Okay, I'm still alive. It's my intent to do at least one post per day from now on. Maybe I'll even get this thing looking decent. Time will tell. Your half-deaf, 3/4 blind, brain-damaged, and retired, Publicserf posted by Dale at 9:59 AM
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Well alrighty! I thought this blog had been deleted due to lack of use. But I haven't been thrown on the trash heap after all. Oh boy. Postings to resume shortly. http://publicserf.blogspot.com Whine at me: publicserf@yahoo.com - posted by Dale at 9:23 AM
I know it's been an awfully long time since I posted anything. I have a lot to catch up on. The "New Blogger" is giving me fits though. I created a Google account, migrated the blog, and still couldn't log in to it. I finally got to the dashboard by googling "blogspot." I suppose that's ironic, but at the moment I'm just PO'd.
I'm not trying to do anything fancy, schmancy here. I'm too tired, and I'm not yiddish. So I'm just going to post this comment, and if it works, well, tomorrow's another day. Yay! - posted by Dale at 8:43 PM
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
The Serf's Christmas 2006 Letter The Year, Such As It Were
It’s been a year of change. The kids continue to grow, I age.
We got a dog, specifically, a mini-Schnauzer. Schnauzers are a breed created in Germany to kill rats. And still the Nazis took power. You know, you try… Anyway, Rachel researched dogs to decide which would be best, saved up her allowance, and when she had enough, declared she wanted a Schnauzer. So that’s what we have. Gimlet, the pup, does her job admirably; there isn’t a rat in the place.
However, in her exuberance to keep the house free of rodents she occasionally tries to police the Guinea Pigs. The Pigs object. With their squeaks, they protest they are not, never have been, and never will be rats, they don’t even know any rats. The pup is suspicious and inspects them regularly. There will be no Pig coup on Gimlet’s watch.
Joshua is going through his Star Wars phase. He has a couple different toy light sabers. He and a friend regularly indulge in third-grade Jedi light-saber training. The fun seems to be wearing off though. More and more they run around shooting each other with lazer-tag guns. I don’t mind, it’s a boy thing.
He also continues the family tradition of reading a lot. Not that he has a choice. Patricia orders, “You vill read, undt you vill like it.” The kids read, and Gimlet whines.
Rachel is now an Uber-High Schooler. She takes guitar lessons, art classes, and is the devoted Chief-of-Staff for Gimlet. She exerted her developing need for teen-freedom by dumping high school band. You can’t create that kind of memory with a credit card. Thank God.
Patricia has changed jobs and now works for the school system as a nurse for special ed. kids. She also teaches Sunday School, and has assumed other responsibilities too numerous to list. Apparently, she thrives under pressure.
Me? Nothing to report. I’m the circus ringmaster. I do nothing but announce the acts, marvel at how wonderful they are, and listen to the applause. - posted by Dale at 7:03 PM
Thursday, June 16, 2005
6/16 The Super Nurse went back to her Mother’s hospital for another care conference. Her favorite nurse told her that her Mom’s doctor doesn’t like to be told what to do- he’ll often do the opposite. But he tends to move slowly, so if you want things to happen you need to push anyway and see if he’ll at least meet you half-way.
The Super Nurse had told him yesterday that she didn’t see the need to check the heparin level every six hours. Per her, once a therapeutic level is reached checking it once a day should be fine. That would reduce the amount of testing needing to be done. The reason her levels seemed to fluctuate before was because they weren’t drawing off the PICC line correctly. He agreed that the sloppy procedure was the problem before, but maintained that testing it every six hours is proper procedure. She checked today, and he changed the order to testing once per day. She trains doctors too. You gotta love her.
The doc told her that he’d talked to hospital administrators about her, now their, concerns. So he did join the crusade. He's an easy-going guy, but the nurses on the unit told her that he'd been the maddest they've ever seen him. Consequently, while she was there a hospital mover and shaker wanted to talk to her. She’s probably caused a fair amount of fear that what she’s seen could result in a law suit. But she just wants her Mom to have good care. If fear motivates them to improve the quality of care it would be okay with her.
The doctor did tell her that a couple of the nurses that had performed poorly were no longer working on the floor, and for all he knew they no longer work in the hospital. She really wasn’t trying to get anybody fired; she’d just like everybody to do their jobs correctly. But she doesn’t feel guilty about it. If they were too lazy to do their jobs correctly when a life was at stake as far as she’s concerned they should be working in a nursing home.
