Medical Personnel Torture: The High Fidelity Code Simulation Lab

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Off the top of my head, I’m trying to think of professions that have simulators and airplanes and NASA shuttles are the only ones I can think of. Plenty of professions run simulated experiences– like police, firefighters and the like.

Code Simulation

In medicine, we too run simulations. Often these are called mock codes. Sadly, it’s really hard to practice real code events in a non-threatening situation because people don’t voluntarily offer to be put into cardiac arrest for us to practice bringing them back.

It is important to practice because all sorts of team dynamics can be analyzed and discussed and no one has died in the process. The issue with medicine is that mannequins are static– they don’t give you information. Usually, there is a code facilitator who feeds information to the group. Not only does a mannequin not give information but you often can’t do real procedures on them– like start IV’s or intubate.

Over the last several years this has changed. Mannequins have evolved and become more life like to allow for a more realistic code experience. They draw breath. They can have procedures done to them.

Recently, I participated in a high-fidelity code simulation. The purpose was to do it with fellow nurses that I work with on my unit. This made it more interesting because there are already team dynamics in place. We were all emergency nurses with many years of experience. We know each others quirks and weaknesses.

The photo is fairly close to how our room was set up. The situation is presented in as real an environment as possible. Another nurse comes and gets you and presents the scenario and then generally leaves.

Our team was comprised of three nurses, one nurse practitioner, a physician and a respiratory therapist.

The first scenario went off without a hitch and we were feeling pretty good about ourselves . . . until scenario #2.

I can’t give much away because I did sign a confidentiality agreement to not divulge specifics about the scenario. Let’s just say the scenario was difficult as it presented us with a lot more torture than any of us imagined would be involved in a mock situation.

Team dynamics are a very interesting thing. Not only was there a lot of stress in our scenario, but tension, frustration and hopelessness at one point. It’s amazing to feel all of that even when intellectually you know that no one’s life is at risk.

I think these type of code simulations are invaluable and I hope that more and more hospitals invest in this type of training for their staff. It has been show to increase staff competency.

Author Question: Gunshot Wounds

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I’m happy to have award-winning author Jocelyn Green return to Redwood’s with a couple of questions about gunshot wounds.
Welcome back, Jocelyn!
Jocelyn asks:
I decided not to do a gunshot to my character’s shoulder because of all the bones and major things it could have hit. Too complicated for my story. Instead, I am writing that she was shot through her bicep, missing the bone, though. A year later, she raises a gun for the first time since her injury, to do target practice.
Is it possible that due to nerve injury, her aim is off, or she can’t raise the gun properly? It would be great if something doesn’t look right to her “instructor.” So, can we limit her range of motion or something, due to her injury? The year is 1863, by the way, and according to my medical textbooks from that time, the treatment of a gunshot wound was to clear out the debris and just put water dressings over it.
Jordyn says: 
Yes, this is possible. A gunshot wound through the bicep could injure the musculocutaneous nerve that is responsible for part of the upper arm like the flexor muscles. Flexor muscles decrease angles at joints like the elbow. So, if her arm would need to be slightly bent to shoot the weapon, she would be unable to do that. That being said—if it were needed that the opposite be true (for instance her arm would need to be straight to shoot the weapon) you could injure a nerve that supplies the extensor muscle—which decreases the angle at joints like the elbow. You can view the two links below for detailed information about flexor and extensor muscles. 
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/210143/flexor-muscle
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198909/extensor-muscle
Remember, though, she would exhibit these deficiencies all the time—not just when she’s learning to shoot the weapon with her instructor so that would need to be written into the story as well.
Jocelyn asks:
I also have another character who broke his arms and legs in an accident on a ship under construction. How long would he be in slings for his arms and casts for his legs? How long would he use a wheelchair or cane?
Jordyn says:
Wow! You are really torturing your poor characters in this novel! Those are very significant injuries. Bones can take anywhere from four weeks (on the short end) to eight weeks (on the long end) to heal. In the time era your novel is set in—I’m doubtful they would have done plating, screws, etc for stabilizing fractures but likely did externally set them. 
I think he’s going to be wheelchair bound for a long time. A person quickly loses muscle mass and strength in a few short weeks of being immobile so even when he’s out of his casts (in say six to eight weeks) he would not be able to tolerate a lot of physical activity for likely several months.

