The Alphabet (Part 2)

Hooray!

I am so back on track!

I finally made a follow-up blog post for two C-O-N-S-E-C-U-T-I-V-E Mondays!

Anyway, hello RANTers!

I don’t know what is up today (Beside the fact that I am RANTing again.) but I am feeling so hyped.

Okay, I’ll stop beating around the bush and let’s get started on that alphabet.

If you guys want to know what the letters A-H mean, here is the link to that one (Or just go to my previous RANT.).

I.V.s

Better check up on that little dripping fluid right on the bedside of your patient, RANTer. Here are some questions to help you out on this one…

• How many bottles of fluid is connected to the patient?
• How many ml of fluid is left on the bottle/s?
• When was the IV line started? When was the last time it was changed?
• Is the drop rate correct?
• Is the fluid flowing freely from the bottle to the vein? If not, better check for any blockages or any kinks in the line.

Jackson-Pratt

Photo not owned by blogger.

Okay, just to orient some of you RANTers on what this device is, Jackson-Pratt is a kind of drainage used post-operatively to drain the excessive body fluid from that surgical site.

BUT (And the TOPS love that.) not ALL ICU patients have this kind of device with them. It simply means that as health professionals caring for a patient in the ICU, we need to check ALL DRAINAGES that come from the patient. And that includes the Foley catheter, Nasogastric Tube, Colostomy Bag, etc.

Keep Family Informed

Informed of what, you may ask.

Keep the family informed of the status of the patient. But that doesn’t mean you should be showing them the chart of the patient. We all know that it’s a big NO-NO.

Keep the family of the patient you’re caring for very well informed of how their family member is doing now; of how is that family member of theirs is responding to the treatment and care you’re giving him/her. As simple as that.

Labs

I know that it’s the L-O-V-E month but that that is not the kind of “labs” you’re thinking of.

It simply mean “laboratory tests”, dear. Okay, to help you with that, here are some questions that might help you on checking your patient’s laboratory results…

• What are the latest laboratory results of your patients?
• Based on the laboratory results of your patient, are there any significant results that need to be treated?
• Are there any due laboratory tests for your patient?

And since we are taking care of patients inside the ICU, I think a pregnancy test is not necessary.

Medications

This is just simply checking if you’ve given the medications needed by the patient. But adding up to that, we also need to check the patient’s reaction to the medications you’ve just given.

New Orders

I know that it’s eating time but this doesn’t mean anything like that (But yes, we’ll be feeding the patient through his/her NGT as well.).

This is simply checking if the medical doctor attending to your patient has given any new orders. And dating (It’s a possibility, anyway.) that doctor is totally out of the question.

Okay

And this is the last letter of this alphabet.

It simply means that you’re already done with what needs to be done. But there could be a whole lot of meaning to this letter and that includes…

• Okay, you’re done.
• Okay, move on.
• Okay, move on to the next step.
• Okay, let’s reassess.
• Okay, chart it down.
• Okay, it’s breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack time! (I know you guys are H-U-N-G-R-Y now.)
• Oh, alright. (Is that an attitude problem I’m hearing?)
• Oh yeah! Shift’s done!
• Okay, nap time!
• Oooh! Who’s that H-O-T new doctor? I think I’m gonna be sick for a few months (You flirt!).

The last five is just a joke, dearies. Don’t take it seriously.

And that is it for this RANT, dearies! I hope you enjoyed and learned something new as much as I did from Dr. Olson!

Until the next RANT!

Oh, here is Prince Hans of the Southern Isles saying, “Hi!”.

Art owned by David Kawena