Taking Notes

I was working in Preop Holding the other day when another nurse emerged from one of the rooms with a large spiral notebook in her hand. "Someone left this behind" she said. We decided we would try to reunite the notebook with its owner later, but also noticed that the notebook was opened to a page filled with scribbled notes on the patient's care. I'm not sure why the note taker wrote all this stuff down. To understand the care of their loved one? For ammunition in future lawsuits? Who knows. But it was pretty interesting. The notes went like this, spelling and all:

Socks on bed  nightgown on bed  plastick bag on bed Put clothes in plastick bag
Sine paper
Start hose in hand
Lactade Richard's in hose
Vankamyson 4 Mercer in hose
U want warm blankit   6 minutes to get warm blankit
Nurse won't let u drink water
Tony come to sit with us
Tony want warm blankit   8 minutes to get warm blankit
Nurse won't let u chew gum
Anastisiologist talks to us say u will get pain med
6 minutes to get pain meds fetanil
Dr come to room to rite on arm
U ask if u can get fed meal after   Dr say yes
Nurse come to take cpap to recuvery room for after
Lisa and Michelle come to sit with us want to take some more socks home
Ask for more fetanil nurse say she cant give u more
U go to your sergery
*******************************************************************


Was it Chili's or Applebees that used to have the timers at tableside where if your meal was not delivered in 30 minutes, it was free? I guess this person had the same concept in mind.

A Weighty Matter

No offense meant to anyone, but as long as obesity, especially morbid obesity, is common, I will always have a job. I am the first to admit that my body is not perfect. I could stand to lose 5 to 10 pounds. I often eat too much sugar and processed foods and get too little exercise. However, it is the population that is 100 or more pounds overweight to whom I am referring. We have had to acquire special hospital beds for the morbidly obese, special wheelchairs, special operating room tables. We have one orthopedic surgeon who has literally made a fortune providing knee replacements to obese patients. We take care of so many people having toes feet, legs amputated because of obesity related diabetes. I am fortunate to have only gotten a few aches and strains from lifting/maneuvering obese patients. I have had coworkers develop severe and chronic back, neck, shoulder, and elbow problems from assisting super heavy patients. Many of these patients are on Medicaid, so everyone else is collectively footing the bill for their numerous medical procedures and quite extensive care. These patients are getting younger and younger. The other day I had a 24 year old female patient who literally could not wipe her own butt. When I asked her what she did about it at home, she replied that her husband did it for her. I have seen ICU patients with trachs for an inability to maintain their own airway and breathe solely due to their morbid obesity. My uber conservative husband makes statements like "Oh, just cut off their food stamps". Somehow I don't think that would get the job done. I don’t know what the solution is. Do you?