Real-Life Nursing Vs On-Screen Nursing

 

Copyright: Scrubsmag

Some people learn everything they know about nursing as a profession from television shows and movies. Those are the people whose attitudes about nursing are the most annoying.

Real-life nursing and fictional nursing don’t have a thing to do with one another, obviously, but stereotypes are hard to get over. Unless you’re willing to go into back stories on shows, nurses barely exist. Barely isn’t not-at-all, though.

So what are the biggest differences between on-screen and real-life nursing?

• 1.       Normally, you rarely see nurses in medical dramas. End up in the hospital for real and nurses are pretty much all you see. When you are sick, doctors might visit for five or 10 minutes - or more if you’re in the ICU. Most of your care is delivered by nurses and ancillary personnel. All the doctors do is show up, examine, issue orders and take off.

• 2.      Not to downplay their role, to be sure, but the difference between House and real life is huge. All you need to see, as a medical professional, is the episode in which residents do all the scans and all the pathology for a patient with a copper allergy. Given the demands on residents’ time, it’s insane to think that any one of them would be stuck down in the path lab or MRI suite, pushing buttons or staring at slides. Even the best-funded hospital system in real life couldn’t manage that.

• 3.      Moreover, nurses on TV aren’t the ones prepping the patient for surgery or adjusting drips. Even the most basic jobs are done by doctors - the nurses simply don’t show up. Now, I understand the demands of drama, but that’s ridiculous. Time after time, we’re relegated to non-speaking roles, stuck in the background of dramatic scenes or running down the hallway pushing a stretcher. Since we’re invisible onscreen, we’re often invisible in real life. 

•  4.     Let’s look at dramas where nurses are portrayed – they are either sitting at a reception gossiping or eating some sort of snacks. Wake up people, nurses are never idle people! I work a 12-hour shift and I hardly find myself sitting down until I take my break which mostly will be about 9 hours into the shift. Sometimes I don’t even have the opportunity to because of the workload.

• 5.      Don’t watch clinic matters and assume all nurses are females. There are male nurses too and I am one!

Can you imagine what might change if we were portrayed realistically in TV dramas and in the movies? Kids might grow up wanting to be a nurse as much as they do a doctor or a fireman or a pathologist. Senators and legislators might pay attention to our concerns about the state of healthcare.

Overall, I can’t imagine a downside to a realistic portrayal of nursing onscreen. It will not only boost the profession's image but will address the negative ideas about nurses.

by Agatha Lellis

adapted by Michael A. for Knightmode

MSF Assisting Survivors of Hurricane Matthew

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is continuing to assess the needs of survivors in areas of Haiti affected by Hurricane Matthew. 

                                  

They have started to treat people in desperate need of emergency medical care and clean water.

Thanks to the unrestricted gifts they received from donors, they were able to mobilize immediately after the storm struck western Haiti on October 4:

In Jérémie, they found that the reference hospital has suffered damage and lacks water and electricity. 

There are many hurricane survivors with infected wounds. Some people are sick with cholera, a disease that can spread rapidly through untreated water or poorly prepared food and can kill within hours. MSF carried out 250 medical consultations this weekend.

In Port-à-Piment, people are drinking water from untreated sources. An MSF team brought medical supplies to the town and treated 39 cholera patients.

In Petite Rivière de Nippes, an MSF team carried out about 200 medical consultations in the last two days. 

There is a fairly high presence of foot wounds from walking in flooded areas and reports that many people are drinking river water because of the lack of clean water.

In addition, they continue to run existing hospitals and clinics in and around the capital. 

MSF teams in Port-au-Prince are performing emergency surgery, providing urgent care for women with complicated pregnancies, caring for burn patients and more.

MSF teams are working to get into more hurricane-affected areas currently cut off by damaged bridges and roads. 

In the coming days, they are planning to assess the needs in nearby mountainous areas.

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) since 1971, help people worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care.

More Details on the MSF website

Drugs Every ICU Nurse Need to Know

The Intensive Care Unit Nurse is always alert and quick to notice change in patients' conditions and knows when to call for help. During emergencies, certain drugs may need to be administered and the ICU Nurse needs to know which and when to administer.

