O.k., we've all been there:

• Too many shifts in a row


• Finally an assignment that doesn't kill you


• A mind that is a little "off"


• A medical supply that inspires creative thought

What happens?  Crazy use for expensive supplies!

Got any stories?   Here's mine from this week:

Did you know that alcohol foam resembles silly string?  It's a powerful weapon!  One of my fellow nurses was having a particularly bad day (personal problems got her down).  She has a terrific sense of humor.  When she snapped at me too many times I attacked!

The alcohol fight got out of hand quickly & we were both laughing so hard we had tears.  Even our patients & family members were laughing at us - in the ICU. 

Have a great week!

Okay - I did not actually do this, but a friend of mine worked on a urology floor at our local hospital. At Christmas time they decorated their tree with specmin cups filled with yellow liquid.

Working nights sometimes it gets a little crazy and at times (seldom) it's a little slow. We had one nurse that used to take the 10cc prefilled syringes and squirt people with them. If you put a micropin on, it would shoot pretty far, and sometimes you wouldn't know where it came from until you heard someone laughing.

I thought it was kinda gross, but we had no large stryofoam cups in an ER where I worked, so we used those large graduated plastic cups to give gastrograffen to our pts. They were clean, and you could measure out your water and med out perfectly. I never told pts that we` actually use them to empty foleys!!!

As a nurse in the 60's before strict handling of syringe materials my roommates and I would save all the discarded multicolored needle caps and string them 6 feet long and 4 feet across and hang them in our apartment doorways as a screen. Like the beaded ones that were so popular. We're lucky to be alive to tell of it. It was an amazing ornamental site.

You know the emesis basin, well anytime we have something to eat we grab a emesis basin and eat out of it. Very handy as a bowl.  I have used tongue depressors as a spoon or even a fork to eat my food from the emesis basin. Another great handy item is to get the rubber portion from the bottom of gloves and use it to put your hair in a ponytail. LOL One last funny thing- During Christmas after a Christmas potluck there were some snacks (cookies, cupcakes) that I wanted to take home to my kids. Well I grabbed a biohazard bag and took them home!! Well later the next day my husband told me he found some biohazardous cookies and cupcakes and discarded them. He asked was I trying to kill him and the kids. I laughed so hard that I was in tears. Just a little nurse humor   

Thanks for all the laughs guys!!!

I've been really busy over the past few weeks, so I haven't had a chance to come around & chat.

I wanted my re-intro to be fun & you guys made it a blast!

Hey...I'm always looking for a bowl in the unit...never thought of using an emesis basin...great idea!!

Thanks again,

Kim

those plastic specimen cups work really well for bowls and cups, too. 

A 20cc or 60cc syringe with a large gauge needle works wonders for injecting marinades in meats.  And those big irrigation syringes make perfect turkey basters.

those sponge cleaners that come in Lumbar Puncture Trays are perfect for preschoolers to paint with.  They work well as edgers when you're painting at home, too.  They also do a pretty decent job if your fingers just aren't quite long enough to reach in to scrub whatever it is out of the bottom of that glass/jar.  And the collection tubes are perfect for storing beads, nails, screws, small fishooks, wooden matches for camping, etc etc.  In a pinch, they also work well as spice containers for camping.

A roll of kling makes a decent clothesline. Ace wrap actually does work as tie-downs.  Scalpels make good box cutters.  Sutures works well for sewing the tears in outdoor seat cushions.

Urine strainers work for making cheese.  So does gauze.

emtpixie- you must give some great parties!

charlita says ...

emtpixie- you must give some great parties!

LOL Char....I'd like to think so, but we'd better ask people who have been to them!

One of the hospitals I used to work at had visiting clowns. He used bedpans for candy dishes and patients always got a kick out of that :)