Just For Fun

[Sfdreams]

Terri -

I'm glad it is late afternoon here and no one is around my office. (Otherwise people would be coming in and asking me what I'm laughing so hard about!!)

Seriously, Everybody, this thread is a barrel of fun!

Ditto that!!! I'm having WA-A-A-AY too much fun on a Sunday at work!!

Terri (also!)

[jcdayaz]

Ditto that!!! I'm having WA-A-A-AY too much fun on a Sunday at work!!

Terri (also!)

Sorry, no such thing as "Too much fun" on a Sunday at work. When/if all work is done, reviewing/filing/etc etc. we play on Sundays too! There has to be some reward for working a Sunday! (Workload permitting, of course).

[Mabel Adams]

Uh oh. The Just for Fun thread has gone a month without a post. Could we possibly be running out of stories? I have to move it to the top so new people might see it.

[jeanne.wall]

I was just passing through the drawing area as one of the phlebotomists was quickly relocating a patient that had become faint (a prenatal that was bothered by morning sickness and thinking too hard about their impending blood drawn). She had had a little boy, maybe three years old, with her and I was concerned that he’d become upset with Mom being “taken away†and she wasn’t in the best shape to reassure him, so I stopped and asked what his name was. He looked a little taken back and said “Don’t you know me? I was born in this hospital†- so serious and so surprised I hadn’t recognized him. I just apologized for not recognizing him – what else could say? Jeanne

[Deny Morlino]

Leave it to children to put things into perspective for us

[Malcolm Needs ☆]

I had a patient to deal with over the weekend who is known to have an anti-U and a distinct anti-S. She was at term and required three units standing by, as she was due to deliver by C/S.

We had no "wet" U- units available, and so I had to order them from the National Frozen Blood Bank. So far, so good.

This was Saturday afternoon (telephone call taken right in the middle of a supermarket shop, needless to say), but the procedure was to take place on Monday morning.

I told the person on the other end of the telephone (three times) that it would take about 4 to 6 hours to get the blood processed, and then it would be sent to the hospital for cross-matching. At this stage, panic set in on the other end of the telephone, as the person at the hospital said that this was not going to be good enough, as the blood would arrive too late. I questioned this, as it was Saturday afternoon, and the procedure was booked for Monday.

Still panic ensued, and it took quite a time to get to the bottom of the problem. It turned out that the person at the other end of the telephone thought that I had said that it would take 46 hours to get the blood processed!!!!!!!!!!

I must learn to talk English more proper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[jcdayaz]

Had one the other day (and many more I'm sure I am not remembering). Nurse calls the Blood Bank to inquire about blood for a patient. I confirmed we had 2 units crossmatched and ready to be picked up whenever they needed them. Her response was "Well I don't know if I need them yet". My response was "well they will be available until XXdate at XXtime"--which was two days away. The nurse then proceeded to tell me there was a CBC pending and untill they got the results they weren't going to decide whether or not to transfuse. She said "Can you please hold those units for me for another hour?" I said the units will be "Held" for your patient for two days. She replied. "Well, I need you to hold them for another hour until I get the results of the CBC". I then said--"Your patient will have blood available, crossmatched, tested, and ready to be picked up until xxdate at xxtime". Her response? "Well I need another hour to determine whether we need them or not. Please hold them for her."

WHAT THE He**? Apparently Administration decided to dispurse stupid fumes through the hospital that day and she overdosed!

[Deny Morlino]

WHAT THE He**? Apparently Administration decided to dispurse stupid fumes through the hospital that day and she overdosed!

OMG too funny! I needed a laugh this morning and this was a good one.

Malcolm I have been accused of mumbling on occassion... perhaps that was the issue for you as well. Of course the other person's ears may have been in "panic mode" and interpreted what you conveyed as 46 hours (i.e. anything that can go wrong will).

[BrianD]

This falls under "scariest things i have heard:"

i had a new graduate assigned to my team and she was posted to the blood bank. we had a young woman in sickle crisis admitted to the critical care unit with orders for only a type and screen. the antibody screen was positive and the antibody was identified as anti-E. our policy is to find and cross match 2 units negative for the offensive antigen regardless of there being a physician's order or not. i came into the blood bank to review the work up and found no units had been screened. when i asked, "why haven't you completed this patient's work up?" her reply chilled me: "Oh, she's going to die anyway."

i never expected to EVER write up someone for depraved indifference and disregard for human life. she runs a centrifuge in our separations department and will be leaving soon to attend "beauty college." for some reason, i don't think i'd want her to touch the hair of anyone i cared about....

