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The Case of the Vanishing Brain Tumor

5 Inch Stainless Steel Hemostat Locking Clamp   Straight Tip  Home Improvement

It would seem that if you are performing surgery specifically to remove a brain tumor, and when you get inside there is no brain tumor, you’d stop, right?

You wouldn’t dig around for your own satisfaction. You already knew it wasn’t cancerous, so you don’t need to look for anything else.

He extra time in my head lead to the CSF leak which made for the most miserable 7 days of my life.

I had to have a lumbar drain inserted to relieve the pressure of the CSF. If I wanted to lift my head off the bed at all I had to call a nurse to clamp the drain or else my brain my squeeze through the holes in my skull. (And that lovely gem came straight from the mouth of one of my nurses to another nurse… that really comforted me. Let me tell ya)

Fibers 3rd Annual Nurses Week Humerus T-Shirt Design Contest

fibersnursesweek

This is a great opportunity for you creative nurses out there.

Fibers is having their 3rd Annual Nurses Week Humerus T-Shirt Design Contest.There are several others that exactly play nice with other professionals. No need to put others down to bring your own self up. So if you plan to submit a design, play nice. None of this “Nurses rule and doctors drool” is needed. So be professional and kind… and classy. There are so not so classy ones up as well. I’ll leave you to find those on your own.

Post Hospital Musings from The Nerdy Nurse

alton brown youll never get me lucky charms

So now that I have had the surgery and I am sitting at home, tumor free I have a wealth of emotion of commentary I need to filter through. I’ll be honest with the fact that I’m really quite annoyed to have had a brain tumor and had to deal with it. I think most people would be. But I’m also annoyed with other things and I am not sure if I have yet had the time to take into consideration all relevant information to make a decision about how I feel about many of the scenarios brought about by my pituitary macroadenoma and the surgery to remove it.

Why Nerds Makes the Best Nurses

talk nerdy to me

All kinds of people become nurses, but those with a technical mind and an eye for technology can really make the best kind of nurse. In addition, being a science geek certainly pays off, particularly if you enjoy chemistry, since you’ll have to take about two years of chemistry to get a bachelor’s of science in nursing. The best nurses have a bit of nerd and a lot of good communication skills. Since you have to work in a team, it’s good if you can talk to other people, including patients and doctors. So what other things do nerds have those typical nursing students don’t? Read on.

To Nurses Working on Easter: Thank You

easter nurse card

One of the primary pitfalls of nursing is the strong likelihood that you will have to work on holidays. While we all understand the need and importance of having to work holidays as a nurse, it does not take away from the fact that sometimes it’s just frustrating to be away from your family at these times.

What It’s Like To Be a Nurse and What it Takes to Become One [Infographic]

nurse infographic

When I was decided to become a nurse, one of the most appealing aspects of the career was the stability. Unless there is a Zombie Apocalypse, as a nurse you should pretty well be able to find a job somewhere. (And even in a Zombie Apocalypse, you’re gonna have one for a while… you know until they kill off most of society and you have to make a run for it) If nurses start becoming unemployed in large numbers that would certain be a scary scenario, with or without Zombie involvement.

Your Head Just Ain’t Right: Coming to Terms with My Tumor

MRI brain pituitary macroadenoma

I obtained the MRI results and read for myself what the radiologist thought my my brain mass. Apparently I have a pituitary macroadenoma and has suffered a headache related to something called pituitary apoplexy.

The neurologist referred me to both an endocrinologist and an neurosurgeon. The result was the recommendation to undergo Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Surgery to remove the tumor through my nose.

Interested In Nursing? Now What?

playing nurse

There are several ways to start out on your journey depending upon your academic and financial standing right now. If you’re not sure if you’re ready to jump right into a traditional 4-year Registered Nurse (RN) program you can get an Associates Degree in Nursing (ARN) at a Community College, which takes about 2 years, or start out as a Licensed Practical Nurse (or Licensed Vocational Nurse in California and Texas). LPN programs can run as short as 12 months and make a great place to get your feet wet and possibly work while you go back to school to get a higher degree. To be honest, with the high interest rates of student loans and tough admission standards, starting out by getting your LPN or ARN is a good way to see whether or not you truly want to be a nurse, make a little money while you’re going to school, or even get your job to help subsidize your tuition for further education.

Playing Operation: Costs of Common Surgeries [Infographic]

operation surgery cost

The following infographic does a great job of illustrating the cost of various surgeries as well as detailing how many of that operations are performed in a year.

IT’s worth noting that cost for these procedures vary by region and also from facility to facility. What would be ideal was if a surgery cost $x.xx amount no matter where you had it or who performed it. But unfortunately that is just not so. Hospitals and insurance companies are constantly renegotiating their agreed upon allowances and changing what they determine is “reasonable and customary.”

The Iowa Nurses Association Needs a Lesson in Social Media Etiquette

bad social media

The executive director of the Iowa Nurses Association made a comment on the American Nurses Association’s facebook page in response to other comments made on a wall post by Terri Polick questioning the censorship of the ANA. This representative of the Iowa chapter of the ANA essentially called Vernon Dutton (a nurse advocate and social media enthusiast) an ass and questions his credibility and motives.