Things That Drive Me Bonkers, II
Fun exercise: Rank the following items in terms of their dangerousness.
- Chapstick
- Carnation Instant Breakfast
- Popsicle
- Pickles
- Watercolor paints
- Cigarettes
- Lipton Green Tea with Citrus diluted 50/50 with water.
- Stuffed bunny
- Plain gold band wedding ring
Now guess which one of these items is considered so benign that it never requires a doctor’s order, and which seven items are considered so potentially hazardous that, within the past week, nurses could not or would not give them to a patient until I wrote an order.
- Chapstick
- Carnation Instant Breakfast
- Popsicle
- Pickles
- Watercolor paints
- Cigarettes
- Lipton Green Tea with Citrus diluted 50/50 with water.
- Stuffed bunny
- Plain gold band wedding ring
Now guess which one of these items is considered so benign that it never requires a doctor’s order, and which seven items are considered so potentially hazardous that, within the past week, nurses could not or would not give them to a patient until I wrote an order.
posted by Turbo at 9:28 AM
3 Comments:
Cigarettes are benign. All the other ones require an order, although I can't see how chapstick is dangerous.
But I work for two superior court judges and I see first hand every day the interworkings of the judicial branch of the government.
It has to be cigarettes. It is safer for the nurse to give a patient a cigarette in a forensic unit than to have said patient get antsy and agitated (nicotine withdrawal). It is also better for the doctor if the patient has a nice steady nicotine level if one is titrating the antipsychotics.
The others are all not part of nursing duties so get delegated to the doctor.
Hmm. The alcohol dependent patients also get "antsy and agitated" from withdrawal. Should we similarly keep them at a nice steady alcohol level while they're in the hospital?
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