[jcdayaz]

her reply chilled me: "Oh, she's going to die anyway."

i never expected to EVER write up someone for depraved indifference and disregard for human life. she runs a centrifuge in our separations department and will be leaving soon to attend "beauty college." for some reason, i don't think i'd want her to touch the hair of anyone i cared about....

Oh My!! How scary is this scenerio.!? She apparently has no business working in the Health Care field or lab at all, much less the Blood Bank. Your story made me shudder!!!!:eek:

[jcdayaz]

WHAT THE He**? Apparently Administration decided to dispurse stupid fumes through the hospital that day and she overdosed!

[L106]

Had one the other day (and many more I'm sure I am not remembering). Nurse calls the Blood Bank to inquire about blood for a patient. I confirmed we had 2 units crossmatched and ready to be picked up whenever they needed them. Her response was "Well I don't know if I need them yet". My response was "well they will be available until XXdate at XXtime"--which was two days away. The nurse then proceeded to tell me there was a CBC pending and untill they got the results they weren't going to decide whether or not to transfuse. She said "Can you please hold those units for me for another hour?" I said the units will be "Held" for your patient for two days. She replied. "Well, I need you to hold them for another hour until I get the results of the CBC". I then said--"Your patient will have blood available, crossmatched, tested, and ready to be picked up until xxdate at xxtime". Her response? "Well I need another hour to determine whether we need them or not. Please hold them for her."

WHAT THE He**? Apparently Administration decided to dispurse stupid fumes through the hospital that day and she overdosed!

We just now had a phone call from a nurse asking, "So, do I need to draw the crossmatch sample on Mrs. X?" BB Tech replied, "No, I just finished Mrs. X's crossmatches." Nurse then asked "So I don't need to draw her sample?" Tech replied, "No, the crossmatches have been done." Nurse then asked, "So, is the blood ready?" Admirably keeping her cool, the Tech slowly replied, "Yes, I have finished the crossmatches, and the blood is ready to be delivered whenever you would like to transfuse Mrs. X."

Apparently the fumes have drifted into our airspace, too!

[L106]

This falls under "scariest things i have heard:"

i had a new graduate assigned to my team and she was posted to the blood bank. we had a young woman in sickle crisis admitted to the critical care unit with orders for only a type and screen. the antibody screen was positive and the antibody was identified as anti-E. our policy is to find and cross match 2 units negative for the offensive antigen regardless of there being a physician's order or not. i came into the blood bank to review the work up and found no units had been screened. when i asked, "why haven't you completed this patient's work up?" her reply chilled me: "Oh, she's going to die anyway."

i never expected to EVER write up someone for depraved indifference and disregard for human life. she runs a centrifuge in our separations department and will be leaving soon to attend "beauty college." for some reason, i don't think i'd want her to touch the hair of anyone i cared about....

Brian - Is this an individual who has completed a training program within a laboratory?" If so, was there any evidence of this type of behavior or attitude during the lab training? If so, her instructor did no do his/her job. Weed 'em out early!!

Donna

[Brenda K Hutson]

I got a call from the NICU asking for 9 ml of blood for a newborn (this hospital does not keep neonatal units - we order them in as needed from the blood center 2 hours away); when I told the nurse it would take several hours to get the blood, she was upset and said "This baby has a 10 gram hemoglobin, and we need to transfuse this baby right away because we want to transfer it out!" (I'm sure the receiving hospital would appreciate having the mixed field reactions when they had to do their testing).

Five minutes later she calls back and asks how long for plasma; I asked why we were going to give plasma and she said "Because it has a 10 gram hemoglobin!" When I said plasma wouldn't help the hemoglobin, she said well, the doc wanted it for volume replacement anyway. The supervisor said OK to give the plasma so I thawed it and pulled off 20 ml in the syringe; called the floor and told them it was ready; then waited for over 2 hours for them to come and get the "urgently" needed product.

