OMG! One of the classic comedy duos from my yout (yes, I left the h off for a reason). No, I'm not making this one up.
Michael McKean (his real name) was injured in an accident recently and sent to rehab. Bet those folks will have lots of fun. Hope therapy's got some fun stuff for him to do.
Showing posts with label inpatient rehab. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inpatient rehab. Show all posts
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
This is why...
I love being a rehab nurse. Being able to get people home, to live their lives, take care of their kids, and keep going.
You go, girl. Beat them whippersnappers!
You go, girl. Beat them whippersnappers!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Coincidence?
I often wonder about some people. When Mr. X, our demented howler, came back from Saint Suburban's acute wing after a bout with urosepsis for rehab, I wondered how did I get so lucky to admit him.
Well, turns out, later in the week, I also got lucky enough to take care of him on my regular shift. Thanks Charge Nurse! Just up my alley...I get (just about) all the people no one wants. I fluffed and buffed him (including shampoo, shave and nail filing), got him up to therapy, got him lots of nice equipment, then bam! He comes back to the unit and says, "My butt itches."
If he wasn't so old, and RehabLand was not so far away, I'd think it was this patient who visited Nurse K in Montana.
I am just so happy I don't get to work this weekend, even if I have to stay home and clean my house. There are worse things to do...
Stay tuned.
Well, turns out, later in the week, I also got lucky enough to take care of him on my regular shift. Thanks Charge Nurse! Just up my alley...I get (just about) all the people no one wants. I fluffed and buffed him (including shampoo, shave and nail filing), got him up to therapy, got him lots of nice equipment, then bam! He comes back to the unit and says, "My butt itches."
If he wasn't so old, and RehabLand was not so far away, I'd think it was this patient who visited Nurse K in Montana.
I am just so happy I don't get to work this weekend, even if I have to stay home and clean my house. There are worse things to do...
Stay tuned.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Just when you think you've seen everything...
Something completely different happens. We got a person who came onto the unit at the Hotel who asked to be "checked in" right at dinner time. Rehab is not a unit people just typically appear on, so this was the first red flag.
Patient then says, "Oh, I was over in the unit down the way over 10 years ago. Can I just go back?" Patient then describes an experience between psych and drug rehab (they mistake us all the time--no surprise when the word "rehab" is on the sign). I call the supervisor who asks me, "Do you think he's a mental health patient?" Yes, I reply without belying that the super has asked if he has suicidal ideation, which he did not.
Thankfully, I managed to get walk-on to the ER, where I later found out that he told them a different story. He was indeed suicidal, so he won a free trip to the psych unit. Not sure if he'll rehab or not at our lovely Hotel, but if he does, I'm sure he'll see the drug rehab folks, and not the physical rehab folks that I'm used to working with here on our unit.
Sometimes people just want to go home again at your hospital.
Stay tuned...
Patient then says, "Oh, I was over in the unit down the way over 10 years ago. Can I just go back?" Patient then describes an experience between psych and drug rehab (they mistake us all the time--no surprise when the word "rehab" is on the sign). I call the supervisor who asks me, "Do you think he's a mental health patient?" Yes, I reply without belying that the super has asked if he has suicidal ideation, which he did not.
Thankfully, I managed to get walk-on to the ER, where I later found out that he told them a different story. He was indeed suicidal, so he won a free trip to the psych unit. Not sure if he'll rehab or not at our lovely Hotel, but if he does, I'm sure he'll see the drug rehab folks, and not the physical rehab folks that I'm used to working with here on our unit.
Sometimes people just want to go home again at your hospital.
Stay tuned...
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Ethical dilemmas
In rehab, we keep people for a long time, as long as they're progressing. In the Hotel, we keep people a long time, because we can for a variety of reasons.
Sometimes, we even have staff get entangled in the issues. Here are some that have come up since I arrived at the Hotel.
1. The infamous, "He said, she said". Someone overhears part of a conversation, and reports it. Patient and nurse have two different stories. Reporter decides to write it up and nurse, of course, gets in trouble, because, as in most service industries, "the customer is always right." Patient is mad at nurse for rest of stay, and nurse is in hot water.
