SeaCat
Hey, my Halo is smoking
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2003
- Posts
- 15,378
Sometimes a sense of humor is needed. In my line of work it should be required.
Today I was called to the side by one of my R.N.'s. She needed help with one of our new patients. (One I hadn't yet met.) She explained this patient had come in with a possible Intestinal Blockage and had a Colostomy. (She wasn't used to Colostomies as she usually worked on the Pediatrics Floor.) She needed help in exposing and evaluating the Colostomy site.
I agreed to help her and told her to grab several things we would need even as I headed towards my locker for a small bottle of Vicks Vapor Rub I keep there just for this type of thing. (It kills your sense of smell.)
We entered the room and I introduced myself to the patient. I then exposed the Colostomy Bag and began to drape the patient with towels. Yes she was distended, and yes she was in pain. I removed the bag and found it to be empty, not a good sign. I also noticed ther was something missing. I couldn't see her Colostomy. As I started removing the Flange I asked her when this had been put in place and was told an R.N. had put it on her about two weeks before. I now had a good idea of what was happening. Even as I was removing the appliance I had the desk put in a call to the patients Dr. Sure enough as the Flange came away I was greeted by the sight of a protruding and inflamed Colostomy site.
The Doctor called back and I informed him of what I hd found. (By this time the R.N. was turning green and had been relegated to the role of observer.) The Dr. agree with what I recomended and asked me to call him back.
I asked the R.N. to give the patient some pain meds while I gathered what was needed. I've done this a time or three before and knew what was going to happen. I gathered what I needed, including a shit load more towels and a flush kit. (A large bottle of Saline and a huge 500cc Syringe.) I warmed the Saline as I joked with the patient and her husband. I watched as the Morphine took effect then asked the husband to leave. (He didn't want to see this one.) When all was in readiness I opened the door to the room, (okay so I'm cruel) and started flushing the Colostomy which had been blocked by the person who put the Flange in place. It took a couple of flushed before the blockage was broken up and I was rewarded by Mount Vesuvias in Brown.
The patient screamed as her body started releasing the built up wastes of 14 days. The R.N. Turned a pale shade of green and had to vanish, and the nurses at the Nursing Station started complaining of not being able to breath.
I was a busy little bugger keeping this away from my patients skin and keeping it flowing. Two hours later I was at last able to attach a Bulk Collection System to her. It was kind of amazing watching her body react, to watch her distension shrink as she emptied out. I joked with her about being full of shit.
At the end of my shift her husband came up to me and appologized for what I had to go through to help his wife. My reply to him was that sometimes Shit Happens.
Tomorrow I'll be teaching both of them, Husband and wife, how to apply the appliances. I'll teach them how to do it correctly.
She was embarrased as hell because of what had happened, she was embarrased because of the stench. (No other way to describe it.) They were both embarrased because it took me to cure the problem. I defused their embarrasment with humor. The Doc. listened to me because while I am just an Aide he knows I know what I'm doing.
She'll be in my care for the next several days now because someone else didn't know what they were doing. She should do well though.
Cat
Today I was called to the side by one of my R.N.'s. She needed help with one of our new patients. (One I hadn't yet met.) She explained this patient had come in with a possible Intestinal Blockage and had a Colostomy. (She wasn't used to Colostomies as she usually worked on the Pediatrics Floor.) She needed help in exposing and evaluating the Colostomy site.
I agreed to help her and told her to grab several things we would need even as I headed towards my locker for a small bottle of Vicks Vapor Rub I keep there just for this type of thing. (It kills your sense of smell.)
We entered the room and I introduced myself to the patient. I then exposed the Colostomy Bag and began to drape the patient with towels. Yes she was distended, and yes she was in pain. I removed the bag and found it to be empty, not a good sign. I also noticed ther was something missing. I couldn't see her Colostomy. As I started removing the Flange I asked her when this had been put in place and was told an R.N. had put it on her about two weeks before. I now had a good idea of what was happening. Even as I was removing the appliance I had the desk put in a call to the patients Dr. Sure enough as the Flange came away I was greeted by the sight of a protruding and inflamed Colostomy site.
The Doctor called back and I informed him of what I hd found. (By this time the R.N. was turning green and had been relegated to the role of observer.) The Dr. agree with what I recomended and asked me to call him back.
I asked the R.N. to give the patient some pain meds while I gathered what was needed. I've done this a time or three before and knew what was going to happen. I gathered what I needed, including a shit load more towels and a flush kit. (A large bottle of Saline and a huge 500cc Syringe.) I warmed the Saline as I joked with the patient and her husband. I watched as the Morphine took effect then asked the husband to leave. (He didn't want to see this one.) When all was in readiness I opened the door to the room, (okay so I'm cruel) and started flushing the Colostomy which had been blocked by the person who put the Flange in place. It took a couple of flushed before the blockage was broken up and I was rewarded by Mount Vesuvias in Brown.
The patient screamed as her body started releasing the built up wastes of 14 days. The R.N. Turned a pale shade of green and had to vanish, and the nurses at the Nursing Station started complaining of not being able to breath.
I was a busy little bugger keeping this away from my patients skin and keeping it flowing. Two hours later I was at last able to attach a Bulk Collection System to her. It was kind of amazing watching her body react, to watch her distension shrink as she emptied out. I joked with her about being full of shit.
At the end of my shift her husband came up to me and appologized for what I had to go through to help his wife. My reply to him was that sometimes Shit Happens.
Tomorrow I'll be teaching both of them, Husband and wife, how to apply the appliances. I'll teach them how to do it correctly.
She was embarrased as hell because of what had happened, she was embarrased because of the stench. (No other way to describe it.) They were both embarrased because it took me to cure the problem. I defused their embarrasment with humor. The Doc. listened to me because while I am just an Aide he knows I know what I'm doing.
She'll be in my care for the next several days now because someone else didn't know what they were doing. She should do well though.
Cat