Though it would have resulted in mixed reactions for the hospital the baby was transferred to (unless the baby was O NEG), it is not uncommon to either transfuse a critically ill baby before transport, and/or take a unit in a cooler with the baby in case it is needed for transfusion in route (having worked at several hospitals with large, progressive Neonatal ICUs). When the Blood Bank sees the mixed field reactions, they call NICU to verify that in fact this was a transport baby who was transfused.

And as far as the MD wanting FFP for volume replacement; that is also an MD call.

I am not meaning to be critical but I would just caution you about questioning a physicians orders "too" much. Yes, there are absolutely times that they order inappropriately and it should be questioned (like the new MD at my hospital who ordered 10 platelet apheresis 1 night; but he had come from a place that had used the whole blood donor individual platelets; but the RN said that is what the doctor ordered so that is what she wanted; so my staff called me at home and I had to intervene), but you can get yourself in hot water if you end up inappropriately questioning their Orders.

Anyway, just something to think about...

Brenda

[Brenda K Hutson]

I was just passing through the drawing area as one of the phlebotomists was quickly relocating a patient that had become faint (a prenatal that was bothered by morning sickness and thinking too hard about their impending blood drawn). She had had a little boy, maybe three years old, with her and I was concerned that he’d become upset with Mom being “taken away†and she wasn’t in the best shape to reassure him, so I stopped and asked what his name was. He looked a little taken back and said “Don’t you know me? I was born in this hospital†- so serious and so surprised I hadn’t recognized him. I just apologized for not recognizing him – what else could say? Jeanne

Your post just reminded me of my college days when I worked as a phlebotomist. One day, an outpatient came for some blood work that had to do with hearing problems (I cannot not imagine what blood test that would possibly have been)! I know this is kind of mean (but kind of funny) that I was tempted to go out to the waiting room and just "mouth" the name (not say it out loud).....

But I didn't!

Brenda

[Brenda K Hutson]

This falls under "scariest things i have heard:"

i had a new graduate assigned to my team and she was posted to the blood bank. we had a young woman in sickle crisis admitted to the critical care unit with orders for only a type and screen. the antibody screen was positive and the antibody was identified as anti-E. our policy is to find and cross match 2 units negative for the offensive antigen regardless of there being a physician's order or not. i came into the blood bank to review the work up and found no units had been screened. when i asked, "why haven't you completed this patient's work up?" her reply chilled me: "Oh, she's going to die anyway."

i never expected to EVER write up someone for depraved indifference and disregard for human life. she runs a centrifuge in our separations department and will be leaving soon to attend "beauty college." for some reason, i don't think i'd want her to touch the hair of anyone i cared about....

Just out of curiousity, is that all you would have given to the patient; units negative for E? I just ask because the normal "protocol" for sickle cell patients is that if they do NOT have any alloantibodies, you give them Rh (D,C,c,E,e) and K type specific; if they do have any alloantibodies, you give them phenotypically matched blood.

Brenda

[Deny Morlino]

A number of years ago while working second shift I was in the emergency department drawing blood from a "young" lady 103 years of age. We had been talking and she had very sharp hearing, vision, and wits. While I was collecting the specimen from her, the ER physician walked in and immediately raised his voice to address her speaking very slowly and in short simple sentences as if addressing someone with hearing difficulties and having memory problems as well. I ducked by head hiding a smile as this lady was a pistol. She looked over at me, raising an eyebrow before looking at the physician and stating in a quiet voice, "Doctor, I am neither deaf, nor a 5 year old child." "If we are going to get along I would appreciate it if you would speak to me in normal tones in regular sentences." The physician to his credit stopped short, smiled, and said "let's start over and try again." With that he left the room closing the door, knocked and stepped in introducing himself at a normal conversational level. He asked her if she was feeling OK today and how could he help her. With a twinkle in her eye she said she would not be in the ER if she were feeling well, and he could get on with the exam as she had other things to do at home. I couldn't help but to laugh at the reply as did the physician. Never assume.

