Bus Sighting, or, Nurses Are A Waste of Time

[Pagan]

And it was a nurse that got me through being drugged at a bar, while the doctor just dismissed me as "having had too much to drink"

by the time I got to the hospital my BAC was 0.0-the doctor didn't believe me-

How the hell did he figure that if your BAC is nothing? Idiot.

[greek_jester]

I think your professor was right - you'll make a great ER nurse. The ability to deal with BS from scared or angry patients/relatives is vital.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that a nurse isn't important. They often make or break a patient's attitude to the medical profession. My own experiences bear that out.

I am 4' 10.5", & when I was a kid (back in the mists of the 70's) doctors didn't bother looking at family scrapbooks filled with pictures of short, busty females & insisted something was 'wrong' with me. Cue getting hauled up the hospital to be poked, prodded & measured every 6 months until puberty hit.

When I was a toddler, the doctor decided he wanted a blood sample. 5 nurses held me down while one of them stuck the needle in as I screamed. To this day, I can't even see a needle on screen without feeling ill. Excellent example of What Not to Do.

Scroll forward a good many years to the last few. Those who have paid attention know that earlier this year I had a brain operation to correct benign intracranial hypertension (aka water on the brain). Nasty stuff, the fluid cradling my brain wasn't draining off properly & was putting pressure in some very bad places (think co-ordination issues, dementia-like symptoms (particularly memory) & damage to my eyesight).

During the (extensive) testing I went through, I was consistently impressed by the nursing staff across 3 different hospitals. The nurses at my local hospital were always wonderful, particularly those who had to draw blood (they were very understanding about my tendency to focus on something - picture, weird mark in the paint, window, whatever, & babble endlessly about it). The only nurse not to have listened to my 'don't show me the needle!' warning (a good many years ago, now) discovered that it is, in fact, possible for a diddy little plump girl to body-check a 6'+ male nurse built like a rugby player into a wall when he waves a needle under her nose & tells her that 'it's stupid to be scared at something so small, look at it...' from a sitting start.

While the doctor who administered my first-ever lumbar puncture was, to put it mildly, useless (he didn't wait for the local to kick in, he hit my spinal column & left my foot numb for several days, & his response to me sobbing in terror between the pain & the frigging huge needle in my spine was 'grow up & get over it' the nurse before-hand spent a lot of time soothing me & telling me what the procedure would entail. Pity I got stuck with a substitute doctor who didn't want to be covering that ward (we overheard him complaining).

My second lumbar puncture was on the operating table while a camera was quietly poking around in my brain via a hole in the vein in my groin (yes, it was a long cable). One of the nurses present at the time, however, happily held my hand, blew my nose & chatted while the (wildly more competent) consultant numbed my back & slipped the needle in while I wasn't paying attention.

My third lumbar puncture was a breeze, as it was by the same consultant, & the same nurse held my hand (& a tissue, which turned out to be unnecessary). Never could have got over that without her, & sent her a card afterwards.

Best of all were the nurses after the actual brain op, though. They were all generous, thoughtful, endlessly patient (even with the poor lady a few beds down who was definitely not all there) & made an effort to get to know their patients well enough to be able to anticipate what they needed. I particularly liked the nice nurse who chased the doctor who was very late on his rounds who wouldn't let me use a loo instead of a bedpan until he'd seen me (said 'seeing' consisting of walking up to my bed, reading my notes, grunting, asking the nurse a couple of questions about how I was feeling (!), then telling the nurse I could use the loo, all without so much as meeting my eyes once).

In short (too late - sorry for the threadjack!) as a general rule nurses are about the only reason I don't run screaming in the other direction when someone mentions seeing a doctor.

[Pagan]

I am 4' 10.5", & when I was a kid (back in the mists of the 70's) doctors didn't bother looking at family scrapbooks filled with pictures of short, busty females & insisted something was 'wrong' with me. Cue getting hauled up the hospital to be poked, prodded & measured every 6 months until puberty hit.

I used to get that all the time. People would see my mom (5'10"), my dad (6'), and my aunt (5'8", mom's sister) and assume there's was something wrong with me. However, they've never seen the rest of my mom's side of the family. I'm on the tall end. We don't know about my dad's side, yet.

My pediatrician, though, Goddess bless him. Came into the exam room, looked at me, saw that I was healthy looking, looked at my chart and remarked that I must have light bones. Which I do. Light but strong. I've only ever broken two toes in my whole life.

And thanks to those genes, I've still got the metabolism of a bird and can eat pretty much what I want.

The only nurse not to have listened to my 'don't show me the needle!' warning (a good many years ago, now) discovered that it is, in fact, possible for a diddy little plump girl to body-check a 6'+ male nurse built like a rugby player into a wall when he waves a needle under her nose & tells her that 'it's stupid to be scared at something so small, look at it...' from a sitting start.

It's your phobia and it's going to operate the way it wants to!

