Friday, December 18, 2009

I'm not sticking my finger in there!

I am currently enjoying a three day in a row break from work. I think it's the longest I've been off in one stretch since coming home. I love, love, love it. I have been there a lot lately, even curling up on the couch in a meditation room for a night. Then there were a few days with really horrible roads, where it took me two hours to get home.

I have had some interesting, and really sweet patients last week. Patients who hug me and tell their roommates that I'm the best nurse in the hospital. Flattery will get you everywhere with me! I heard another nurse mention that she had to digitally stimulate a colostomy q4 hours. I thought, thank god I don't have that patient, because I am just not going to stick my finger in there! Plus, he kept asking the night nurse to "finger him". And who do you think I ended up with the next morning? Same guy. And the first order of business that day was to explain to him that it was almost time for him to go home, and if he needed to stimulate his colostomy (which was 5 years old by the way, not a new thing!) he could do that himself, with a glove. Then I had to empty his colostomy bag which was full of completely formed stool, and doing it reminded me of squeezing frosting out of a tube. So gross. I hate ostomies, especially colostomies, with a passion.

1 comment:

Caddie said...

Have you ever considered how the one who has the colostomy feels being in this horrible condition? My precious brother had a colostomy last November and he and the family are devastated. Jan. 7, further surgery his colon and rectum and a huge cancerous tumor were removed - total success, the doctor said. BUT my brother lies dying now after being sent home too soon, unable to eat or drink. Without fluids, the dying process won't take long, thank God. He has suffered horribly for years, losing copious amounts of blood rectally, not knowing what was wrong and unable to see a doctor for lack of money or insurance. May God give you better insight for the suffering of others. I think probably you are in the wrong profession, young lady and it grieves me to know that there are health care workers such as you. Oh, you are not just alone. I encountered several with my arterial surgery a couple of years ago. May God have mercy on you and your attitudes.