Have you ever

Yesterday was great @ `0615, my two year old starts barfing, @ 0645 my open cell phone is completely drowning in waves of the good stuff - It must be her thoughts about having to eat something I was cooking - So much for skills day, as for the phone, I hope nobody can smell it hanging around in my backpack.
Later that morning I'm getting the little ones into the car for a trip to the doc and one of the neighbors comes up to me and starts talking about her son and the fact that she knows I am a nurse. Now for the record, this is the first time in almost eight years that she has ever said hi, or for that matter anything - I'm suspicious. Her son has CF and is waiting for a lung transplant at a well known hospital across the bay. Her concern is that the last time in the hospital she found an IV running into her son with the wrong name on it, and another time her son was almost impaled on a needle left in the bed by the nurse - Wow. She asked what was she supposed to do. For the record, I always include the patient and family members in the care I provide and actively encourage them to be involved in questioning what is the big plan, the day to day plan, having a list of pre-hospital meds for the doc's to see, and asking the question what is this or that med. I enjoy the back and forth between myself and the family members as education is one of my primary roles as a nurse, and one way to increase the safety of the med pass is to verbally review it with the pt and the family member prior to passing the med. I think she got the point as she walked off down the street with her shaggy dog. Have a great day, and remember that gifts come in unmarked boxes.

beeman