Her Mom continues to improve. She’s talking in a normal tone of voice and is becoming more lucid. But since her chest still hasn’t been wired together she has pain when she coughs. Since her heart is so enlarged they may never get it wired together. It may have to heal on its own, if at all. At least she has Super Nurse for a daughter and advocate; she’ll get the best care possible. And hopefully, so will everybody else. posted by Dale at 12:37 AM
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
6/15 Train Boy’s birthday!
The Super Wife asked him what kind of cake he’d like. He said chocolate with white frosting. Chocolate cake? No problem. She made frosting from scratch with Mexican vanilla, but it wasn’t going to be enough. She added whipped cream. It has to be kept refrigerated now, but it IS yummy.
I have this nasty habit of picking things up I see if I think someone will like them. So I had a bit of a stock built up for Train Boy. He got about a half-dozen LEGO kits, including the Star Wars X-Wing fighter. He got a LEGO electric train that he’s always wanted- picked that up on E-Bay, and some computer games. He seemed happy with his loot. He’s a wonderful boy, and I’m happy to over-indulge him. posted by Dale at 1:59 AM
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Super Nurse had an interesting day. She started with the doctor. She recounted the blood sugar mistake. He was not happy either. The good doctor doesn’t seem to think that his patients need killin’.
She mentioned that a nurse had administered morphine and versed at the same time, apparently thinking that doing so was a good job. Super Nurse opined, ‘She’d already had Tylenol III not even an hour before. Normally you only give versed and morphine right before a painful procedure anyway. Are they practicing chemical restraint here?” She pushed a hot button. Chemical restraint is a big no-no. The help doesn’t get to sedate patients to make them easier to manage. The doctor turned to the nurse in the room with him and said, “You call that nurse and get an explanation of this RIGHT NOW!” The Super Nurse knows what buttons to push.
She elaborated on the poor procedure she’d seen with the PICC lines. Her Mother has a blood infection she just can’t seem to kick. ‘Does it not seem likely the PICC line is contaminated?’ ‘A hospital induced infection?’ (She used the technical term) Another hot button pushed. The doctor agreed and said he’d have it replaced.
She told him she’d written up a list of care problems she’d observed. He said he’d like a copy of the list. He was not aware of any of the problems. Then he said, this is who you need to talk to, if you don’t get any satisfaction then go talk to… right up the line. He was helpful. He almost sounded like he was ready to mount up for the Crusade himself.
Then she went to talk to the floor supervisor. ‘Uh-huh you have concerns.’ “I have a list.” ‘Can I have a copy of the list?’ She went back to check on her Mom. Management started showing up in the room. ‘You have concerns?’ “I have a list.” ‘Can I have a copy of the list?’ It went on that way with a couple other people. She was pleasant, she was helpful, she was their worst nightmare- she knew what she was talking about, and had seen bad things up close and personal. Hell, she was educating their nurses.
It would be interesting to check in on the hospital in a few months and see if any changes have occurred as a result of her free, intense performance review. You have to wonder how many copies of her list are floating around there now.
I’ve told her that she’d be an outstanding nurse manager. She really knows her stuff and has a heart for patient care. She could get a staff to competence and then some. She says she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bear to give someone a bad evaluation. Even though she just did it for free.
God bless her. She probably saved a lot of lives today. - posted by Dale at 1:43 AM
6/14 Super Nurse wanted to stay home today but felt like she couldn't after yesterday's incident. A nurse at the hospital nearly killed Clare by shear incompetence. If She hadn't been there they'd be planning Clare's funeral. That's no dramatic exaggeration, the mistake was that big. She was UPSET.
Anyway, Super Nurse had wanted to stay home today for a rest, but after yesterday she doesn't think she has that option. She went back today to watch out for her Mom, and to go head-to-head with the hospital administration over the quality of care that almost cost Clare her life. She is still upset, it was a bonehead error and the nurse insisted it was their hospital's standard procedure. We shall see.
If anyone can shake up a whole hospital to raise it's standard of care it would have to be the Super Nurse. She's knowledgeable, and she can't be bluffed. I'm expecting an interesting report tonight.
I'd say that her family should be grateful for keeping Clare alive yesterday, but she didn't tell them. She didn't want to upset the rest of her family. But she did conduct a free seminar with the nurse on safe and proper procedure. The nurses at the hospital actually like her, several have told her they could use her and she could certainly get a job there if she wanted one. That's not much comfort though. posted by Dale at 12:31 AM
