madness: tales of an emergency room nurse

from flu to pneumonia

2009-11-07T19:31:00.002-06:00

Someone I care about is right now in the intensive care unit on a ventilator with pneumonia that started as the flu. No doubt the H1N1. This person is a young adult. They have had some asthma over the years.

This isn't the first person I have seen who is young and having big problems as a result of the flu. There have been a few cases in our ER. Young or with some kind of chronic problem that involves their lungs.

Let me warn you, this doesn't happen to everyone with asthma or some other respiratory problem, but it can. I hope you will get the vaccine.

I pray my loved one pulls through.

I ain't gonna tolerate abuse no more

2009-11-05T13:47:00.003-06:00

I have a question for ER nurses: What is your departments policy on verbally abusive patients? Do you have signs posted about respect? Do you have specific steps you take when someone is verbally abusive?

The reason I ask? I have come to the end of my tolerance of being verbally abused by people. I'm about to do something about it. Or lets say I am about to demand that management do something about it.

It is particularly bad in triage. People come in with their own frustrations or a chip on their shoulder and they take it out on us. And I am done being the subject of their wrath. And fuck the whole using communication techniques and de escalation techniques. I am tired of trying to be understanding. In what other workplace or profession would taking abuse be an expectation of a job? It is ridiculous. It is about time nurses stood up.

A survey was done by the emergency nurses association that was published this summer about 50% of ER nurses have been either physically or verbally assaulted at work. I don't even believe this. I know that ALL ER nurses have been subject to verbal abuse. Its happens daily.

Why do nurse let themselves be treated like this? People attracted to nurses want to take care of people, help them. We are groomed to believe that we are supposed to be understanding, to put ourselves in the patients shoes. With the corporate environment in today's hospital, the customer is always right. We don't want to make anybody unhappy because they will go elsewhere. Someone might complain. It will make satisfaction statistics go down.

Nurses have the right, like any other worker, to be treated with respect. We have the right to work in an environment where violence in any form is not tolerated. Nurses have the right to expect management to develop a specific policy in which abusive patients are dealt with. Nurses have the right to expect the hospital to make clear from the moment patients, visitors step in the door, that any kind of violence will not be tolerated. Who is going to make these changes? Nurses.

we saw what you did....we know who you are

2009-11-02T09:02:00.006-06:00

Oh the wonders of the flu season in today's ERs....

It seems that the antivirals that are given for the flu are in short supply. We are randomly giving out prescriptions for them. We also have them in our emergency room for individual doses we can give patients while they are there. So this weekend I had my first opportunity to give out a dose.

So I go to the pyxsis (drug dispensing machine). Put in my numbers, press my index finger down in the appropriate place (this is how we get out drugs in the modern day ER, we use our fingerprint. I wonder if I commit a crime if they can get my print from the pyxis people?) Choose the patient name. Choose the drug. Drawer opens. Compartment opens. Close drawer....oops drawer opens back up...whaaat....It seems that we are required to count the number of antiviral pills in order to shut the drawer. We have to do this with any narcotic we take out. Count it to make sure the number matches up with what the machine has and what we actually see. Drawer won't close til that happens. Machine beep, beeps if they don't match. Then we have to figure out why there is a discrepancy.

But we are doing this for antivirals???? What happens if they don't match? Am I taken away to a room where I am questioned about WHERE THE HELL IS THE MISSING ANTIVIRAL MISSY?? Am I drug tested to see if I have any antiviral in my urine? Am I fired for taking an antiviral? Will I lose my license? Will I have to appear before the nursing board? This is too much damned pressure.....what if one falls on the floor and I have to waste it? Does it have to be witnessed? Will I disappear and be sent to Guattanemo? After all a pandemic flu threatens national security... ER workers can't be trusted with the antivirals....just shoot me now.

myterious anons

2009-10-30T10:15:00.003-06:00

I get a lot of anonymous commentors on this blog. In fact it seems like the majority are anonymous. I wonder who they are. Are they other bloggers who don't want to be identified for some reason? Are they just people who read blogs but don't have one?

Are they mysterious aliens from the planet Tryon? Just wondering....

reinventing the wheel badly

2009-10-30T09:17:00.007-06:00

Here's something you don't wanna be: the first patient when a nurse starts using a new IV catheter.

