January 29, 2025 • 50 mins
The podcast explores the frugality within nursing practice and the dichotomy between wastefulness and cost-saving measures in healthcare. The co-hosts delve into the impact of supply changes on patient care, the implications of recent hospital practices, and the importance of meal prepping to maintain wellness in a demanding profession.
• Discussion on waste vs. frugality in nursing
• Impact of supply changes on patient care quality
• Consequences of the Baxter plant shutdown on healthcare
• Role of nurses in managing costs and awareness
• Meal prepping strategies for improved self-care
• Note on hospital profit margins affecting care decisions
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Christopher (00:00):
Welcome to Nursing Lyfe 101, the most important
nursing class you never got totake in nursing school.
We will be traversing differentobjectives, like interviewing,
what to do in nursing school,boundaries, burnout and so much
more.
If this interests you, I hopeyou are taking good notes
because class is now in session.
Hello and welcome to NursingLyfe 101.
(00:46):
We're so excited to have youhere with us as we dive into the
world of nursing, sharing ourexperiences, insights and a
little bit of fun along the way.
I'm Christopher and I couldn'tbe happier to introduce my
co-host.
Colby (01:00):
Hey guys, it's Colby.
Together, we'll be bringing youreal stories, practical tips
and discussions about all thingsnursing, whether you're a
fellow nurse or just curiousabout the life behind scrubs.
We're thrilled to have you joinus.
Christopher (01:13):
We survived the holidays, we've made it through
and now we are in 2025, selling.
But one thing that I'verealized is that, as nurses, we
(01:34):
do two things we either are verywasteful or overly frugal, and
it's weird.
It's a weird dichotomy thatnurses have to go through.
So I want to talk about thefrugality of nursing and the
frugality of hospitals ingeneral.
Do you believe that hospitalsare frugal?
Colby (01:57):
Do I think hospitals are frugal?
I think it's really easy to sayno.
If you think about how muchwaste we create day to day.
That's inevitable, right.
But I do think that they try.
I do think hospital systems tryto be more mindful, or
(02:19):
thoughtful, where they can.
I mean you can't reuse a pairof gloves, you can't use a
syringe more than one, like perone time, per one patient.
Christopher (02:32):
I mean you can, but you shouldn't.
Colby (02:34):
Right, it's not okay to you know, because of risk of
spreading disease and everythingelse.
So there's certain things thatinevitably it's just not in
healthcare's nature to be frugalwith.
But I will say in the completeopposite.
(02:55):
My other opinion on it is thathospitals cut costs everywhere
they can and I think sometimesyou'll see that, like in the
quality of our supplies, whenthey'll you can tell when
they're changing a brand,because all of a sudden
something new pops up in thesupply room and like you can
(03:15):
just tell it looks cheaper incomparison to what you were
using before.
And that's just the cold hardtruth and it happens at every
hospital.
Christopher (03:23):
What's the most recent one that you're like?
Why did they do this?
Colby (03:27):
I think our IVs are something I've noticed recently.
They keep rotating differentstyles of IVs.
Really, you know the longerones and they have the shorter
ones.
Yeah yeah, those keep rotating.
Christopher (03:41):
Well, I know that the 22 definitely has been the
one that's kind of beenfluctuating back and forth.
Colby (03:47):
I think the 22s and the 20s, the pinks and the blues, I
feel like, change often.
The greens, I feel like,because they probably aren't.
Yeah, they're not putting 18sin as often as they are 22s and
20s.
So I feel like maybe the ideais still to change to whatever
new ones, but we just haven'tblown through the supply yet.
Christopher (04:07):
I hope not, because I like the ones that we use.
Colby (04:10):
I like our longer ones.
I feel like I just got used tothat feeling.
I mean, you put in way more IVsthan me We've discussed that
but I feel like I struggle withthe smaller ones, which is funny
, because I used to be betterwith smaller ones and then I got
used to the longer ones whichis funny, because I used to be
better with smaller ones andthen I got used to the longer
ones.
And I feel like I have to goback to getting used to it.
But you can tell.
(04:30):
You can tell in our supplies,like when things change, oh,
must've been a price cut here.
Like let me find, let them findthe cheapest thing, Um, yeah.
So I think it goes both ways.
Christopher (04:44):
And that's really sad, honestly, because when,
when nursing is doing the workand they've become accustomed to
the work that they're doing andwe switch something up like
that, it doesn't sound likesomething so simple as an IV
switch product would make such a.
(05:04):
It doesn't sound like somethingso simple as an IV switch
Product.
Yeah, yeah, product would makesuch a difficult transition, but
, if I'm not mistaken, the onesthat they're switching to they
don't have an auto-retract.
Colby (05:16):
They don't.
It's like old school.
Right, yeah, it doesn't have anauto-retract.
It has a piece of metal thatgoes over the tip.
Christopher (05:23):
Right.
Colby (05:24):
But yeah, it's like really, it's like really old
school kind of janky it is, andthat's that's I mean.
Christopher (05:31):
People can, because you don't, you're not aware and
you're not used to it, you canaccidentally stick yourself like
there's a lot of other thingsthat can come of this because of
and you can roll out a newproduct, all you want and do all
kinds of in services, but itdoesn't.
That's not gonna stop, you'renot gonna hit everyone yeah and
(05:51):
not everyone's gonna be able tolearn in the 10 minute in
service that you do yeah, it's alot of.
Colby (05:56):
You have to be I mean truly and we talk about this a
lot as well but, like in ourfield, you have to be very
flexible and like you gotta, yougotta be willing to make quick
changes.
It is.
And so it's really hard for forstaff to be, like you know,
feeling confident when they gointo a storeroom and then all of
a sudden it's a new product andwe're like, well shoot, never
(06:17):
used this before, let me figurethis out.
And like we of course, want togo into a patient room and have
an encounter with them thatwe're exuding confidence, like
we know what we're doing, eventhough I've never used this IV
before.
Christopher (06:30):
See?
Well, and that's the thing,especially with IVs, because
most people don't like to getpoked.
Colby (06:35):
Right, yeah, and that's the thing.
It's like you're using a newproduct that and I'll be honest
they haven't gone through anddone in-services on the new
product.
No, I haven't, and it's verydifferent from what we have been
using.
Christopher (06:47):
It is.
Colby (06:48):
So you're going in there and it's your first time
actually putting an IV in ahuman with this.
Maybe that you practice withthe mechanics of it.
You opened one up and do it.
I mean that's what I didbecause I was like I've never
seen this before.
But then you put it in a humanand it's a completely you know
different situation and you missbecause you're not used to the
product.
So you know it affects yourpatient care as well.
Christopher (07:10):
It does so like?
Do you think that thereservation for, like, switching
new products in hospitals ornot, not reservation, but their
willingness to switch productsin order to save an extra buck
(07:34):
here or there?
Do you think that same mindsettransitions to other practices
in the hospital?
So, like your nursing your's,your doctors, do you think they
are just as willing to in intheir specific practice?
Colby (07:53):
I think it depends, and I think it depends on how much
like I think a lot of it fallsinto nursing, because we are the
patient forward, likecaregivers, where, like we're
we're doing things.
Um, I think, just think we'redoing things with the patients
constantly and have more of anawareness of cost, like even if
it's in the back of your mind,so like even if we're not
(08:16):
talking about supply room orproducts and stuff like that.
For example, we do ekgs all thetime on patients and like one
EKG at our hospital system costsanywhere between like $250 to
$350.
I'm glad you knew that.
Yeah, it's like one EKG, thatmuch.
And sometimes a provider likeI'll be like I'll message a
(08:39):
provider and say, hey, thispatient just had 15 beats of
VTAC.
They were asymptomatic, theirvital signs are fine and they're
like, can you get an EKG?
Why would I?
And in this case the VTAC isgone, they're now back into
their normal sinus rhythm.
Like what is the clinicalindication of getting this EKG?
Like I didn't capture it and Ican't just like make it happen
(09:02):
again.
Like this EKG is 350.
Do we really need this?
Christopher (09:07):
it's just going to show normal sinus so I I mean
honestly, I didn't even knowthat was the pricing for an ekg.
Colby (09:16):
And knowing that, kind of makes you question like oh
that's, that's a good thing.
And so, like you, like you saidyou didn't know that our, our
lips don't necessarily know thateither, and like, and it's not
even, it's not about laziness,and I think that's like, maybe,
and maybe I'm making anassumption and I shouldn't be,
(09:37):
but I think sometimes that theper, the providers, think like,
oh, it's just laziness, thatnurse doesn't want to get that
ekg, it's, it really justdoesn't seem clinically
indicated, and like let's notcharge this patient that might
not have the best insurance ormight not have any insurance for
an ekg.
Christopher (09:54):
That's not necessary yeah, like what's
going to change in the the longin the plan of care of that
patient, like if we get this ekgwhen there's nothing, if they
weren't sustained coolabsolutely, we would want to get
one, yeah right like, but yeah,I, I didn't even think about
(10:15):
that yeah, so that so likecircling back, I do think it's.
Colby (10:20):
I do think it's kind of all not it's not going to always
fall into the nurse's hands butor onto our plates to kind of
be more mindful with thosethings.
But it is kind of also part ofour job to like educate
everybody, including theproviders that are, you know,
maybe above us and and and evenlike people that are below us,
like our techs and whatnot.
Christopher (10:41):
Right, like our techs and whatnot Right.
Well, and you know that's onething that management also tries
to do is one thing we'restruggling with specifically on
our unit is that we have,luckily, all private rooms, but
with that it's a largerfootprint with a lot of walking
(11:03):
anywhere you go on the unit.
So a lot of people are gettingglucose strips and they'll put
it in a patient room becausethey know that this patient was,
you know, had a blood sugarACHS, but then that patient
leaves and there's only half ofthe canister used, like we've
(11:28):
just wasted a half canister forone patient.
But if you multiply that by,let's just say, a third of the
unit, which is 28 beds, so sevenpatients times seven a day, you
know yeah seven days in a week,that's 49 empty, half empty
(11:51):
canisters right so like that's alot that's a huge problem.
