I have been back in the ICU for the last couple of days. Nothing really exciting. In fact, a lot of our patients are speaking (which means they’re not intubated nor sedated, which means they shouldn’t be in the ICU!)
I have been spending the last two days troubleshooting my patient’s fever of unknown origin… cultures all negative, WBC normal, meds changed around, CT of all his bits and pieces to eliminate lymphoma/abcesses… a strange clinical picture really. He does have an extensive psychiatric history but we’ve also eliminated Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome…. We’re also investigating his apparent obtundedness, but in my opinion it is ‘selective hearing’ 🙂 He definitely chooses to whom and when he’ll respond to commands! As long as I don’t get in his bad books because his history says he has homicidal ideations. Yikes!
Tip of the day for my nursing folks: Put a disposable blue pad over the bedpan before you slide it under the patient. Best tip I have ever learned. Truly! No rinsing of the bedpan post-usage. Just fold it up and dispose! Try it, you’ll like it!
I See You, RN 