2. Patient stays with us for protracted periods of time when they actually need to be somewhere else. Examples: 86 year old patient with metastatic cancer says, "I can be rehabbed." Oncologist says patient has six months max due to the nature of the mets. We lose a rehab spot, because our boss says, "Go ahead and try." Hospice case worker fortunately has his head on straight: "We'll keep a bed for whenever he's ready to cross that bridge."
3. Nurses get involved (financially, sexually, etc.) with patients. It's no help when said nurse is a favorite of your nursing administration. Nurses also abuse the kindness of patients by eating their snacks, etc. I counsel them to report to no avail, because they fear retribution while they're still here.
4. Boss trains two people for a specialty position over the past year. Both people will be gone from Hotel by September, and boss knew this. WTH is the matter with the boss? Does he/she like training people for other companies? Obviously...training wheel starts over again in a few months.
5. Succession planning. What's that you ask? Well, it means that you train in advance for people moving, retiring or just quitting your organization. As usual, this is just another thing lacking at the Hotel.
Happily, this is not a bad thing. At least, it gives me a topic for my latest grad school paper to write about due this coming week.
Sometimes, we even have staff get entangled in the issues. Here are some that have come up since I arrived at the Hotel.
1. The infamous, "He said, she said". Someone overhears part of a conversation, and reports it. Patient and nurse have two different stories. Reporter decides to write it up and nurse, of course, gets in trouble, because, as in most service industries, "the customer is always right." Patient is mad at nurse for rest of stay, and nurse is in hot water.
2. Patient stays with us for protracted periods of time when they actually need to be somewhere else. Examples: 86 year old patient with metastatic cancer says, "I can be rehabbed." Oncologist says patient has six months max due to the nature of the mets. We lose a rehab spot, because our boss says, "Go ahead and try." Hospice case worker fortunately has his head on straight: "We'll keep a bed for whenever he's ready to cross that bridge."
3. Nurses get involved (financially, sexually, etc.) with patients. It's no help when said nurse is a favorite of your nursing administration. Nurses also abuse the kindness of patients by eating their snacks, etc. I counsel them to report to no avail, because they fear retribution while they're still here.
4. Boss trains two people for a specialty position over the past year. Both people will be gone from Hotel by September, and boss knew this. WTH is the matter with the boss? Does he/she like training people for other companies? Obviously...training wheel starts over again in a few months.
5. Succession planning. What's that you ask? Well, it means that you train in advance for people moving, retiring or just quitting your organization. As usual, this is just another thing lacking at the Hotel.
Happily, this is not a bad thing. At least, it gives me a topic for my latest grad school paper to write about due this coming week.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Yes, we're a little crazy
To the average Joe/Jill patient, what we do at the Hotel seems kind of nuts. Rehab units are places where you can get up and get out, and you even have your own entourage, besides me, your unit tour guide.
Dear Mr. ABC:
Some people think I'm nuts when I tell them this, but it's absolutely true. I'm the tour guide and I usually get the job of helping you initially, getting settled in and used to the rhythm of the Hotel.
No, we're not like SuperLuxeRehab unit sown the street which gets remodeled, redecorated, repainted every time someone sneezes, no, welcome to the gritty world of the Hotel, which saw it's last wallpaper change in 1994. Now, the signs and some equipment you see are brand-spanking new, but that's just because. We didn't want the signs (management says we have to be "just like everyone else"), but we did want the equipment, since it makes our jobs easier.
No you won't get a private room just because you have MRSA. This is not SuperLuxe. Join the MRSA club in a double room (almost 75% of our people have it, and some other bugs for which we isolate, too).
We are rehab nurses, so the three things we care about are bowel, bladder and skin. People will come in asking all kinds of questions on those three things, so don't be surprised. This is why I explained the reason you need a post-void bladder scan for a while.