Colby (11:55):
We have going on too and insulin insulin bottles yeah, to
go with that in in' rooms andit's like well overall.
Christopher (12:08):
I think there are different hospitals that do
different things with insulin,but our current health system
does not use a communal insulinvial.
Colby (12:19):
Yeah, it's, each patient has their own vial.
Right, which that, in my myopinion, is very wasteful it is
and it's not like and I'veworked at other health systems
where there was like one onevial and it just stayed in the
in the pixis pocket and you were.
(12:40):
You pulled up the insulin thatyou needed and then you put it
back in the pocket and gave yourpatient the insulin For sure.
That's definitely a more frugalapproach.
I personally just think I likeone bottle per patient, but the
problem that we're getting atwith this is that people leave
(13:02):
them in their pockets,accidentally, take them home,
and by people I mean nursingstaff.
They get left at the bedside,which is a big no-no with Jayco,
but also like someone will golooking for it and not find it
in the patient bin.
So they'll pull a brand newbottle and then they get to the
patient's room and there's likealready one or maybe two,
because somebody already didthat the last time.
Christopher (13:23):
So then they have like an isolation room, so you
can't take it.
Colby (13:26):
You can't take it back, you can't put it back in in the
fix, this to be used.
So that definitely is anotherexample of of wastefulness.
That happens for sure.
Christopher (13:36):
Yeah, and it's one of those things where there's no
good way to fix, fix it.
Colby (13:44):
Yeah, it just requires heavy policing by your
leadership and that is verytedious, amongst other things.
So a big thing that we havearound with insulin is not only
the strips, but we also like theQC material, our quality
control material, to test ourglucometers.
(14:06):
There's really like no reasonwhy you wouldn't have like one
or two of each, the high and thelow for the entire unit, but
for some reason we have like 15bottles of that and it also
expires in three months.
Like there's no way you're goingto go through like 15 bottles
of high expires in three months,right Like.
(14:26):
There's no way you're going togo through like 15 bottles of
high and low in three months, noLike then it's going to be
expired.
Then you throw it away and it'sexpensive.
That's another expensive likematerial that we use.
Christopher (14:35):
And it's in this small bottle.
Colby (14:37):
Yeah, they're like.
Maybe, like I don't.
All you need is like one dropper test.
So, or maybe it's more than 10ml's, but they're tiny little
dropper bottles and three monthshas expired, you throw it in
the trash.
There's like if you only haveone or two open, so maybe one or
two texts could be doing qcs atthe same time right which also
(14:58):
is not necessary.
You just one do the highs andthen one do the lows and then
switch.
Like there's just like I feellike it's actually funny they
brought it up because I feellike my floor specifically used
to be really good about it butthen there's just been like this
slow culture shift where, likewe've just been like whatever,
everyone take a bottle yeah andit's, and that's what it it
(15:20):
really boils down to yourleadership being tedious about.
Christopher (15:24):
but then it's, like you know, I'm getting more
seasoned in the management role,but I don't think I would have
wanted me, as a manager, to belike Christopher.
I went into your room today andsaw insulin vials and like yeah
, you're like that's so far downon my list of like things I
(15:45):
need to do or be worried aboutright now.
Colby (15:46):
Get out of my face.
Christopher (15:47):
I just had a code in room five and was in that for
an hour I don't care about getout.
Get out of my face.
Colby (15:56):
Yeah, that's like the same thing when management's
like your name's not on thewhiteboard.
Luckily my manager's not badabout that.
I hope you're not bad aboutthat.
But I know it's like a runningjoke in health care that the
managers come in and they'relike, hey, oh, you haven't eaten
all day.
What a bummer.
But your name isn't on yourwhiteboards.
Christopher (16:13):
Shut up, yeah, but it's just so.
But then we as management tryto implement something that's
not as like in your face as thatand you like, for example, we
I'm just going along this wholeglucose strip thing we decided
(16:35):
that we were going to implementa glucose strip like strategic
saving plan, strategic savingplan, okay.
And so everybody was supposedto come to get their glucose
strips in the morning.
When they got there, we use weuse a like walkie talkie like
(16:57):
type of device to get a hold ofeach other on the unit, and so
they were supposed to come gettheir glucose strips at that
time.
Well, we implemented it.
Granted, there were someoversights on my part, like we
should have labeled the numberfor each glucose strip and then
have it come back so that weknew who was missing what.
(17:21):
But practically a week after,people were still just getting
glucose strips out of nowhere.
But we were still havingglucose and it was just we had
way too many glucose strips.
Colby (17:34):
Interesting, so people were just taking them out of the
supply room anyways.
And I'm like what did I do allthis hard work for?
Yeah, I get that.
Yeah.
Christopher (17:46):
So yeah it's hard.
It's hard.
Colby (17:49):
It's definitely, it's definitely hard when I feel like
we work in such a fast pacedenvironment and we need
something, we need it right then.
Christopher (17:56):
So you always want to have it, like readily
available, and that that alone,like that thought process,
contributes a lot ofwastefulness yeah, yeah, I, I
don't know, I don't know whatwhat to do in terms of because,
(18:17):
you're right, nurses, nurses aremindful of at least the pricing
of things.
Certain things that we do, often, depending on the unit that
you're on, you probably know,like, for example, antithymocyte
globulin which is nicknamedrabbit because it's synthesized,
but it's all animmunosuppressive medication
(18:39):
costs close to 16 grand a bag,and so we're very mindful of not
doing the pre-medications untilwe absolutely see the bag,
making sure that the bag isn'ttubed in the tube station,
making sure that it's notjostled or shaken because it can
(19:00):
really mess up the bag in,because it can really mess up
the the, the bag, yeah, and youknow that is something that we,
as a transplant unit, are verymindful of.
So we are very frugal on whatwe do and making sure we do what
we're supposed to so peopledon't, right, have to pay for
this expensive medication.
Have you ever thought aboutwhen we were in COVID and you
(19:28):
were traveling during that timeand I was just coming out of my
year of um?
Colby (19:45):
like our wastefulness with ppe yeah yeah, it's
interesting how every hospitalhad different take and it.
You know, obviously, like inthe beginning of when things
were really bad and we justdidn't have enough supplies and
like some hospitals werelegitimately giving their staff
like trash bags, it was prettywild, yeah, um, because supplies
(20:06):
were so short and that we werelike reusing n95s and like keep
the same n95 all day.
We're into, in and out of otherpatients rooms.
Um, then they then theydeveloped a process where they
could like sanitize their n95s,so that made it a little bit
better.
But you know, it was likemonths before they got to that
point.
(20:27):
Um, forgot they did that yeah,and then the gowns themselves.
So at our health system I don'tknow that we ever used anything
but the disposable ones.
Yeah, did we.
Okay, um, because in thebeginning we were, we definitely
were so, and then I left in themiddle to go travel and then
when I came back, we're stillusing the disposables.
But when I was traveling Iworked in different hospitals
(20:50):
where they had um, bothdisposable disposable, excuse me
, um, but on the covid unitspecifically, we were.
We were wearing um likereusable um gowns, not like to
be reused in the same day, butthey went and were laundered and
then they came back to the unitso they were made out of like a
plasticky, vinyl-y interestingyeah, some.
(21:10):
I don't actually know what theactual fabric was, but it was
like it was kind of like aplasticky um type fabric and I'd
use those almost poncho yeah,kind of almost like a rain
poncho, but thicker um, and wehad used those those other
health systems too that I workedat um, which is interesting
like it's.
There's definitely somequestion around like truly
(21:33):
having a clean product going inum like do you trust the
cleaning process, the sanitizingprocess that those went through
um, and wanting to keep your,your like footprint, your you
know carbon dioxide footprintsmall as far as a hospital, and
like um really reduce, reuse,recycle kind of mindset um
(21:55):
versus like knowing that you'reyou're wearing something that's
clean.
I mean, I feel like on somelevel, it's like you're
definitely just having to puttrust in the company that is
sanitizing those gowns for you.
So, in a sense of frugality, ifthat is a word, the reusable
(22:15):
gowns were good with how much wewere needing to use them during
COVID, but there was somequestion behind like is this
really our best option?
Christopher (22:26):
Right Were you at our current health system when
they decided to just say youjust need the isolation gowns
for C, diff or entericprecautions.
Now and COVID, no Wait.
Colby (22:45):
C-diff or enteric precautions now and covet no
wait so they said temporarily wedidn't need them for like
regular, like mersa vre, thatsort of stuff.
Oh, and that was just duringcovet, because now we're
definitely wearing them, yeahwow, that's interesting, but
yeah, in order to conserve.
Christopher (23:02):
We were doing that, but the question is why did we
go back?
Colby (23:07):
Yeah, if it was okay then why did we?
Go back.
Real interesting.
I feel like policies were bentand Maybe even broken.
And broken to make things workduring a very difficult time.
Christopher (23:29):
Yeah.
Colby (23:29):
But it really made me question the safety that it
provided for other patients andourselves.
Like I think it's fair to say,like I often joke about it, that
oh, like I'm just going tothrow like just throw gloves on
to go like sign off this heparindrip real quick and in a MRSA
(23:54):
isolation, like we all have MRSAanyways.
That's like a joke, but likealso legitimately, if I don't
have it, I don't want to get it.
Christopher (24:02):
So I would prefer to continue wearing my gown well
, yeah, and but which is whichwas very interesting, like, yeah
, you were still having, you hadto still wear gloves, right?
yeah but you didn't have to weara gown.
And I think I mean, dependingon what scrubs you're wearing,
(24:24):
depends on how much your skin isactually exposed.
But I'm one that doesn't wear along sleeve shirt underneath my
scrub top.
I usually just use either.
Well, excuse me, I usually juststay away from T-shirts.
I don't wear T-shirts because Ineed my pockets.
Yeah, but in terms of, Iusually just have short sleeves
(24:48):
so I can see how MRSA coulddefinitely get onto my skin.
But really and truly mostpeople during COVID and I do
believe most people.
Well, let's not make grossgeneralizations.
