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Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:02 pm
by msnobody
Another one or two…

Patient with COPD comes in with complaint of increasing shortness of breath.
Nurse: Have you been using your inhaler?
Patient: No, because I didn’t want to get up to rinse out my mouth.


Patient comes in verbalizing reasons the MD should complete a long-term handicap parking privileges form for him. MD turns down the request for not qualifying. Patient gets very upset.
Patient: How do I get out of here?
Nurse: You can turn that corner over there and you’ll be right by the elevator, or this behind the this door here are the stairs.
Patient: I’ll take the stairs. It will be quicker.
(Patient goes skipping down the stairs).

Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:10 pm
by msnobody
Patient referral for a patient wanting to be seen in allergy clinic due to working next door to where law enforcement stores confiscated marijuana. Thinks he has an allergy.

Ugh, I don’t think we have any weed with which to allergy test you or do immunotherapy.

Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:11 pm
by Gadianton
Your nurse stories are similar to those told to me by a lady I see now and again on my walk who is a teacher. No idea how people can do these kinds of jobs, but glad they can.

Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:36 pm
by Father Francis
Gadianton wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:11 pm
Your nurse stories are similar to those told to me by a lady I see now and again on my walk who is a teacher. No idea how people can do these kinds of jobs, but glad they can.
My parents were both public educators. I could write a book or two about both of them. One was happy and had many letters sent from former students. The other hated the job, and berated their students at any given chance.

Nursing, and teaching (nurses should be both the perpetual teacher and student) are a way of life, not just a profession. I was a chef when I entered the medical field. I quit a cushy job to become a CNA when I entered nursing school. I figured that I ought to know what CNAs do if I was going to be in charge of them.

I have a theory that the more you're paid the less work you do. In going from CNA to RN to administrative work I've found that theory to hold true.

Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 4:16 pm
by msnobody
Father Francis wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:36 pm
Gadianton wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 3:11 pm
Your nurse stories are similar to those told to me by a lady I see now and again on my walk who is a teacher. No idea how people can do these kinds of jobs, but glad they can.
My parents were both public educators. I could write a book or two about both of them. One was happy and had many letters sent from former students. The other hated the job, and berated their students at any given chance.

Nursing, and teaching (nurses should be both the perpetual teacher and student) are a way of life, not just a profession. I was a chef when I entered the medical field. I quit a cushy job to become a CNA when I entered nursing school. I figured that I ought to know what CNAs do if I was going to be in charge of them.

I have a theory that the more you're paid the less work you do. In going from CNA to RN to administrative work I've found that theory to hold true.
I find that at the end of my workday, I’m more mentally exhausted as an RN, than physically exhausted as I was when I was an LPN. I never did the CNA thing, like so many nursing students do. I was fortunate that I didn’t have to work while in LPN school, although we were newly weds and very broke at the time. I commend anyone who can work while in nursing school.I always admired the LPN students who worked and had children, while in LPN school, because I don’t know how they did it.

I worked full time when I went back for the RN degree. The longest stretch I did with working eight hours shifts and twelve hour shifts with precepting was nineteen days in a row. I was so exhausted, I didn’t even know what day it was. I walked up to the counter at Taziki’s and said, “I’ll have the Friday Special,” and they told me, “Ma’am, today is Wednesday.”

The school of nursing I attended (some of it online) was two hours away. It was a four hour round trip with twelve hour clinicals, and twelve hour precepting shifts done at a local hospital. I guess being ~50 years old and a new cancer dx didn’t help. I kept the fact that I was in school from my employer. One day, I was in clinicals in a mental health lock down unit two hours away, when my nurse manager called me and told me I needed to come into work. Thankfully, my clinical nursing instructor was very understanding and allowed me to go back on another day to make it up. The instructors were so much nicer in RN school some 32 years later.

Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 9:26 pm
by Marcus
Dr. Shades wrote:
Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:48 am
Context, please? Was he directing his original expletives at the selfsame nurse who administered the shot, or at someone else?
Why would it matter? Bad behavior is bad behavior.

Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:45 pm
by Dr. Shades
Marcus wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 9:26 pm
Dr. Shades wrote:
Sat Mar 05, 2022 3:48 am
Context, please? Was he directing his original expletives at the selfsame nurse who administered the shot, or at someone else?
Why would it matter? Bad behavior is bad behavior.
So I can get an accurate visual of what went on.

Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Sun Mar 06, 2022 11:03 pm
by Jersey Girl
Dr. Shades wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 10:45 pm
Marcus wrote:
Sun Mar 06, 2022 9:26 pm
Why would it matter? Bad behavior is bad behavior.
So I can get an accurate visual of what went on.
Read that post again. Then answer the following question.

Why would the patient be worried about that particular nurse giving him the shot?

Please write your answer in 25 words or less. Thanks ever so much.

Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:16 pm
by msnobody
A favorite is when a patient mistakenly referred to his statin as his Satanic medicine.

Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 6:52 pm
by Res Ipsa
msnobody wrote:
Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:16 pm
A favorite is when a patient mistakenly referred to his statin as his Satanic medicine.
:D :D :D