Our hospital (read corporation) has switched IV catheters to a bulky new catheter with an extension tubing on it. There is a lot more to it than the catheters we used to use. A lot more steps. To say we are fumbling with it is to understate it. I'm good at IVs. So far my 1st time stick success rate is oh, I'd say, 30%. We are not having trouble getting in, but then the vein blows. Its like they have decided to buy a catheter that is the most idiotic design ever. Typical hospital corporate crap.

Here's a example of a couple of instruction steps:

-Hold onto stabilization platform and push tab component prior to breaking seal
-Breaks seal by pulling back on finger grips approximately 1/8" then pushes all
pieces together tightly
-Places pad of index finger (1 hand technique) or thumb of opposite hand (2-hand technique on push tab to advance catheter down and forward

And this is only 3 of 20 steps.(Just shoot me now..) Why does this remind me of late Christmas Eve trying to put together a toy?

Our concern: critical patient and no one can get the damn thing in. Here is an example of corporate cost saving mentality: instead of staying with something that works, go to one that is a bad design to save money. Now I realize that no one likes change, you need to adjust to new products, but this catheter sucks.

Alas, the poor patients are our guinea pigs. Unfortunately, that's the way it has to be. The patient is cranky. I'm cranky. Isn't life grand...

limited time to grieve in ER

2009-10-28T20:59:00.004-06:00

Some of the things you have to do as a nurse, especially if you are in charge, are uncomfortable, weird.

So someone dies. Family is in the room with their loved one sitting at the bedside. Looking bewildered. Another family member comes. Three hours later family is still sitting there. Patient's nurse gently hints at leaving. Family still sits at bedside.

Finally, I go in. I point blank ask them: How much longer do you think you will be, are their more relatives coming, anything I can do for you? They tell me about a half hour more.

I feel like a jerk. Who am I to suggest that they need to have a time limit? But I have to. Its the reality of the ER. Sometimes it seems like people need a push to leave. Sometimes it feels like they don't know what to do.

In the ER, people come in who are dying because something catastrophic has happened and we can't bring them back or they don't want to be brought back. Then after they die, we have to deal with the family of this person we never knew, who are shocked and grieving. We have to help them through the initial loss, even if the ER is bursting at the seams.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

2009-10-27T07:54:00.005-06:00

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing? Information at your fingertips. Any kind of information. Including health information.

A lot of people are using the internet for health information. That's a good thing. If you get the right information. You have to be careful. There are nuts in the world and there are nuts on the internet.

Anybody who works in health care will tell you that people are having symptoms and they are looking them up on the internet. Now, you take any kind of symptom and it could be a sign of something horrible. But chances are it is not. Chances are it is benign. But symptoms scare us. They set off an alarm. Uh-oh. That shouldn't be happening. Pretty soon the mind is spinning. So you wander over to the good ol' computer and type in YOUR symptom. Thousands of sites come up. So you go to a few. No doubt there will be a list of what COULD be wrong with you. From the smallest of problems to the biggest of problems.

Well, naturally there are those of us who are going to focus on that 1% chance of it being something big. They are going to run down to the emergency room in a panic assuming the worst. Probably at some point in the visit they will mention that they went on the internet and were worried about such and such. Such was the case with a young woman and her family who came in a couple of months ago and thought that she had multiple scherosis. She didn't have it of course. But the whole family was worked up. Mom called to be sure that I knew they were all worried about MS.

Nothing wrong with accessing information. Its a good thing. Three pieces of advice I would give you about looking up your symptoms on the internet:

1) Access a reputable source. If someone is selling something, making a profit off of their advice or their site, go somewhere else.
2) Don't panic. Chances are your symptom is nothing. Don't assume it is something horrible. If you are worried about it, go to the doctor and let an expert help you with it.
3) The American College of Emergency Physicians suggests you immediately go to the ER for the symptoms listed HERE. Don't bother with the internet if you have any of these.

national nurses union formed

2009-10-25T14:06:00.006-06:00

Most nurses don't really follow what their state nursing associations are doing. If you pay dues you periodically get a newsletter. If you are part of the labor aspect, contracts are negotiated every few years and your unit has a union rep. Unless it affects you personally, you probably don't care except to complain you pay too much in union dues or what kind of raise was negotiatiated. You leave it to the people who are willing to get involved.

So you probably didn't know that for several years there has been a national union of nurses called the United American Nurses. It arose within the American Nurses Association and was part of it for some time. A couple of years ago the UAN dropped out of ANA over funding (I think). The union activists didn't think ANA was addressing the needs of staff nurses like they should have.

