Parenting

Ok. So while I was thinking about getting a mastiff, I thought long and hard about rescuing one. I found one I really liked, I went and filled out the several page long application for him and...never heard anything else. apparently I wasn't going to give him a good enough home. You know what would have been easier to get. A baby. Seriously it is easier to have a child than it is to rescue/adopt a pet. Hence my argument. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have children.

Today one of my patient's was a 12 year old who needed to have her hip pinned bc essentially she was getting too fat for her bones. When I went back to the waiting area to interview the family and bring my patient back a light went off in my head. This is a person who shouldn't be responsible for molding another human being.

After introducing myself and my role in her daughter's care, the mother proceded to ask me if I was like another nurse or something. Ok seriously. Then I noticed that my patient still had earrings on. A big no no for having surgery is having anything metal on your body. If your surgeon is going to use something called an electro surgical unit (ESU) then you are putting yourself at risk of getting an electrical burn if you have something metal on. I told this to the patient and mother and said we'd need to take the earrings out (which the patient had just had pierced) The mother's response was "Can't we just take the risk" OH MY WORD. Are you serious. It's really hard to keep yourself composed and your face from giving your thoughts away. My response was I'd prefer not to take the risk. The patient was almost in tears telling her mother that she didn't want to get burned. Her mother then grabbed her by the arm (in front of me) and jerked her towards her so she could take them out. I even offered to put them back in before she woke up, but it was no good.

We're finally about to leave and the mother is trying to comfort the daughter she just basically abused in front of me. "Don't worry honey, you'll be fine, rember we'll go to McDonalds when you're done" Wow what a nice treat. Your daughter is already 97 kilos and you want to feed her McDonalds. I think someone should have denied your application for parenthood.
....a day in the life of an OR nurse.....