Monday, August 30, 2004
Alo Alo....
Well... I am writing down work stuff so that if I ever have a problem with getting sued or something that I have this to back me up!
Friday and Saturday afternoons were good, I managed to get everything done on time and it all went fine.. so I wont really write about them.
Last night went to shit when I started, I needed IV fluids charted for a patient and went up to the person I thought was our weekend Resident, so I say, exactly that, she goes "Yes for the 10th time now, I AM the Sunday resident, what do you want?" So I had been nice till then, I didn't need the attitude, all I was asking for was 1 bag of IV fluids for a patient and I had never asked her who she was before that point, in fact, I had never seen her before that point. Rude bitch! Anyways I found out that one of my patients had a potassium of 1.8.... normal potassium is between 3.5-6. For those that don't understand... potassium is one of the compounds that makes your muscles function, potassium and sodium are very very important parts of muscles moving... So low potassium makes it so that your muscles don't work cause they don't fire, and high potassium makes them work too much. Anyways.... before I get onto a tangent too much... this woman could have cardiac arrested at pretty much any stage with a potassium this low. First thing first I got someone to do an ECG on her, then I call the resident about it and say, hi its ward blah here, she answers with "Yes why are you paging me again for the 10th time" , I reply I am sorry but I am looking after "blah" and her potassium is 1.8. (thinking in my mind, so do something about it you bloody cow and stop hassling me!) She answers, well have you done an ECG, I reply calmly "yup" so she goes "oh" and tells me she is coming soon to chart some IV Potassium. So it took till late to get it charted and I was leaving at 9pm cause I had been working since 12:30 and I didn't do anything with it before I left.
So this morning I get to work and in hand over the night shift says..."nothing was done on the evening shift about the potassium level" in my mind I went "bullshit" I was so offended. Then we find out we have three staff that are supernumery (as in not actually working, just finding their way around etc) and we have 4 RN's and 1 EN for the ward...yay...not.
I was teamed up with a new grad RN and one of the supernumery people... this girl had come to work and had NO idea what she was allowed to do. How the fuck am I sposed to work with someone when they have no clue what they can and cannot do????? Little to say they took her away after a short period of time to do some orientation thank goodness.
So i split up the ward, giving the new grad 6 patients and myself 9 in the hope we shall get some help at some stage in the near future.
The in charge comes up to me half way through pills, "errr want the bad news or the bad news" I am like... no fucking help eh? She tells me no. I am thinking this is sooo shit. I walk into the last room I have and the guy has shitted all over his bed, the floor and the bathroom, his legs and feet are poopy, the Catheter and IV he was sposed to have removed at 6am was not out and he was freaking out. (ARGHGGHGHGHGHHHHHHHH) So I had to spend the next 20mins + sorting him out and at least getting him slightly cleaned up, took his catheter out, removed his IV and cleaned him up in general. A short while later he was taken down for a test and whilst he was there he needed to empty his bladder... instead of getting him a bottle, apparently the staff down there told him just to pee in his bed and that the ward staff ie ME! would clean him up. Bloody bitches, woulda taken them all of 2 minutes to walk to another department, grab a bottle and give it to this man.
So by this stage I am just thinking the whole thing is fucking moronic, I have no idea what I am sposed to be doing or where I am up to with drugs or anything else.
Then I find out that I need to put up more potassium for the first woman, which the doctor needs to load into the IV bag bleh. So her IV fluids are stopped which is something that is never supposed to happen with central venous cannulas (CVC's) for 2hrs while we are waiting for the doctor to get his arse there and reload the bag! I have to take out her... get this.. rectal tube... BLEH! and do all her multiple antiobiotics. Whilst I am in the midst of this, I am told I can take out alternate staples on the poopy gentleman and that I can take down the dressing on another woman. Two of my patients can go home, and one of other men could have his IV out. So I take care of all that I can, but I discharge a young fella without looking at his wound and redressing it or giving him care instructions for it, but it is ok cause I he needed to come back for his oral antibiotics and pain meds.
We then find out that people had been doing this guys dressing wrong since the 17th!!!!!! Everyone had worked off the wound chart, no one had actually looked at his notes which told them to use a totally different solution in his wound packing. Shiiiiit! I had been in charge of that side of the ward for the last 4 days... and it had been wrong for the last 3 days. But I hadn't been the one dressing it, and the dressing had been done in the mornings, so I was not responsible, but even hearing about it made me feel absolutely sick. Even though I had 10 patients of my own to look after the last 4 days all someone had to do was actually read back over the notes.
Anyways.. thats pretty much all of it written down.
Quidam tomorrow night WOOOO!
Dentsit on Wednesday.. Bleh!
Anyways
Laters!
Well... I am writing down work stuff so that if I ever have a problem with getting sued or something that I have this to back me up!
