One of my returned calls today:
Me: Hi this is RehabRN returning your call Mr. RehabEscapee (aka almost AMA).
Mr. RE: Yes, RehabRN, I know we need to do that appointment. (RE whispers)
Me: Sure, is it a good time right now? I notice you're talking lower.
Mr. RE: Well, I'm at the emergency room.
Me: For you or someone else? (I've gotten some weird calls before, but...)
Mr. RE: Oh no! I'm helping out. For someone else, so I have a few minutes and I figured I'd talk to you.
What Mr. RE doesn't realize that I have a long set of questions to ask him. And no, he might not want to answer them in the ER, since they can get personal.
If you're there to support someone else, wouldn't it be nice to pay attention to them?
I convinced Mr. RE it was. His wife might like him later if he does.
More later...
Showing posts with label emergency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label emergency. Show all posts
Monday, May 23, 2016
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Things not to do at work
Oh, my coworkers just come up with new fun things to do every single day. Today's installment revolves around computer issues.
Our boss, a lovely physician who is an expert in her field, has a love/hate relationship with her computer. As usual, as soon as our support person leaves for the other side of campus, she has an emergency.
Today's emergency: typing caused the lock screen to come up in the middle of entering the password. I watched as it happened, and noticed something. A large crumb. We repeated the error, so I told our lovely doc, to hold off the attempts to log in until I came back. I brought a can of air and our Saniwipes. To no one's surprise, enough crumbs to feed a small family came flying out of the keyboard.
Moral of the story: don't eat lunch over your desk. Those crumbs are out to get you (especially if they pile up under the keys on your keyboard). A few sprays of the air and cleaning...voila! No more weirdness.
The other problem: some things just shouldn't be used as mouse pads. Here's an explanation from one of the staff: Someone has decided to use Covaderm (yes the dressing) as a mouse pads on a few of the computers causing an abundance of adhesive madness when trying to maneuver the mouse.
Remember, friends don't let friends use adhesive dressings on computers. Stick to the duct tape.
More later...
Our boss, a lovely physician who is an expert in her field, has a love/hate relationship with her computer. As usual, as soon as our support person leaves for the other side of campus, she has an emergency.
Today's emergency: typing caused the lock screen to come up in the middle of entering the password. I watched as it happened, and noticed something. A large crumb. We repeated the error, so I told our lovely doc, to hold off the attempts to log in until I came back. I brought a can of air and our Saniwipes. To no one's surprise, enough crumbs to feed a small family came flying out of the keyboard.
Moral of the story: don't eat lunch over your desk. Those crumbs are out to get you (especially if they pile up under the keys on your keyboard). A few sprays of the air and cleaning...voila! No more weirdness.
The other problem: some things just shouldn't be used as mouse pads. Here's an explanation from one of the staff: Someone has decided to use Covaderm (yes the dressing) as a mouse pads on a few of the computers causing an abundance of adhesive madness when trying to maneuver the mouse.
Remember, friends don't let friends use adhesive dressings on computers. Stick to the duct tape.
More later...
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
A cautionary tale
I read this KevinMD article today just because I liked the title: The toxicity of Medicaid.
Some of you may say, "This is a doctor writing this. Boo hoo."
Boys and girls, we should be up in arms, too. The patients described here don't just need nursing care, they DESPERATELY need it. (yes, I'm shouting again.)
The system has engendered dangerously bad habits in people. As nurses on the front lines, I'm sure our friends in the ED could tell us about how many patients might easily be triaged to lower levels of care...if they existed in their area and took Medicaid.
In rehab, we coordinate care regularly between specialties and help people get things they need, even if they are indeed expensive. We need to do more of this for Medicaid patients to keep them out of the ED.
Unfortunately, the EDs of America sit there like the vaunted Motel 6...we'll leave the light on for you. The light is on, but it is unfortunate that many folks miss the most important thing about the ED.