Several years prior to this, the California Nurses association. the Massachusetts nurses association, (in the last year or so) the Minnesota Nurses Association dropped out of ANA for the same reasons. This past summer the United American Nurses, the California Nurses Association, the Massachusetts Nurses Association and the Minnesota Nurses Association agreed to form a national nurses union. It will be called the National Nurses United. 160,000 nurses will be part of it. The founding convention is in December in Arizona.

I for one, think its a great development. It will give power to the staff nurse that has been lacking for a long time. I can't wait to see what happens...

in the trenches with the flu

2009-10-24T16:20:00.003-06:00

What has been the experience in your ER with the flu? Are you seeing a lot of people right now? I would say for us it has been steadily building over the last 2-3 weeks.

Last spring our hospital had a desk outside of triage to hand out masks. Since then we have done this once more. I guess one day they separated some people who had to wait for a room. Other than that nothing has changed that much.

So Friday Obama declared the flu thing a national emergency. Apparently it allows decisions to be made more efficiently. It also allows ERs to establish offsite triage areas for the flu and get paid for it. We have all heard about a couple of hospitals in the country setting up tents and even a drive through thing.

Honestly, I think that we should start separating out those with flu symptoms in the waiting room and put them in a different waiting area. With the increased numbers, these people are having to wait with everyone else and even though we give them a mask, the mask compliance isn't 100%. I am worried about our chronically ill patients who are there for something else and are exposed to the flu.

I have to say that I am worried about all of this. It feels like this is just the start of it. My concern is that the H1N1 will continue and then the regular seasonal flu will come along with it. We will be overwhelmed. Do hospitals have plans in place? I have heard nothing of what the plan is if the numbers go way up. Don't you love hospitals? They don't tell their employees whats up until its a mess.

One thing I've noticed is that this flu hasn't hit the elderly like most flus. Apparently there is some immunity to it for them. Thank goodness.

It's going to be a long, interesting winter....

score one for madness

2009-10-23T18:20:00.003-06:00

I'm on the end that has two docs. I see a patient and they have a long complicated story. I go back to the desk and write my note and put the patient up for the doc to see. Then I start saying to myself: "come on Dr------, come on, sign up for my patient...come on...YES!!!! Dr---- signs up for them!" Life is good. Life is good because this doc is a good, reasonable doc who doesn't overorder. He doesn't order ridiculous unnecessary tests. The doc with him is notorious for doing just that. I love working with reasonable doc. Its a pleasure. I trust him. I know he has the best interests of the patient at heart.

I don't trust the overordering fool as far as I can throw him. I swear he overorders to bump the level of service and time spent with the patient to make more money. Its ridiculous and fraudulent. Everybody dreads working with him.

all hail the drama queen

2009-10-22T21:14:00.002-06:00

God some people are crazier than shit. Pathetic. I mean I sometimes watch people and think: what a miserable life you are living. You probably always will.

Some people are so pathetic. They are manipulative. They try to manipulate us thinking that we won't catch on. I had somebody today who I triggered my "uh oh" meter the minute they got there. They had an "edge" to them. Before long they were balling like a baby about how no one treated them fairly, blah blah blah. I decided that I wasn't going to respond to their obvious attempt to manipulate me with their drama. I just let go on til they figured out I wasn't going to feed into it and stopped. Sometimes the best thing that a nurse can do when someone is carrying on is to say nothing. Its like letting the air out of a baloon. These kind of people thrive on getting you tangled up in their drama.

Just what you need as the teeming masses come through the door with their flu symptoms.

sorry nurse, we're out of masks......

2009-10-21T14:57:00.003-06:00

I was watching TV today and heard that 16,000 California nurses are planning to strike and picket at the hospitals of California Health Care West on October 30. The strike comes out of concern that the hospitals are not implementing safety precautions around the H1N1 flu. They are not following the CDC guidelines. Specifically, they are not isolating patients or providing adequate protection gear, including masks.

Here's the thing with masks: A normal mask is sufficient for protection from the flu. When someone is getting a breathing treatment such as a nebulizer (a medication is aerosolized and then the patient breathes it in via a device to relax constricted breathing tubes) or on a ventilator, a special mask is required. This is the same mask that we use for TB patients. It has to be fitted individually. We are fit tested once a year. I'm sure these masks are expensive. Apparently they have run out of them at these hospitals.

There was concern at our hospital in the last couple weeks of having enough regular masks. Fortunately, my hospital bought extra last spring in anticipation of the return of the flu this fall. I can easily seek there being a shortage of masks nationwide.