I've got a huge phobia with cockroaches. Had a co-worker tell me that I couldn't be afraid of them and be afraid to kill them. Sorry, but it's my phobia and I can't get near enough to kill them. And even if I did kill them with a shoe, I'd have to throw the shoes out!

My second lumbar puncture was on the operating table while a camera was quietly poking around in my brain via a hole in the vein in my groin (yes, it was a long cable).

I know it probably wasn't to you, but that's cool!

[Wenchie]

Understandable. If the patient is young, it's easy (but wrong) to believe it just can't be an MI. Doesn't matter; it very well could be.

It also could have been a pulmonary embolism (don't show up on chest xrays), reflux, gall bladder, pancreatitis, or costocondritis (irritation of the chest wall muscles). I often remind my students that with the chest, the sky's the limit . . . lots of things cause chest pain. Some serious. Some not.

If you keep feeling bad, see your regular doc.

Thanks.

I'm youngish. 31. And yeah, it could have been so many things... but the time it took them to rule anything out was horrid.

On a related note, I've had costocondritis before... last year, actually. While moving. OMG that hurt... I had to put off unpacking and heavy-lifting for weeks, which isn't fun when you've just moved.

[telecom_goddess]

Ack.

Leaving the IV in was just plain negligent. The poorly placed splint probably should have been caught too; an assessment of circulation and sensation is part of the care for that kind of injury.

I know huh....I know I missed it being in my arm until I got home but I was in pain, then almost knocked out by morphine, and extremely upset and worried as to how I was going to handle myself. I think I can be excused. They should have caught it. I got lucky that someone who knew how to take those out properly came by my house and removed it for me. Again I was helpless and couldn't have taken it out myself...it was in my right arm and my left arm was the broken/paralyzed one so I couldn't use it at all.

I also had a rough time with a doctor not being terribly sympathetic when I was crying because I was in so much pain. I was having sinus surgery, and that went fine until they put the pressure packing in my nose...that HURT. I was crying on the operating table and he kept telling me to just stop it...

I developed an instant dislike for him and swore I would never have him touch me again.

[KiaKat]

My sister (4th year Osteopathy student) and one of my cousins (cardiac care nurse) have a great saying about the difference between a doctor and a nurse.

A doctor gets all the understanding of WHY things happen the way they do. The hard science behind disease and injury, and the mechanisms of repair. They are there for diagnosis, and to specialize in the details that sometimes get overlooked in the grand scheme of an illness (or in health).

A nurse understands the HOW of disease and injury. How to properly administer the treatment. How to keep the patient in the condition necessary for treatment. How to talk to the patient without using all the big, scientific words. How to care for the patient on a daily basis.

Both are necessary, for each performs a different function for the patient.

[greek_jester]

I've got a huge phobia with cockroaches. Had a co-worker tell me that I couldn't be afraid of them and be afraid to kill them. Sorry, but it's my phobia and I can't get near enough to kill them. And even if I did kill them with a shoe, I'd have to throw the shoes out!

Phobias are irrational (except for in a few rare cases). A good therapist (& sometimes hypnotherapy) are necessary to get someone over one. A phobia isn't just being afraid - it's a visceral reaction that overrides conscious control of your body, if you're not careful.

I know it probably wasn't to you, but that's cool!

Actually, it was rather cool. I was just disappointed that I couldn't watch the screens, 'cos turning my head could have jerked the cable at an awkward moment & accidentally turned me into a vegetable.

[Pagan]

Phobias are irrational (except for in a few rare cases). A good therapist (& sometimes hypnotherapy) are necessary to get someone over one. A phobia isn't just being afraid - it's a visceral reaction that overrides conscious control of your body, if you're not careful.

Oh, believe me, it's a phobia. I have a tendency to freeze when I see one. Ask anybody that's been around me when one of the fuckers appears. Or how about the time I almost scrubbed the top of my foot raw because one ran across my foot? I can't even look at a picture of them without getting....I can't describe it.

Suffice to say that there's an episode of "X-Files" that I can't watch and I have never and will never see "Joe's Apartment".

It's just much easier and cheaper to avoid the bastards.

[Hermione]

I would LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE to be an OR nurse. I think it would be fascinating. Can't really work and do nursing school though, so I'm working on a certificate in medical coding.

Had my gallbladder out last week. Nurses were all very nice except one, and since I was in Day Surgery I had a different nurse every 15 minutes. My surgeon was great, but I wanted to SLAP the anesthesiologist in the pre op holding area. ALL OF THE ANESTHESIOLOGISTS do BLIND STICKS. When I met with the NP for anesthesia during my pre op appt she admitted it. That's the second time at that hospital the anesthesiologist hurt me doing my IV...I mean, in tears hurting. And I normally do ok having an IV in.

[MoonCat]

I would LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE to be an OR nurse. I think it would be fascinating. Can't really work and do nursing school though, so I'm working on a certificate in medical coding.

