Reflections from the Bedside

Update on daughter Julie: lab reports are good, appliances are working, except for her shunt which diverts CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) for her hydrocephalous.

Chair side observations IMHO:

1) Nurses are overworked and stressed;
2) Hospital food is generally tasty;
3) The general public does not understand the importance of hand washing;
4) Hierarchical symbolism in the hospital has changed over the past few years -- every direct patient care provider slings a stethoscope around their neck and wears scrubs. Therefore, doctors distinguish themselves as "physicians" by wearing a sport coats over their scrubs, and leave steths to the assistants
5) RN's are the only nurses employed here at Carolinas Medical Center; LPN's are a thing of the past;
6) 12 hr. shifts are the norm for RNs; charting is half their workload;
7) Lab results still get misplaced/lost. (Julie's most important CSF labs are still "missing" after five days, and the risk of tapping her shunt for more lab work is risky.)
8) Drama is constant; one does not get too excited over minor crises;
9) Common courtesy is often overlooked by patients; a sense of entitlement often pervades the patient's outlook;
10) Ensure that the patient visitor can take care of themselves in all ways before "visiting" the patient, or the visitor will be a burden to all concerned;
11) An hallucinating patient can almost make one believe an outlandish story, simply because they are so convinced of their own reality;
11) In general, people surely do complain about minor annoyances;
12) Pain control is better managed.

Update on daughter Julie: lab reports are good, appliances are working, except for her shunt which diverts CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) for her hydrocephalous. She is to have more x-rays this hour to determine the amount of CSF fluid around her lungs.

Julie is stapled all the way from her clavicle to her bottom. She is quite coherent and the hallucinations have abated. She is not in pain.

Hurricanes, the Republican National Convention, and life goes on.