Transcription
Hello, my name is Emily. As you may or may not know, and as you also may or may not know, um, I am a registered nurse. Now, I know most of you know me as a YouTuber, or a TikToker, or a sexy woman. Um, but I am a registered nurse on an intermediate neuro ICU and a post-spinal surgery unit. I wanted to talk about the nursing side of my life for a little bit because, I don't know, just so you guys get to know me more. And if you're interested in nursing, maybe you can learn a little bit from this. Or if you are a new nurse, maybe you can relate to some of the stuff I'm about to talk about.
The first thing I want to talk about about being a new nurse is, uh, how terrifying everything is, especially in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. It's not really the vibe right now. It's kind of a, uh, terrible time for nurses, uh, if I do say so myself. Uh, we're having lots of issues with understaffing. The patient-to-nurse ratios are getting worse and worse, and it's beginning to get unsafe. Uh, it's a very stressful environment. Also, for me, you know, I am a nurse in a city where there's major drug problems. And, you know, just with everything combined, it just makes for an interesting time. You know, the fact that my decisions have the potential to really, really hurt somebody and their well-being, and therefore their family's well-being, um, you know, it is quite terrifying.
The worst thing possible to happen to a new nurse, at least from my perspective, is to have your patient code. Because it's really just one of those things where you don't know how you're going to react until you're in that situation. And you just really hope and pray that your education and your training pulls off and that you don't freeze.
"The patient in 47.50 is in V-tach and he's unresponsive. His pulse ox is 79."
"What? Mr. Johnson? Okay, Mr. Johnson, wakey wakey, please!"
"God damn it, he's not responding. His oxygen is at 72 now."
"Oh god, okay. Uh, um, I'll get his nurse."
"You are his nurse. Are you gonna do something?"
"Mr. Johnson, please stop playing."
"Okay, get up."
"What? All right, okay, Mr. Johnson, let's stop playing. Stop playing around. Okay, get up now, please."
"What are you doing?"
"I have no idea."
Another thing that I have trouble with as a new nurse is rounding. Now, rounds is something that usually takes place during the morning. And it's just a time when everyone on the treatment team for, you know, specific patients, we meet up and we kind of just debrief and go over the things that are necessary, uh, to, you know, check off or go through for the patient to be discharged. You know, it's just a way to make sure that everybody is on the same page and that we know how to go forward with this, uh, you know, patient's plan of care. Uh, and as the nurse, because you're the person who's in the most, uh, direct position, uh, with the patient in terms of like taking care of them, you're kind of expected to lead the conversation in a way.
Now, as a new nurse, this can be very intimidating. Okay, I'll be standing there near the nurse's station, you know, on the verge of pissing and throwing up, because it's kind of like public speaking in front of your co-workers. When it comes to rounds, you want to include the information that is most pertinent towards the, you know, the patient's discharge. You don't want to include, uh, you know, unnecessary or frivolous information because, uh, you're just gonna sound like you're rambling and you're gonna lose the attention of the treatment team.
"All right, 47.50, Emily. Uh, okay. Um, stop shaking. Dumb. Mr. Gerald Creer, here for a motor vehicle accident, um, with, uh, cervical fractures and a subsequent subarachnoid hemorrhage. Uh, he was driving on 495 and he got rear-ended by a gray Toyota Camry. Tan leather interior, pretty good gas mileage, six cup holders."
"What about the patient's condition? Is he still on the ventilator?"
"Yes, uh, yeah, he's still on, uh, that, uh, the ventilator, uh, and he's on a C-carding drip. His wife has been very, uh, involved with care. You know, they were having marital issues these past few months, but this tragedy has kind of brought them together. You know, they had, uh, problems when he found a tape of her sleeping with, uh, their son's, uh, tennis coach. So, yeah. Uh, she's a Gemini. So, okay. Yeah."
"Okay, uh, we don't really need all that extra information. All right, just tell us what's relevant towards the patient's plan of care."
"Right, right. Of course. The plan of care. Okay. Keep going. Uh, the patient hasn't had a bowel movement in about four days. He's gonna have an abdominal X-ray done. Okay. He's an avid Taylor Swift fan. Did you guys know that? He actually used to love her quite openly, but then his friends would make fun of him. And ever since that incident at the 2020 New Year's party, you guys know what I'm talking about, uh, you know, he kind of distanced himself from those people. He was actually listening to "Enchanted" when he got rear-ended. It was during the bridge, which is a shame, because it's actually the most part of the song. You know, he has posters hidden under his bed."
"And how does she even know that? On the other hand, you also don't want to leave out too much information and be vague, because that's not helpful either."
"All right, 47.50, Emily. Okay. Uh, Mr. Gerald Creer, he is in the hospital."
"Do you care to elaborate?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Uh, he is a patient here."
"Yeah, we know that. And why exactly is he here?"
"He is here because he is ill. And, and, uh, really sucks for him."
"Okay, let's just move on."
As a new nurse, you kind of have to carry yourself with just a little bit of fake confidence because no one wants a nurse that seems new and unsure. Now, that's not to say that every time I walk into a patient's room, I'm just pretending to know what's going on. All right, it's not like, you know, the patient's like, "Oh, I have liver damage," and I'm like, "A liver? What's a liver? I've never heard of that." But whether you've been a nurse for, you know, a few months or a few years, there's bound to be things that you haven't encountered yet. There's bound to be things that you, uh, haven't learned about yet, and you're gonna make mistakes. And hopefully, those mistakes are not high risk. But if you make a small mistake or you observe something that might be concerning, you need to go about it in a certain way so your patient doesn't freak out and feel like they're not in good hands. You know, say I go into my patient's room and I ask them to turn so I can see their posterior surgical incision, and I see that it's actively bleeding or it looks infected. You know, I'm not gonna take a look at it and go, "Oh my god, Jesus Christ." I mean, patients are already anxious because they're in the hospital. So if you act anxious as well as their nurse, it's not really gonna be a good thing. I mean, can you imagine if your nurse walked in and immediately seemed like they had no idea what they were doing?
