Thursday, April 7, 2011

Medical talk

I took my CNA course at the end of '09 and I am always amused when I see hospital abbreviations and know what they mean! I went with Acilia's class on a field trip today and was thrilled that it was at a hospital. (I know, I'm weird!) The kids went into a room and walked through exactly what happens when a child is admitted to the hospital. It was so cute, they randomly selected some of the kids to be a part of the skit. Acilia got to be the patient. She giggled the whole way through. She is totally my daughter! (My mother in law refers to me as "Giggles" *giggle*) the first thing I noticed when we walked in was a sign above the mock bed "NPO" my heart fluttered as I said to myself "nothing by mouth" is what it means! :)

Last week my grandma had to go to the ER for abdominal pain. I jumped at the chance to take her, not only to be there for her but because I take any chance I can get to go to the hospital (Did I mention I am weird?). I worked hard to follow as the nurses spoke in their code and envisioned the day I am in their place. Though it's not my intention to be an ER nurse, no matter where you are in the hospital you are caring for patients and it's just such a special job!
Turns out grandma had a hernia they needed repair so they admitted her for surgery. We went to see her the following day, she looked fab I must say! This woman for being weeks away from 88 is a tough little cookie! :)
I was almost insulted when on the outside of her room was a sign, with a leaf and "RTF" on it. Which means "risk to fall". Yup. They probably assumed since she was 87 that she could potentially fall; but she lives on her own and gets around just fine! I didn't mind the extra precautions though! Afterall, would I want them to provide care any less than the best? RTF also means extra attention since they have to monitor more closely the activity of the patient!

That's all for now with my amusement! I leave you with this picture (if you follow my 365 blog you've already seen it!)
That's my little actress in the bed :)

4 comments:

  1. I used to love watching shows about medical abnormalities. I once solved a "medical mystery" on a hospital show (maybe it was ER?) and was SUPER impressed with myself! Knowledge is power! :)

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  2. Just so you know, when you're an RN, that will be such a huge part of you. You invest so much time, effort, and raw passion into your career and it's hard to keep it from spilling into the other areas of your life. You'll think like a nurse, act like a nurse, and talk like a nurse; it's amazing lol! In my opinion, my life is so much more enriched because I'm a nurse...it's made every area better :)

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  3. Awesome.. I spent years in nursing.. SO glad you see that it is a gift to get to care for others in this way!

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  4. As a rule, ANYONE 65 and over scores on the Braden scale as a fall risk. You'll discover that one quickly once you get going....

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