Student Nurse to Doctor Relationships

Before you think that this is some post about a love interest between a student nurse and a doctor I might just as well inform you beforehand that this is not what you're thinking. Besides the student nurse me and the doctor is a guy so definitely no. this is an experience that I would want to share with you guys.

I always get jittery whenever doctors are around, but being on duty at the operating room even made things worst and I was very jumpy. The doctors in the operating room were very nice and I was a bit at ease but I was also nervous because it was my first time to scrub-in in an actual operation. The surgical procedure was only a minor case, just an excision of a fibroadenoma at the left breast. A fibroadenoma is a non-cancerous benign lump that is found in breast tissue. When felt under the skin, the lump may feel rubbery and easily moveable within the breast tissue. Fibroadenomas are commonly found in young women during their reproductive years (New York Times). It's caused by normal estrogenic fluctuations (Wikipedia) and it could be removed with out any worries.

The tumor looked like this when removed. The surgeon was very skillful! Even with lacking instruments (the operation wasn't held in the main hospital mind) he was able to make use of his fingers and got that tumor our perfectly! What even made this doctor, Dr. Perez, even more amazing is that he took nursing as his pre-med course! Wow that is really amazing! I even learned a lot from him and he was so nice and showed me a cosmetic style of suturing so that scarring could be put to a minimum. What did I tell you? Amazing!

Well I was very lucky that I was around very understanding doctors because I was stuttering (oh I hate myself) and I was being jumpy! Imagine? I called the doctor Ma'am! And the doctor was a guy! Oh oh... good thing the conversation was about a female clinical instructor at Xavier University. Ooh I am so dead!

Thinking of the things I did that they makes me want to kill myself. The doctor was talking to my colleague and I interrupted their conversation because I needed more suture (I was the scrub nurse so I was sterile). Oops, sorry doc! I did not notice that you guys had a conversation (why didn't I ask my other colleagues instead?).

Ooh I am such a mess! But at least the operation was a success and it was all thanks to Dr. Perez! hehehe.

But a thought comes into my mind. Why do doctors want to be called Doctor and not sir? Isn't sir a sign of respect? But maybe it's because the word "sir" is equated to nurses and patients. Oh now I get it hehehe. ^_^

Air Bubbles are NOT Cute

Do you know what takes most of my time when I’m duty at the hospital? It’s regulating and checking the IV flow rate. Yup I’m so obsessed with getting the number of drops perfectly that if I have nothing to do I check the drop rate over and over again. It’s supposed to be checked by the hour but I guess I over do it and check it every 5 minutes or so. What can I say? I’m afraid that the patient might get under-infused or worst over-infused and this could lead to hypervolemic shock or heart failure if the patient has a serious heart problem. Plus I don’t want to be get an extension (it’s equivalent for detention for student nurses).

But regulating IV flow rate is not that a big deal. The big problem would be air bubbles! Yup you heard me. Air bubbles may seem harmless but once 5mL of air bubbles is injected into your blood stream this could lead to pulmonary embolism. Another worst possible situation is when the air bubbles flows to your brain or heart and impedes blood flow. The medical term for air bubbles getting into the body ladies and gentlemen is air embolism.

I also had an experience once when I was in the hospital (this time as a patient), a nurse from a rival school (I’m not telling which school hehehe) came in to inject cefuroxime (an antibiotic for my tonsillitis) through my IV line and when he left I noticed air bubbles! Lots of air bubbles! I stopped the IV infusing and pressed the button calling for any nurse. When the nurse came I told her about the air bubbles and she then removed the air bubbles using a syringe at the connector for “piggybacking” other IV fluids. And then a few hours later I realized that the nurse that almost got me killed with air bubbles was the brother of my brother’s girlfriend. No wonder he’s trying to kill me, I’ll kill myself too if that’s the reason (Lol).