Christopher, I know I do and Ithink, if I'm not mistaken, you
(25:09):
do.
You practically take off yourscrubs right when you get into
your apartment.
When I get home, I change yeahlike and so like it's not like
we're trying to and I don't knowI I have a separate like
laundry bin bag.
Colby (25:24):
Oh, you take it a step further than I do.
Christopher (25:26):
I'm like scrubs here and I'm sure most honestly
I'm sure most people do.
Colby (25:31):
I'm a little more gross where I just throw it all in the
same hamper.
But well, that's me but.
Christopher (25:35):
I'm also not one to like.
You know, there are some nursesthat are like I'm hopping in
the shower right after.
Colby (25:40):
Yeah, I don't shower.
Wash my Facebook.
It's hopping in the showerright after.
Christopher (25:45):
Yeah, I don't shower right after wash my
facebook link.
It's good to go exactly so.
It's just interesting to kindof see that we, as a very
developed country, had this veryfor lack of a better word third
world country like mindset yeahwhere we were like really
saving, really being mindful ofjust what we're using, and I, I
(26:10):
really think as a whole americacould benefit from that.
Um, and I think, but I thinkthere's a, there's a, there's a,
there's a fine line, because ifwe're just cutting corners,
cutting corners to save money,and that money isn't going back
(26:30):
into those doing the work, don'tworry about it.
If it's going back to theC-suite or the extra added
position that came out ofnowhere because somebody asked
for a position like yeah, yeah,if it's not, if it's not going
to positively affect actualpatient care being given, don't
(26:56):
worry about it.
Colby (26:57):
Keep spending your money, I guess.
But yeah, I think that's whenyou said it's a fine line like.
It's a fine line between like,are we cutting corners to
benefit patient care or are wecutting corners to line your
line?
The C-suite pockets.
And I think, unfortunately,there's a huge which everybody
is aware of in the US, asevidenced by a hot topic that's
(27:21):
gone on in the last few months.
But there you know talk aboutthat briefly about the shooting
of the United healthcare.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, that'sexactly what I'm getting at.
I mean, it's a huge problem inin healthcare, whether it's like
big pharma or insurancecompanies or the hospital C CEOs
(27:41):
and and other you know chiefexecutive positions where most
of the money is going into theirpockets and it's negatively
impacting patient care.
So unfortunate truth that'sbeen happening in the US.
Christopher (27:57):
Well and I think a lot of that comes from most of
the C-suite doesn't have a cluewhat bedside does comes from,
most of the C-suite doesn't havea clue what bedside does.
Colby (28:07):
Yeah, I mean, you'll even find that there's people in the
C-suite that have never evenbeen in the same room with a
patient, like they've never beena healthcare giver in any form
or fashion.
It's kind of like how did youget in this spot?
Christopher (28:18):
What were you thinking?
Colby (28:19):
Yeah, or it's been so long they don't recognize the
actual job anymore.
Christopher (28:26):
Right.
Colby (28:28):
They're really out of touch.
Christopher (28:30):
Which is sad Mm-hmm .
So now it's time for our newestsegment Health Check.
As nurses, we're constantlybombarded with health trends,
advice and the latest miraclesolutions.
But let's be real not all ofit's backed by science and not
everything fits into our busylife.
Colby (28:49):
Exactly so.
In Health Check, we're taking acloser look at these trends.
Each episode, we'll pick atopic, from nutrition and mental
health to self-care andexercise, and break down what's
actually helpful versus what'sjust hype.
Christopher (29:02):
This isn't about giving generic tips.
It's about sharing insights wecan rely on as nurses and people
with busy schedules.
Today, we're diving into mealprepping for a shift.
Let's find out what reallymakes a difference and what's
just noise.
Colby (29:17):
Meal prepping I meal prep .
Christopher (29:20):
I know you do.
I was like this is going to beright up Colby's alley.
I meal prep.
I was hoping at least.
Colby (29:26):
Yeah, well, I think it's so easy to just eat junk at work
, because how often are yougetting a break long enough to
eat?
It's like very rare.
But, and there's always likecandy and snacks somehow, like
you know, maybe a family memberdropped it off, maybe your
(29:47):
manager was feeling real guiltyabout something and they brought
you in pizza.
There's always an opportunityto eat something bad.
But I try really, really hardwhile I'm working to like fill
my fuel, my body, with like foodthat's actually good for me.
So I like to meal prep and Ilike make it as simple as I can.
Like sheet pan meals are mygo-to.
(30:09):
Like pick a vegetable, a starch, a protein, cook it up on a
sheet pan, put it in, put it inyour container and you know
you're good to go.
You pop that in the microwavefor a minute and you can stand
there and eat it real fast, butat least like you're getting
something that's more balancedthan, like chocolate and cheese
right, or you could go my routeand just um take out order all
(30:33):
the time yeah, christopherexclusively eats out.
No, you've gotten better.
I have gotten a lot better.
Christopher (30:38):
Yeah, I really do and to go with the meal prepping
.
I think, in terms of, you arelucky to be able to work in a
position that your days of theweek is only three days in a
full week where most people haveto work five days a week.
So if you're thinking aboutmeal prepping, just meal prep
for those three days.
(31:00):
Yeah Right, like you don't haveto worry about prepping for a
whole week and that's the coolthing.
But then if you are like man Ihate grocery shopping or if
you're new to cooking I'm notnew to cooking but if you're new
to cooking or if you're justlike I I my skills are okay I
(31:22):
kind of need some guidance.
There are are wonderful likeservices out there.
There's there's hello fresh,there's, blue apron there's.
I am not endorsing any of them,but this is not a sponsored ad,
right, I just I'm saying, butit is a good, it's a good nurse
hack.
Right.
Colby (31:39):
And there's a lot of us that use that.
There's also um oh shoot factormeals.
I think that's like all therage right now a lot of nurses
do it and okay one.
It's expensive, so I'll giveyou.
Christopher (31:52):
If you do those, it could be expensive what the
factor is it ranges, you getgood deals really and truly I
I'm using a service.
Uh.
Purple Carrot Blue Apron.
Colby (32:07):
That's another one, though Blue Apron.
Christopher (32:09):
I'm using Purple Carrot, which is a
vegan-specific one.
I'm spending between $150 and$200 a week.
That's how much I would buy atthe grocery store.
Colby (32:20):
Okay, what about when you're ordering out?
Is that less or more?
Christopher (32:23):
Oh, that's definitely less okay.
Yeah, it works for you.
Colby (32:27):
I think you just have to do the cost benefit analysis for
yourself and decide like, wouldthis, is this actually like
worth it, based off what younormally do?
But I think what you reallyneed to consider is is the
actual type of food that you aretaking, and it's so easy for us
to not take care of ourselvesand I feel like, however you
(32:49):
meal prep, meal prepping isgoing to provide that nutrition
that you need to keep going inthese shifts.
Christopher (32:57):
Yeah, and to go along the meal prepping and you
know, yes, we are in a veryfast-paced setting setting, yeah
, but you really that 30 minutesis essential.
You really need to take that 30minutes.
You really need to take that 30minutes yes, you do um, because
(33:22):
and it's because there's there'sscientific proof that you
actually are more productivewhen you take that 30 minutes
away from the, the unit andallow yourself to disconnect.
Don't, if you have a way tolike, silence any type of
notification that you get fromyour unit secretary, your huck,
your pct, anything.
(33:44):
You really need to do thatbecause ultimately that is going
to help you finish your shiftand be more productive and have
a better respect or relationshipwith your patients.
That's one thing I'm saying,because I don't do.
Colby (34:05):
The truth comes out.
I was just sitting here kind ofnodding but I was like I never
take my break.
Christopher (34:09):
You really need to take that 30 minutes.
Colby (34:12):
No, you should, you really should.
Christopher (34:14):
And really and truly.
This is also something I, as anA&M, am more than willing to
make sure that my staff members,my patient, my staff members,
get a break, and if they comeand ask me, hey, christopher,
can you cover me for 30 minutes,I will gladly do it.
Yeah, 100%, and you needmanagers that do that.
Colby (34:36):
Yeah, you do, yeah.
So what do you think?
Meal prepping is this a?
Is it worth the hype or is itjust noise?
Christopher (34:45):
100% worth the hype .
Colby (34:47):
I agree yeah 100%.
It's setting you up for success.
Christopher (34:51):
Yeah, do it on your day off and plan for the three
days.
You know, make a little extrafor the day that you're making
it so that you Get a littledinner or lunch out of it.
Colby (35:05):
I think there's a ton of, there's a ton of um resources
for you to like make this aseasy as possible to like.
You can look on Pinterest, youcan just literally do a Google
search, youtube, whatever Likeif you don't want to do one of
the like pre prepped mealservices that we mentioned
before.
But, um, yeah, there's a ton ofstuff that makes it really easy
, and I just think I reallychampion this.
(35:25):
I think it's really importantto fuel your bodies with really
good, healthy foods and try tohave a snack that warms your
heart.
It's not that you shouldn'thave the chocolate and the pizza
, but you don't want to make itlike every day I'm going
downstairs to the cafeteria andgetting chicken fingers and
french fries.
You're not going to feel good,you're not.
(35:46):
You're going to be dragging.
It's going to make your shiftfeel even longer.
You're going to be miserable.
So I always you know I alwaysreally stress the importance of
eating well.
Christopher (35:56):
The grease is heavy .
Colby (35:57):
The grease is heavy.
Christopher (35:58):
That's true no-transcript.
(36:21):
Yeah, that's a really cooloption as well.
Let us know we are alwayswilling to listen to what you
are doing, because who knows?
We might pick it up too.
Colby (36:32):
If you have any good recipes, we can post them on the
Patreon.
Christopher (36:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Back to the fact that hospitalsdo.
It's, like I said, a weirddichotomy of being wasteful and
being pretty frugal.
We mentioned it briefly.
During the holiday season,hurricane Helene hit North
Carolina extremely hard it waslike devastating and it was in.
(37:02):
I would have never thought aarea that was not on the the
coast right apparently ashvilleis more of a mountainous uh town
town, yeah city town, and andthere was a huge IV fluid
(37:25):
factory called Baxter.
