No surprises here

I really love reading the news some days. This one is the best story I've seen in a while, and yes, often, very unfortunately true.

Hospitals profit from surgical errors (New York Times)

It should be criminal.

More to come...

Rare and obscure

Sometimes we really get some obscure stuff to look up on our patients. One of our nurses found a few good articles to add to the learning folder for the staff.

I recently took care of some interesting characters.

• One patient has had issues with a new ostomy. This article describes issues when surgical revision doesn't help.
• Another patient came in with a really odd tumor. He's been undergoing radiation and has been really down in the dumps.
• Finally, I'm adding to my list of oddball tumors that can show up on your spinal cord.

In addition to all this excitement, my boss told me I'll be attending a class for preceptors soon. I am both honored and stunned. While I've been told I know how to teach people well, I've always felt like I haven't really been a nurse long enough to be in the preceptor role. At Saintarama, you had to be a nurse for five years before you could precept anyone officially. (Informally, anyone RN with a BSN or 5+ years of experience could be a preceptor for a day or two.). I'm still learning a lot of skills that we don't use often.

Off I go...so much to do today. Stay tuned.