-Guy
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
January 11, 2011
Sometimes
Sometimes I can't suppress my feelings when the lab receives a stool specimen for C. diff testing. Because I log it into the computer...and then quietly slide the sample over the lab tech counter. Because they have to work with it and not me.
-Guy
-Guy
November 14, 2010
Lab Rat Rant
Occasionally this job gets under my skin. Not the patient care aspect, just the little administrative nonsense that goes on.
A while ago (~a year), a call came down for a rationing cycle on our butterfly needles. These babies are a modern miracle for those patients with small/weak/rolling/sucky veins. As the name "cycle" implies, we thought it would be a temporary event. These cycles have happened in the past during times when we hired noobie phlebos who loved using the butterflies on everyone, irregardless of whether or not the instance called for use of a straight needle (straight needles are faster for specimen collection and butterfly needles cost ~$3-5 a pop). First we started out with a limited number of needles available for each shift. We would arrive for a shift and find a select number of butterflies available for our use. Once they were gone, we had to ask for more and provide a reason as to why we had used up all the provided needles in one shift. Invasion of pygmy diabetic drug addicts didn't usually cut it in the excuse department.
Later we were provided with a sign-in/out sheet where we listed the date, our name, the number of each gauge needle we checked out, and then a place to tell how many needles we returned after each shift ended. This has been going on for few months now. Did I mention that we no longer have a steady supply of noobs? We are down to a grand total of 0 new phlebos. And yet, every day, I sign-in/out my butterfly needles like I'm in some sort of hypodermic needle gulag.
Secondly, ordering in ER. The Dr. on shift tonight is a favorite of Gal and I. He's great with patients, truly cares about his coworkers, and doesn't have that holier-than-thou attitude which seems to pervade members of the MD genus. But why in name of St.Camillus of Lellis would he think that ordering a UPT and a HCGQT on a patient would be a good idea?
UPT: Urine pregnancy test; tells you 'yes' or 'no' to the obvious question.
HCGQT: Human chorionic gonadotropin, quantitative; give an fairly accurate number to the question of "How pregnant am I?"
Now, ordering one (UPT, for those keeping score), receiving the results and then ordering the other (HCGQT) makes a lot of sense. If you don't know the answer to the UPT, then there is no sense ordering the HCGQT. It could easily be a waste of a test for which the patient is stuck footing the bill (or maybe the taxpayers, either way). This goes against my common sense grain like 20-grit sandpaper on a misplaced knuckle.
Lastly, the internet filter here is slowly working its way under my skin. I want to do a search for Walther olympic-quality air rifle prices (trying to let one go, anyone know where I can sell this thing?), but the filter catches me every time. What for, you ask? "Weapons". It's a fraking air rifle, you dolts. It's fit for punching .177 caliber holes in paper at 10 meters and (according to my old rifle coach's wife) playing hell on starlings. It only counts as a weapon if your firewall programing department is composed of small birds and squirrels (though, this would explain a lot about our computer network...).
That is all.
-Guy
A while ago (~a year), a call came down for a rationing cycle on our butterfly needles. These babies are a modern miracle for those patients with small/weak/rolling/sucky veins. As the name "cycle" implies, we thought it would be a temporary event. These cycles have happened in the past during times when we hired noobie phlebos who loved using the butterflies on everyone, irregardless of whether or not the instance called for use of a straight needle (straight needles are faster for specimen collection and butterfly needles cost ~$3-5 a pop). First we started out with a limited number of needles available for each shift. We would arrive for a shift and find a select number of butterflies available for our use. Once they were gone, we had to ask for more and provide a reason as to why we had used up all the provided needles in one shift. Invasion of pygmy diabetic drug addicts didn't usually cut it in the excuse department.
Later we were provided with a sign-in/out sheet where we listed the date, our name, the number of each gauge needle we checked out, and then a place to tell how many needles we returned after each shift ended. This has been going on for few months now. Did I mention that we no longer have a steady supply of noobs? We are down to a grand total of 0 new phlebos. And yet, every day, I sign-in/out my butterfly needles like I'm in some sort of hypodermic needle gulag.
Secondly, ordering in ER. The Dr. on shift tonight is a favorite of Gal and I. He's great with patients, truly cares about his coworkers, and doesn't have that holier-than-thou attitude which seems to pervade members of the MD genus. But why in name of St.Camillus of Lellis would he think that ordering a UPT and a HCGQT on a patient would be a good idea?
UPT: Urine pregnancy test; tells you 'yes' or 'no' to the obvious question.
HCGQT: Human chorionic gonadotropin, quantitative; give an fairly accurate number to the question of "How pregnant am I?"
Now, ordering one (UPT, for those keeping score), receiving the results and then ordering the other (HCGQT) makes a lot of sense. If you don't know the answer to the UPT, then there is no sense ordering the HCGQT. It could easily be a waste of a test for which the patient is stuck footing the bill (or maybe the taxpayers, either way). This goes against my common sense grain like 20-grit sandpaper on a misplaced knuckle.