This place is for emergencies only. It's not for a one stop shop to get all your doctors' appointments done right now, so you don't have to get up in the morning, and (gasp) go to more than one place. It's not so you can avoid your copay. It's for emergencies.
Because one day, if you have a heart attack, stroke, or car accident, you may want them to be ready and waiting with the light on, for you.
Some of you may say, "This is a doctor writing this. Boo hoo."
Boys and girls, we should be up in arms, too. The patients described here don't just need nursing care, they DESPERATELY need it. (yes, I'm shouting again.)
The system has engendered dangerously bad habits in people. As nurses on the front lines, I'm sure our friends in the ED could tell us about how many patients might easily be triaged to lower levels of care...if they existed in their area and took Medicaid.
In rehab, we coordinate care regularly between specialties and help people get things they need, even if they are indeed expensive. We need to do more of this for Medicaid patients to keep them out of the ED.
Unfortunately, the EDs of America sit there like the vaunted Motel 6...we'll leave the light on for you. The light is on, but it is unfortunate that many folks miss the most important thing about the ED.
This place is for emergencies only. It's not for a one stop shop to get all your doctors' appointments done right now, so you don't have to get up in the morning, and (gasp) go to more than one place. It's not so you can avoid your copay. It's for emergencies.
Because one day, if you have a heart attack, stroke, or car accident, you may want them to be ready and waiting with the light on, for you.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The boys are back
And they're telling stories at Serenity Now Hospital again. Yippee!
Glad to have you back! Enjoying the snark coming out of the ED again. Not sure if the stripper story or the citrus one are more clearly Captain Obvious cases or not.
Go see for yourselves. More to come...
Glad to have you back! Enjoying the snark coming out of the ED again. Not sure if the stripper story or the citrus one are more clearly Captain Obvious cases or not.
Go see for yourselves. More to come...
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
If I ran Hotel Rehab...
Dear Boss:
Yes, after a recent meeting in which the nursing staff was errantly dressed down by management for flagrant patient violations of house rules, here's what I'd do if I ran the Hotel Rehab.
1. Yes, bring in the guys in the uniforms (our security force) and make them lay down the law.
Rule: you break it, you buy it, which means as soon as you can, you're outta here, pal.
2. Have psychology work rotations 24/7 on call. What a pain it is to have no support at odd hours when you need it. Psych's busy enough with all the commitments, suicidal ideations, etc. Come on down and peel this "not sick enough for psych" character off the ceiling so I can do my work. And stop the groper from groping my fellow staff members.
3. Really discharge non-compliant patients. You're perfectly competent, but choose to disobey rules and make yourself sick enough to require emergency care? Out you go...
Just my two cents. Maybe it'll stick if I repeat it enough.
Yours truly,
RehabRN
Yes, after a recent meeting in which the nursing staff was errantly dressed down by management for flagrant patient violations of house rules, here's what I'd do if I ran the Hotel Rehab.
1. Yes, bring in the guys in the uniforms (our security force) and make them lay down the law.
Rule: you break it, you buy it, which means as soon as you can, you're outta here, pal.
2. Have psychology work rotations 24/7 on call. What a pain it is to have no support at odd hours when you need it. Psych's busy enough with all the commitments, suicidal ideations, etc. Come on down and peel this "not sick enough for psych" character off the ceiling so I can do my work. And stop the groper from groping my fellow staff members.
3. Really discharge non-compliant patients. You're perfectly competent, but choose to disobey rules and make yourself sick enough to require emergency care? Out you go...
Just my two cents. Maybe it'll stick if I repeat it enough.
Yours truly,
RehabRN
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Nuggets for August 25
Oh, it's been a long time, but I went meandering about the web and found these goodies. Hope you enjoy!
Chug, chug, chug
Think Gatorade is great after a marathon? What about near beer? A recent German study says non-alcoholic beer may be the best drink after you run. (from www.nytimes.com)
Sad, but true
The cancer bogeyman is back visiting Steve Jobs of Apple and he's decided to call it quits. (from www.nytimes.com)
ER is the real deal
Emergency nursing was recently recognized by the ANA. Kudos to all those ER nurses out there, especially Maha, Kim and Nurse K. (from www.nurse.com)
Pot calling the kettle...
