From the monthly archives:

April 2009

Swine Flu Outbreak - S/S to watch for ER nurses

by Sarah on April 26, 2009

I have been hearing a lot lately about this swine flu outbreak and thought might do some investigating to help me prepared at work. Below is a summary of what I found out.

Swine Flu is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses. It is spread by contact with infected pigs or environments contaminated with swine flu viruses and contact with a person with swine flu. It is highly contagious. The signs and symptoms are almost the same as having a seasonal flu with vomiting, diarrhea, fever, fatigue, chills, cough and sore throat. Well, ER nurses, I guess we have to contact isolate pretty much everyone who comes in with flu like symptoms, eh?

There is no vaccine for this yet, but there are several medicines that CDC has recommended to use. They recommend Oseltamivir or Zanamivir for the treatment/or prevention of infection. It can minimize the illness and helps recover faster.

As ER nurses, we have to be vigilant in teaching our patients how to minimize the spread of this virus, by teaching them the very basic of hand washing with soap and water. Cover the mouth when sneezing or coughing. And to stay at home when having flu like symptoms, including us.

There were documented deaths as caused by this infection. It existed before in the US. Now, it started in Mexico and spread in the US like in California, New York and Texas. I hope it will not spread in Arizona, but then it is a virus. So, ER nurses be prepared.  Triage skills are very important.

Good information to get into is the Centers for disease control and prevention  website.

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Tom’s new job

by Sarah on April 3, 2009

tom

It was music to my ears when Tom told me, he’s back working full time at Boeing, yeah!  For the past 1 1/2 yr, our family did a lot of sacrifices and set back because  he is not working.  It was not easy being a breadwinner either.  Working a lot of  shifts not fun at all.

Considering the bad economy, stiff competition in the job market and tom’s health, we never imagine that he will ever get his job back at Boeing.  In fact he was just looking for a part time job and signed up for a contract work.  He was not really ready to return to work full time.  Surprisingly, when he was offered the job yesterday, it was not just 1 offer but 2. The other job offer was just an on the spot offer, mainly because he used to work a lot with this person, who is now the head of the engineering dept.  He knows Tom’s work ethic and has high respect for his work. 

A lot of things happened then and reasons why he left Boeing, but all I can say and always remember what Tom told me, “There is always a reason.”  And for a very good reason I might ad.  With a significant increase in pay, working with a smaller group of people and working with good leadership, Tom’s never been happier.  I know, I can see it everytime he get’s home.  Congratulations honey!

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