SUBs and Keys

No newspaper, no radio, and these young soldiers would rather watch a movie than CNN - so, when the internet is up, I catch pieces of news. Reading fast, as people are always waiting for the computer.  I see Martha's out today ... and that's about all I know.  Is this what is meant by Naval Intelligence?

The routine here creates seamless days, and since we work 7 days/week, it's sort of hard to know what day it is!  We're always asking each other.

The two big quesitons every day, "What day is it?" and "Whose got the keys?"  (for you non-nurses ... this is sort of an in-joke...the keys are for the narcotics cabinet, and in many facilities, there is only one set),  I guess some things don't change wherever you are!

The ship is an interesting dicotomy - we have state of the art equipment, well outfitted OR's; CT Scanner; multiple portable X-Rays, full radiology and cathlab, 20 bed isolation ward with negative air pressure, and great ventilators.  But it's total paper charting, MAR's and Card-ex AND a totally NEEDLE IV system  ...no luer locks.  It's one thing to start an IV with a needle...there is no other way ...but try doing a fentanyl push while the ship is rocking and you've tied the IV pole to the bed so the central line doesn't come out!

Speaking of beds, most of our ICU beds are actually gurneys (I can only imagine 3 - 5 days spent on those small hard beds ...we are turning our patients constantly) But we do have many Hill-ROM sport beds...I call them SUB's (sports utility beds) --with rotation and percussion capability.

Strange, you come back from CT, put your patient back on a SUB and then piggyback his IV antibiotic and IV diprivan with a needle into a hep lock onto the primary line and tape the needle to the port (no secondary sets of Y tubing.)  From high tech to no tech! :-)

Hey guys! It's all new to me!  I'll have to tell my students that I feel like a new grad all over again!

The MD's round 3x's a day and I've enjoyed their approach, their teamwork and collaborative approach with the nurses.  It's a true partnership ---first name basis, and we sit shoulder to shoulder on the mess deck!  There really is a profound sense of respect.