Yes, I'm guilty. I do exercise to look better, but I feel better, too. (from www.latimes.com)
Chug, chug, chug
Think Gatorade is great after a marathon? What about near beer? A recent German study says non-alcoholic beer may be the best drink after you run. (from www.nytimes.com)
Sad, but true
The cancer bogeyman is back visiting Steve Jobs of Apple and he's decided to call it quits. (from www.nytimes.com)
ER is the real deal
Emergency nursing was recently recognized by the ANA. Kudos to all those ER nurses out there, especially Maha, Kim and Nurse K. (from www.nurse.com)
Pot calling the kettle...
Yes, I'm guilty. I do exercise to look better, but I feel better, too. (from www.latimes.com)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Points to ponder
Dear Newbie Wannabe BSN:
Yes, you really must study if you want to pass your nursing research test. Please, however, do not continue studying when your patients keep ringing the call light. Get up and answer it.
No, it is not okay to take a timed test that is way longer than your break time. Please kindly do this on your days off, since you have two to three each week with your compressed schedule.
Dear Slacker RN:
Not doing your work until the last minute when everyone is ready to go home is not fun, nor an emergency on my part. Don't expect me to jump in and help, especially when you've spent the night goofing off and working on origami with the Slug.
One of those famous slogans really is true: Your mother does not work here. Please clean up after yourself.
Sincerely not,
RehabRN
Yes, you really must study if you want to pass your nursing research test. Please, however, do not continue studying when your patients keep ringing the call light. Get up and answer it.
No, it is not okay to take a timed test that is way longer than your break time. Please kindly do this on your days off, since you have two to three each week with your compressed schedule.
Dear Slacker RN:
Not doing your work until the last minute when everyone is ready to go home is not fun, nor an emergency on my part. Don't expect me to jump in and help, especially when you've spent the night goofing off and working on origami with the Slug.
One of those famous slogans really is true: Your mother does not work here. Please clean up after yourself.
Sincerely not,
RehabRN
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Robots?
One of my patients recently asked me when we were going to get robots to hand out the meds like they did in another hospital he visited. They've been in the media a few times, so you just never know....
I can think of a few uses for a robot right now at the Hotel.
1. Monitoring one-to-one patients. If we equipped one with Taser turned on a low setting, maybe we could keep one particular character from ripping off his/her dressings all the time.
2. Entertainment. When someone wants to talk for ages, we'd send in our friend, the robot. "Gotta run, but BOB the robot will be glad to talk to you for a while." Or you could play a video game on BOB's screen.
3. Send the robot on emergency call lights runs for things like ice, water, and blankets. Now if we could add an ice maker to said robot...ooh!
But finally, I don't think we'll be doing this with our robot: marrying folks on the unit. I just don't think Giacomo and the other chaplains would go for it!
More later...stay tuned!
I can think of a few uses for a robot right now at the Hotel.
1. Monitoring one-to-one patients. If we equipped one with Taser turned on a low setting, maybe we could keep one particular character from ripping off his/her dressings all the time.
2. Entertainment. When someone wants to talk for ages, we'd send in our friend, the robot. "Gotta run, but BOB the robot will be glad to talk to you for a while." Or you could play a video game on BOB's screen.
3. Send the robot on emergency call lights runs for things like ice, water, and blankets. Now if we could add an ice maker to said robot...ooh!
But finally, I don't think we'll be doing this with our robot: marrying folks on the unit. I just don't think Giacomo and the other chaplains would go for it!
More later...stay tuned!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
It's an emergency!
Medic999 is hosting this latest edition of Change of Shift, so head on over stat!
BTW if you want to know what a Geordie is, head on over here.
BTW if you want to know what a Geordie is, head on over here.
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