That was in that actual town,or that area, I think.
Colby (37:33):
Yep.
And it wiped out that Baxterplant, demolished the plant
where there was also facilitiesum, on site.
That house like uh, like abackup supply also of ivy bags.
So they make ivy bags with alldifferent kinds of fluids.
Christopher (37:54):
But they also had like a housing for, like a
backup supply yeah, and that,interestingly enough, has
impacted the entire country andhas actually impacted some
countries outside of the UnitedStates.
What have you noticed in ourhealth system's ideas to
(38:21):
conserve the IV fluids?
Colby (38:23):
Pretty immediately they were sending out like mass wide,
like hospital widenotifications that was coming
from Baxter as well.
Um, about immediately having todo like being conservative with
our IV bag use.
Um, immediately, like ourhealth system canceled a bunch
of surgeries, Like anything thatwas elective was completely
(38:44):
taken off the table and then,like even things that weren't
necessarily elective butnon-emergent were also taken off
the table.
They were, they were runningpretty like skeleton as far as
like running the ORs and likeany kind of procedure where you
know uh, influx and influx of IVbag usage would be the case.
(39:05):
So I think, immediately ourconservation went to canceling
procedures and surgeries.
And then they actually changeda lot of protocols around, like
how soon a bag of IV fluidswould be quote unquote expired
after being spiked.
They increased the amount oftime that we can let a bag be
(39:28):
running.
And then also, it's prettycommon practice normally to use
an IV bag of saline or someother kind of fluid as like a,
as a like prime, priming theline and then hanging in
antibiotic, for example, as asecondary line.
And we switched for right nowto be our antibiotics.
(39:49):
They're just running on oneprimary line without saline
running as a primary first.
What other things did younotice?
Christopher (39:58):
One thing I've noticed is they are every Monday
, Wednesday and Friday.
Notice is they are every monday, wednesday and friday.
We're actually taking anaccount of how many bags of the
like essential fluids, um, arebeing used, so how much that
unit has um in their actualstoreroom.
I know that also in terms ofthe kind of antibiotic route is
(40:25):
that they're running them longerto ensure that they're so that
when the next one comes up youcan then just switch the bag.
You don't have to actually havethat IV fluid the.
KVO fluid that you have open.
Now.
That's all in the hospital.
As I said, I work in a ivtherapy place I didn't even
(40:49):
think about.
Colby (40:50):
Obviously it would affect the iv therapy right um, yeah
which is the drip bar.
Christopher (40:55):
I had said the the name of that before, but, um,
yeah, that's.
That's been interesting.
Luckily, I guess theoverarching drip bar, because it
is a franchise.
They had a store of fluids thatwe have to kind of be very
(41:17):
mindful of what we're using andif we and majority everybody
that works at the drip bar wherewe're located is really good at
getting the IV started.
(41:40):
You know there's very few thatwe actually turn away, but we
can't, we can't just wastefluids now.
We have to be very mindful ofthat yeah um, and some because
of the fact that I I am kind ofhigher up in in the position.
I have noticed that some otherdrip bars are like changing the
(42:03):
pricing of their bags, becausethey're like oh interesting yeah
, like making it more expensive.
Colby (42:08):
Yeah, because if they spike it and then it goes to
waste right, yeah, yeah, um, andso like there's that and well,
do you guys not have a?
This is kind of a little offtopic, but you guys not have a
practice where you like?
Make sure you get the IV firstbefore you prepare the fluids.
Christopher (42:23):
Right.
So it is different than in thehospital where, if you you know
the there's the normal cadencefor an IV at a hospital is you
put in the IV, you connect theIV exit set, which is like that
little tail on the actual IV,and then you have a lure lock
(42:45):
that is able to be connected tothe actual IV itself.
Oh okay, we don't have that.
Colby (42:50):
I see, yeah, you put in the IV and you hook the line
right up to it instead of havingthe lure lock.
Christopher (42:55):
Yeah, and so we just trust that the flash is
where it's supposed to be.
Now, as many of you may know,know, if you are using your iv
skills, you can tell when a ivgoes into the vein.
It's smooth, it has very littleresistance.
There might be a vein like avalve valve.
(43:20):
There you go, a valve thatyou're up against, and I've been
able to float it even using theIV fluid.
Colby (43:26):
Yeah, or like a flush.
Christopher (43:28):
Yeah, but you know, we don't have flushes.
Colby (43:31):
Oh yeah, that's right, because you don't have the lure
luck.
Yeah, that's a very good point.
I, while you were talking,thought of another thing that
happened to me.
We had of me.
We had a patient who had a lowblood glucose sugar of like 34
and at one point in our healthsystem we use which you may as
well in yours the d50 iv pusheslike the, the big old ivs with
(43:53):
that sticky syrup stuff that'sin there.
Yeah, um, and there was ashortage at one point, so they
moved away from using thoseright, and so we had a different
protocol in place that ourhealth system, where it was like
a bag, like a 250 bag of d10but that's like infused over
like 10 minutes or 15 minutes orsomething like that, and then
you do your recheck after 15minutes after that, and there
(44:15):
was like a couple there's acouple different things all
involving iv bags, and so whenwe went into the, when we went
into the conservative like time,we were trying to conserve all
of our fluids they got rid ofall of that and we actually went
back to pushing D50.
So I had someone that was ablood glucose of 34.
(44:35):
And I was like, oh no, what arewe going to do?
Because we don't have the bagsand I hadn't read the email all
the way through.
I just skimmed this email,because they were sending us out
emails every single day withlike a PowerPoint that was like
a hundred pages.
So I was like I would just kindof like flip, flip, flip, flip,
flip and like get the gist ofit and be like, okay, got it.
But I had missed that part, andso I like quickly opened up the
(44:57):
patient's orders and I saw thatthey actually had D50 ordered.
Christopher (45:09):
And I was like, oh, we brought that back, okay, no
sweat.
Like went and got it, pulled itand gave it, but that's another
like major thing yeah thatwe've, that I noticed, and with
d50 you really make sure thatvein is oh yeah you need to make
sure that the iv is workinggood.
Colby (45:14):
I mean, and what?
And I was doing teaching, inthat moment I was like push it
consistent and slow, don't pushit super fast.
I know that, like thispatient's blood sugar is 34, but
they're still talking to usright now so that you know
they're not like, they're okay,but you are more than likely
gonna blow this iv regardless,even if you are pushing it slow,
because it's such a huge amountand it's so viscous and hard on
(45:36):
our and hard on the veins, yeah, um.
So be like, watch that spot,because as soon as you think
it's blown, it's blown, pull itout and you're going to have to
go to another IV to finish itLike it's, it's, it's.
And that's probably probablythe reason why, once the
shortage on D50 was done, wedidn't move back to it just
because it's not.
I mean, it's effective andquickly, but it's, it is very
(46:00):
viscous and hard on the veins.
Christopher (46:01):
I mean, you really just need a central line for
that.
Colby (46:05):
To give it the way you want it to be given when
someone's blood sugar is 34,yeah, central line to push that
through is much less stressful.
Christopher (46:13):
Yeah, are there any other like that?
You know of Things that you'vehad to be like.
Oh, we're conserving for thisweird reason.
Colby (46:26):
Ooh, I'm trying to think of something I'm sure there has
been, but you put me on the spotso I can't think of?
Christopher (46:33):
I don't have one.
I have not been in nursing longenough to really know.
Colby (46:37):
I'm positive there has been, but I can't think of
anything.
When we're done recording, I'llbe like oh, you want to know
what I just thought of here.
It is yeah, yeah, I mean,there's always something.
I mean there's just yeah,there's always going to be
something, Even if it's justspecific to a hospital.
Christopher (46:57):
You're going to notice that something is running
low on supply of, and they'regoing to be sending out an email
being like conserve this,conserve that well, I mean, even
with um, the drip bar, like ourvitamins, they, they also you
have to worry about, likeconservation of those as well,
when, yes, it could be somethingthat could be readily made or
(47:23):
synthesized, but there are some,like magnesium, that tends to
go a lot and you get a lot of itand you do use a lot, and
sometimes you're going to belike I'm sorry, we can't.
You know, we can't do that onetoday, that specific drip today,
because we have very littledrip today because we have very
(47:47):
little, and it's unfortunatebecause that is a profit.
You know that.
Yeah, you know we have to builda profit for the drip bar.
This is not a non-profit thing,right um so when you can't
provide that, that medication,it's a profit loss for sure,
yeah, which they could go tosomeone else who might happen to
have it, which is sad.
Colby (48:03):
Yeah, it's interesting what our health system did to
make a difference in our usage,and it's pretty wild.
How was this facility one oftwo in the US, or are there more
?
Christopher (48:20):
I think it was.
I thought it was the only one.
So when you said two, maybe itwas just two then I could be
wrong and if I am, that's,that's cool.
Colby (48:30):
But I think there's one more like midwest, midwest or
maybe more west out um there,but I don't think that they made
I think the one that was innorth carolina, either that they
it was a bigger facility, orthat maybe they make they focus
on two different types or youknow, not two different types,
but like one focuses on acertain you know amount of these
(48:54):
kinds and then one is the otherkind.
I'm not quite sure.
Um, it's just wild how theeffect of that one company, yeah
, really created a issue acrossthe world, across the us, but
like it, you know, noticedaround the world as far as
(49:15):
supplies well, even to the pointthat, like people were like
from other countries, were likedid did we send you?
Christopher (49:23):
did we send you money?
Did we send you?
Like IV fluids?
Yeah, so I mean it does.
It affects the world in termsof even just that, like, if
they're trying to supply us withIV fluids, they have a certain
amount of IV fluids they have touse.
Colby (49:41):
In any of your research did you see if the U SS did
accept from outside countries?
I wonder how that would workwith, like the FDA I didn't look
All right, class dismissed.
Christopher (49:50):
That's a wrap for today's session of Nursing Life
101.
We hope you found some usefultakeaways to bring back to the
floor.
Remember, nursing is a lifelonglearning journey and we're here
with you.