Here is a list of drugs every ICU nurse should know:

1. Adenosine 

An endogenous nucleoside, slows conduction down through the AV node. Treats supraventricular tachycardia and sometimes atrial tachycardia. Extremely short half life- <10 seconds.

2. Amiodarone

Antiarrhythmic that effects the sodium, potassium, and calcium channels. Vasodilates. Used in V tach, V fib, and sinus tachycardia.

3. Atropine Antocholinergic, 

enhances the conduction in the AV node. Drug of choice in treating bradycardia.

4. Epinephrine

Potent cathcholamine. Increases heart rate, blood pressure. Used to treat Asystole, V tach, V fib, or bradycardia.

5. Lidocaine

Antiarrhythmic used alternatively to Amioderone. Treats V fib or V tach.

6. Procainamide

Antiarrhythmic, used to treat sustained V tach.

7. Sotalol

Beta Blocker. Treats A fib or A flutter.

8.Vasopressin

Synthetic antiarrhythmic. Used to treat Asystole, V tach, or V fib.

What other drugs do you think an ICU nurse use during emergencies?

Hurray! Mobile App For Medical World Nigeria

Medical world Nigeria, a medical website that keeps medical professionals informed about news and jobs now has an app downloadable on Google Play Store!

The app which gives users push notifications was last updated on August 31^th, 2016.

The app (version 1.10.2) is in its early stages and has classic navigation features with the home icon on the top left and menu icon on the top right of the screen while a text view of “recent jobs” stands between the home and menu icon. 

(I was wondering why the menu icon was on the right)

Tapping on the menu icon, a drop list with "Home, Latest Jobs, Latest News, Job Category, News Category, and Contact Us" will be seen

            

      

 

It highlights recent notifications as would be seen on the website.

As at the time of writing this review, there was only a 5⁺ downloads of the app.

I think this a wonderful development. But what I do not know is if the MWN app will serve followers and fans of its sister website Nursingworldnigeria.com. 

I remember chatting with Jude Cheidu of NWN telling him of the need of a mobile app.

Surfing through Google Play Store and bumping into the MWN app was really exciting.

I encourage all who haven’t downloaded the app to do so! It has a simple user interface and is not heavy to download (about 1.95 MB)


Spread the word! 

Download here

BREAKING NEWS: Cure for HIV-AIDS discovered

·        British scientists have found a cure to HIV-AIDS

·        A social worker in London has been reportedly cured of the disease

·        The researchers say it’s not over yet, as more experiments needs to be done.

Emerging reports suggest that British scientists could be one step closer towards finding a permanent cure for HIV-AIDS.

Huffington Post reports that a 44-year-old social worker in London appears to be completely free of the virus after undergoing an experimental therapy technique.

The man was first given a vaccine which helped his immune system detect infected cells, and then took Vorinostat, a drug which is normally used in experimental cancer treatment trials. 

The Vorinostat then activates dormant infected cells that would normally slip through the net allowing the body’s immune system to detect and kill every last infected cell.

In simple terms what this combination of treatments does is remove the camouflage that allows HIV to remain hidden and then shine a spotlight on it allowing the immune system to clearly identify infected cells and kill them.

The researchers have said that there’s an extremely long way to go before they start throwing parties. For starters this is just one man in a trial that involves 50 people. All 50 will need to show similar responses to the treatment, and then even if they do they’ll need to be continually tested for the next five years to make sure the virus has been completely eradicated. That said, this is promising news.

For starters this method is essentially a complex and aggressive form of drug therapy, far less invasive and complex as a technique like gene editing. HIV is a virus which attacks the immune system of the human body, making it harder for us to fight off even the mildest illnesses such as colds or coughs.

There is currently no cure for HIV, however modern treatments allow those infected with it to go on to live a long and healthy life. AIDS is the final stage of the HIV infection; it occurs when the body can no longer fight life-threatening infections.

Those who have been diagnosed with HIV early on will not go on to develop AIDS.

naij.com