In my ER, those with flu symptoms are masked at triage and when they go to a room they are put in isolation. Its the standard of care.

Those California nurse are some shit kickers. They have a reputation for being an activist group. The thing is, few nurses probably know that the unionized nurses in the US who number about 160,000 recently joined with the California to form a national union. I can't wait to see what happens. Nursing needs a good kick in the butt....

"L" is for l-l-l-l-l-loser

2009-10-20T07:55:00.003-06:00

If, like a fool, you decide to come into the ER for flu symptoms, here is what will happen. First we'll mark an "L" on your forehead for loser. If there are a lot of flu symptom people there, and you have symptoms too, there may be someone at a desk by the door passing out masks. Otherwise you will get a mask at the triage window. You will have to wear this mask during your stay. After you are triaged, no doubt your butt will go back to the waiting room to wait with all the other masked fools who decided to come in for flu symptoms. If there are growing numbers of you waiting in the waiting room, you will all be put in a separate room to wait together.

Once you are in the room, we will put you in isolation: a sign that says "droplet precautions" (flu is airborne) will be placed on your door. Everyone who enters your room will be wearing a mask and gloves.

The doctor will assess you. If you are not short of breath, haven't had a fever for more than 3 days nothing will probably be done for you. If you have been vomiting for a few days, you may get an IV. If you are chronically ill, you will probably get some blood tests and a chest xray. LET ME REPEAT, healthy people WILL GET NOTHING except maybe a prescription for motrin and a boot out the door.

You will not be tested for the flu. We aren't testing for the flu. You will not be able to tell you friends that "yeah I had H1N1". Your diagnosis will be "influenza like illness". You will have wasted your time, our time. You will have taken our attention away from the REALLY sick patients.

If yesterday is any indication, you will probably spend 3-4 hours in the waiting room waiting for us to do nothing for you. Our daily census was up 50% yesterday. We were bursting at the seems. Stay home. Get your flu shot.

a bit of self indulgence

2009-10-19T18:15:00.003-06:00

I have to toot my own horn a little bit today. Let it be known throughout the world that the beadnurse (aka madness, girlvet) has sold $360 of jewelry on etsy today!! (crowd goes wild. Yeah...life is good.

I decided to change up the blog a little bit. Let me know if it is hard on the eyes.

BYOB (bring your own blanket)

2009-10-17T11:45:00.004-06:00

So the hospital has this major new initiative to standardize care and operations (whatever that means). Part of it is cost reduction of course.Stuff like use of toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, wash basin, lotion, etc. I'm not sure how to take this. We are supposed to discourage the use of toothbrushes and deodorant to save money? Apparently you are supposed to check with the patient to see what they brought from home. Maybe give them a little push to get the family to bring in their own stuff? Kind of a BYOT (bring your own toothbrush, deodorant) BYOD type of situation? Fortunately, I don't have to worry about this stuff in the ER.

Right now there is a very large poster thingy in our staff lounge about linen. How much each piece we use costs the hospital. Apparently changing beds daily, unless they are soiled is a no-no now. I always thought that was one of the nice things we did for patients, but that's out. Draw sheets - OUT. ONE BATH BLANKET PER PATIENT AND THAT'S IT!! Those who sneak a second blanket will be written up!

Most of this doesn't affect us in the ER, but I see the future. If that patient didn't soil their sheet on the cart, don't change it - use it for the next patient! The blanket warmer will be eliminated. These patients need to man up damn it. Only one blanket per customer. Let those cold old people freeze, equal blankets for all. Maybe we could start at BYOB campaign to encourage potential ER patients to bring their own blankets. Pretty soon emesis basins will be gone. Let them vomit into the wastebasket damn it. This isn't the Hilton for cripes sake. Footies - GONE. Lunch -GONE. Okay maybe you can have those things but you are going to have to pay up front:

Extra blanket = $5
footies= $2
Lunch = $10
emesis basins = $1

CASH ONLY. WE DO NOT ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS OR CHECKS.
WE DO NOT MAKE CHANGE.

Maybe we could have a first class patients section sort of like the airlines - pay a little extra and you get as much of this kind of stuff as you want....

freddie the flu virus is coming to your town

2009-10-16T11:22:00.002-06:00

I got my seasonal flu shot yesterday at work. No big deal.

I hadn't been at work for a week. The flu has definitely arrived. Its droplet precaution city. I have to say that the people I cared for really did need to be there. Two of them were admitted, one to ICU. They were people with underlying problems. Not your average healthy person.