Lastly, the internet filter here is slowly working its way under my skin. I want to do a search for Walther olympic-quality air rifle prices (trying to let one go, anyone know where I can sell this thing?), but the filter catches me every time. What for, you ask? "Weapons". It's a fraking air rifle, you dolts. It's fit for punching .177 caliber holes in paper at 10 meters and (according to my old rifle coach's wife) playing hell on starlings. It only counts as a weapon if your firewall programing department is composed of small birds and squirrels (though, this would explain a lot about our computer network...).
That is all.
-Guy
October 31, 2010
...aaaaand we're back.
Poor, poor, neglected blog. Fear not, we have returned
We've been busy the past few weeks. We took a trip to Nashville for vacation/school open house earlier this month. There is a nurse practitioner program I was interested in at Vandy, so we spent a day over there taking notes and making decisions. I've settled on getting a one-year accelerated RN from another school, getting the required two years of experience, then reapplying for Vandy's Emergency NP. The NP program is 95% online, so wherever we are at in three years I can continue the program. The rest of the time we perused the shops and interesting areas of Nashville and did our usmost to not think of anything related to school or work.
We just got back from spending about a week at Gal's parents near St. Louis. By some random alignment of the planets, my fall break, Gal's work schedule, and my father-in-law's work schedule all lined up so that this little trip would have a lot of good family time. Except for a trip to the St. Charles community northwest of St. L, we mostly vegged around the house and got caught up with the family.
Now we're back into the swing of things. The office I work for at the university is putting together what amounts to a telemarketing campaign to announce to former Ag students that we are putting an Ag Business undergraduate degree online. 4,000 emails went out; 1,600 bounced. Guess who gets to call those 1,600 people and share the good news with them. Me and another graduate assistant. We're thrilled.
Gal is getting ready to move from ER to OB. From crying, whining adults to crying, whining babies. Babies are right up Gal's alley; matter of fact, she was extremely close to going to OB when she first started working here a year and a half ago. She's going to do great and have a good time.
Gotta go. The lab printer just spat something out.
-Guy
We've been busy the past few weeks. We took a trip to Nashville for vacation/school open house earlier this month. There is a nurse practitioner program I was interested in at Vandy, so we spent a day over there taking notes and making decisions. I've settled on getting a one-year accelerated RN from another school, getting the required two years of experience, then reapplying for Vandy's Emergency NP. The NP program is 95% online, so wherever we are at in three years I can continue the program. The rest of the time we perused the shops and interesting areas of Nashville and did our usmost to not think of anything related to school or work.
We just got back from spending about a week at Gal's parents near St. Louis. By some random alignment of the planets, my fall break, Gal's work schedule, and my father-in-law's work schedule all lined up so that this little trip would have a lot of good family time. Except for a trip to the St. Charles community northwest of St. L, we mostly vegged around the house and got caught up with the family.
Now we're back into the swing of things. The office I work for at the university is putting together what amounts to a telemarketing campaign to announce to former Ag students that we are putting an Ag Business undergraduate degree online. 4,000 emails went out; 1,600 bounced. Guess who gets to call those 1,600 people and share the good news with them. Me and another graduate assistant. We're thrilled.
Gal is getting ready to move from ER to OB. From crying, whining adults to crying, whining babies. Babies are right up Gal's alley; matter of fact, she was extremely close to going to OB when she first started working here a year and a half ago. She's going to do great and have a good time.
Gotta go. The lab printer just spat something out.
-Guy
September 9, 2010
Thought Processes....?
There are no patterns to my thought processes. I more or less have flight of ideas...for those of you who know and understand anything related to psychology. (Not really, Guy just thinks so.) His way of describing my random thoughts, comments and incoherencies......a lottery ball machine....yep that's right. You know, how the ball machine just randomly shoots out a numbered ball....that would be my brain and thoughts. So good luck trying to follow anything I may type on this blog. Yes, I am a nurse....an RN...and fortunatley and unfortunatley I work in the ER. The good part is I like what I do. The bad part...I'm exposed to a deadly disease everyday that is continuously replicating its DNA like rabbits on Valentine's day. That's right...Stupidity. Don't get me wrong. I try to be a compassionate person...after all what kind of nurse would I be if I did not to some degree care about the plight of humanity. But really folks....you know what I'm talking about...there is an epidemic of stupidity going on in this world. (By the way, I will occasionally use this blog at the end of a 14 hour day of wiping butts, suctioning frothy pink sputum and yelling at homicidal, suicidal crazies to vent. So if you don't want to hear that...well don't read my post!) I really do enjoy what I do... just not always who I do it with or where at. That comes with every job though...right?
~Gal
~Gal
September 6, 2010
First!
How appropriate. Our first post finds Gal slaving away in the ER and myself holed up in the lab cave pondering both the absorbancy of diapers and the brain capacity of your average human (long story). On Labor Day. When the weather is beautiful. *deep sigh*
-Guy
-Guy
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