Slide on over, folks!

You'd think Tuesdays wouldn't be so bad...nurse brings in lots of pens from the conference, people are happy and we are slated for no admissions. I could dream about it, but it wasn't easy at all today. I told our specialist that I am one of the most highly paid janitors/support staff as I filled every single cart on the main hall with isolation gowns. Why? We have support staff, who don't really feel it's their job to do it. No, sitting in front of the boob tube (reserved for patients) and playing pool (also reserved for patients) is really a more productive effort. If my male boss only had some balls. Removing the pool table ones to his office might help the situation.

I had three patients today, and our clinic nurse actually got one ready, since she needed him for a procedure early. I was very grateful. The other two were their usual eccentric selves, and yes, for them it's all about bowels. One goes too much, one goes too little. One gets out of bed without issue and the other leaves a trail on the sliding board as he's transferring. What does the nurse win, Pat? Another heave ho back to the bed for the patient, with the nurse leading the charge.

Just remember all you nursing students out there, if a patient is stuck in transfer halfway on the bed, you can get them all the way there by employing a maneuver I like to call "the dump". Basically, you get their legs and heave them onto the bed. They may be on their side and a little off kilter, but once you get them to the safety of the bed, put up whatever rails you can on any side they could slide out on, and maneuver them around from the other. I love low air loss mattresses, especially if they're made up right, because, by nature, the sheets are slick and you can slide most people wherever you need them to go in bed with little effort.

Said sliding mess patient eventually did get cleaned up, got lunch and got to the wheelchair for afternoon therapy. It was a workout though, for him and for me. I read this article tonight very carefully, so I can keep my back out of trouble!

After all that excitement, I got to move another patient because his roommate was isolated for a new bug. Yes, I'm an expensive mover, too.

More later...stay tuned.

My life and nuggets for December 15

Hello all! I survived the weekend and all the assorted festivities for my birthday. Turning over a speed limit birthday recently on the odometer wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Bubba is alive and well and still coughing here and there, but not as much. School was closed today due to weather. With the forecast for the coming week, we'll see how it goes. Dahey is working outside right now and I don't think he was too upset about stopping due to the cold and ice. Thank goodness the heat works on our unit (some places better than others, anyway).

Today, I was passing pills and doing my best to get my patient up to therapy today. I took care of this guy last week, but he stayed in bed. Today, he was motivated. It's amazing how they get that way when the docs tell them they'll be with us until February if they don't get up. We even practiced transfers to and from the commode in the middle of the day (just one of the joys of unscheduled bowel routines...when you gotta go, you gotta go.)

Some of my coworkers just look aghast when a patient tells them they have to go. I guess they're just a little too used to a lot of quads and others who can't tell when they have to go and going on their bowel routine (usually in the AM or after dinner). I figure the unexpected is the often the most important part of rehab--teaching people how to live. And yes, Virginia, living involves a lot more than seeing Santa Claus. It involves boring old stuff like moving your derriere to the commode and toileting.

Surprisingly, my patient was duly proud of himself and his transfer efforts. (I needed backup on the way back to the chair, but we did it.) I made sure I told the therapists so they have something to work with in therapy with him, or at least, they'll have a chuckle or two at their next team meeting.

When I wasn't busy today, I spent some time reading my Nursing Practice in Multiple Sclerosis: A Core Curriculum book. I also cleaned up my locker. Now I can actually find things!

Here are a few nuggets I encountered on the internet when I was working.

I read that one of our patient's had a T6 corpectomy with decompression surgery and cages. This page at Augusta Orthopedics in Staunton, VA shows different cages and how they're used in spinal surgery. If you want to know more about cages and spinal surgery, check out this Google book, Complications of Spine Surgery or this Google book, Motion Preservation Surgery.

One physician even has his own blog about spinal surgeries: http://drlloydhey.blogspot.com/. Another group of medical professionals has a site devoted to spinal issues here: http://www.spine-health.com/.

Finally, if that's not enough spinal issues, check out http://www.spine.org/Pages/Default.aspx for more information on NASS, the North American Spine Society.

And when I wasn't finding stuff on the spine, here's the latest NY Times article about the effectiveness of colonoscopies. We have a lot of patients visiting us for these procedures lately.

Did you know...living with your in-laws can stress you out? It was a very big deal in this Japanese study.

More goodies to come...stay tuned.