ACA-AWKWARD

Bathing the patient is so aca-awkwaaaaaard (I'm so addicted to Pitch Perfect, pardon!). This doesn't literally mean that you have to bring the patient to the bathroom and give him/her a bath.

Why do you need to give a bath to a patient?
The cleanliness of the patient is vital to keep him/her neat, and to promote fast recovery. You don't want to take care of a patient who has a bad odor, do you? Even if he/she is bedridden, the patient should take a bath. It can be a bed bath or a sponge bath that's why is doesn't literally mean that you need to give the patient a bath in the bathroom. When you use hot water to bathe the patient, it promotes good circulation in the body of the patient. Lastly, everyone feels fresh and comfortable after a bath, so do a patient.

What are the materials needed for a bed bath or sponge bath?
The following are the needed materials for a bed bath or a sponge bath:

• 2 big towels
• rubber sheet
• 2 small towels
• a basin with warm water
• light blanket
• soap

What's the importance of using a urinal or bedpan?
A urinal or bedpan is used to excrete waste materials of a bedridden patient. If the patient cannot move out of the bed because he/she is paralyzed, for example, then the home nurse should provide a urinal or bedpan every time the patient needs to pee.

What do you mean by backrub?
A backrub is a massage in the back. It is done to relief one's back or muscle pain. It also provides comfort to the patient.
 
How do you differentiate cold compress from hot compress?
From the word itself, the difference of cold compress from hot compress is that a cold compress is cold and a hot compress is hot. Well, DUH. A hot compress relieves chronic pain or injury issues with no inflammation or swelling while cold compress reduces inflammation or swelling of an acute injury. You should not apply a hot compress to an acute injury.

Here's a link to read more!

Differences Between Cold & Hot Compress | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/about_5369873_differences-between-cold-hot-compress.html#ixzz2N82LNKIv

 

'Til next time, peeps! 

The Bed I Shall Arrange

Why do we need to know how to make an unoccupied and occupied bed?
Besides making an unoccupied and occupied bed for the patient's comfort, you can actually use it when you want to properly arrange your sleeping bed at home so it will look neat. *Sarcasm Alert* "Why should I arrange my bed properly when I'm just going to sleep on it everyday then it will be messed up again!?" Hahaha kidding! I arrange my bed every morning so I really dislike it when it's not properly arranged. I can actually imagine a pig rolling over and over again on a really messy bed. Wow, that's really comfortable in the pig's case but noooooo I hate seeing my bed like that. I'm a pig who eats a lot but doesn't want a messy place to sleep in. ^(*(oo)*)^




How does making the bed help in the fast recovery of our patient?
Do you really think that if the patient has a messy bed, he/she will be able to sleep properly or feel comfortable? No, right? Common sense will tell you that if the bed is properly arranged then the patient will feel comfortable, thus, making his/her recovery faster. A disordered bed will make things worse. First of all, it will become dirty so more bacteria will spread which might affect the home nurse also. In connection to what I said, if more bacteria will multiply then the patient's sickness will become more dangerous.

As a good home nurse, how will you be able to render your services to your patient through bed making?
Being a good home nurse and be of help to someone is a good way to show service. You may not be the perfect home nurse with beautiful skin and sexy body (for the boys, this are the most ideal ones. haha XD) but through your good skills and tender loving care to the patient, you'll be able to support him/her. Actually just by keeping the patient a company beside him/her, you're already somewhat giving service to him/her.

That's all. Bye!

This feels like I'm taking BS Nursing

I know that taking Bachelor of Science in Nursing is too mainstream in this generation because honestly there are too many nurses. Some registered nurses (actually most) that I know don't work in hospitals for example. Anyway, in my TLE class, it really feels like I'm taking BSN because it's all about home nursing! Well, I got to know some techniques in home nursing a sick or ill person.
 
1.  If you are a good home nurse, what are the various home nursing techniques that you need to apply that will make the patient feel comfortable and speed up the recovery?

 If I am a good home nurse, I will regularly change the bed linens so that the bacteria or virus won't spread because if it will spread...now, we don't want everyone to get infected and sick right? I must check the vital signs of the patient also. Wow, I really feel like a nurse now. Just FEEL. Hahaha. I should also give the patient a bath. Gosh. I cannot imagine giving a patient a bath! I never did that yet because giving him/her a bath would mean that I should you know...his/her private parts =))))

2.  Why should the home nurse monitor the vital signs of the patient?
 The home nurse should monitor the vital signs of the the patient so that he/she can know if the patient's sickness is getting worse or not. The home nurse can know if the patient's body temperature is high or low through using a clinical thermometer in the mouth, armpit, and rectum. The patient can take the pulse rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure of the patient. What if the patient was suffering from high blood pressure and you don't notice it? That's why you need to check his/her vital signs!

3.  How do you take the body temperature, pulse rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure of the patient?
There are 3 different parts of body (mouth, armpit, rectum) where you can take your body temperature. I am going to instruct you how to take your body temperature through the rectum because it is the rarest used.
1. Apply lubricant to the bulb (such as baby oil or petroleum jelly).
2. Gently insert the thermometer into the patient's rectum.
3. Hold it firmly in position for two minutes.
4. Remove it, wipe, then read the body temperature.
5. Record the body temperature.
6. Wipe it with cotton which was immersed in antiseptic.
7. Return the thermometer to its case.       

4.  What are some practices that the home nurse must follow that will promote comfort to the patient?
THE HOME NURSE MUST BE APPROACHABLE AND CHEERFUL. Let's say the home nurse is not always smiling, won't the patient be intimidated? That means the patient is not comfortable enough with the nurse. THE HOME NURSE SHOULD BE NEAT AND CLEAN. That is a must. How will the home nurse take care of a sick patient if he/she is not clean? It's a discomfort for both of them.

5.  How will you differentiate signs from symptoms of illnesses and diseases?
From what I've understood, 'signs' are those signs that the doctor can see and observe from the patient while the 'symptoms' are those what the patient himself/herself can observe and feel, etc. That's it :)

6.  If you are the doctor, what will be your basis in giving the diagnosis for your patient?
My diagnosis will be the signs and symptoms of the patient. The patient should be really honest with this because it'll become worse if the patient and doctor didn't understand each other, then the doctor ends up giving the wrong diagnosis. Tsk tsk tsk.

Resource/s:
E-class - TLE II - Home Nursing Techniques  

Right Medicine ✓

The administering of the medicines to the patient is one of the vital needs that a nurse should  be aware of because it will make the recovery of the patient faster. The nurse should ask the doctor for the correct prescription so that she knows the right amount of medicine to be given to the patient. There are codes that doctors use in their prescription like ac, meaning the patients need to give the medicine after meals; qid, meaning 4 times a day; hs, meaning at bedtime; etc.

To be able to do this proficiently, the nurse should remember the following when he/she administers the medicine to the patient:

1. Right medicine
2. Right amount of dosage
3. Right approach
4. At the right time
5. Right route
6. Right patient

It is very obvious that if the nurse won't give the patient the the proper administration, then he will not recover immediately, thus worsening his illness. The mistakes in giving the correct medicine to the patient can occur of several reasons like the medicines have similar names or alike containers, etc. Not giving the right amount of dosage, might overdose the patient. The nurse should be attentive of the time of when she should give the medicine. Of course, you should not mistake your patient for another one because that will be a big problem.

Source:
Henglein and Steets. Doctor giving boy medicine. Retrieved at February 22, 2013, from sciencephoto.com website: http://www.sciencephoto.com/media/416311/view