More notes on rehab nursing.
Being an RN in a rehab hospital doesn't make me a rehab nurse. I don't know anything about bladder and bowel training. Everything is on the job training. I'm learning a lot about rehab. The therapists (physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy) work on the patient most of the day. The patients are bombarded by endless therapy sessions.
As a nurse, I pass meds. Pain meds, meds for seizures, meds for constipation, nausea, meds to kill infections (antibiotics), and other fancy meds to decrease cholesterol and control anxiety. You name it we have it. If we don't have it, we'll get it, at least the pharmacist will.
I also change diapers, and give the patients reassurance that things will be better. Yessire, I am the hope and the light at the end of the tunnel. The service with a smile. If they fuck with me, I just leave, apologize for the inconvenience and call the supervisor or case manager to make it better for the patient or the family. I can only do so much. The rest of the day I joke with the other staff member who themselves felt like the crap has just dumped on them. I like joking with the CNA's the people who does all the hard work. Hard work means lifting, cleaning poop, serving food, transferring patients from wheel chair to bed when PT is no longer there. Most of the patients who can't ambulate weigh in the 200+ lbs. range. No wonder they can't walk. It's up to the staff to move these behemoths. It's like tug boats moving a cargo ship.
I kinda like when the patients are in PT. It gives me some time to talk to the other patients waiting for their therapy. There are a lot of life stories going on out there. One patient was a special education teacher. After retirement, she has some orthopedic problems and ended up hurting her knee. She had surgery and is now in rehab. She is reflecting on how we used to help people with disabilities and now she is the one disabled.
Another patient was about my age and his car (a new mustang) ran into an SUV that is running away from the cops. They hit head on and he ended up with broken legs and now in rehab. He had his birthday a week ago and he looks 20 years older than I do. He said the reason he looks old is because he is an asshole.
Most of the younger patients in rehab had been in a car accident or fell of a ledge while on the job. This kinda taught me a lesson to slow down a lot while driving. Reckless stupid driving is a dangerous activity. People who survive ends up with scrambled brains. Literally speaking. They lose their inhibitions depending on what part of their brains gets scrambled. Some will not talk again, others will be in nursing homes for the rest of their lives and some will be quadriplegic or paraplegic.
Falls are common to older folks. We have 80+ years olds here and they can be either very nice to devil incarnate himself. Most are women and some are just pain in the ass. It's good the average stay here in rehab is 4-6 weeks. Any longer and people will start disappearing. I swear to God, a pain in the ass (PIA) patient is like having a 12 hour root canal. I admitted a 90 year old and every time she calls she wants it yesterday. I found her crying and accusing a CNA for being rude. I told her that we will improve on our service and that I'm sorry about what happened. I talked to the CNA and I told her that I told the patient that we will take care of the bitch CNA that treated her like shit and the CNA will be flogged to death. The CNA laughed.
Being an RN in a rehab hospital doesn't make me a rehab nurse. I don't know anything about bladder and bowel training. Everything is on the job training. I'm learning a lot about rehab. The therapists (physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy) work on the patient most of the day. The patients are bombarded by endless therapy sessions.
As a nurse, I pass meds. Pain meds, meds for seizures, meds for constipation, nausea, meds to kill infections (antibiotics), and other fancy meds to decrease cholesterol and control anxiety. You name it we have it. If we don't have it, we'll get it, at least the pharmacist will.
I also change diapers, and give the patients reassurance that things will be better. Yessire, I am the hope and the light at the end of the tunnel. The service with a smile. If they fuck with me, I just leave, apologize for the inconvenience and call the supervisor or case manager to make it better for the patient or the family. I can only do so much. The rest of the day I joke with the other staff member who themselves felt like the crap has just dumped on them. I like joking with the CNA's the people who does all the hard work. Hard work means lifting, cleaning poop, serving food, transferring patients from wheel chair to bed when PT is no longer there. Most of the patients who can't ambulate weigh in the 200+ lbs. range. No wonder they can't walk. It's up to the staff to move these behemoths. It's like tug boats moving a cargo ship.
I kinda like when the patients are in PT. It gives me some time to talk to the other patients waiting for their therapy. There are a lot of life stories going on out there. One patient was a special education teacher. After retirement, she has some orthopedic problems and ended up hurting her knee. She had surgery and is now in rehab. She is reflecting on how we used to help people with disabilities and now she is the one disabled.
Another patient was about my age and his car (a new mustang) ran into an SUV that is running away from the cops. They hit head on and he ended up with broken legs and now in rehab. He had his birthday a week ago and he looks 20 years older than I do. He said the reason he looks old is because he is an asshole.
Most of the younger patients in rehab had been in a car accident or fell of a ledge while on the job. This kinda taught me a lesson to slow down a lot while driving. Reckless stupid driving is a dangerous activity. People who survive ends up with scrambled brains. Literally speaking. They lose their inhibitions depending on what part of their brains gets scrambled. Some will not talk again, others will be in nursing homes for the rest of their lives and some will be quadriplegic or paraplegic.
Falls are common to older folks. We have 80+ years olds here and they can be either very nice to devil incarnate himself. Most are women and some are just pain in the ass. It's good the average stay here in rehab is 4-6 weeks. Any longer and people will start disappearing. I swear to God, a pain in the ass (PIA) patient is like having a 12 hour root canal. I admitted a 90 year old and every time she calls she wants it yesterday. I found her crying and accusing a CNA for being rude. I told her that we will improve on our service and that I'm sorry about what happened. I talked to the CNA and I told her that I told the patient that we will take care of the bitch CNA that treated her like shit and the CNA will be flogged to death. The CNA laughed.