Colby (50:02):
If you want to connect, find us on Twitter at
NurseLife101, or on Facebook atNursingLife101.
And don't forget to subscribeand share with fellow nurses.
Until next time, take care ofyourselves and keep making a
difference out there.
Christopher (50:14):
Conserve where you can you.
Welcome to Nursing Lyfe 101, the most important
nursing class you never got totake in nursing school.
We will be traversing differentobjectives, like interviewing,
what to do in nursing school,boundaries, burnout and so much
more.
If this interests you, I hopeyou are taking good notes
because class is now in session.
Hello and welcome to NursingLyfe 101.
(00:46):
We're so excited to have youhere with us as we dive into the
world of nursing, sharing ourexperiences, insights and a
little bit of fun along the way.
I'm Christopher and I couldn'tbe happier to introduce my
co-host.
Colby (01:00):
Hey guys, it's Colby.
Together, we'll be bringing youreal stories, practical tips
and discussions about all thingsnursing, whether you're a
fellow nurse or just curiousabout the life behind scrubs.
We're thrilled to have you joinus.
Christopher (01:13):
We survived the holidays, we've made it through
and now we are in 2025, selling.
But one thing that I'verealized is that, as nurses, we
(01:34):
do two things we either are verywasteful or overly frugal, and
it's weird.
It's a weird dichotomy thatnurses have to go through.
So I want to talk about thefrugality of nursing and the
frugality of hospitals ingeneral.
Do you believe that hospitalsare frugal?
Colby (01:57):
Do I think hospitals are frugal?
I think it's really easy to sayno.
If you think about how muchwaste we create day to day.
That's inevitable, right.
But I do think that they try.
I do think hospital systems tryto be more mindful, or
(02:19):
thoughtful, where they can.
I mean you can't reuse a pairof gloves, you can't use a
syringe more than one, like perone time, per one patient.
Christopher (02:32):
I mean you can, but you shouldn't.
Colby (02:34):
Right, it's not okay to you know, because of risk of
spreading disease and everythingelse.
So there's certain things thatinevitably it's just not in
healthcare's nature to be frugalwith.
But I will say in the completeopposite.
(02:55):
My other opinion on it is thathospitals cut costs everywhere
they can and I think sometimesyou'll see that, like in the
quality of our supplies, whenthey'll you can tell when
they're changing a brand,because all of a sudden
something new pops up in thesupply room and like you can
(03:15):
just tell it looks cheaper incomparison to what you were
using before.
And that's just the cold hardtruth and it happens at every
hospital.
Christopher (03:23):
What's the most recent one that you're like?
Why did they do this?
Colby (03:27):
I think our IVs are something I've noticed recently.
They keep rotating differentstyles of IVs.
Really, you know the longerones and they have the shorter
ones.
Yeah yeah, those keep rotating.
Christopher (03:41):
Well, I know that the 22 definitely has been the
one that's kind of beenfluctuating back and forth.
Colby (03:47):
I think the 22s and the 20s, the pinks and the blues, I
feel like, change often.
The greens, I feel like,because they probably aren't.
Yeah, they're not putting 18sin as often as they are 22s and
20s.
So I feel like maybe the ideais still to change to whatever
new ones, but we just haven'tblown through the supply yet.
Christopher (04:07):
I hope not, because I like the ones that we use.
Colby (04:10):
I like our longer ones.
I feel like I just got used tothat feeling.
I mean, you put in way more IVsthan me We've discussed that
but I feel like I struggle withthe smaller ones, which is funny
, because I used to be betterwith smaller ones and then I got
used to the longer ones whichis funny, because I used to be
better with smaller ones andthen I got used to the longer
ones.
And I feel like I have to goback to getting used to it.
But you can tell.
(04:30):
You can tell in our supplies,like when things change, oh,
must've been a price cut here.
Like let me find, let them findthe cheapest thing, Um, yeah.
So I think it goes both ways.
Christopher (04:44):
And that's really sad, honestly, because when,
when nursing is doing the workand they've become accustomed to
the work that they're doing andwe switch something up like
that, it doesn't sound likesomething so simple as an IV
switch product would make such a.
(05:04):
It doesn't sound like somethingso simple as an IV switch
Product.
Yeah, yeah, product would makesuch a difficult transition, but
, if I'm not mistaken, the onesthat they're switching to they
don't have an auto-retract.
Colby (05:16):
They don't.
It's like old school.
Right, yeah, it doesn't have anauto-retract.
It has a piece of metal thatgoes over the tip.
Christopher (05:23):
Right.
Colby (05:24):
But yeah, it's like really, it's like really old
school kind of janky it is, andthat's that's I mean.
Christopher (05:31):
People can, because you don't, you're not aware and
you're not used to it, you canaccidentally stick yourself like
there's a lot of other thingsthat can come of this because of
and you can roll out a newproduct, all you want and do all
kinds of in services, but itdoesn't.
That's not gonna stop, you'renot gonna hit everyone yeah and
(05:51):
not everyone's gonna be able tolearn in the 10 minute in
service that you do yeah, it's alot of.
Colby (05:56):
You have to be I mean truly and we talk about this a
lot as well but, like in ourfield, you have to be very
flexible and like you gotta, yougotta be willing to make quick
changes.
It is.
And so it's really hard for forstaff to be, like you know,
feeling confident when they gointo a storeroom and then all of
a sudden it's a new product andwe're like, well shoot, never
(06:17):
used this before, let me figurethis out.
And like we of course, want togo into a patient room and have
an encounter with them thatwe're exuding confidence, like
we know what we're doing, eventhough I've never used this IV
before.
Christopher (06:30):
See?
Well, and that's the thing,especially with IVs, because
most people don't like to getpoked.
Colby (06:35):
Right, yeah, and that's the thing.
It's like you're using a newproduct that and I'll be honest
they haven't gone through anddone in-services on the new
product.
No, I haven't, and it's verydifferent from what we have been
using.
Christopher (06:47):
It is.
Colby (06:48):
So you're going in there and it's your first time
actually putting an IV in ahuman with this.
Maybe that you practice withthe mechanics of it.
You opened one up and do it.
I mean that's what I didbecause I was like I've never
seen this before.
But then you put it in a humanand it's a completely you know
different situation and you missbecause you're not used to the
product.
So you know it affects yourpatient care as well.
Christopher (07:10):
It does so like?
Do you think that thereservation for, like, switching
new products in hospitals ornot, not reservation, but their
willingness to switch productsin order to save an extra buck
(07:34):
here or there?
Do you think that same mindsettransitions to other practices
in the hospital?
So, like your nursing your's,your doctors, do you think they
are just as willing to in intheir specific practice?
Colby (07:53):
I think it depends, and I think it depends on how much
like I think a lot of it fallsinto nursing, because we are the
patient forward, likecaregivers, where, like we're
we're doing things.
Um, I think, just think we'redoing things with the patients
constantly and have more of anawareness of cost, like even if
it's in the back of your mind,so like even if we're not
(08:16):
talking about supply room orproducts and stuff like that.
For example, we do ekgs all thetime on patients and like one
EKG at our hospital system costsanywhere between like $250 to
$350.
I'm glad you knew that.
Yeah, it's like one EKG, thatmuch.
And sometimes a provider likeI'll be like I'll message a
(08:39):
provider and say, hey, thispatient just had 15 beats of
VTAC.
They were asymptomatic, theirvital signs are fine and they're
like, can you get an EKG?
Why would I?
And in this case the VTAC isgone, they're now back into
their normal sinus rhythm.
Like what is the clinicalindication of getting this EKG?
Like I didn't capture it and Ican't just like make it happen
(09:02):
again.
Like this EKG is 350.
Do we really need this?
Christopher (09:07):
it's just going to show normal sinus so I I mean
honestly, I didn't even knowthat was the pricing for an ekg.
Colby (09:16):
And knowing that, kind of makes you question like oh
that's, that's a good thing.
And so, like you, like you saidyou didn't know that our, our
lips don't necessarily know thateither, and like, and it's not
even, it's not about laziness,and I think that's like, maybe,
and maybe I'm making anassumption and I shouldn't be,
(09:37):
but I think sometimes that theper, the providers, think like,
oh, it's just laziness, thatnurse doesn't want to get that
ekg, it's, it really justdoesn't seem clinically
indicated, and like let's notcharge this patient that might
not have the best insurance ormight not have any insurance for
an ekg.
Christopher (09:54):
That's not necessary yeah, like what's
going to change in the the longin the plan of care of that
patient, like if we get this ekgwhen there's nothing, if they
weren't sustained coolabsolutely, we would want to get
one, yeah right like, but yeah,I, I didn't even think about
(10:15):
that yeah, so that so likecircling back, I do think it's.
Colby (10:20):
I do think it's kind of all not it's not going to always
fall into the nurse's hands butor onto our plates to kind of
be more mindful with thosethings.
But it is kind of also part ofour job to like educate
everybody, including theproviders that are, you know,
maybe above us and and and evenlike people that are below us,
like our techs and whatnot.
Christopher (10:41):
Right, like our techs and whatnot Right.
Well, and you know that's onething that management also tries
to do is one thing we'restruggling with specifically on
our unit is that we have,luckily, all private rooms, but
with that it's a largerfootprint with a lot of walking
(11:03):
anywhere you go on the unit.
So a lot of people are gettingglucose strips and they'll put
it in a patient room becausethey know that this patient was,
you know, had a blood sugarACHS, but then that patient
leaves and there's only half ofthe canister used, like we've
(11:28):
just wasted a half canister forone patient.
But if you multiply that by,let's just say, a third of the
unit, which is 28 beds, so sevenpatients times seven a day, you
know yeah seven days in a week,that's 49 empty, half empty
(11:51):
canisters right so like that's alot that's a huge problem.
Colby (11:55):
We have going on too and insulin insulin bottles yeah, to
go with that in in' rooms andit's like well overall.
Christopher (12:08):
I think there are different hospitals that do
different things with insulin,but our current health system
does not use a communal insulinvial.
Colby (12:19):
Yeah, it's, each patient has their own vial.