Had my gallbladder out last week. Nurses were all very nice except one, and since I was in Day Surgery I had a different nurse every 15 minutes. My surgeon was great, but I wanted to SLAP the anesthesiologist in the pre op holding area. ALL OF THE ANESTHESIOLOGISTS do BLIND STICKS. When I met with the NP for anesthesia during my pre op appt she admitted it. That's the second time at that hospital the anesthesiologist hurt me doing my IV...I mean, in tears hurting. And I normally do ok having an IV in.

IVs hurt like hell, in my experience. Unfortunately my veins are very, very difficult to get into, even for routine blood samples, so they have to go through the vein in my hand. I've had some very good nurses for this. First time I had it done, the nurse let me squeeze her hand while they put in the IV needle in (not on the hand that was holding hers, of course). Damn near squeezed it in two, but she never said a word. Lovely lady.

[BeeMused]

I feel your pain MoonCat, my veins play hide and seek too. Most of the time I end up with a needle in my hand too. I hate that burning sensation, but
And sometimes they had to poke around in my arms because they needed a bigger needle to get the stuff into me (i.e. the contrast medium for a CAT scan). During a 3 week stay in hospital you get poked a lot, meh! Ooooh how sweet it sounded: "This is the last antibiotics infusion!" And the next day just one blood sample to check the infection parameters, they stayed down and I could finally leave!

I really appreciated the work of the nurses during my stay, they did their best to make me comfortable. The doctors were nice too, they explained things, without me asking!!!! Esp. when I was a bit scared after a potential embolism. They really made sure there wasn't a stray blood clot in my lung, and I knew the whole time what and why they were doing it. The nurse during the scintigraphy was esp. nice, she made sure I could see the monitor, so I had something to focus on during those endless 2*20mins it took. I felt both doctors and nurses were working as a team, not to mention the bet they had going between doctors and nurses about the tries they would need to get a needle into my veins.

[jedimaster91]

ALL OF THE ANESTHESIOLOGISTS do BLIND STICKS. When I met with the NP for anesthesia during my pre op appt she admitted it. That's the second time at that hospital the anesthesiologist hurt me doing my IV...I mean, in tears hurting. And I normally do ok having an IV in.

WTF is a blind stick? If I'm not at least resonably convinced a vein is in there, I'm not sticking it.

Esp. when I was a bit scared after a potential embolism. They really made sure there wasn't a stray blood clot in my lung, and I knew the whole time what and why they were doing it. The nurse during the scintigraphy was esp. nice, she made sure I could see the monitor, so I had something to focus on during those endless 2*20mins it took.

Sounds like you endured one of our nuclear lung scans. My apologies and condolences.

I felt both doctors and nurses were working as a team, not to mention the bet they had going between doctors and nurses about the tries they would need to get a needle into my veins.

My record patient was a youngish woman with breast cancer. She'd had lymph nodes removed on one side, so we couldn't use that arm for IVs. Unfortunately for all of us, that was the arm with all her good veins. It took 8 of us over an hour to get an IV in this lady. Thankfully, she was a great sport about it. And the next time she came in, she had a port. Made my life (and hers) much easier.

[BeeMused]

Sounds like you endured one of our nuclear lung scans. My apologies and condolences.

Yep, first I got to breath in some radioactive gas - 20mins in the scanner, then they injected the stuff and again 20mins in the scanner. Boring... and to make things worse all that was before breakfast, before coffee even! But hey, I rather not have undetected micro embolisms in my lung! When I know why something nasty has to be done, I'm very willing to endure it. I'm sure though the docs and nurses in nuclear radiology don't get asked about the half-life period of the used isotopes very often.

My record patient was a youngish woman with breast cancer. She'd had lymph nodes removed on one side, so we couldn't use that arm for IVs. Unfortunately for all of us, that was the arm with all her good veins. It took 8 of us over an hour to get an IV in this lady. Thankfully, she was a great sport about it. And the next time she came in, she had a port. Made my life (and hers) much easier.

Ack, now that's really annoying, poor woman. While ports suck for different reasons, they sure help when you have very bad veins and need regular IVs. One hour of poking and prodding... <shudder>
I personally found that being a good sport about things like that helps, I mean bitching and whining just adds to the stress levels of all involved.

[jedimaster91]

Yep, first I got to breath in some radioactive gas - 20mins in the scanner, then they injected the stuff and again 20mins in the scanner. Boring... and to make things worse all that was before breakfast, before coffee even! But hey, I rather not have undetected micro embolisms in my lung! When I know why something nasty has to be done, I'm very willing to endure it. I'm sure though the docs and nurses in nuclear radiology don't get asked about the half-life period of the used isotopes very often.

I've been asked occasionally. There are certain scans we have to give the patients a note if they're traveling in case they set off detectors.

For lungs, if it was xenon gas the half life is about 5 days, but you breathe it right out, so really it's negligible. The aerosol version and the injected dose are both technitium, which has a half life of 6 hours. And if it's any consolation, I hate lung scans too. They're a bit of a pain.

[BeeMused]

It was technetium both times, I wasn't really worried about it.
I'm not planning to have another scan.