My hospital has blocked me from accessing blogspot at work!
It's that time of year again..
Seen recently on an ornery little old man's POLST form
Police bring in a schizophrenic for mental eval... guy is obviously off his meds and violent..
When nights get really stressful the ER staff finds ways to break the tension and laugh a little some times it is playing pranks on each other from clipping hemostats to the back of each others scrubs to putting KY on the grip of water bottles..
Quickest way to bring an ER to a standstill and tons of firefighters come running with bunker gear on at 1:32 am.... Burnt Toast. Poor nurse she was so embarrassed.... and the firefighters.. weren't too amused either....
W hen I started this blog I meant it as a way to vent and meet other healthcare workers feeling the same frustrations... never did I imagine that people from around the world would find this let alone read this... amazing and humbling..here are where some of my readers are from out of the last 100 visitors...
Dear Drug Seeker,
sappears. No joke. We have not seen her since, and that was 3 days ago. Now I know that nursing can be hard but come on.. only lasting 20 minutes on a unit? That has got to be a record!!!
This ER nurse is off to take a nap....
I spent 9 hours today in class at Big ER learning how to verbally de-escalate an aggressive patient and how to physically fight off an attacking one..
I went today to have my TB test placed and I swear the Employee Health nurse stuck me with a 14g needle! With all the bleeding I did I was wondering if maybe I should have my H&H checked!!
Rural ER has finally decided to listen to their staffs' concerns over safety and hired a security firm at night... that is great progress BUT they won't be armed, can't put a patient in restraints but hey at least they are trained in verbal de-escalation.
it to the nurse.
4th of a July this year was horrible in the ER... We were way understaffed for such a major holiday that fell on a Friday night and there was great weather for.. the combination was perfect for all those that murk up the gene pool.
I had a nightmare night... 
. ER nurse has decided to move on to the BIG county Er in the area. It is the ER where all the area trauma goes.
This last weekend was ho-hum.. nothing exciting.. just the routine: 
(Humalog is short acting insulin peaks in 2 hrs, lasts 4 hrs- Lantus long acting, lasts 24hrs!!)
Last nights nightmare was a 40 yo female hyped up on Cocaine/Meth/Narcs and Amphetamines running around a nearby town buck naked. The police came across her in the middle of the road having sex with some guy she had just met, when they turned their lights and sirens on she still continued riding her new cowboy.
she knew it, to which she informed me she was going to behave anyway she wanted and I couldn't do a damn thing... That sounded like a Challenge... I accept!
I deal with a lot of patients that we call
e the wound. We jump into action with Ivs, monitors, fluids, scans and blood to transfuse , we start calling for a life flight helicopter to take him to the trauma center in the big city. While we try and stabilize him and wait for the helicopter I ask why was he stabbed. He tells me he went to his buddy's apt they got into an argument and he got stabbed. "What were you arguing over" I ask. "I lent him some porn and he would not return it" Say what? "You got stabbed over porn?!" I asked in total disbelief . "Yeah but it was the GOOD stuff!" he said defensively.
the rails up? They could fall thru them or climb over them and fall...Hmm what to do??
ntion getting BS. When you tell your family that you took an OD of pills and hand them an empty bottle I WILL KNOW THAT YOU ARE LYING and for that you get to drink charcoal or get your stomach pumped even though you are fine. Do not tell your family you took an OD of narcotics, I can test for those and when the test comes back normal I will be pissed. Do not tell your family you took an OD of sleeping pills and alcohol, cause I can test for those also and I can tell from your vital signs that you are lying. And when I have proof of this I will show your family and educate them on the games you are playing.
You know it is going to be a bad night when......
killing a 6-year-old girl in her care by placing a powerful medicinal patch on the child’s neck as treatment for pain, the authorities said on Monday. 
Parents PLEASE do not treat your child's illnesses with your own prescription medications. We dose children's medications on their weight, and there are A LOT of drugs out there that are fatal to children when dosed wrong. For pain Tylenol/Motrin works great, if you think your child needs something stronger call their Dr, so this tragedy never happens again.
Upon his arrival I asked him all the neuro questions I ask everyone..and the only question he had problems with was time... Old man Jacobs must have had a good 1943 because he was hell bent that was the year.
During my questioning he told me that he had felt a bit off for the last few years but he could not exactly say why. He said he had seen numerous Drs over the years but no one ever found anything but also never really did any testing. He stated that he felt they didn't listen to him and he hoped we could figure out what was wrong. To be honest I did not have high hopes
for this. But if I had to have guessed right then I would have said senility or your basic geriatric changes.
All blood work was normal. Urine normal (Urinary tract infections in the elderly causes mental changes) EKG normal. Chest Xray negative. Old man Jacobs blood alcohol 0.00, and his drug test was negative. Time for a brain scan...
After returning from the CT scanner, and while waiting for his results he told me about being widowed a decade earlier and of never having had children, or any family for that matter. He considered his neighborhood his family, and enjoyed his daily walks as he stopped and chatted with some and gave gardening tips to others. He watched as the children grew and had made friends with all the animals.
Old man Jacobs with his peaceful voice and great story made me wish I was his neighbor..
I wished even harder that the radiologist was wrong with his diagnosis.. A large mass in his brain that was so big it was actually shifting his brain toward one side.
Old man Jacobs has brain cancer and when told of this the first thing he said was "Thank you" he thanked us for figuring out what was wrong and for telling him honestly and too the point.
As we were getting ready to transfer him to the big neuro hospital for care I asked him if there was anyone I could call for him.... he thought for a minute and asked if it was possible could I locate the neighbor who called for medics and apologize for causing them such concern and let them know he was ok and he would be home after he took care of something..
Anything for you Old man Jacobs.. in our brief few hours together you won my heart and reminded me why I put on those blue scrubs.
Good News!!!! 
Here is a sampling of what pulled me out of my bed....
d had such severe vomiting and diarrhea that he was beyond dehydrated and actually was in acute kidney failure. Not something we see in the young very often.
e he didn't think help would arrive in time. So, the 55-year-old says, he got a steak knife from the kitchen and made a small hole in his throat, allowing air to gush in.
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