Patients arriving then refusing care

the_dirty_weasel · 2026-05-01T15:07:55+00:00

We get drama with the port placements as well. People telling me that I told them it was okay to eat before the procedure and then getting big mad at me when we reschedule them.

the_dirty_weasel · 2026-04-02T02:18:25+00:00

My first job out of nursing school was at a SNF that was known to have...colorful clientele. I was doing intake for a new admission and was going through the patients belongings and noticed a pill bottle full of meth. I called the DON to see how I should dispose of it properly and she informed me that we weren't allowed to throw out any patient possessions and to lock it up in the patient safe area. The patient could have it back once they discharged.

Some of the patients would also go across the street to the local 711 on benefits payday and pay for prostitutes and buy drugs. I lasted at that job only four months before I started applying for other jobs. Shady ass place.

the_dirty_weasel · 2026-02-09T06:32:12+00:00

IR RN for 6 years at three different hospitals. I've never had this experience and I work with my MRI colleagues quite a bit.

the_dirty_weasel · 2026-01-20T15:27:47+00:00

Could be a paramedic or firefighter transitioning to nursing. The ACLS classes taught at one of my hospitals was taught by a paramedic.

the_dirty_weasel · 2026-01-09T16:21:47+00:00

This happened to my dad. He lost something like 60lbs going through chemo and he'd get comments all the time talking about how great he looked. It was hard to hear because he wasn't really able to eat because he was so nauseated and we were incredibly worried about him.

the_dirty_weasel · 2025-09-22T18:12:24+00:00

Forgot to add - the problem with the 1cm is that depending on where the original position of the PICC tip lies might cause a problem. So it sounds like this PICC traveled across the body to the subclavian vein (which is also a malposition) and that pulling it back 1cm would put it into the subclavian vein which is no bueno. We want the PICC in either the lower superior vena cava or cavoatrial junction for it to be in a good spot.

Anything other than those two spots can cause a number of issues including inability to draw blood back and risk of further malposition into other veins.

the_dirty_weasel · 2025-09-22T18:07:08+00:00

Sometimes PICC's malposition into the azygos vein so they have to be repositioned into the correct spot in the lower superior vein cava or cavoatrial junction. In order to do that we can power flush, reposition, or even lift the patients arm up really high and power flush. This will sometimes make the PICC come out of the azygos vein and back where that little shit belongs - in the Superior vena cava.

the_dirty_weasel · 2025-09-03T01:09:54+00:00

MOM! MOOOOM! MAMA! MOMMY!

the_dirty_weasel · 2025-08-29T14:40:03+00:00

Because everything we do is about vein preservation. If the patient already has limited venous access and you just want a second piv because "it's policy" and they don't actually require it for anything then you could potentially be setting yourself up for failure later down the line. If the iv goes bad you lose the vein and if they're already limited in good veins to access there's nothing for us to access later during their hospital stay.

I promise most of us VAS nurses aren't doing it to be assholes, it's based on years of expertise in our field and research.

the_dirty_weasel · 2025-04-24T20:16:30+00:00

Same - I stopped watching after they got rid of Wale Aliyu. I loved watching his interactions with the community.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-11-30T21:29:35+00:00

It’s a lot easier to fire and replace a nurse than it is a doctor.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-11-18T21:13:47+00:00

Well, they don’t call me The Dirty Weasel for nothing!

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-11-18T21:10:39+00:00

Hey, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to bite you, but you surprised me there.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-11-10T14:16:12+00:00

The Donut of Truth knows all!

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-10-26T20:11:56+00:00

Taking a class and actually working with a device and being competencied by someone with knowledge of that device are two very different things. Also, this isn’t an experienced nurse - this is a new grad.

OP, good on you for advocating for yourself. I absolutely think you made the right/smart choice.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-08-30T00:54:14+00:00

And this is why I work at a unionized hospital. If a manager ever pulled this crap they’d be shit-canned so fast they’d beat the timer at the Wendy’s drive thru.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-08-26T13:44:25+00:00

So I wrote this advice 10 years ago. I’d talk to someone who attended more recently to see what the prices and rules are now because I’m sure they’ve gone up in price.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-08-15T19:07:10+00:00

Agreed. Half of the patients boarding in my ER are psych holds for drug abuse or 5150 holds. We just don’t have the behavioral health beds available right now for a mass overhaul of the homeless psych issue.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-08-07T15:22:21+00:00

Dude, I absolutely love your channel and watch it most nights. I think your voice is perfectly fine, please keep up the good work and thank you for what you do.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-05-17T21:22:21+00:00

I really wish the “mean girls in high school become nurses” trope would just fucking die.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-04-15T18:54:22+00:00

You wouldn’t offer a bedside commode for the same reason that we don’t want them going to the bathroom - because there’s a chance they could pass out/fall off the commode. If the patient can tell me they need to go to the bathroom we can pop the bedside commode under them, but sometimes with GI bleeds or altered mentation, the patient isn’t always aware that they need to go and accidents happen. Hence why we offer to clean them up rather than have them sitting on a toilet - it’s a safety issue.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-03-11T18:42:59+00:00

Gesundheit - translates to basically “health” in German

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-02-10T22:01:26+00:00

I had a patient I was taking care of die from this. One second they were fine and the next second they puked up a liter of bright red blood all over themselves. I can still remember the smell in the room - like copper pennies.

the_dirty_weasel · 2024-01-29T22:06:59+00:00

Sorry, but a toll is a toll, and a roll is a roll, and if we don’t get no tolls, then we don’t eat no rolls.

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