Disclaimer – If you are grossed out by medical stuff, skip this post. I keep it pretty clean, but it still might make some people feel queasy.
It’s a word you hear a lot in nursing school. It’s the key to passing the nursing boards. It takes years of experience to really make those judgements with aplomb, and even then, you can walk in for a shift and things start getting thrown at you that make those decisions for you.
At work, we shake our heads when we come across a patient or family who ignored stroke symptoms, or difficulty walking, or a deteriorating mental state, for weeks before seeking medical care. By then symptoms that might have been relieved with prompt treatment are now a dire situation, and options are more limited.
In reality, we are making medical judgements about our families and ourselves all the time, although for most of us the consequences aren’t as grim. Does that cough merit a trip to the pediatrician? Is that knock on the head something serious? Do I really need to schedule a physical, or could I go another year? I feel fine!
(Photo Credit: Kimona Paramour Photography)
I only work once every two weeks. Since most people at my job work every other weekend, I see the same group almost every Friday night. When I work an extra shift, like I did this past weekend, I see people I sometimes haven’t seen in 6 months or more.
The nurse I was getting report from hadn’t seen me in at least that long. I’d been pregnant with number seven the last time we’d crossed paths.
She gave me a once over and commented that I’d lost a lot of weight. It didn’t sound like a compliment. Then, she asked if I’d had a boy or a girl.
