This Side of the Call Light

By Nurse Jane

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 29, 2008
• ISBN: 9781469112404

Nurse Jane

As a farm girl, with a love for animals, I had decided at an early age to become a veterinarian, specializing in exotic animals. That is until I spied the very long gloves they use. Years later my mother and then husband chose for me, a career in nursing. It has been a good fit. That was 27 years ago. Over the years, I have worked in a variety of settings. Predominantly in psychiatry and medical-surgical areas as well as office management on a couple of occasions. Single many of those years, I spent my free time taking college classes, in the soft sciences. I have a passion for education. My husband,Ken and I share 4 sons between us. We have a fabulous daughter in law, who has blessed us with two grandchildren. We live on an acreage, in North central Iowa, with horses, dogs, cats and critters, that tend to break up the quiet.

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Copyright © 2008 by Nurse Jane.

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Contents

Terms and Abbreviations

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE

NURSES’ SURVIVAL GUIDE:

HOW TO REACH RETIREMENT . . . SANITY INTACT.

WHAT CHAPS MY A . . . TTITUDE . . . OR HOW TO GET ON MY LAST NERVE

PATIENT SURVIVAL TIPS

TOUCHING THE HEART

HUMILITY

TIMES ARE A-CHANGING

EPILOGUE

POEM ABOUT NURSES

Katie Bielefeld

I look back on past experiences and smile a pleasant thanks.

To the one faithful nurse who went the extra length.

I remember this as she held my hand, reassuring me every step.

She never lost hope, for my sake, a strong faith is what she kept.

With every passing minute I grow weaker . . . just drifting away.

It was she who gave me hope, by my side is where she’dstay.

In her faith I found the courage to close my eyes, for just a while.

When the time came for them to open, I knew I would see her smile.

So as I did I felt her hand softly pressed to mine,

With that I lost all fear of being anything but fine.

Employer disclaimer . . . Duh

In all seriousness, no employer would advocate telling tales on patients, their families, and certainly not their employees. Although the tattles and tales are true, I leave no clues as to when and where these experiences took place. Some I recall from other colleagues’ stories through the years.

Terms and Abbreviations

patient (not to be confused with patience)

in a minute. When you see me back in your room, how is that for specific?

emergency. A condition of urgent need for action or assistance: a state of emergency. (The AMERICAN HERITAGE dic.tion.ar.y,

Third edition)

meds at bedside. This does not mean supplementing from your purse or having friends bring in treats. Whether an aspirin or a valium, you can not take pills at will.

pca. Patient care assistant. No longer a nurse’s aide but an aide to the patient. Hmmmm. Why, I thought if you assisted a nurse you would both be assisting the patient with more efficiency. Unfortunately, many make a strong distinction between the two phrases. No, the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing. Care is less coordinated, but the term is politically correct.

PCA. Patient controlled analgesia or narcotic-dispensing machine not to be broken into, or it would be called a PUA—patient uncontrolled analgesia/anesthesia!

no. No, non, nein, nyet. Do not ask everyone who comes in the room.

npo. Nothing by mouth. Yes, yes, I know. Why isn’t it NBM? Well, invariably, someone would interpret it as no bowel movement, fill you full of laxatives, and you see the problem. So we stick with npo—it’s a Latin thing.

prn. As needed—not meaning we are mind readers or that we sit by a clock waiting until it is time to give you your meds again.

good patient care. By patient family standards, Wait on us, be at our beck and call.

YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER PATIENT BEFORE ME . . .

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good nursing care. By nursing standards, The right way at the best or right time—depending on workload, acuity of other patients, and if there is any good conversation at the nurse station.

good nursing/patient care. By physician standards, Do it right, right now. I don’t know what right is and when, but I said to do it. I will be checking when I make rounds again in twenty-four hours. Whoever the nurse is at the time or the one standing closest by is going to hear from me if the patient says it wasn’t done.

LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE

I shared a funny story of the trade with my husband