[Brenda K Hutson]

A number of years ago while working second shift I was in the emergency department drawing blood from a "young" lady 103 years of age. We had been talking and she had very sharp hearing, vision, and wits. While I was collecting the specimen from her, the ER physician walked in and immediately raised his voice to address her speaking very slowly and in short simple sentences as if addressing someone with hearing difficulties and having memory problems as well. I ducked by head hiding a smile as this lady was a pistol. She looked over at me, raising an eyebrow before looking at the physician and stating in a quiet voice, "Doctor, I am neither deaf, nor a 5 year old child." "If we are going to get along I would appreciate it if you would speak to me in normal tones in regular sentences." The physician to his credit stopped short, smiled, and said "let's start over and try again." With that he left the room closing the door, knocked and stepped in introducing himself at a normal conversational level. He asked her if she was feeling OK today and how could he help her. With a twinkle in her eye she said she would not be in the ER if she were feeling well, and he could get on with the exam as she had other things to do at home. I couldn't help but to laugh at the reply as did the physician. Never assume.

I LOVE that story!

Brenda

[jeanne.wall]

Your post just reminded me of my college days when I worked as a phlebotomist. One day, an outpatient came for some blood work that had to do with hearing problems (I cannot not imagine what blood test that would possibly have been)! I know this is kind of mean (but kind of funny) that I was tempted to go out to the waiting room and just "mouth" the name (not say it out loud).....

But I didn't!

Brenda

Isn't it amazing what runs through your brain - I've had to "bite my tongue" more than once in my career. Jeanne

[Rosemary]

This has happened on 2 separate occasions: doctors completing transfusion request forms and specimen labelling for patients, but putting their OWN names DOB's etc

[Rosemary]

How about the fun things we used to do in the lab like messing around with dry ice. I remember ( in the not so distant past!) having a great time adding warm water to dry ice pellets and watching them bubble away- it was very relaxing until someone added some liquid detergent, and we ended up with soap bubbles pouring all over the floor that took a while to clean up.

And does anyone remember squirting saline at colleagues over lab benches ( this was pre- lab computers)?

Has Health & Safety taken away all the fun in labs?

Loved the bubbling dry ice - I think we did it one time too many times creating a crack in the sink:redface:

And we also used to have "saline fights"- my best was once crawling under the bench and squirting warm saline onto a collegues sock to see how long it took for him to reqister. I used to keep a small umbrella close by for protection. Ahhh the good old days when you could work hard AND play hard

[BrianD]

Just out of curiousity, is that all you would have given to the patient; units negative for E? I just ask because the normal "protocol" for sickle cell patients is that if they do NOT have any alloantibodies, you give them Rh (D,C,c,E,e) and K type specific; if they do have any alloantibodies, you give them phenotypically matched blood.

Brenda

hi Brenda!

normally, we do our best to antigen match as closely as possible for our sicklers. this patient, ultimately, was able to resolve crisis without transfusion. she did become a "frequent flyer" with us for about 3 years before succumbing to CAP.

[BrianD]

Brian - Is this an individual who has completed a training program within a laboratory?" If so, was there any evidence of this type of behavior or attitude during the lab training? If so, her instructor did no do his/her job. Weed 'em out early!!

Donna

hi Donna.

i know she completed an MLT program and has been credentialed. the program she's from isn't known for academic rigor (the students don't have to compete for placement) and as best as i've been able to determine they have no training in ethics. i hear rumours of the BOR withdrawing accreditation for the program because the percentage success rates for passing registry are pretty dismal.

[jcdayaz]

And as far as the MD wanting FFP for volume replacement; that is also an MD call.

I am not meaning to be critical but I would just caution you about questioning a physicians orders "too" much. Yes, there are absolutely times that they order inappropriately and it should be questioned (like the new MD at my hospital who ordered 10 platelet apheresis 1 night; but he had come from a place that had used the whole blood donor individual platelets; but the RN said that is what the doctor ordered so that is what she wanted; so my staff called me at home and I had to intervene), but you can get yourself in hot water if you end up inappropriately questioning their Orders.

Anyway, just something to think about...

Brenda

[John C. Staley]

My first job in a hospital was graveyard ER Admissions clerk while going to college. We were close to the less savory parts of town and we saw a number a patients from there. Anyway, one night we had a gentleman in who happened to be deaf in his right ear and blind in his left eye and well in to his drink. To talk to him I had to stand on the left side and lean over to his right so he could hear and see me at the same time.