Today, Raji came to me. Raji's about as Indian as Indian can be.
Perfect vase-shaped figure, long black braid, gorgeous gold earrings, and a bindi. Raji is recognizably Indian. And she came to me with the revelation that my confused patient had called her " Senorita. " < br / > < br / > I explained that he ' d probably seen the long black hair and the honey-colored skin and thought that she was Hispanic. She laughed and laughed and laughed. < br / > < br / > Later, when I ' d had a minor disagreement with an attending (more on that in the days to come), she exclaimed, when I mentioned his recognizably-Indian name, " Oh! I thought he was Hispanic! " < br / > < br / > " Hello, Senorita! "...
Source: Head Nurse - October 8, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
Today, Raji came to me. Raji's about as Indian as Indian can be.
Perfect vase-shaped figure, long black braid, gorgeous gold earrings, and a bindi. Raji is recognizably Indian. And she came to me with the revelation that my confused patient had called her "Senorita."I explained that he'd probably seen the long black hair and the honey-colored skin and thought that she was Hispanic. She laughed and laughed and laughed.Later, when I'd had a minor disagreement with an attending (more on that in the days to come), she exclaimed, when I mentioned his recognizably-Indian name, "Oh! I thought he was Hispanic!""Hello, Senorita!" I responded. "How are we supposed to have world peace when y'all c...
Source: Head Nurse - October 8, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
" Why don't we ask the patient? "
Marcie and I had One Of Those Days a couple of weeks ago. Dr. Vizzini had to go do something neurological halfway through the day, so The Golden Boy took over for him in the afternoon. He gathered his residents like ducklings and re-rounded on all of the patients in the unit. < br / > < br / > Marcie had a guy getting ready to go home. He ' d had a very minor stroke in a very minor place, and was essentially without any aftereffects. He also had Stage IV cancer of the something-or-other--I don ' t remember what; I was busy myself--and was on so many anticoagulants it was ridiculous. (Cancer can make a person more prone to ...
Source: Head Nurse - October 3, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
"Why don't we ask the patient?"
Marcie and I had One Of Those Days a couple of weeks ago. Dr. Vizzini had to go do something neurological halfway through the day, so The Golden Boy took over for him in the afternoon. He gathered his residents like ducklings and re-rounded on all of the patients in the unit.Marcie had a guy getting ready to go home. He'd had a very minor stroke in a very minor place, and was essentially without any aftereffects. He also had Stage IV cancer of the something-or-other--I don't remember what; I was busy myself--and was on so many anticoagulants it was ridiculous. (Cancer can make a person more prone to blood clots.) The fact ...
Source: Head Nurse - October 3, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
People who love my hair and people who do not.
I just ran the clippers through my hair. It's my every-two-week routine: pass a pair of clippers with a #3 guard over my head, then fade out the sides and back with a #2. Then, carefully, measure out an ounce each of color and developer and apply it to the stubble on my head and let it rest for twenty-five minutes. When I remember, I dye my eyebrows as well. My eyebrows have gone white, as has the hair at my temples and the nape of my neck, and it's nice to have at least an outline to pencil in in the mornings.Here are the people who love my hair:1. Black women of any age. "Rockin' that 'fro, Boo" is what I hear from Frien...
Source: Head Nurse - October 2, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
Here is why I love my town.
If you were to look at a map of Texas, you probably wouldn't notice Littleton at all. It's not one of those places where a river runs through downtown, free to everyone, or where huge concerts take place or where there's even a top-ranked university. It's just a small town, kind of stuck on the outskirts of a big city, but emphatically not a suburb. It's its own place.That's why I love Littleton. The rents are cheap and there's a big airport nearby, yes, and the air is clean and coyotes and foxes and various other small animals roam through downtown (somebody found a litter of bobcat kittens behind a bar a few weeks ago an...
Source: Head Nurse - September 18, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
Happy Lumpiversary and'Bye, Felicia.
Five years ago I was sitting in my dentist ' s chair when his hygienist found a lump on my hard palate. The lump, known as Cap ' n Lumpy after that, turned out to be a rare-ish form of minor salivary gland cancer called polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma. < br / > < br / > It started a year-long freakout on my part, most of which is documented on this here blog, that culminated in my wearing a cool plastic-and-metal prosthetic to replace the chunk of my mouth that a surgeon removed. < br / > < br / > I ' m not sure how I feel about this, so I ' m gonna just mark this lumpiversary and leave it be. I have the latest set o...
