Wednesday, July 8, 2009

If I didn't know the difference

I'm pretty sure the nurse would have used one of those heparin syringes on me today. It wouldn't have killed me or anything, but it certainly wouldn't have helped. PAY ATTENTION! These syringes come prepackaged, you hook them up to your IV after administering a med to prevent clotting. I know this because I've had a couple of PICC lines in my past. Heparin is blue, saline for the flush is white. She had already unwrapped one and put it on the coffee table and I was all, hey that's heparin! She looked confused and said, oh how did those get in there...

Umm... you put them in the bag because you weren't paying attention when you got supplies from the office. Mom and I noticed it last week, we should have taken them out then. They were at the very bottom of the bag, lesson learned. I would hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't said anything. That's not something most people know. Way to go crappy immune system.

So you might be able to tell I am over this nurse. She is a nice lady, but she is a lazy nurse. After the heparin incident, she had used 2 of the 3 saline syringes she had laid out. She went to reach for the third but grabbed the one that was already empty and screwed it back on to the catheter. This was for my last, tiniest hole and she had a hard time getting the catheter tip in, after about 20 secs. of fussing she got what she wanted only to depress the plunger and notice, oh, it's empty! Argh. PAY ATTENTION.

Really, is that to much to ask?

She goes on vacation at the end of the week for 10 days. I am going to do everything in my power to be all healed up and not need wound packing by time she gets back!

2 comments:

Amy said...

Hey Sarah! I found your blog through MFD forums and have enjoyed following your surgery saga. I'm a nurse and I hate to hear about that kind of nursing care. I totally know what you mean about her being really nice but sort of sloppy and careless. I want you to know that you can call the company and request someone else. It may feel extreme to you, but you deserve good care! If you don't feel like doing that, maybe you would feel like sending some comments to her supervisor? Sounds like you have a little bit of a tricky body (immune system and all) and you need the best team you can gather on your side. Take care!

jo said...

That is just scary! Call and request another nurse. Don't be afraid to speak up!

Holy cow.