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poop beetle: and how has this impacted your body self-image?
10.2003
We learned in Nursing Assistant class, first thing (after washing your hands and introducing yourself and explaining why you are there), is to check the arm bracelet to make sure you've got the right patient.
Now that I think about it, it would make sense to check the bracelet first, before explaining why you were there and what you are going to do. Why explain to the wrong patient, what you're there to do for the right patient? Right. There's a flow to this, I'm sure. I just don't have it down yet.
So I'm all like "HI! Mrs. X- I'm blah, blah, blah, from yadda, yadda and I'm going to do an assessment, o.k.?" (actually you're not supposed to ask if it's o.k. because that gives them the opportunity to refuse).
I ramble on for a while and then realize I don't actually know if she's a "Mrs." Or a "Miss".
"Do you prefer to be called Mrs. X or . . . ?"
(emphasis on the "Mrs". And I don't say 'Or . . . Miss?', because she's 64 years old and this suddenly seems like a really personal question)
And she's all like "My name is Mrs. Y" and I'm all like "OH! I See!"
At which point I grab her arm and look at her bracelet.
I think I've got that bit down- bracelet checking and the whole point of it.
It's in the hard drive, now.
"Excuse me a moment, I'll be right back."
I think I'm going to be saying that a lot.
She's not the patient I was assigned to, but she'll do. I ask her real life nurse about her and she spouts out a bunch of information that I don't understand. I write everything out phonetically figuring I'll look it up later.
I'd like to start over again with someone new, but that would be wimpy and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let me anyway.
Back in the room, I ask Mrs. Y a whole bunch of questions that seemed fine when I was reading them on my assessment sheet, but at the moment of asking them, suddenly seem rude and invasive.
This is how it's done. A bunch of goofy, goofs go in and practice on real live people in the hospital- people in pain and in crisis- people struggling with their own problems. People who (and isn't this convenient?) don't realize they can say "get the hell out of here" any time they want and we must go.
This doesn't seem right- but practicing on mannequins and classmates and family members is just not going to get it.
I continue on with Mrs. Y. She looks like she's in pain. I ask her about her pain and write . . . "patient states 'she is fine.'
People- a word of advice from someone getting close to getting "in the know"- if you're hurting, tell someone. "Pain" is what the patient says it is- kay? You get no points or meds for being a tough guy, or nice polite lady and sucking it up. Alrighty?
Haldol.
Too much to write about that. It's a good thing to know, when doing a psycho-social evaluation on someone- if they're taking this drug.
There's not more than one Haldol. There's not a Haldol for people with breathing problems and anemia and chest pain- and a separate Haldol for people with Schizophrenic Disorder.
I write "Haldol" thinking I am just spelling it phonetically- surely she's telling me she's taking some other kind of medication- not the Haldol I've heard about. What she's speaking of is a different "Haldol"- something that would fit into this neat little respiratory/cardiovascular/ blood thing she's got going on.
Our instructor tells us there was a reason she sent us into the rooms, cold- with out seeing the chart- but I forget what that is at the moment.
On an up note, I think I looked pretty cool in my nursing outfit.
