Change of Shift is up at Dr. Anonymous. I am pleased to be included in this week's edition.
Go on.. have a read :)
30 November 2007
28 November 2007
10 things I can't live without
No particular order here...
1. DVR/Tivo
2. My car/My job/My paycheck (ok that is 3 things but they are all related)
3. Diet Mountain Dew
4. Coffee with Hazelnut or French Vanilla creamer
5. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie
6. XM
7. Netflix
8. Laptop/Internet
9. Cell phone
10. My kids... of course.
1. DVR/Tivo
2. My car/My job/My paycheck (ok that is 3 things but they are all related)
3. Diet Mountain Dew
4. Coffee with Hazelnut or French Vanilla creamer
5. Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie
6. XM
7. Netflix
8. Laptop/Internet
9. Cell phone
10. My kids... of course.
TV
What am I going to do this January when I have no new shows to watch? Other than American Idol. I loooove American Idol, but no 24???? No Lost????? and so on??? Do they not know that the only tv show my step-father watches religiously is 24? Do they not know how miserable that is making my mother, having to listen to him gripe about nothing to watch this winter since 24 is suspended indefinitely? All of this over royalties for web content, if I understand what I am reading.
I urge the studios to give these people what they want. Without them, you have nothing, as you will soon see. People love to watch tv. Love it. Especially in the winter. There is nothing else to do! But on a high point, I am taking 2 classes for the spring semester, and this will allow me to concentrate on my classes instead of being disrupted by tv. Shoot, maybe even families will start spending more time together. Maybe even people will get up off of the couch and start exercising???? (I doubt it.. luckily, cable provides mucho entertainment, even if they are reruns).
Anyhow.. I will probably have a boring winter with nothing to look forward to on the tv. Boring. I guess I can up my netflix and watch a load of movies. What other option will I have? Other than American Idol and all of its cheesiness.
I urge the studios to give these people what they want. Without them, you have nothing, as you will soon see. People love to watch tv. Love it. Especially in the winter. There is nothing else to do! But on a high point, I am taking 2 classes for the spring semester, and this will allow me to concentrate on my classes instead of being disrupted by tv. Shoot, maybe even families will start spending more time together. Maybe even people will get up off of the couch and start exercising???? (I doubt it.. luckily, cable provides mucho entertainment, even if they are reruns).
Anyhow.. I will probably have a boring winter with nothing to look forward to on the tv. Boring. I guess I can up my netflix and watch a load of movies. What other option will I have? Other than American Idol and all of its cheesiness.
Fatal
It was a simple case of clostridium difficile. Or so it was thought. But in reality, it was much, much worse. Thanksgiving day, the patient was in good spirits, mad as hell that there was no turkey to be ate or the day spent with the family. Mad as hell because the doctor said that the patient was full of stool and what was escaping was also positive for c. diff. The patient is on isolation. Lots of handwashing going on in the room by the staff, and family had been told to be sure to wash well too. But did they? They were reminded time and again, but can we monitor their every move? Anyhow, the patient was ordered a laxative to get the stool out overnight, which did not work until the next day. Samples sent to the lab continued to come back positive. Patient is in fairly good spirits, no distress, just upset because the laxative seems to have been working overtime now.
I did not have this patient the next few days. But fast forward 2 days, come into work and the patient is being transferred to ICU. WBC count suddenly up to 48. Is it an acute abdomen? I will never know. Once that patient was out of my care, then I had to worry about my new patients and their problems. But this patient just looked bad.
Fast forward 2 more days. WBC count suddenly up to 120. Pt dies. From C. diff resistant to antibiotics. Gone. Coincidentally, patient had a family member that had passed very recently from complications associated with the same disease. Hmph.
This is scary to me for several reasons. Did I wash my hands enough? I think so, god, I hope so! What about the family that had visited him on the holiday? Did they wash good enough when I wasn't there? Did the other nurses remind them to be diligent on handwashing? Did the other nurses wash good enough and often enough as well? Did the housekeepers clean the room good enough so that the next person doesn't get this disease?
I have had a lot of patients who have had C. diff. A lot. It can become so common at times (they seem to all be in the hospital at the same time) that it just becomes a nuisance. The constant stools. The smell. But never had anyone died from it here recently in the last few years anyhow. Now, I know I will learn from this. I am sorry this patient had to suffer that fate. Truly sorry. But now I will be super diligent in handwashing and all the precautions that come with this disease. Not that I wasn't following the guidelines before. Not that I didn't wash when entering and leaving the room. I always had on gloves, always. But the idea that somehow I may contact this highly trasmissible disease is just simply scary.
And for all the nurses out there, hopefully this will serve as a reminder of the true seriousness that C. diff can present. Be diligent.
I did not have this patient the next few days. But fast forward 2 days, come into work and the patient is being transferred to ICU. WBC count suddenly up to 48. Is it an acute abdomen? I will never know. Once that patient was out of my care, then I had to worry about my new patients and their problems. But this patient just looked bad.
Fast forward 2 more days. WBC count suddenly up to 120. Pt dies. From C. diff resistant to antibiotics. Gone. Coincidentally, patient had a family member that had passed very recently from complications associated with the same disease. Hmph.
This is scary to me for several reasons. Did I wash my hands enough? I think so, god, I hope so! What about the family that had visited him on the holiday? Did they wash good enough when I wasn't there? Did the other nurses remind them to be diligent on handwashing? Did the other nurses wash good enough and often enough as well? Did the housekeepers clean the room good enough so that the next person doesn't get this disease?
I have had a lot of patients who have had C. diff. A lot. It can become so common at times (they seem to all be in the hospital at the same time) that it just becomes a nuisance. The constant stools. The smell. But never had anyone died from it here recently in the last few years anyhow. Now, I know I will learn from this. I am sorry this patient had to suffer that fate. Truly sorry. But now I will be super diligent in handwashing and all the precautions that come with this disease. Not that I wasn't following the guidelines before. Not that I didn't wash when entering and leaving the room. I always had on gloves, always. But the idea that somehow I may contact this highly trasmissible disease is just simply scary.
And for all the nurses out there, hopefully this will serve as a reminder of the true seriousness that C. diff can present. Be diligent.
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