"So, are you in any pain today?"
"Yeah, I mean, I just have a little bit of a headache, maybe like a three out of ten."
"Okay, okay. All right. Three out of ten. Three out of ten. Uh, I can get you some morphine."
"Morphine? Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Is that right? I don't know. It's like 50,000 milligrams of morphine. Is that okay?"
"50,000 milligrams of morphine? Yeah, I mean, that will like take care of your headache, right?"
"I mean, I guess so. I won't be able to feel my headache if I'm dead."
"Okay. Yeah, message received. Sounds like you're not really vibing with morphine. How about I get you something else?"
"Heroin."
"Heroin? Yeah, I mean, heroin is a drug, and this place has lots of drugs. I mean, it's a hospital, right?"
"Yeah. Yes, it's a hospital, right? I knew that. Kinda. Whatever. I'm gonna call the doctor."
"Hi, hello. I'm calling for Mrs. Johnson in room 926. I was wondering if I could get a liter of heroin."
"Yes, one liter of heroin on the rocks, please. Uh, she has like a liver disease or something."
"I'm here for a broken collarbone."
"Okay, how was I supposed to know that? All right, and also, can you be quiet? I'm on the phone, right?"
"Yes, right. Okay. Yep. Thank you."
"What did they say?"
"She said she's reporting me and getting my license revoked."
"Yeah, I think that's for the best. I agree."
Speaking of the experience of being a nurse, not too long ago, I was on a flight back from LA, and I was watching, uh, Boss Baby 2. When all of a sudden, I hear over the intercom, "Is there a doctor or a nurse on the plane?" And I was like, "That's me." So, me and my friend, who was also a nurse, we kind of looked at each other, and she was like, "Mean, we get up, right? Like, we have to get up." And I was like, "Yeah, I mean, we kind of have to get up." So we got up to help with the situation. And I think we did well. But, you know, just as new nurses, you're generally just nervous and inexperienced. So even though the situation pretty much went like this: "Hi, is there a doctor or a nurse on the plane?" "Um, hi, I'm a nurse." I felt that the situation was gonna go like this: "Hi, is there a doctor or a nurse on the plane?" "Are you a nurse?" "Um, yes." "Are you sure?" "I am. I, I am." "Okay, okay. So can you help out with the situation we have going on back here?" "Yes." "Okay. Are there any other nurses here?"
I personally am surrounded by a lot of people in the healthcare profession. You know, I have my friends from nursing school, my father is a physician, my mother is a nurse. And, you know, because I'm surrounded by so many people in the medical field, I often forget that, uh, what our job entails is often extremely gross to other people. Like, when I'm talking about some of the things that I have to do during my shift to people who are not in the medical field, I'm very nonchalant about it because I'm just so used to it. But I forget that for a lot of people, um, my job is not the most palatable.
So, yeah, I was literally knuckles deep in this guy's. Okay, I won't say who because HIPAA, right? But, yeah, I gave him a big fat, plump suppository, and boy, oh boy, did it work. Oh, that's, that's cool. Yeah. So I have this guy log-rolled on his side, right? And then all of a sudden, I see a big brown monster head straight towards me, right? And then get this, he starts to pan. So there's piss coming off one side of the bed, a sticky, you know, muddy swamp on the other side of the bed. I mean, I, I felt like I was in the worst water park of my life. Uh, I am in there struggling, right? I mean, my patient, he was a linebacker in college, all right? And I'm holding him with one arm and trying to wipe his butt with the other. And let me tell you, look at these green bean arms. Okay, they're not really going to do that much by themselves. So the tech comes in to help me, right? And then get this, the patient starts passing gas like crazy. All right, I felt like I was sitting front row at a trumpet symphony. I was about to start conducting.
"Emily?"
"Yeah, yeah. What's up?"
"I'm, I'm trying to eat."
"Oh, right. Yeah, sorry. That's my bad. I digress."
So, I hope you guys enjoyed today's video. Um, if you're thinking about going into nursing, it is a great profession. It's very fulfilling. You get to help people, and that's wonderful. However, you really, really have to be a very patient and understanding person. It is difficult on the days when you're trying to give meds to somebody, uh, for their well-being, and they start cussing you out and throwing phones at you, and, you know, etc., etc. Or when your patient rips off their external catheter, pees off the side of the bed, starts self-pleasuring himself, and then finishes off the side of the bed as well, and then you walk into the room and the floor is covered in urine and semen. Or when you're trying to take a patient's blood pressure and you get called a racial slur and a dirty communist. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for the job. But I do have some horror stories. You know, there's good days and bad days, like any other career. But if you guys have any questions about nursing, um, you know, comment down below and I'll try to answer like as many as I can. And, you know, what not. Um, damn, maybe I need a nurse. Um, I hope you guys have a good day. And until next time.
"The patient in 47.50 is in V-tach. His pulse ox is showing 97. 97. 97 is a perfect number. Oh my god, I was holding my breath that whole time. Mr. Johnson, just get up, please. Come on."
"I believe he was rear-ended by a Toyota Camry."
"Uh, yeah, he's still on the, uh, the ventilator."
"Uh, okay. How was I supposed to know that? Also, can you be quiet? I'm on the phone, right?"
"So there's piss going off one side of the bed, a muddy, sweaty, nasty..."