Right, which that, in my myopinion, is very wasteful it is
and it's not like and I'veworked at other health systems
where there was like one onevial and it just stayed in the
in the pixis pocket and you were.
(12:40):
You pulled up the insulin thatyou needed and then you put it
back in the pocket and gave yourpatient the insulin For sure.
That's definitely a more frugalapproach.
I personally just think I likeone bottle per patient, but the
problem that we're getting atwith this is that people leave
(13:02):
them in their pockets,accidentally, take them home,
and by people I mean nursingstaff.
They get left at the bedside,which is a big no-no with Jayco,
but also like someone will golooking for it and not find it
in the patient bin.
So they'll pull a brand newbottle and then they get to the
patient's room and there's likealready one or maybe two,
because somebody already didthat the last time.
Christopher (13:23):
So then they have like an isolation room, so you
can't take it.
Colby (13:26):
You can't take it back, you can't put it back in in the
fix, this to be used.
So that definitely is anotherexample of of wastefulness.
That happens for sure.
Christopher (13:36):
Yeah, and it's one of those things where there's no
good way to fix, fix it.
Colby (13:44):
Yeah, it just requires heavy policing by your
leadership and that is verytedious, amongst other things.
So a big thing that we havearound with insulin is not only
the strips, but we also like theQC material, our quality
control material, to test ourglucometers.
(14:06):
There's really like no reasonwhy you wouldn't have like one
or two of each, the high and thelow for the entire unit, but
for some reason we have like 15bottles of that and it also
expires in three months.
Like there's no way you're goingto go through like 15 bottles
of high expires in three months,right Like.
(14:26):
There's no way you're going togo through like 15 bottles of
high and low in three months, noLike then it's going to be
expired.
Then you throw it away and it'sexpensive.
That's another expensive likematerial that we use.
Christopher (14:35):
And it's in this small bottle.
Colby (14:37):
Yeah, they're like.
Maybe, like I don't.
All you need is like one dropper test.
So, or maybe it's more than 10ml's, but they're tiny little
dropper bottles and three monthshas expired, you throw it in
the trash.
There's like if you only haveone or two open, so maybe one or
two texts could be doing qcs atthe same time right which also
(14:58):
is not necessary.
You just one do the highs andthen one do the lows and then
switch.
Like there's just like I feellike it's actually funny they
brought it up because I feellike my floor specifically used
to be really good about it butthen there's just been like this
slow culture shift where, likewe've just been like whatever,
everyone take a bottle yeah andit's, and that's what it it
(15:20):
really boils down to yourleadership being tedious about.
Christopher (15:24):
but then it's, like you know, I'm getting more
seasoned in the management role,but I don't think I would have
wanted me, as a manager, to belike Christopher.
I went into your room today andsaw insulin vials and like yeah
, you're like that's so far downon my list of like things I
(15:45):
need to do or be worried aboutright now.
Colby (15:46):
Get out of my face.
Christopher (15:47):
I just had a code in room five and was in that for
an hour I don't care about getout.
Get out of my face.
Colby (15:56):
Yeah, that's like the same thing when management's
like your name's not on thewhiteboard.
Luckily my manager's not badabout that.
I hope you're not bad aboutthat.
But I know it's like a runningjoke in health care that the
managers come in and they'relike, hey, oh, you haven't eaten
all day.
What a bummer.
But your name isn't on yourwhiteboards.
Christopher (16:13):
Shut up, yeah, but it's just so.
But then we as management tryto implement something that's
not as like in your face as thatand you like, for example, we
I'm just going along this wholeglucose strip thing we decided
(16:35):
that we were going to implementa glucose strip like strategic
saving plan, strategic savingplan, okay.
And so everybody was supposedto come to get their glucose
strips in the morning.
When they got there, we use weuse a like walkie talkie like
(16:57):
type of device to get a hold ofeach other on the unit, and so
they were supposed to come gettheir glucose strips at that
time.
Well, we implemented it.
Granted, there were someoversights on my part, like we
should have labeled the numberfor each glucose strip and then
have it come back so that weknew who was missing what.
(17:21):
But practically a week after,people were still just getting
glucose strips out of nowhere.
But we were still havingglucose and it was just we had
way too many glucose strips.
Colby (17:34):
Interesting, so people were just taking them out of the
supply room anyways.
And I'm like what did I do allthis hard work for?
Yeah, I get that.
Yeah.
Christopher (17:46):
So yeah it's hard.
It's hard.
Colby (17:49):
It's definitely, it's definitely hard when I feel like
we work in such a fast pacedenvironment and we need
something, we need it right then.
Christopher (17:56):
So you always want to have it, like readily
available, and that that alone,like that thought process,
contributes a lot ofwastefulness yeah, yeah, I, I
don't know, I don't know whatwhat to do in terms of because,
(18:17):
you're right, nurses, nurses aremindful of at least the pricing
of things.
Certain things that we do, often, depending on the unit that
you're on, you probably know,like, for example, antithymocyte
globulin which is nicknamedrabbit because it's synthesized,
but it's all animmunosuppressive medication
(18:39):
costs close to 16 grand a bag,and so we're very mindful of not
doing the pre-medications untilwe absolutely see the bag,
making sure that the bag isn'ttubed in the tube station,
making sure that it's notjostled or shaken because it can
(19:00):
really mess up the bag in,because it can really mess up
the the, the bag, yeah, and youknow that is something that we,
as a transplant unit, are verymindful of.
So we are very frugal on whatwe do and making sure we do what
we're supposed to so peopledon't, right, have to pay for
this expensive medication.
Have you ever thought aboutwhen we were in COVID and you
(19:28):
were traveling during that timeand I was just coming out of my
year of um?
Colby (19:45):
like our wastefulness with ppe yeah yeah, it's
interesting how every hospitalhad different take and it.
You know, obviously, like inthe beginning of when things
were really bad and we justdidn't have enough supplies and
like some hospitals werelegitimately giving their staff
like trash bags, it was prettywild, yeah, um, because supplies
(20:06):
were so short and that we werelike reusing n95s and like keep
the same n95 all day.
We're into, in and out of otherpatients rooms.
Um, then they then theydeveloped a process where they
could like sanitize their n95s,so that made it a little bit
better.
But you know, it was likemonths before they got to that
point.
(20:27):
Um, forgot they did that yeah,and then the gowns themselves.
So at our health system I don'tknow that we ever used anything
but the disposable ones.
Yeah, did we.
Okay, um, because in thebeginning we were, we definitely
were so, and then I left in themiddle to go travel and then
when I came back, we're stillusing the disposables.
But when I was traveling Iworked in different hospitals
(20:50):
where they had um, bothdisposable disposable, excuse me
, um, but on the covid unitspecifically, we were.
We were wearing um likereusable um gowns, not like to
be reused in the same day, butthey went and were laundered and
then they came back to the unitso they were made out of like a
plasticky, vinyl-y interestingyeah, some.
(21:10):
I don't actually know what theactual fabric was, but it was
like it was kind of like aplasticky um type fabric and I'd
use those almost poncho yeah,kind of almost like a rain
poncho, but thicker um, and wehad used those those other
health systems too that I workedat um, which is interesting
like it's.
There's definitely somequestion around like truly
(21:33):
having a clean product going inum like do you trust the
cleaning process, the sanitizingprocess that those went through
um, and wanting to keep your,your like footprint, your you
know carbon dioxide footprintsmall as far as a hospital, and
like um really reduce, reuse,recycle kind of mindset um
(21:55):
versus like knowing that you'reyou're wearing something that's
clean.
I mean, I feel like on somelevel, it's like you're
definitely just having to puttrust in the company that is
sanitizing those gowns for you.
So, in a sense of frugality, ifthat is a word, the reusable
(22:15):
gowns were good with how much wewere needing to use them during
COVID, but there was somequestion behind like is this
really our best option?
Christopher (22:26):
Right Were you at our current health system when
they decided to just say youjust need the isolation gowns
for C, diff or entericprecautions.
Now and COVID, no Wait.
Colby (22:45):
C-diff or enteric precautions now and covet no
wait so they said temporarily wedidn't need them for like
regular, like mersa vre, thatsort of stuff.
Oh, and that was just duringcovet, because now we're
definitely wearing them, yeahwow, that's interesting, but
yeah, in order to conserve.
Christopher (23:02):
We were doing that, but the question is why did we
go back?
Colby (23:07):
Yeah, if it was okay then why did we?
Go back.
Real interesting.
I feel like policies were bentand Maybe even broken.
And broken to make things workduring a very difficult time.
Christopher (23:29):
Yeah.
Colby (23:29):
But it really made me question the safety that it
provided for other patients andourselves.
Like I think it's fair to say,like I often joke about it, that
oh, like I'm just going tothrow like just throw gloves on
to go like sign off this heparindrip real quick and in a MRSA
(23:54):
isolation, like we all have MRSAanyways.
That's like a joke, but likealso legitimately, if I don't
have it, I don't want to get it.
Christopher (24:02):
So I would prefer to continue wearing my gown well
, yeah, and but which is whichwas very interesting, like, yeah
, you were still having, you hadto still wear gloves, right?
yeah but you didn't have to weara gown.
And I think I mean, dependingon what scrubs you're wearing,
(24:24):
depends on how much your skin isactually exposed.
But I'm one that doesn't wear along sleeve shirt underneath my
scrub top.
I usually just use either.
Well, excuse me, I usually juststay away from T-shirts.
I don't wear T-shirts because Ineed my pockets.
Yeah, but in terms of, Iusually just have short sleeves
(24:48):
so I can see how MRSA coulddefinitely get onto my skin.
But really and truly mostpeople during COVID and I do
believe most people.
Well, let's not make grossgeneralizations.
Christopher, I know I do and Ithink, if I'm not mistaken, you
(25:09):
do.
You practically take off yourscrubs right when you get into
your apartment.
When I get home, I change yeahlike and so like it's not like
we're trying to and I don't knowI I have a separate like
laundry bin bag.
Colby (25:24):
Oh, you take it a step further than I do.
