Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Back Again?

I was a patient in my own ER last night, and can I just say right now that that ain't right. You should never have to be treated by those you work with. There is no need for your coworkers to know your STD history.

Just kidding.

I only hurt my back.

Nursing is notorious for back injuries. Why? Well, because. We clean your ass, move your ass, and lift your ass - which makes for some back breaking work. And apparently, it's not a good thing to lunge to the left to catch a patient who is falling. Not just any patient, but a mom who has just delivered a baby, has a weak leg from an epidural, and weighs about 250 lbs.

But seriously.............who's really going to let her fall? No nurse that I know of, yet that is what I was told to do next time. "Let the patient fall," they said.

Sure thing.

(Insert eye roll here. Add one huge sigh and a shaking of the head)

So Dr. Q saw me in the ER. He walked into the room, shook his head, and handed me a prescription for Vicodin. He loves me.

Diagnosis? Back pain with Radiculopathy. The worst part is the burning sensation in my hip and down my leg. He said it should go away with rest and steroids. He gave me the vicodin just because he knows he needs to keep me in a good mood. He knows me like that.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

you make me laugh!!! Thanks...

NocturnalRN said...

I am so sorry you got hurt. And I feel your pain about "letting patients fall". It does sound awful. I grew up with a Dad with back problems. He was always reminding me to take care of my back. I am sad to say that I actually have let 2 patients fall in my career. The first instinct is to go to them and try to save them. I restrain actually with no problem. This may sound like a bad thing, but I have been working for many years and I (knock on wood) have had no injuries. It sucks for the patient and it sucks for us if they get hurt, but a bad injury for US could put a stop to our career. So, sorry to the 400 lb man who wants me to pull him out of the bed, or the confused lady who gets out of the bed and falls because she doesn't know any better than to walk on her broken hip. I can't save this. I won't even try. I like my back. I hope you feel better soon and I hope no more of your patients fall, but if they do, I hope you won't sacrifice your body. Good luck!

Orthette said...

You should catch all your 800 pound falling patients, as it is obviously your fault they weigh so much... It can't possibly be their own damn fault they ate all those big macs, pizzas, twinkies, etc.
(Sadly, FDNY is currently getting sued for dropping a 500 pound patient. Glad I got out of EMS when I did.)

Orthette said...

Another comment on the same post... I thought about you when we had to turn an intubated patient from prone to supine on the OR table yesterday. I brought another OR table in to roll the 300lb patient onto. "No, no", says the surgeon. "We can turn her on the table without using a different one.". So we, by which I mean those of us who aren't the surgeon, rolled her in place. And the pads fall off the table. So then we got to pick the patient straight up to put the pads back underneath. Owww.

Max said...

Bah you should train your back!. Deadlifts for example is an excellent exercise and then when you back is strong you wont hurt it anymore doing daily and nursing activities.

Julie said...

Absolutely right Max! But that would involve going to the gym. Must get my lazy ass up off the couch to do that.

HeeHee.

Just Kidding.

Thanks for the advice!