We'll also bug you daily about your bowel habits, to make sure you're going. Yes, we really do care if you're going and want details, if you bother to look.(If you don't, we will.) Bowels that work tend not to cause problems, unless, of course, they work a little too much. Moderation is the key.
Skin, to me, is a no-brainer. As I tell patients, it's supposed to be clean, dry and intact. This is why we look at it regularly. If you need help cleaning it, that's what we're here to do. If you can do it, we are thrilled. One less bath I have to do, so I can do other stuff you need.
So, yes, Mr. ABC, we may seem crazy, but we care about you, and your bowels, bladder and skin.
Hope you enjoy and make good use of your stay at the Hotel.
Sincerely,
RehabRN
Dear Mr. ABC:
Some people think I'm nuts when I tell them this, but it's absolutely true. I'm the tour guide and I usually get the job of helping you initially, getting settled in and used to the rhythm of the Hotel.
No, we're not like SuperLuxeRehab unit sown the street which gets remodeled, redecorated, repainted every time someone sneezes, no, welcome to the gritty world of the Hotel, which saw it's last wallpaper change in 1994. Now, the signs and some equipment you see are brand-spanking new, but that's just because. We didn't want the signs (management says we have to be "just like everyone else"), but we did want the equipment, since it makes our jobs easier.
No you won't get a private room just because you have MRSA. This is not SuperLuxe. Join the MRSA club in a double room (almost 75% of our people have it, and some other bugs for which we isolate, too).
We are rehab nurses, so the three things we care about are bowel, bladder and skin. People will come in asking all kinds of questions on those three things, so don't be surprised. This is why I explained the reason you need a post-void bladder scan for a while.
We'll also bug you daily about your bowel habits, to make sure you're going. Yes, we really do care if you're going and want details, if you bother to look.(If you don't, we will.) Bowels that work tend not to cause problems, unless, of course, they work a little too much. Moderation is the key.
Skin, to me, is a no-brainer. As I tell patients, it's supposed to be clean, dry and intact. This is why we look at it regularly. If you need help cleaning it, that's what we're here to do. If you can do it, we are thrilled. One less bath I have to do, so I can do other stuff you need.
So, yes, Mr. ABC, we may seem crazy, but we care about you, and your bowels, bladder and skin.
Hope you enjoy and make good use of your stay at the Hotel.
Sincerely,
RehabRN
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Not exactly appropriate
Ah, I LOVE being in charge of the Hotel Rehab (yes, I say that with much, much irony). Thankfully, my last spate of being at the wheel were relatively busy, then boring. Boring is not bad when one is in charge.
So much fun. Got to do a lot of education. One, why does Nurse X disappear with Patient Y, asked one of our newer to us nurses? And the answer is ...she always does when Patient Y comes in for his annual checkup. Is it appropriate that she leaves her other patients to take care of this one? Not really, but since she's a fave of the nurse manager, it happens.
Mr. D., one of our newest rehabbers is doing really well, now that he realizes that we are in the business of getting you to function to your highest ability. He's going out with the therapists and doing more every day. I'm just crossing my fingers that this continues, because he's getting to the A student status among our patients really fast.
I love it when people realize a) we are not really a hotel, b) inpatient rehab is merely a stop on the journey, and c) we can really help you help yourself if you listen and do what we ask.
You only get as much out of rehab as you put into it.
More to come....
So much fun. Got to do a lot of education. One, why does Nurse X disappear with Patient Y, asked one of our newer to us nurses? And the answer is ...she always does when Patient Y comes in for his annual checkup. Is it appropriate that she leaves her other patients to take care of this one? Not really, but since she's a fave of the nurse manager, it happens.
Mr. D., one of our newest rehabbers is doing really well, now that he realizes that we are in the business of getting you to function to your highest ability. He's going out with the therapists and doing more every day. I'm just crossing my fingers that this continues, because he's getting to the A student status among our patients really fast.
I love it when people realize a) we are not really a hotel, b) inpatient rehab is merely a stop on the journey, and c) we can really help you help yourself if you listen and do what we ask.
You only get as much out of rehab as you put into it.
More to come....
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