May 9, 2007

  • things to ponder

    I don't think it's a good thing to put two patients with the same name and diagnosis (especially if it's dementia) in the same room. Personally, I feel it increases the chances of making a mistake. If you're a visiting nurse and don't know the patient that well (or don't realize there's two "john does" in the room) you're pretty screwed cuz if they can't remember things, how do you know they are going to remember themselves or give you the right information? Sure you can look at their wrist tag, but sometimes they take it off or you just take it for granted that john is the only "john" in the room.

    So, there's this kid here...and I say kid cuz she's 13 and it's sad. Sad because at such an early age, she's so depressed that she wants to die. What would I do if my mother was in jail due to a mental illness and you're left with a grandmother who can barely take care of herself and now has to take care of you? The dad is out of the picture in this case (men, love your children, don't be a dead beat). How would I handle this? Rightly so, she feels depressed and angry.  There's really no one she can turn to. She's probably felt lonely and unloved for a very long time. Yeah, she has relatives that are concerned about her, but having parents to show guidance does wonders. We all need to be loved and know that our parents care about us. But when they are out of the picture, you just know there's something missing there. So young and a future ahead, and all she can see is loneliness and despair. All she can think of is depression.

    Then there's this late teen, almost 18 y.o. diagnosed with schizophrenia and he's telling coworkers he wants to get a gun and shoot himself....and you know what I'm thinking? This kid is going to be screwed...he's definitely going to lose his job when he gets out. After the recent incident a VT, I'm sure we're all very sensitive about our safety...if I was the owner, I'd be very concerned my staff and my safety. What do you do?

    It's hard having a chronic disease b/c you know it's always going to be there. You're always going to have to take your medication forever. Every day of your life. You better make sure you have a job so you can have insurance or at least pay for the meds. But when you're sick, how do you even get a steady job? How do you earn money to pay for your medication? Personally, it should be fair across the board....but what do I know?

    It helps to have money to get the best treatment possible. What's funny are those "rich" people who insist they be seen now. They pull the trump card (like they do for their kids attending universities where they donate x amount of $$$). I thought donation meant you weren't looking for something in return and actually doing this b/c you want to (yeah, a nice tax incentive helps too). In a hospital, it's outrageous how some "donators" use that card to get "special priveleges"...as if they deserve more care and attention than those who are just as sick as they are? Sure, pay for the doctor with more experience and charges more, but seriously, do you really think that we should bump patients out of their scheduled appointments or make special appointments for you? It's really ridiculous. What's funny are those "rich" people who insists they be put in the better unit (those who aren't suffering from schizophrenia, psychosis nos, etc.) but you can see their relative needs to be in that unit. What do you do or say to that? Thank goodness there are doctors/nurses and administrators that hold their ground and put a stop to things like this (even if it's only sometimes they prevail..at least it's one that they have won). I guess when you get whatever you want b/c you usually do (after all, money speaks) one forgets tact, humility, empathy, and basically really trying to put yourself in that person's position.

    I got this call today from a mother. We have standard operating procedures. She wants to set up an appointment for her child. I tell her that her child needs an initial evaluation. The child was never seen at our clinic (but has been seen @ other clinics). She refuses to set an initial evaluation. Stating she has one from another facility. All I can think of is this, it's no wonder your child has issues. If she can't grasp the concept that all facilities do things differently, evaluate differently, etc....all I'm saying, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Then I can't help but laugh (internally of course) when she threatens to take her child somewhere else if she can't see the doctor she wants to see. LOL. C'mon now, are we in kindergarten? Do you really think I care if you decide to go some place else? Lady, it's a free world! If you want your child to be seen somewhere else, go for it! If you want your child to be seen at our clinic? You gotta follow our standard operating procedures. We've never met your child. Never evaluated your child. What if the person that saw your child at the other facility diagnosed your child incorrectly. Now can you understand why we do our own evalutions? Why every place you'll encounter won't really rely on other facilities evaluations until they do their own? If you're so adamant on your child seeing a doctor, then go to that first clinic. It'll be easier. Afterall, they already have evaluated your child, right?

    I just wonder why people lack common sense.

    Seriously, our world can be so f'd up! Like that judge who's suing the dry cleaner because they lost 2 of his pants for over $1 million?? C'mon! How can I ever take that judge seriously. Abusing the system like that. After all, the dry cleaner (and many others would say) offered 3x the price of the pants. I think that's a damn fair bargain....what did they do for you to waste tax payer's $$? A judge!! I hope he gets plenty of hate mails...and get fired for being ridiculously absurd. I'd say stupid, but remember the lady that sued McDonald's because she burned herself for hot coffee?? What has our society turn into? A freakin' sue happy society. What happened to morals. To understanding and forgiveness...to faith. We preach to our kids love thy neighbor, do unto others and you've have them done onto you, etc. etc., but it's no wonder many kids today are disrespectful. Look what they have to see out there? Paris Hilton getting away countless times with drunk driving. You know what, if she wasn't so well known, she'd be in jail right now....and more than a months worth. No judge would say "oh I'm sorry you didn't know your license was suspended"....if you were unknown and did that kind of stunt, you know there would be no tolerance to that crap. She's definitely one girl that needs a reality check (no pun intended).

    On another topic, I'm doing okay. I worked out today. I've decided to do that more. I've been slacking for awhile and I can seriously feel that I've gained all the weight I lost (again). So hopefully, this time around, I'll hang in there longer and just stick to no carbs at night. Cut the sodas (even diet) to a minimal. Increase the vegetables and salads...cut the snacks (chips...oh man, that's going to be hard cuz I love munching on those, but they really don't provide much healthy benefits anyway). I'm actually coming to work all three nights this week. Which is a good thing since I bought more contacts and bought some clothes a few weeks ago. I'm actually testing K right now. I want to see how long it's going to take him to contact me. Well, I better sign out...try to get some more zzz in since it's quiet. That's another thing I'm trying to do again here...try to sleep. As for Barcopa, I decided that I will eventually talk to him, but right now I'm not going to sweat it. For some reason, when I do that, it seems like I get more feedback than if I act like I'm interested. Why is that?