As a student nurse I really hate air bubbles. Sure I can try tapping them so that they could go back to the drip chamber or roll the IV tube with my pen so that the bubbles would disappear into the drip chamber but most of the time it’s easier said than done. And the only way to get rid of them is by aspirating them into a syringe… and this is quite a hassle because as mandated by the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 (R.A. 9173) IV lines are off-limits to students! So I have to run to my clinical instructor and disturb her with her work (hehehe).

So fellow student nurses: if you see air bubbles don’t think it’s cute… it could kill your patient so watch out!

Losing Sight After Drinking Water

(Click Picture to Read Article)

As the very old cliche goes, "Too much of something is bad for you". And this includes substances that are supposed to be good for the health, but when these substances are abused then these become bad for the body; toxic even.

This article is really extraordinary. Imagine drinking 7 liters of water everyday, one would really bloat. Chronic water intoxication leads to hyponatremia as the sodium found in the blood is diluted. As sodium is diluted there is less pressure that retains the water in the blood vessel. If we recall, water will always follow sodium. But since there is no more sodium in the blood vessel then the water seeps into the interstitial tissues and outside the blood vessel.

It's ironic too that the woman drank water to lower her blood pressure not realizing that hypervolemia (an increase in body fluids) would lead to hypertension. And it is this hypertension plus the swelling of the brain cells from all the water lead to occipital bleeding that also lead to the woman being blind.

This is a classic example of a tragic story of health conscious people overdoing their so called health regimens that aren't approved by most health practitioners. Remember people that the recommended water intake per day is only 8-10 glasses per day and not 7 liters per day.

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I got this e-mail from my mom. She always has interesting health related e-mails that she sends me.

Some Tips on Tube Feeding

I admit that I am no expert on Nasogastric Tube Feedings (NGT Feedings) but I just want to share some nursing tips on how to make feeding easier and of course safely. Here they are:

• Position the person so that he or she is sitting up, or at least so the upper-body is above the level of the stomach.

• Practice good sanitation. Wash your hands before handling the feeding equipment. Wash feeding bags with water. Do not use soap, as it will stick to the inside of the bag and get into the formula. This can cause diarrhea and other unpleasant consequences.

• Feedings should be given at room temperature to minimize risk of cramping and/or diarrhea. Open cans of formula could be kept in the refrigerator, and discarded if not used within 24 hours. They should be taken out 15-20 minutes before a feeding and allowed to warm up to room temperature.

• Always flush the feeding tube with water after a feeding. This will help to prevent the patient from getting dehydrated. It will also prevent the food from getting clogged.

• If medications are to be run down the feeding tube, always be sure they are finely crushed. Flush the tube with water to wash them down.

• If the tube seems to be clogged and a small flush of water isn't effective, a flush of about 100cc of cola may do the trick. You can also try dissolving a quarter teaspoon of meat tenderizer in a teaspoon of water and placing it into the tube. Wait five minutes before flushing again. If none of these strategies work, contact your health care provider(s) for advice.

Everyone: Smile! ^_^

You just have to love the creativity of people these days. You can't help but just be amused and admire the unexpected talents of people. Just like the picture above. If you're wondering, that's actually his real teeth decayed from eating too much chocolates and other sweets. He's using the new Colgate Fresh Confidence toothpaste to bring back the shine and whiteness of his teeth.

No I'm just fooling around. This isn't actually his real teeth. That's just some toy dentures made to look like real rotten teeth. Realistic isn't it? And the model's expression fits the whole picture perfectly.

But this should serve as an important reminder to children of all ages out there that they should never neglect proper oral hygiene because they might soon get the same teeth like the ones shown above, and this time it won't be just a toy dentures.

So kids, if you don't want rotten teeth brush at least three times a day with any toothpaste that is rich in flouride to protect your teeth from cavities and tooth decay.

***Image Notes: The image shown above is the property of Jazzper Samson and is originally found at http://profiles.friendster.com/jazzazzkickr. Please take note that the image has been modified to be funny. ^_^