Modern Soapbox

The truth is that the three alarm clocks work best for me as well as getting to sleep in the night before you have to lack sleep the next night. I had trouble getting up this morning. I wish we were designed to just have a reset button to push whenever we were feeling exhausted. I also wish that nature didn’t create such a popular drug known as sleep.

My clinical day was a bit different today. I was scheduled to shadow the wound care nurse who goes around to patients and takes care of wounds. We only had the opportunity to visit four patients, but the time played out like a movie.

The first patient was a 48-year-old diabetic male who had cellulitis in his right lower extremity. His calf felt hot like a fever and was swollen and red. He had an ulcer that developed from hitting his leg on a rock. The ulcer was about the size of a quarter and appeared yellowish with hints of red. The wound care nurse changed his dressing with no complications.

The next patient was a 93-year-old lady who suffered a hip fracture and had fallen out of her bed the night before and scraped her elbow. Being elderly, the skin had pretty much ripped off, and the nurse had to apply a new dressing to the wound. We put on an isolation outfit consisting of a mask, a gown and gloves. This was the first time the nurse had seen the patient, so she had to access her for bed sores on her posterior. We had to turn the lady on her side, so the nurse could take a look. The lady was in a great deal of pain and was screaming in pain when we moved her. We didn’t turn her successfully the first time, and she grabbed my arm in pain. We were successful the second time, but I noticed that some of her warm blood had gotten on my isolation gown and discomforted me a little. The nurse dressed the wound, and we were done. When I removed the my isolation gear, I had noticed that some of the lady’s blood had gone thru the gown and was on my arm. That didn’t make me feel too great, but some soap and warm water took it off.

The third patient was a 68-year-old man who the nurse had to check to see if his air bed was sufficient, because he had edema and had a history of lumbar surgeries. I could see swelling in his hands. He was also in a great deal of pain, and the nurse could only lower his bed in small intervals. She also accessed him for any signs of bed sores which he didn’t have.

The nurse showed me a couple neat tricks. In relation to the patient just mentioned previously, she accessed his heels without picking up his leg ’cause he was in so much pain. The air bed had this mode where she can soften the place where the feet rest while maintaining the rest of the bed. With his heels sort of hanging off the edge, she placed a mirror underneath to access the heels. The other trick was with the isolation gowns. She showed me that if you poke your thumbs through the cuffs, then you won’t have a problem with space between the glove and the cuff from ever occurring. Brilliant.

The last patient was the grand finale. He was also a middle-aged diabetic who had cellulitis. Cellulitis has nothing to do with cellulite. Here’s a definition if you’re really curious. In my own words, cellulitis is an infection where a large mass of cells in an area die as a result of a wound. This guy had it bad. He had it on his left lower extremity as a result of a ladder accident. The infection had spread all over his lower leg on on the top of his foot. It was a sight to see. The debriding agent they put on it is a thick, green slime called Panafil. The wound care nurse had scored the dead tissue with a needle, so it had a grid-like pattern on it to allow the Panafil to work better. The necrosis had an evergreen tint on it from the topical medication. There was also a small ulcer that had developed where she was able to stick a cotton swab in and poke around in it. Since the tissue was dead, the guy couldn’t feel the pain. She took a syringe (sans sharp) full of saline water and injected into the opening in his wound and pushed the fluid out onto gauze. We reapplied the Panafil and dressed the wound. The highlight of the finale was the sight and ulcer.

My clinical today was very enjoyable. The wound care nurse was great at explaining what she was doing, what everything does, and answering my questions.

At a quarter ’til three, I will be doing my Friday shift at work. I think I’m leveling up today, so I’ll be dressed appropriately if that’s the case. I hope I don’t feel fatigued as usual on these days. An excellent way to gain an Energy Boost is to have great laughs with your co-workers about the unspeakable. Props to Woodini for helping me not fade out too bad at work yesterday.

After work, I’ll be enjoying Mare and I’s Friday night “Bustaburger” ritual. She coined that term. I look forward to it as always ’cause the weekend follows. Awwwww yeah!

My bro is buying a new car. Extreme props to him.