First of all, I'd like to say that I have a deep respect for doctors and nurses. I've got family members who work in health care, and I've been around it enough to know how hard your jobs can be at times
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I am not a person, but a bad case of the flu =P My mother was pregnant for 5 months, given all kinds of anti-nausea medication, in and out of the hospital for dehydration - and only the first doctor she saw gave her a pregnancy test, apparently to close to the time of conception. When other doctors asked if she could be pregnant she answered no, because the first test came back negative. A OB/GYN nurse finally gave her a repeat test when my mother was at an appointment to get a referral to a fertility clinic because she hadn't been able to conceive for 5 years.
It can take 6 men to insert one IV in a hysterical 5 year old. If it took 6 men to insert it, you might want to put them in restraints, because it's going to take all 6 to reinsert it when the child pulls it back out.
If a patients mother tells you to restrain her because she doesn't handle IVs well when coming out of anesthesia, you probably shouldn't tell her that you'll be fine, you handled your shots so well! Yes, that wailing, clawing mess IS the same girl that got 5 vials drawn and 3 shots 6 hours ago while joking with you
It's not generally a good idea to wait so long to go to the ER for a broken wrist that you no longer remember how you broke it - cause by that time it's healed wrong
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If you are prone to breaking bones, do not joke about how it would be funny if you fell and broke something. You will find out EXACTLY how slippery the floors at your job can be when they're waxed. At least you'll have a good story for the ER docs
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When the ER nurses joke with you that they have your 'regular room' reserved, it's probably not a good thing. My poor parents had been to the ER five times that week, two broken bones in the same child (me), a concussion with possible spinal injury in a second (my brother), and appendicitis in the third (my sister).
Please, PLEASE do not mix up any pregnancy tests and announce the results IN FRONT OF the virgin 15-year-olds parents. That was a tough 10 minutes.
This doesn't really have a lesson, but it's a story that involved my favorite nurse, Carol, at the pediatrician's office - We've got heart disease in my family and my mother is kinda psychotic about watching us kids for it. So she decides to get our cholesterol tested, which means we have to get blood drawn. I don't mind needles (unless they're attached to IVs) so I go first, but I've got bad veins. The nurse is having problems finding one and my brother is teasing me about it, so she jokes with him about how if they can't find one in your arm they have to take it out of your tongue. She finds a vein, I get my blood drawn and hop down...sister goes next and does fine. Now my brother really doesn't like needles...the nurse makes a big show out of trying to find one in his arm, and he's getting kind of nervous when she says "Well, it's just not going to work - stick out your tongue." I swear he turned the same color as the paper on the tables! He looked ready to faint. She couldn't keep a straight face after that
Also, I personally learned about SOCMOBing - I got hit by Some Dude with a stolen SUV. In a fight between the human body and an SUV the SUV will win! That was my introduction to the wonderful ER facilities in Los Angeles. I got teased a bit about my 'modesty' after I was aware enough to understand what was going on - while out of it at the scene, I was not really concerned about my injuries, only the fact that my shirt was missing.