You average healthy person is gonna suffer with the flu, there's no doubt about that. The flu is no fun. But it will pass. So don't come to the emergency room with it. There is nothing, REPEAT NOTHING, that we can do for you. There is no treatment for a virus except rest, lots of fluids, OTC pain meds. Do come in if you are dizzy, short of breath, it lasts a long time, high fever won't go away.

One guy with flu symptoms yesterday said: "I feel like I'm going to die tonight". Guess what that's what the flu feels like. It will go away. He got nothing from us and was discharged. Don't waste your time and don't risk infecting others in the ER while you wait in the waiting room. Don't risk infecting the ER staff. Don't risk infecting people who are already chronically ill. Stay home. Get a flu shot.

the nurse is the pickle in the middle

2009-10-15T21:19:00.006-06:00

Oh those doctors....they drive a nurse crazy. On one end of the spectrum you have the over-ordering idiot and on the other end you have the doctor who dismisses people.

What do nurses do when a older patient comes in and has symptoms but the doctor decides they don't need to be worked up at all? The patient is unhappy, feeling like they have been dimissed or been treated in a condescending way. They go on at length about it. They feel bad. They feel foolish for coming at all. But they were worried. Should they have been worked up? Hell if I know. All I know is that I am in the middle of all this shit having to listen to them complain about the doctor.

I'm supposed to be the patient advocate and all that shit. I end up telling the doctor that the patient is unhappy with them. This is a doctor I consider to be a bad doctor. They DO dismiss people. They ARE condescending. I avoid them. I have as little contact with them as possible. They are an accident waiting to happen.

What happened? Doctor ordered a few blood tests. Patient ended up going home.

Like I have said many a time in this blog, it is just plain idiotic that medical practice varies so much from doctor to doctor. When someone comes in with chest pain, they are treated pretty much the same no matter who they are. At least at my hospital. So are strokes. Why doesn't that happen across the spectrum of ER medicine allowing some deviation for individual histories and circumstances? I just don't buy the whole liability thing anymore. There is a whole more to it than that. And I don't give a shit about patient complaints either. It shouldn't drive care.

All of this is an example of why our health care system is going to implode on itself. They current plans to change health care will do nothing. If anything, they will worsen the situation and speed up the collapse of health care. Universal health care is coming and it can't be any worse than the current state of medicine.

madness goes to baltimore

2009-10-14T08:11:00.003-06:00

So I went to the emergency nurses association convention last week. It was my third time going. This year it was in Baltimore. The coolest thing about the convention is the camaraderie. Being with ER nurses from around the country. Realizing that we are all going through the same thing. That we deal with the same kind of patients.

When I heard it was in Baltimore I thought hmmmmmm...baltimore...not my first choice of cities to go to. Crime. But you know what? It was a really nice city. Clean, it felt safe, at least downtown.Friendly people. The harbor is beautiful and a lot of fun. My view of it changed.

After the convention I spent a couple days in Washington DC. Took an Amtrak down there. I love trains! They are so comfortable and relaxing. I feel like taking a nap when I am on them. I had been to Washington a couple of other times. It just so happened that I came there on the day of a big gay rights parade. In fact they marched right in front of my hotel.

So I ran around for a couple of days seeing things. I think the most impressive thing in Washington is the White house. Its beautiful. The president lives there. During my stay the president was apparently going somewhere in Washington because they had streets blocked off near the white house. There were probably 10 police cars, secret service. There were 2 fire trucks, an ambulance, a hazmat truck, a special operations truck. Somebody went around with a dog. Amazing. Every time the president goes anywhere this is what happens.

I went to Arlington cemetery. Hadn't been there before. Did you know that there is a women veterans memorial building there? It gives a history of women in military service. Check it out if you go. That's a picture of it above.

Washington is a cool city. Beautiful buildings, so much history. Great subway system. You would need a month to see it all.

I hate flying

2009-10-12T21:41:00.002-06:00

When I was a young adult I was fascinated with flying. I took some flying lessons. I joined the military so I could fly. Became a flight nurse in the air force. I loved travelling.

Now I hate it. Haven't really done that much over the last 10 years but this year I have taken a few flights. In the last couple months I have flown 4 times. Of the 4, 3flights were delayed. Two of the flights were delayed 3 hours. Just got off a flight today: DELAYED.

