blogger hit counter
Diary of a Trauma Nurse
Custom Search

About Me

My name is Cory. I am a mom, a wife, a NaNa, and a critical care nurse that lives in Nashville, TN. I have found my calling in ER/Trauma/ICU. Each day I find myself experiencing life changing events and hope that by reading my posts, you will experience and feel some of what I do. If you read nothing else, please take time to read "The Hardest Question Ever Asked". It's my very first posting. And if for some reason you think you see your story here.....you don't. It's not about you or anyone you know. =)



Archives

May 2006
June 2006
August 2006
September 2006
December 2006
January 2007
May 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
August 2008
September 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
August 2009
October 2009
November 2009
December 2009
January 2010
May 2010
July 2010
August 2010
October 2010
November 2011
May 2012
August 2014
December 2014
June 2015

Places to Go

MySpace
Nursing Wiki
Am Assoc Critical Care Nurses
Photobucket

Nursing Blogs

A Day In The Life Of An Ambulance Driver
Adventures In Nursing
Adventures Of GuitarGirl RN
All Kids and No Play
Backboards and Bandaids
CrzeGrl
Disappearing John RN
Emergency-Room Nurse
ER RN
Head Nurse
Lucid
MedBlogopathy
Not A Wanna B A Gonna B
NursePractioner'sPlace
Nurse Ratcheds Place
NurseTips
TraumaDive
Weird Nursing Tales

Doctor Blogs

A Happy Hospitalist
Adventures In Medicine
Doctor Anonymous
Fat Doctor
Kevin MD
OB/GYN Kenobi

OTHERS

Micheal
Kathys Lifes Journey



Saturday, December 05, 2009

Breast Cancer Awareness - Pink Glove Boogie

Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Oregon put this video together to
raise breast cancer awareness and it's so cool that they included everyone in it! Had to share it! Love the janitor at the end! (His mother actually died of breast cancer.)


CoryTraumaRN posted today at 2:22 PM

(7) comments

Friday, December 04, 2009



Blog for Brit (to make her smile)

Ok, before, during and after working in Trauma, I worked in various emergency rooms. In general, working in the ER especially at night can be heinous. Part of our job as ER nurses is to make your unfortunate experience as pleasant as possible. We do try really hard to keep things moving as fast as possible in the ER but as you can imagine, the continual flood of mayhem and carnage makes this challenging. In addition to the pandemonium, we have the non-emergent emergencies such as the teenager with the socially crippling zit so I decided to share a few blurbs of some of the more memorable patients.


1) Lady calls the ambulance for flatulence. Yes, for flatulence. Ok, I’m not a doctor, but I feel safe in saying that she could have paid 2.79 for a box of bean-0 or Gas-X rather than the 895.00 that was charged for the ambulance. Because as you know, flatulence requires the ACLS wagon!

Now, we get to the ER and her diagnosis is . . . wait. . . ………. wait for it………..……hemorrhoids! YEP! So here we are with an additional bill for the ER visit that could have been taken care of with some Preparation-H!!

So, this evening probably cost around $2,000.00 and all it needed was some “O” “X” and “H”. Ka-Ching!!!!


2) Ok, this one was a walk in but apparently “pediculus humanus capitis” is an emergency. To the rest of the world, this is known as head lice.


People, keep in mind that you want the LEAST amount of exposure to others in a case like this. We all itched for the rest of the night. Funny how that happens.


3) An elderly man who cathed himself with a coffee straw because he “just couldn’t pee and it was starting to hurt.” Did the coffee straw NOT hurt you genius? And anyway….it would have at least taken a Sonic Route 66 sized straw! Geez!


4) This is a little more crass but true. A guy literally dumps his girl at the ER (slows at the doors and she gets out) with a “vibrating device” stuck in a “nether region”, and not the “normal nether region.” The girl went to x-ray and it kept on going, and she went to surgery and it kept on going and going. Guess she used Energizer. OOOP!


5) The sweet lady that comes in after fainting at her doctor’s office while having blood drawn.

So what is the first thing we do in the ER? Yep, draw blood. She passed out again. When she woke, she said “oh I always pass out when I have my blood drawn.” So why is it that you are in the ER again?


6) Ok, this one really got me. A female paraplegic patient comes in via ambulance. Of course I immediately feel compassion for someone in such a state. EKG leads placed on patient, vitals taken, foley in place r/t obvious incontinence, some 02 for a slightly below normal Sat. When the physician comes in to assess the patient and find out her reason for the ER visit she states: (I kid you not) “I want a cheeseburger.”


It has taken me a LONG time to see the humor in that one.


7) The guy who was seriously over utilizing the emergency room. A report showed that this patient had been going to 4 or 5 ERs in one day and always the same complaints, low back pain or abdominal pain. When questioned about this he stated “it’s not me.” I told him, of course it’s you. Your insurance card and identification are shown each time you go to the hospital. His reply? “My insurance card might be going to a lot of ER’s, but it’s not my body in the bed.”

And I'm just certain one day with all the radiation exposure from the 70 x-rays per week, this guy's bones will turn into a pile of dust.


8) And my final little blurb………I’d heard of this happening but was not prepared when it did. You ALREADY KNOW, don't ya! A very, very large woman came in complaining of chest pain. While quickly rushing to get her on the monitor, put a gown on her, start an IV and draw blood, we lay her back slightly and from Lord only knows where, out falls a remote.


Her response? Not “OMG I’m so embarrassed” but......“I’ve been looking for that!”


So to all my brothers and sisters who continue to do this day in and day out, sometimes thanklessly, you can look forward to being at the table with the biggest and best goodie bags in Heaven, I’m sure of it!




CoryTraumaRN posted today at 9:52 PM

(7) comments