Friday and Saturday afternoons were good, I managed to get everything done on time and it all went fine.. so I wont really write about them.
Last night went to shit when I started, I needed IV fluids charted for a patient and went up to the person I thought was our weekend Resident, so I say, exactly that, she goes "Yes for the 10th time now, I AM the Sunday resident, what do you want?" So I had been nice till then, I didn't need the attitude, all I was asking for was 1 bag of IV fluids for a patient and I had never asked her who she was before that point, in fact, I had never seen her before that point. Rude bitch! Anyways I found out that one of my patients had a potassium of 1.8.... normal potassium is between 3.5-6. For those that don't understand... potassium is one of the compounds that makes your muscles function, potassium and sodium are very very important parts of muscles moving... So low potassium makes it so that your muscles don't work cause they don't fire, and high potassium makes them work too much. Anyways.... before I get onto a tangent too much... this woman could have cardiac arrested at pretty much any stage with a potassium this low. First thing first I got someone to do an ECG on her, then I call the resident about it and say, hi its ward blah here, she answers with "Yes why are you paging me again for the 10th time" , I reply I am sorry but I am looking after "blah" and her potassium is 1.8. (thinking in my mind, so do something about it you bloody cow and stop hassling me!) She answers, well have you done an ECG, I reply calmly "yup" so she goes "oh" and tells me she is coming soon to chart some IV Potassium. So it took till late to get it charted and I was leaving at 9pm cause I had been working since 12:30 and I didn't do anything with it before I left.
So this morning I get to work and in hand over the night shift says..."nothing was done on the evening shift about the potassium level" in my mind I went "bullshit" I was so offended. Then we find out we have three staff that are supernumery (as in not actually working, just finding their way around etc) and we have 4 RN's and 1 EN for the ward...yay...not.
I was teamed up with a new grad RN and one of the supernumery people... this girl had come to work and had NO idea what she was allowed to do. How the fuck am I sposed to work with someone when they have no clue what they can and cannot do????? Little to say they took her away after a short period of time to do some orientation thank goodness.
So i split up the ward, giving the new grad 6 patients and myself 9 in the hope we shall get some help at some stage in the near future.
The in charge comes up to me half way through pills, "errr want the bad news or the bad news" I am like... no fucking help eh? She tells me no. I am thinking this is sooo shit. I walk into the last room I have and the guy has shitted all over his bed, the floor and the bathroom, his legs and feet are poopy, the Catheter and IV he was sposed to have removed at 6am was not out and he was freaking out. (ARGHGGHGHGHGHHHHHHHH) So I had to spend the next 20mins + sorting him out and at least getting him slightly cleaned up, took his catheter out, removed his IV and cleaned him up in general. A short while later he was taken down for a test and whilst he was there he needed to empty his bladder... instead of getting him a bottle, apparently the staff down there told him just to pee in his bed and that the ward staff ie ME! would clean him up. Bloody bitches, woulda taken them all of 2 minutes to walk to another department, grab a bottle and give it to this man.
So by this stage I am just thinking the whole thing is fucking moronic, I have no idea what I am sposed to be doing or where I am up to with drugs or anything else.
Then I find out that I need to put up more potassium for the first woman, which the doctor needs to load into the IV bag bleh. So her IV fluids are stopped which is something that is never supposed to happen with central venous cannulas (CVC's) for 2hrs while we are waiting for the doctor to get his arse there and reload the bag! I have to take out her... get this.. rectal tube... BLEH! and do all her multiple antiobiotics. Whilst I am in the midst of this, I am told I can take out alternate staples on the poopy gentleman and that I can take down the dressing on another woman. Two of my patients can go home, and one of other men could have his IV out. So I take care of all that I can, but I discharge a young fella without looking at his wound and redressing it or giving him care instructions for it, but it is ok cause I he needed to come back for his oral antibiotics and pain meds.
We then find out that people had been doing this guys dressing wrong since the 17th!!!!!! Everyone had worked off the wound chart, no one had actually looked at his notes which told them to use a totally different solution in his wound packing. Shiiiiit! I had been in charge of that side of the ward for the last 4 days... and it had been wrong for the last 3 days. But I hadn't been the one dressing it, and the dressing had been done in the mornings, so I was not responsible, but even hearing about it made me feel absolutely sick. Even though I had 10 patients of my own to look after the last 4 days all someone had to do was actually read back over the notes.
Anyways.. thats pretty much all of it written down.
Quidam tomorrow night WOOOO!
Dentsit on Wednesday.. Bleh!
Anyways
Laters!
6:05 AM
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Writing since January 2003!
web-counter? Maybe one day
BJ T now was S
Born in April on the 21st!
Australian but living in the USA.
Allison
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