Working as a pediatric oncology nurse, I have big things to get excited about; Someone goes into remission. Another one completes their treatment. Someone finds a bone marrow transplant donor. These are the obviously big, exciting things. Then there are the little things that are just as exciting in the moment. For example, when a patient the other day was having abdominal pain. I knew he hadn't stooled in 2 days, so I convinced him to sit on the toilet and try. He had a HUGE success (if you know what I mean). I was excited because it was a basic thing that made the discomfort go away.
Then yesterday, I admitted a little baby for anemia, fevers and vomiting. They ordered a nasopharyngeal wash (flushing your nasal passage with saline and aspirating it back out to send it for a culture) They also ordered a urine culture by placing a urinary catheter to collect a sterile specimen since a little baby can't do a "clean catch" in a cup. These are two of my least favorite things to do, so I was neither excited nor eager to get them done. However, I wanted to get them done before night shift arrived because I would not want this passed on to me. So, I had two nurses help hold. The nasopharyngeal wash went smoothly. Then came the catheter. I set up my sterile field, the other two were holding her in position. I cleaned the area, and as I'm reaching for the catheter, she starts to urinate in a perfect, beautiful arch. So, we placed the specimen cup under the stream and we got our "clean catch" sample without needing to put the catheter in!! This seriously made my day. And even though she isn't aware, she made her own day being that she didn't have to go through the trauma of having a catheter! I love getting excited over the small stuff.
3 comments:
Aaah, I miss your work stories... :-)
Oh, that's fantastic! I'm so glad that you didn't have to put her through getting the catheter.
That is great! As a new mother of a baby girl, I know how rare that arch of urine is. Usually it is a puddle on the table!
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