sabjimata

I started the shift with two “floor boarders” – patients that did not need to be in the ICU and were just waiting for beds. It looked like it was going to be an easy day. I was relieved. This was my second week off of orientation and my first week had been a hard one. I had worked four twelve hour shifts back to back. On the third day I had expressed concern privately to one doctor about the way another surgeon had spoken with a family. My patient was certain to die. He had been DNI and was... Read Full Story

I hear a call on the overhead paging system requesting all available hands to help with a turn in room 4. My hands are available, so I go. I join two other nurses and a tech at Mr. Jones’ bedside. I can see right away it is another liver transplant gone bad. We see quite a lot of them. If you go to the patient information websites for liver transplant programs and click on “waking up in the ICU” you generally find something like, “you may have some pain from your incision, but your nurse will... Read Full Story

Fireplace Screens It's easy to become bewildered by all the fireplace options that are out here. Fireplace screens come in an assortment of styles designed to fit your lifestyle. As a rule, a fireplace screen stands in front of your fireplace to block pieces of ash and sparks that may come out of the fireplace. They also serve as a reminder to stay at a certain distance for your own safety. While they don't provide complete protection, they can certainly be helpful; and they can look stylish... Read Full Story

An air conditioner (often referred to as AC ) isa home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. A single hosed unit has one hose that runs from the back of the portable air conditioner to the vent kit where hot air can be released. Another application for portable air conditioner units is for the temporary rental in emergency situations such as power failures at warehouses, offices, or data centers. Portable air conditioners are movable units that... Read Full Story

My letter to the patient advocate: "To whom it may concern, I am writing to register a complaint about the behavior of Pediatrics Attending Dr. N. My newborn daughter is currently under Dr. N's care against our wishes and in spite of multiple requests for an alternative physician. Our complaints are as follows: 1. Dr. N misrepresented himself and his role in the care of my wife resulting in a great deal of unnecessary emotional distress and greatly complicating our post-partum course of care... Read Full Story

“If we had been doing our post-op neuro-checks like we are supposed to we might have caught it and been able to do something about it. Maybe we should look into that one day,” says the charge nurse a little wistfully and a little sadly. The next moment she is off to something else. This is my first time floating to the cardiac surgery intensive care unit (CSICU) and it is the busiest unit I have seen. My patient, Mrs. Jones, otherwise healthy for a 73 year old, has had a surgical repair of an... Read Full Story

There had been a question as to whether Hal (another floater like myself) or I would take the patient that was coming down from the Neuro ICU. I was assigned the empty room, but Hal, who was both more experienced and better known to the nurses on the SICU, had initially been given the patient and had taken report by phone already. I do not know what kind of calculations went on, but it was decided that I would take the patient after all. Hal sat down with me at a computer and pulled up the... Read Full Story

I do not remember Mr. Hardy’s case very well. I think it was a GI problem where surgical options had been tried and exhausted. I am sure the prognosis was firm. Mr. Hardy was also firm; he wanted to be allowed to die naturally. He looked good for his age. He was mentally appropriate. He might have gone a few more weeks before his code status really needed to be finalized. I decided not to wait. I was not looking forward to talking to the family, especially since I seemed to be a little out in... Read Full Story

This is a recycled post. A new one may be coming soon. Mrs. Hardy is quite clearly doomed. She had a gastric bypass operation (she weighs more than 400 pounds). If anyone knows whether the hernias she developed afterwards had anything to do with the surgery, they are not saying. We have our suspicions. In any case, the hernia repairs left her with infected, perforated bowels which did not get better. When I first took care of her, all but 30 cm of her small intestines had been removed. For a... Read Full Story

Porcelain Ceramics PORCELAIN, the name of that kind of ceramic ware which is characterized by a translucent body, also loosely used for the finer kinds of ware generally, popularly known as "china". The French porcelaine, from which the word comes into English, is an adaptation of the Italian porcellana, a cowrie-shell, the beautifully polished surface of which caused the name to be applied to the ware. The Italian word is generally taken to be from porcella, diminutive of porco, pig, from a... Read Full Story