Source: Head Nurse - September 8, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
Happy Lumpiversary and 'Bye, Felicia.
Five years ago I was sitting in my dentist's chair when his hygienist found a lump on my hard palate. The lump, known as Cap'n Lumpy after that, turned out to be a rare-ish form of minor salivary gland cancer called polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma.It started a year-long freakout on my part, most of which is documented on this here blog, that culminated in my wearing a cool plastic-and-metal prosthetic to replace the chunk of my mouth that a surgeon removed.I'm not sure how I feel about this, so I'm gonna just mark this lumpiversary and leave it be. I have the latest set of scans (CT and MRI) coming up week after next...
Source: Head Nurse - September 8, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
The best new nursing blog out there is " Florence Is Dead. "
If you want smart, funny, badass commentary on the nature of nursing today, go read < a href= " http://www.florenceisdead.com/blog/ " target= " _blank " > Florence Is Dead < /a > . It ' s a brand-new blog, but already it ' s creating waves. The Diet Coke Incident has some of the most bloviating ridiculousness in the comments section that I ' ve ever seen. < br / > < br / > In case you couldn ' t guess, I agree with pretty much everything Dead Florence writes. The one place we differ is on the scrubs issue: she ' d like to see professional dress for nurses, while I stand firmly on the side of scrubs. The primary reason for...
Source: Head Nurse - September 5, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
The best new nursing blog out there is "Florence Is Dead."
If you want smart, funny, badass commentary on the nature of nursing today, go read Florence Is Dead. It's a brand-new blog, but already it's creating waves. The Diet Coke Incident has some of the most bloviating ridiculousness in the comments section that I've ever seen.In case you couldn't guess, I agree with pretty much everything Dead Florence writes. The one place we differ is on the scrubs issue: she'd like to see professional dress for nurses, while I stand firmly on the side of scrubs. The primary reason for that, you understand, is that I cannot dress myself. Other than that one disagreement, though, I'm firmly in...
Source: Head Nurse - September 5, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
Let's talk a little about patient satisfaction, shall we?
About a year ago, after Eric Duncan died at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas and two nurses who cared for him were hospitalized with the same disease that killed him (Ebola), Texas Health Resources got an independent committee to review what went wrong. It was like a root cause analysis, but more so: these were outside doctors and one nurse, they weren ' t paid, and they were given access to everything that was charted and all the folks involved in the Presby debacle. < br / > < br / > They came to a number of conclusions: first, that education was lacking--the staff wasn ' t aware of what exactly to do in case...
Source: Head Nurse - September 3, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
Let's talk a little about patient satisfaction, shall we?
About a year ago, after Eric Duncan died at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas and two nurses who cared for him were hospitalized with the same disease that killed him (Ebola), Texas Health Resources got an independent committee to review what went wrong. It was like a root cause analysis, but more so: these were outside doctors and one nurse, they weren't paid, and they were given access to everything that was charted and all the folks involved in the Presby debacle.They came to a number of conclusions: first, that education was lacking--the staff wasn't aware of what exactly to do in case of a person with Ebola...
Source: Head Nurse - September 3, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
Thank you.
Twenty years ago, before I was a nurse--before I had even started nursing school--I was at a used bookstore. I saw a title that intrigued me: "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat."It was my introduction to Oliver Sacks. It was the beginning of a relationship, however one-sided, that got me into nursing, got me into neuroscience, and has kept me there for more than a decade.Oliver Sacks was a walking contradiction: he was on the Asperger's spectrum, as he diagnosed himself, yet he was able to interact with his patients in such a way as to humanize even the most disabled person. He was obsessive, by his own admission; yet...
Source: Head Nurse - August 29, 2015 Category: Nursing Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
Yeah. . . .no. I'm having some thoughts about BSNs.
I'm an ADN-prepared nurse. Those of you who've been here for a while know that I often refer to those two years (three, actually, counting prerequisites) as the Hardest Work I Ever Put In For An Extended Period of Time. It was like drinking from a firehose, like trying to cross a raging river while wearing combat boots, like riding a bull with no previous experience. And the instructors I had hammered one thing home over and over: that we, as front-line nurses, had the right and the responsibility to consider ourselves colleagues of our BSN or MD or PA coworkers, not as helpers or assistants.Of course, that was in the days...
Source: Head Nurse - January 14, 2015 Category: Nurses Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
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(Source: Head Nurse)
Source: Head Nurse - January 1, 2015 Category: Nurses Authors: Jo Source Type: blogs
