwent a renal transplant from a deceased donor. So nice that someone would donate their kidney to help someone else. I wish the deceased donor could hear how grateful the recipient is and know that the recipient endured 8 long years of dialysis before the transplant. There is stringent criteria to qualify as a recipient. You have to be darn near healthy otherwise to qualify.

Last weekend we had to make the impossibly difficult decision to allow a DNR and let a very close family member go who had a traumatic brain injury. They passed within minutes, and donated two kidneys. This coincidence I will accept as the good news that it is, and let my family members read your comments. I wish your patient health.

Sorry to hear of the death of your family member. I know that was difficult for you all. The two donated kidneys will make such a difference in the lives of more than just the recipients. It will touch the lives of all persons in the recipient’s lives as well. If you think about it, that’s a lot of people who will benefit from this generous life giving donation.

[msnobody]

I guess some of them can refuse to shower. I swear I could have thrown eight bars of soap at this man and not a single one would have made it any closer than I attempted to get to do his eye exam. Ultimately I just couldn't do the slit lamp exam. The gag reflex was just too strong and the stink got expoentially worse the closer I got I just referred him out for cataract surgery and whisked his wheelchair out of the optical. I don't know how the surgeon was able to do that surgery. I thought they had to do a chlorhexidine wash preop but he stunk just as bad when I attempted to do his post op exam. I still laugh when I remember my opticians face gagging and cringing when she tried to measure his pupillary distance.

A heart surgeon I once worked for told me he admitted a patient just so the patient would get a bath.