Flying is a nightmare. Flights aren't on time. Plane seats are too small. Good luck if your seatmate is 300 lbs, you'll be squished into the window for hours. Then you have to PAY for your luggage. They thrown you a bag of peanuts and a coke and you're supposed to be happy. Why is this system allowed to be so uncomfortable and inefficient?

24 hours in the ER

2009-10-08T08:58:00.004-06:00

This is a video from an article on USA today's website about emergency rooms and the state of the health care system. It is really an accurate picture of what we deal with. It shows what a mess it all is. There are people who really need help. There are frequent flyers, doctor office dumps, uneducated folk, etc. and this is what we deal with every day.

what are you doing today?

2009-10-07T07:45:00.003-06:00

Its easy to FORGET THEM as we go about our lives. DON'T.

creepy crawlies that won't die

2009-10-05T20:47:00.001-06:00

A new policy is coming into place. ARGGGGGHHHHHHHH. It is around antibiotic resistant bacteria.

What the hell is that you ask? These are the superbugs you have heard about. The bugs that are resistant to antibiotics. There are 3 main types that concern us right now: Methicillin resistant staph aureus (MRSA), Vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE) and Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (EBSL). Some common theories about their development are overuse of broad spectrum antibiotics, giving antibiotics to livestock. So if your doctor doesn't want to give you an antibiotic for that upper respiratory infection this is why.

Initially these infections started in hospitals but now are becoming more common in the community. Espescially MRSA.

When you go through the triage process in ER we are required to ask you if you have ever had any of these. Most people have no idea what we are talking about. Some people know they have had MRSA. A lot of the time a persons chart is flagged with a information they are positive.

When you have been positive for one of these infections, we have to put you in isolation even if you had it 6 months ago. You are considered a carrier until you have had a couple of cultures free of the bug. Many times people have no follow up cultures, so they remain positive for a long time in our system.

So now, the powers that be have decided that we won't just ask if you have ever had these bugs. If you have had them, we have to order cultures in the emergency room, refer you to infection control, etc. That happens even if you are there for a 1/2" laceration. People will not be happy about this.

It is yet another example of how medical care is so disorganized that no one follows up with people about these problems - so lets dump it on the ER to deal with. I'll just add that to making sure all your meds are correct, asking you if you have had flu symptoms, TB, last tetanus shot, anybody verbally or physically abusing you, have enough money for food, lost weight, etc etc etc that I am supposed to ask you and deal with if you answer yes to any of those questions......

enthusiastic vomitters

2009-10-04T11:47:00.004-06:00

Over the my years in the ER we have had a couple of very loud vomitters. Enthusiastic vomitters shall we say. These people don't just come in once. They come in over and over. For some kind of weird rare bizarre medical condition. So they become known to us. They become know as THE LOUD VOMITTERS. Everybody knows your name. Kind of like on Cheers. Oh so and so is here. Nurses disappear to room en masse to avoid caring for them.

You know when they are here. You hear them in triage. Even if you are at the far end of the emergency room. Their vomitting production echoes throughout the ER. If you weren't sick when you come in, you will be sick by the time you leave. ARGGGGHHHHH! ARGGGGHHHHHH! Its like they are trying to vomit up their stomach.

Why do some people vomit so loud? Because they are crazy as a frickin' loon. I think they should get together with the LOUD SNEEZERS (ACHOOOOOOOOOO!!!) and have a party.

me. happy. money.

2009-10-01T20:04:00.004-06:00

Me. Jewelry. For sale. CLICK HERE. Send money. Get jewelry. Happy madness.

hunka hunka burnin' blanket

2009-09-29T20:56:00.004-06:00

Attention all troops:

Henceforth from this date the temperature of the blanket warmer will be checked on a daily basis by the day charge nurse. You will be required to insert the temperature reading and your initials on the proper date on a checklist. Said temperature cannot exceed 130 degrees. That is all.

Some genius has decided that perhaps someone will be burned by our overly hot blankets. Apparently walking from the blanket warmer to the patients room is not sufficient time to provide a cooling effect on the blanket.

My God, I had no idea! I never knew I was endangering patients lives with our blankets. I can hear it now: GRANDMA BURNED BY ER BLANKET NEWS AT 11. Lawsuits, gnashing of teeth, wailing, will ensue. Thank goodness committees meet to consider these things. I just hope the blankets in the warmer don't spontaneously combust someday. Yikes..

This may be too much responsibility for me. I don't want to be responsible for the hospital going up in flames because I was too busy to check the warmer...