Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

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msnobody
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New Pneumonia Vaccine Guidelines

Post by msnobody »

I'm still trying to wrap my head around this one as to where I fit in to the new guidelines as a patient, but here is a link:

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/pneumo ... timing.pdf

for what it's worth, get your prostate checked and screenings for colorectal cancer. Not fun getting old. :P
Get your shingles vaccines (series of two doses), if clinically indicated-- ask your doctor

That is my public service announcement, not to be confused with PSA :P
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
msnobody
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Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Post by msnobody »

While I'm on here, I have a funny story. My FIL was in a small assisted living facility. He was always quite a character. We got a call one day that he was consuming salt and the salt shakers had to be taken away. What they didn't realize was that most of the time I knew him, he had occasionally poured a little salt into his hand and then into his mouth. He said this relieved his heartburn. So, they asked us to take him to the doctor to be checked for Syndrome of Inappropriate Anti-diuretic Hormone Secretion (SIADH), so we got him checked and testing was negative.

We get another call that during Bible study in the common area that he made pig noises. Again, something that sounds just like my FIL, especially if a female may have giggled at his actions. Anyway, his dementia that had never really been a problem was beginning to get worse. So, we are in a meeting with the LPN facility owner and her husband to have the talk about his condition is worsening and he needs to go to a higher level of care which isn't offered at the assisted living facility. There we were to discuss his "Oinking" incident, when in the midst of a serious conversation, from my husband's pocket comes the sound of sheep bleating, "Baah, baah, baah!" I blurted out, "It is a game on his phone!" Then, I burst out laughing. Hubby had the game app Hay Day on his phone where you tend the farm and if you fail to tend the farm, the farm animals let you know about it. I don't think the owner and her husband even smiled when that happened.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
msnobody
First Presidency
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Medication errors

Post by msnobody »

It is always good to be sure you are prescribed medication correctly, or the right medication for your condition.

As you know, I had a kidney stone recently. I was prescribed, by mistake, potassium chloride 20 mEq twice daily for kidney stones (elevated uric acid in the urine), rather than potassium citrate (the correct medication). I asked what led to this mistake by the doctor's office and was told that potassium citrate didn't have a option for a 20mEq when prescribing electronically, and potassium chloride was chosen instead because it did have a 20mEq option. Scary thing is that this could have caused issues with the heart. Also, potassium chloride would not have treated the condition. Imagine getting the next 24-hour urine and the uric acid level still being high in the urine. Would there have been a chance to have been prescribed an even higher dose of the WRONG medication? Makes me wonder how many of their patients are taking the wrong drug to help prevent kidney stones.

The average person would not have noticed this. The pharmacy didn't catch it because, there was no indication in the prescription for what the drug was being used to treat.

This make me want to jump on my soapbox about MDs using medical assistants rather than real licensed nurses, yet calling them "nurse." I'll spare you my diatribe about that.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
msnobody
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Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Post by msnobody »

Patient of sound mind thinks he is swallowing a cup of pills, but mistakenly swallows 10-20 glucose testing strips instead.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
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Dr. Shades
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Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Post by Dr. Shades »

msnobody wrote:
Tue Nov 15, 2022 6:19 pm
Patient of sound mind thinks he is swallowing a cup of pills, but mistakenly swallows 10-20 glucose testing strips instead.
What was the patient's blood sugar?
"It’s ironic that the Church that people claim to be true, puts so much effort into hiding truths."
--I Have Questions, 01-25-2024
msnobody
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Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Post by msnobody »

Dr. Shades wrote:
Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:49 am
msnobody wrote:
Tue Nov 15, 2022 6:19 pm
Patient of sound mind thinks he is swallowing a cup of pills, but mistakenly swallows 10-20 glucose testing strips instead.
What was the patient's blood sugar?
No idea about the blood sugar. I’m not sure if they checked it in the ER. I can check though.

Turns out he had been placing his medications in one of the test strip canisters, but also had the one containing the test strips next to it.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
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Dr. Shades
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Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Post by Dr. Shades »

I’m sorry, msnobody, but my “What was his blood sugar?” question was a joke.
"It’s ironic that the Church that people claim to be true, puts so much effort into hiding truths."
--I Have Questions, 01-25-2024
msnobody
First Presidency
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Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Post by msnobody »

Dr. Shades wrote:
Fri Nov 25, 2022 1:22 pm
I’m sorry, msnobody, but my “What was his blood sugar?” question was a joke.
I figured it was a joke, but then the nursing process kicked in and I'm thinking Shades may be thinking diabetic encephalopathy resulted in the patient not being able to differentiate between pills and test strips.

136mg/dL ;)

Good news is they have cleared. (TMI, right?)
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
Informant
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Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Post by Informant »

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?
LOL “selfsame.”
msnobody
First Presidency
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Re: Musings of a Nurse (my work life)

Post by msnobody »

I have a very soft spot in my heart for some of our patients that I’ve gotten to know over the years. The ones who tend to land in that soft spot in my heart are the ones who don’t watch out after their health like they should, the ones that tend to be a little aggravating, our cocaine abusers, patients who struggle with suicidal ideation, and persons with schizophrenia. Why those? I don’t know. Sometimes many of those are rolled up into one patient, as was today.

One of those patients, I had to send out to the ER today. I’m not going to get into specifics, but he was clearly in distress. It was so hard watching him leave on the stretcher and realizing that I will probably not see him again (in this life anyway). It was easy to let him go because he needed emergent treatment, but hard to let him go because I got the feeling I’d never see him again. Sometimes, I wish I didn’t know some of the things I know as a nurse. The body fights so hard to live.

I was observing on my drive home from work that the world just goes on about its business, while others are going through difficult times in their lives. My patient is over there in the hospital about to get some really bad news that I think he knows is coming, and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.
The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession... The LORD set his love on you and chose you... The LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery. Deut. 7
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