Christopher (25:26):
I'm like scrubs here and I'm sure most honestly
I'm sure most people do.
Colby (25:31):
I'm a little more gross where I just throw it all in the
same hamper.
But well, that's me but.
Christopher (25:35):
I'm also not one to like.
You know, there are some nursesthat are like I'm hopping in
the shower right after.
Colby (25:40):
Yeah, I don't shower.
Wash my Facebook.
It's hopping in the showerright after.
Christopher (25:45):
Yeah, I don't shower right after wash my
facebook link.
It's good to go exactly so.
It's just interesting to kindof see that we, as a very
developed country, had this veryfor lack of a better word third
world country like mindset yeahwhere we were like really
saving, really being mindful ofjust what we're using, and I, I
(26:10):
really think as a whole americacould benefit from that.
Um, and I think, but I thinkthere's a, there's a, there's a,
there's a fine line, because ifwe're just cutting corners,
cutting corners to save money,and that money isn't going back
(26:30):
into those doing the work, don'tworry about it.
If it's going back to theC-suite or the extra added
position that came out ofnowhere because somebody asked
for a position like yeah, yeah,if it's not, if it's not going
to positively affect actualpatient care being given, don't
(26:56):
worry about it.
Colby (26:57):
Keep spending your money, I guess.
But yeah, I think that's whenyou said it's a fine line like.
It's a fine line between like,are we cutting corners to
benefit patient care or are wecutting corners to line your
line?
The C-suite pockets.
And I think, unfortunately,there's a huge which everybody
is aware of in the US, asevidenced by a hot topic that's
(27:21):
gone on in the last few months.
But there you know talk aboutthat briefly about the shooting
of the United healthcare.
Yeah, I mean, yeah, that'sexactly what I'm getting at.
I mean, it's a huge problem inin healthcare, whether it's like
big pharma or insurancecompanies or the hospital C CEOs
(27:41):
and and other you know chiefexecutive positions where most
of the money is going into theirpockets and it's negatively
impacting patient care.
So unfortunate truth that'sbeen happening in the US.
Christopher (27:57):
Well and I think a lot of that comes from most of
the C-suite doesn't have a cluewhat bedside does comes from,
most of the C-suite doesn't havea clue what bedside does.
Colby (28:07):
Yeah, I mean, you'll even find that there's people in the
C-suite that have never evenbeen in the same room with a
patient, like they've never beena healthcare giver in any form
or fashion.
It's kind of like how did youget in this spot?
Christopher (28:18):
What were you thinking?
Colby (28:19):
Yeah, or it's been so long they don't recognize the
actual job anymore.
Christopher (28:26):
Right.
Colby (28:28):
They're really out of touch.
Christopher (28:30):
Which is sad Mm-hmm .
So now it's time for our newestsegment Health Check.
As nurses, we're constantlybombarded with health trends,
advice and the latest miraclesolutions.
But let's be real not all ofit's backed by science and not
everything fits into our busylife.
Colby (28:49):
Exactly so.
In Health Check, we're taking acloser look at these trends.
Each episode, we'll pick atopic, from nutrition and mental
health to self-care andexercise, and break down what's
actually helpful versus what'sjust hype.
Christopher (29:02):
This isn't about giving generic tips.
It's about sharing insights wecan rely on as nurses and people
with busy schedules.
Today, we're diving into mealprepping for a shift.
Let's find out what reallymakes a difference and what's
just noise.
Colby (29:17):
Meal prepping I meal prep .
Christopher (29:20):
I know you do.
I was like this is going to beright up Colby's alley.
I meal prep.
I was hoping at least.
Colby (29:26):
Yeah, well, I think it's so easy to just eat junk at work
, because how often are yougetting a break long enough to
eat?
It's like very rare.
But, and there's always likecandy and snacks somehow, like
you know, maybe a family memberdropped it off, maybe your
(29:47):
manager was feeling real guiltyabout something and they brought
you in pizza.
There's always an opportunityto eat something bad.
But I try really, really hardwhile I'm working to like fill
my fuel, my body, with like foodthat's actually good for me.
So I like to meal prep and Ilike make it as simple as I can.
Like sheet pan meals are mygo-to.
(30:09):
Like pick a vegetable, a starch, a protein, cook it up on a
sheet pan, put it in, put it inyour container and you know
you're good to go.
You pop that in the microwavefor a minute and you can stand
there and eat it real fast, butat least like you're getting
something that's more balancedthan, like chocolate and cheese
right, or you could go my routeand just um take out order all
(30:33):
the time yeah, christopherexclusively eats out.
No, you've gotten better.
I have gotten a lot better.
Christopher (30:38):
Yeah, I really do and to go with the meal prepping
.
I think, in terms of, you arelucky to be able to work in a
position that your days of theweek is only three days in a
full week where most people haveto work five days a week.
So if you're thinking aboutmeal prepping, just meal prep
for those three days.
(31:00):
Yeah Right, like you don't haveto worry about prepping for a
whole week and that's the coolthing.
But then if you are like man Ihate grocery shopping or if
you're new to cooking I'm notnew to cooking but if you're new
to cooking or if you're justlike I I my skills are okay I
(31:22):
kind of need some guidance.
There are are wonderful likeservices out there.
There's there's hello fresh,there's, blue apron there's.
I am not endorsing any of them,but this is not a sponsored ad,
right, I just I'm saying, butit is a good, it's a good nurse
hack.
Right.
Colby (31:39):
And there's a lot of us that use that.
There's also um oh shoot factormeals.
I think that's like all therage right now a lot of nurses
do it and okay one.
It's expensive, so I'll giveyou.
Christopher (31:52):
If you do those, it could be expensive what the
factor is it ranges, you getgood deals really and truly I
I'm using a service.
Uh.
Purple Carrot Blue Apron.
Colby (32:07):
That's another one, though Blue Apron.
Christopher (32:09):
I'm using Purple Carrot, which is a
vegan-specific one.
I'm spending between $150 and$200 a week.
That's how much I would buy atthe grocery store.
Colby (32:20):
Okay, what about when you're ordering out?
Is that less or more?
Christopher (32:23):
Oh, that's definitely less okay.
Yeah, it works for you.
Colby (32:27):
I think you just have to do the cost benefit analysis for
yourself and decide like, wouldthis, is this actually like
worth it, based off what younormally do?
But I think what you reallyneed to consider is is the
actual type of food that you aretaking, and it's so easy for us
to not take care of ourselvesand I feel like, however you
(32:49):
meal prep, meal prepping isgoing to provide that nutrition
that you need to keep going inthese shifts.
Christopher (32:57):
Yeah, and to go along the meal prepping and you
know, yes, we are in a veryfast-paced setting setting, yeah
, but you really that 30 minutesis essential.
You really need to take that 30minutes.
You really need to take that 30minutes yes, you do um, because
(33:22):
and it's because there's there'sscientific proof that you
actually are more productivewhen you take that 30 minutes
away from the, the unit andallow yourself to disconnect.
Don't, if you have a way tolike, silence any type of
notification that you get fromyour unit secretary, your huck,
your pct, anything.
(33:44):
You really need to do thatbecause ultimately that is going
to help you finish your shiftand be more productive and have
a better respect or relationshipwith your patients.
That's one thing I'm saying,because I don't do.
Colby (34:05):
The truth comes out.
I was just sitting here kind ofnodding but I was like I never
take my break.
Christopher (34:09):
You really need to take that 30 minutes.
Colby (34:12):
No, you should, you really should.
Christopher (34:14):
And really and truly.
This is also something I, as anA&M, am more than willing to
make sure that my staff members,my patient, my staff members,
get a break, and if they comeand ask me, hey, christopher,
can you cover me for 30 minutes,I will gladly do it.
Yeah, 100%, and you needmanagers that do that.
Colby (34:36):
Yeah, you do, yeah.
So what do you think?
Meal prepping is this a?
Is it worth the hype or is itjust noise?
Christopher (34:45):
100% worth the hype .
Colby (34:47):
I agree yeah 100%.
It's setting you up for success.
Christopher (34:51):
Yeah, do it on your day off and plan for the three
days.
You know, make a little extrafor the day that you're making
it so that you Get a littledinner or lunch out of it.
Colby (35:05):
I think there's a ton of, there's a ton of um resources
for you to like make this aseasy as possible to like.
You can look on Pinterest, youcan just literally do a Google
search, youtube, whatever Likeif you don't want to do one of
the like pre prepped mealservices that we mentioned
before.
But, um, yeah, there's a ton ofstuff that makes it really easy
, and I just think I reallychampion this.
(35:25):
I think it's really importantto fuel your bodies with really
good, healthy foods and try tohave a snack that warms your
heart.
It's not that you shouldn'thave the chocolate and the pizza
, but you don't want to make itlike every day I'm going
downstairs to the cafeteria andgetting chicken fingers and
french fries.
You're not going to feel good,you're not.
(35:46):
You're going to be dragging.
It's going to make your shiftfeel even longer.
You're going to be miserable.
So I always you know I alwaysreally stress the importance of
eating well.
Christopher (35:56):
The grease is heavy .
Colby (35:57):
The grease is heavy.
Christopher (35:58):
That's true no-transcript.
(36:21):
Yeah, that's a really cooloption as well.
Let us know we are alwayswilling to listen to what you
are doing, because who knows?
We might pick it up too.
Colby (36:32):
If you have any good recipes, we can post them on the
Patreon.
Christopher (36:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Back to the fact that hospitalsdo.
It's, like I said, a weirddichotomy of being wasteful and
being pretty frugal.
We mentioned it briefly.
During the holiday season,hurricane Helene hit North
Carolina extremely hard it waslike devastating and it was in.
(37:02):
I would have never thought aarea that was not on the the
coast right apparently ashvilleis more of a mountainous uh town
town, yeah city town, and andthere was a huge IV fluid
(37:25):
factory called Baxter.
That was in that actual town,or that area, I think.
Colby (37:33):
Yep.
And it wiped out that Baxterplant, demolished the plant
where there was also facilitiesum, on site.
That house like uh, like abackup supply also of ivy bags.
