Comments for Off the Charts

Comment on ‘How Can You Bear to Be a Nurse?’ – Nurses Week Begins by Abby

Abby — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:04:23 +0000

My first response to the question would be that I find it difficult, but I give it my 100% each and every day because there are others that are depending on my experience, knowledge, and skills to provide them with the compassion, information, education and advocacy that only comes from a nurse.
However, I am in agreement with many of the other respondents that it is becoming more difficult by the day due to the ongoing administrative policies that are affecting the health care that we receive, all based on fiscal bottom lines. Nurses are being replaced in some clinical areas through attrition with non-licensed staff that enable the hospitals to cut costs, but at what other cost? Nurses have been the back bone to health care excellence, but now they have become a fiscal liability to the very system and they are bombarded with extra work that the un-licensed staff can not legally perform, yet are told that they are equals and are under the same job description. Harassment, bullying, and other tactics are utilized in hopes that the “overpaid” employee will leave. In today’s society of “high-tech”, the experienced and knowledgeable nurse is being replaced by younger, computer-savy, facebook-active, self-concerned unlicensed, and in most cases, incompetent “help”. Errors abound, but the concerns are overridden for the benefit of cost savings.
I would end in these words for rumination;
Who do you want to be taking care of you in your time in need?
A well-educated, knowledgeable, caring and compassionate nurse with the skills of assessment to pick up on those tiny, sometimes just “gut-felt” instincts that could mean life or death.
Or, someone that is uneducated, lacking experience, caring and compassion, and is more interested in what their BFF just texted about their night out.
It’s up to you. There is a movement out there that started 15 years ago all for the sake of the bottom line and we all must be aware of it. It will not be the end of nursing, but nursing will change dramatically. We must stand up now for our rights as nurses and most importantly for the rights of the patients to have the best care by the best clinicians AND the advocacy that they have come to know and expect. Only we can make that difference

Comment on Is This Teamwork? Learning to Supervise Isn’t Easy by Marla

Marla — Sat, 26 May 2012 12:12:28 +0000

These young supervisors and aides need to realize that someday they will be in this older woman’s shoes. Respect the experience, have her be a trainer or split the workload differently so that the older woman has more patients but less physical work, with the younger one doing the physical work. Have them work together on some of the patients this way. Put her to work shadowing new hires and training as they go. Perhaps she could assist the younger one in countless ways as the younger one is moving the patient, simply by steadying the patient, locking wheelchair wheels, etc. These types of solutions must be looked into more and more with an aging population of employees. Replacing them with newer ones is NOT the answer, especially for patients who lose the benefit of experience and common sense from aides who have forgotten more than these new aides (or supervisors) know about nursing care.

Comment on The Elusive Strict Diet by Jo

Jo — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:37:23 +0000

I’d like to draw your attention to an excellent blog by a medical librarian http://www.happyhealthylonglife.com/. She cites the medical evidence supporting a vegan diet (among other things) and especially its role in cardiovascular health. Her arguments are very convincing, and more importantly, she walks the talk, proving it’s doable!

Comment on Gym Class, or Physical Education? by JParadisiRN

JParadisiRN — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:37:47 +0000

I was fortunate to have a physical education teacher my senior year of high school. I was one of those kids perfectly happy to sit out gym class, reading a book, until Ms. H. She explained physical fitness means you are strong enough to pull yourself out of danger. It means you can run to find help (or these days, get a patient to the ICU fast). It means you can develop social contacts and business networking by playing golf or tennis. She understood team sports weren’t my thing, and helped me develop a personalized program of running, and strength training I still use all these years later. She’s one of a handful of the most influential teachers throughout my life, because she taught physical education, not gym class. Thank you for a great post!

Comment on Is This Teamwork? Learning to Supervise Isn’t Easy by LVN/RN Supervisor

LVN/RN Supervisor — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:32:38 +0000

GET OFF YOUR CELL PHONE while on duty. You aren’t paid to be focusing on anything but PATIENT CARE. Nurses who lie to themselves and think they are above it all in being able to multi-task, aka texting while working, are fooling themselves. In NO way is anyone fully focused on patient care when you are consumed with chronic texting to your boyfriend or friends while on duty as a nurse. There is ALWAYS something to do while on duty. Your patients may need a bath. May need toe nails clipped. Hair washed. Charts reviewed. Notes reviewed. You could be doing research on what better ways the patient can be treated and suggest this to doctor. You can give the patient a massage. MONITOR pt’s for side effects of drugs and if you don’t know what they are get on your cell phone and look it up instead of chatting with your buddies or boyfriend. Offer a drink of water. THINK about patient, get off that damn cell phone. A nurse who will go far and stand out above all others is one whose mind is focused on the patient, not defending their use of texting because they’re young, hip and well, can get it all done. Oh please.

Comment on How Good Are Your CPR Skills? Research Shows Monthly Practice Is Crucial by las artes

las artes — Sat, 19 May 2012 10:41:07 +0000

With above AHA also stated in their same document, “BLS skills can be learned equally well with practice while watching (video-based) training as through longer, traditional instructor-led courses”.

Comment on E-Cigarettes: Positive Smoking Substitute or a New Problem Replacing the Old? by Sugel

Sugel — Sat, 19 May 2012 06:49:48 +0000

Current smoking rates among 8th- and 12th-grade students reached an all-time low in 2009. According to the Monitoring the Future survey, 6.5 percent of 8th-graders and 20.1 percent of 12th-graders reported they had used cigarettes in the past month. Current smoking also decreased among 10th-graders, to about 13 percent in 2009. Although unacceptably high numbers of youth continue to smoke, these numbers represent a significant decrease from peak smoking rates (21 percent in 8th-graders, 30 percent in 10th-graders and 36 percent in 12th-graders) that were reached in the late 1990s.

Comment on The Evolution of Nursing: Always a Mirror for Cultural Attitudes, But With Some Constants by One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest | Ocdbloggergirl's Blog: OCD, Life, and Other Misunderstandings

Fri, 18 May 2012 03:29:51 +0000

[...] The Evolution of Nursing: Always a Mirror for Cultural Attitudes, But With Some Constants (ajnoffthecharts.com) [...]

Comment on E-Cigarettes: Positive Smoking Substitute or a New Problem Replacing the Old? by BAzz

BAzz — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:50:25 +0000

Same here. Every vendor I have used in the UK is compliant with the ChP packaging – they have to be or they cannot sell nicotine fluids. I stand by my opinion that most of the opposition comes from those most likely to lose when E-Cigarettes become much more mainstream – the Pharma and tobacco companies.

Comment on E-Cigarettes: Positive Smoking Substitute or a New Problem Replacing the Old? by Marsha

Marsha — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:25:13 +0000

Re: Child Proof Caps in the US

As I was reading the discussion about the child proof caps. I picked up the E-Liquid on my desk which has a child proof cap and on the label is says:
“This product contains Nicotine and is not suitable for people under 18. Keep away from Pets and Children!”

Some of my liquids not only have child proof caps but are also shrink wrapped. I have never received E-liquid without a safety cap and properly labeled.