So they make ivy bags with alldifferent kinds of fluids.
Christopher (37:54):
But they also had like a housing for, like a
backup supply yeah, and that,interestingly enough, has
impacted the entire country andhas actually impacted some
countries outside of the UnitedStates.
What have you noticed in ourhealth system's ideas to
(38:21):
conserve the IV fluids?
Colby (38:23):
Pretty immediately they were sending out like mass wide,
like hospital widenotifications that was coming
from Baxter as well.
Um, about immediately having todo like being conservative with
our IV bag use.
Um, immediately, like ourhealth system canceled a bunch
of surgeries, Like anything thatwas elective was completely
(38:44):
taken off the table and then,like even things that weren't
necessarily elective butnon-emergent were also taken off
the table.
They were, they were runningpretty like skeleton as far as
like running the ORs and likeany kind of procedure where you
know uh, influx and influx of IVbag usage would be the case.
(39:05):
So I think, immediately ourconservation went to canceling
procedures and surgeries.
And then they actually changeda lot of protocols around, like
how soon a bag of IV fluidswould be quote unquote expired
after being spiked.
They increased the amount oftime that we can let a bag be
(39:28):
running.
And then also, it's prettycommon practice normally to use
an IV bag of saline or someother kind of fluid as like a,
as a like prime, priming theline and then hanging in
antibiotic, for example, as asecondary line.
And we switched for right nowto be our antibiotics.
(39:49):
They're just running on oneprimary line without saline
running as a primary first.
What other things did younotice?
Christopher (39:58):
One thing I've noticed is they are every Monday
, Wednesday and Friday.
Notice is they are every monday, wednesday and friday.
We're actually taking anaccount of how many bags of the
like essential fluids, um, arebeing used, so how much that
unit has um in their actualstoreroom.
I know that also in terms ofthe kind of antibiotic route is
(40:25):
that they're running them longerto ensure that they're so that
when the next one comes up youcan then just switch the bag.
You don't have to actually havethat IV fluid the.
KVO fluid that you have open.
Now.
That's all in the hospital.
As I said, I work in a ivtherapy place I didn't even
(40:49):
think about.
Colby (40:50):
Obviously it would affect the iv therapy right um, yeah
which is the drip bar.
Christopher (40:55):
I had said the the name of that before, but, um,
yeah, that's.
That's been interesting.
Luckily, I guess theoverarching drip bar, because it
is a franchise.
They had a store of fluids thatwe have to kind of be very
(41:17):
mindful of what we're using andif we and majority everybody
that works at the drip bar wherewe're located is really good at
getting the IV started.
(41:40):
You know there's very few thatwe actually turn away, but we
can't, we can't just wastefluids now.
We have to be very mindful ofthat yeah um, and some because
of the fact that I I am kind ofhigher up in in the position.
I have noticed that some otherdrip bars are like changing the
(42:03):
pricing of their bags, becausethey're like oh interesting yeah
, like making it more expensive.
Colby (42:08):
Yeah, because if they spike it and then it goes to
waste right, yeah, yeah, um, andso like there's that and well,
do you guys not have a?
This is kind of a little offtopic, but you guys not have a
practice where you like?
Make sure you get the IV firstbefore you prepare the fluids.
Christopher (42:23):
Right.
So it is different than in thehospital where, if you you know
the there's the normal cadencefor an IV at a hospital is you
put in the IV, you connect theIV exit set, which is like that
little tail on the actual IV,and then you have a lure lock
(42:45):
that is able to be connected tothe actual IV itself.
Oh okay, we don't have that.
Colby (42:50):
I see, yeah, you put in the IV and you hook the line
right up to it instead of havingthe lure lock.
Christopher (42:55):
Yeah, and so we just trust that the flash is
where it's supposed to be.
Now, as many of you may know,know, if you are using your iv
skills, you can tell when a ivgoes into the vein.
It's smooth, it has very littleresistance.
There might be a vein like avalve valve.
(43:20):
There you go, a valve thatyou're up against, and I've been
able to float it even using theIV fluid.
Colby (43:26):
Yeah, or like a flush.
Christopher (43:28):
Yeah, but you know, we don't have flushes.
Colby (43:31):
Oh yeah, that's right, because you don't have the lure
luck.
Yeah, that's a very good point.
I, while you were talking,thought of another thing that
happened to me.
We had of me.
We had a patient who had a lowblood glucose sugar of like 34
and at one point in our healthsystem we use which you may as
well in yours the d50 iv pusheslike the, the big old ivs with
(43:53):
that sticky syrup stuff that'sin there.
Yeah, um, and there was ashortage at one point, so they
moved away from using thoseright, and so we had a different
protocol in place that ourhealth system, where it was like
a bag, like a 250 bag of d10but that's like infused over
like 10 minutes or 15 minutes orsomething like that, and then
you do your recheck after 15minutes after that, and there
(44:15):
was like a couple there's acouple different things all
involving iv bags, and so whenwe went into the, when we went
into the conservative like time,we were trying to conserve all
of our fluids they got rid ofall of that and we actually went
back to pushing D50.
So I had someone that was ablood glucose of 34.
(44:35):
And I was like, oh no, what arewe going to do?
Because we don't have the bagsand I hadn't read the email all
the way through.
I just skimmed this email,because they were sending us out
emails every single day withlike a PowerPoint that was like
a hundred pages.
So I was like I would just kindof like flip, flip, flip, flip,
flip and like get the gist ofit and be like, okay, got it.
But I had missed that part, andso I like quickly opened up the
(44:57):
patient's orders and I saw thatthey actually had D50 ordered.
Christopher (45:09):
And I was like, oh, we brought that back, okay, no
sweat.
Like went and got it, pulled itand gave it, but that's another
like major thing yeah thatwe've, that I noticed, and with
d50 you really make sure thatvein is oh yeah you need to make
sure that the iv is workinggood.
Colby (45:14):
I mean, and what?
And I was doing teaching, inthat moment I was like push it
consistent and slow, don't pushit super fast.
I know that, like thispatient's blood sugar is 34, but
they're still talking to usright now so that you know
they're not like, they're okay,but you are more than likely
gonna blow this iv regardless,even if you are pushing it slow,
because it's such a huge amountand it's so viscous and hard on
(45:36):
our and hard on the veins, yeah, um.
So be like, watch that spot,because as soon as you think
it's blown, it's blown, pull itout and you're going to have to
go to another IV to finish itLike it's, it's, it's.
And that's probably probablythe reason why, once the
shortage on D50 was done, wedidn't move back to it just
because it's not.
I mean, it's effective andquickly, but it's, it is very
(46:00):
viscous and hard on the veins.
Christopher (46:01):
I mean, you really just need a central line for
that.
Colby (46:05):
To give it the way you want it to be given when
someone's blood sugar is 34,yeah, central line to push that
through is much less stressful.
Christopher (46:13):
Yeah, are there any other like that?
You know of Things that you'vehad to be like.
Oh, we're conserving for thisweird reason.
Colby (46:26):
Ooh, I'm trying to think of something I'm sure there has
been, but you put me on the spotso I can't think of?
Christopher (46:33):
I don't have one.
I have not been in nursing longenough to really know.
Colby (46:37):
I'm positive there has been, but I can't think of
anything.
When we're done recording, I'llbe like oh, you want to know
what I just thought of here.
It is yeah, yeah, I mean,there's always something.
I mean there's just yeah,there's always going to be
something, Even if it's justspecific to a hospital.
Christopher (46:57):
You're going to notice that something is running
low on supply of, and they'regoing to be sending out an email
being like conserve this,conserve that well, I mean, even
with um, the drip bar, like ourvitamins, they, they also you
have to worry about, likeconservation of those as well,
when, yes, it could be somethingthat could be readily made or
(47:23):
synthesized, but there are some,like magnesium, that tends to
go a lot and you get a lot of itand you do use a lot, and
sometimes you're going to belike I'm sorry, we can't.
You know, we can't do that onetoday, that specific drip today,
because we have very littledrip today because we have very
(47:47):
little, and it's unfortunatebecause that is a profit.
You know that.
Yeah, you know we have to builda profit for the drip bar.
This is not a non-profit thing,right um so when you can't
provide that, that medication,it's a profit loss for sure,
yeah, which they could go tosomeone else who might happen to
have it, which is sad.
Colby (48:03):
Yeah, it's interesting what our health system did to
make a difference in our usage,and it's pretty wild.
How was this facility one oftwo in the US, or are there more
?
Christopher (48:20):
I think it was.
I thought it was the only one.
So when you said two, maybe itwas just two then I could be
wrong and if I am, that's,that's cool.
Colby (48:30):
But I think there's one more like midwest, midwest or
maybe more west out um there,but I don't think that they made
I think the one that was innorth carolina, either that they
it was a bigger facility, orthat maybe they make they focus
on two different types or youknow, not two different types,
but like one focuses on acertain you know amount of these
(48:54):
kinds and then one is the otherkind.
I'm not quite sure.
Um, it's just wild how theeffect of that one company, yeah
, really created a issue acrossthe world, across the us, but
like it, you know, noticedaround the world as far as
(49:15):
supplies well, even to the pointthat, like people were like
from other countries, were likedid did we send you?
Christopher (49:23):
did we send you money?
Did we send you?
Like IV fluids?
Yeah, so I mean it does.
It affects the world in termsof even just that, like, if
they're trying to supply us withIV fluids, they have a certain
amount of IV fluids they have touse.
Colby (49:41):
In any of your research did you see if the U SS did
accept from outside countries?
I wonder how that would workwith, like the FDA I didn't look
All right, class dismissed.
Christopher (49:50):
That's a wrap for today's session of Nursing Life
101.
We hope you found some usefultakeaways to bring back to the
floor.
Remember, nursing is a lifelonglearning journey and we're here
with you.
Colby (50:02):
If you want to connect, find us on Twitter at
NurseLife101, or on Facebook atNursingLife101.
And don't forget to subscribeand share with fellow nurses.
Until next time, take care ofyourselves and keep making a
difference out there.
Christopher (50:14):
Conserve where you can you.
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