These days a person who suffered these injuries might be in a rehab center for several weeks building their strength and mobility back up.  

********************************************************************
 A former military wife, Jocelyn Green authored, along with contributing writers, the award-winning Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives and Faith Deployed . . . Again. Jocelyn also co-authored Stories of Faith and Couragefrom the Home Front, which inspired her first novel: Wedded to War. She loves Mexican food, Broadway musicals, Toblerone chocolate bars, the color red, and reading on her patio. Jocelyn lives with her husband Rob and two small children in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Up and Coming

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Hello Redwood’s Fans!

How has your week been?

This coming week is very exciting for me. I’ll be heading out of town for the annual ACFW conference. ACFW is the largest group of Christian Fiction authors and includes all different types of fiction genres.

My debut novel, Proof, was nominated for the Carol Award in the debut novel category. This week, well Sunday, Sept 15th– I get to find out if I actually won at the award’s banquet.

More than that, the conference is a chance to catch up with my author friends who are scattered across the country and learn a lot about the writing craft– which never ends.

So, you’ll have to wait until Monday, Sept 16 to find out what really happened while I was there. But if you happen to be there in Indie– be sure to come up and say “hi”.

Also, I am launching my newsletter October 1 with a great prize give away worth over $75.00 but you have to subscribe (and live in the USA) to be eligible. Don’t miss out. There will be stuff in there not found anywhere else.

For you this week:

Tuesday: Fabulous award-winning author Jocelyn Green stops by with some questions about gunshot wounds.

Thursday: What exactly are high-fidelity code simulations and how did I feel about going through one?

Have a great week!!

Losing a License

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Sometimes you need a medical character to go through the wringer– I mean really go through the wringer. One possible way to do this would be to have them lose their license.

But what could cause a medical person to lose a license?

Remember, each state has a governing board that manages all kinds of licenses– not just those covering medical persons. There are licenses granted to plumbers, cosmetologists, and massage therapists so this could be a drastic turn of events for other types of professionals, too.

Doctors usually are managed by a separate entity than say nurses and other licensed persons– usually it’s called something like the Board of Healing Arts.

Here is a list of reasons a medical person could lose their license.

1. They operated outside their scope of practice. Scope of practice deals with what a licensed person can and can’t do. It does differ from state to state. For instance, some nurses may be able to start an IV without a protocol in place. It means a dermatologist shouldn’t be doing C-sections. It doesn’t mean they can’t do something like this in your novel but your character should face some consequences if they do– which of course can add to the overall tension.

2. Drug or alcohol abuse. This would have to be long and protracted and the person would probably have to be non-compliant with drug treatment. It would not be an automatic loss.

3. Abusing patients. A nurse intentionally causing pain and suffering.

4. Stealing Drugs/Diversion of Drugs: Giving someone you know prescription drugs– even if they are your own. This is more likely to be a problem if the drugs are narcotics than say naproxen sodium but it is highly frowned upon for a nurse to give their prescription drugs to anyone but themselves. Another thing under this would be adjusting a family member’s medication without the consent of their physician. Like increasing pain medication or adjusting insulin dosages. Selling drugs is even worse as it could carry criminal prosecution as well.

5. Patient Abandonment: Leaving the hospital without proper notification. Not giving report on a patient.

6. Negligence: For a nurse, this could be something like a nurse not reporting a change in a patient’s condition to the physician and the patient not getting the attention they needed and suffering a turn for the worse.

7. Providing a False Copy of License: This might be a case where a nurse has received a reprimand– which could be printed on the license and she provides a copy that is restriction free (such as an older copy.) Even if the suspension is over– this is a big no no.

8. Falsifying Patient Records. Something like recording a set of vital signs that you made up.

9. Unprofessional Conduct: This could be using foul language at work to hosting a pornographic website.

10. Violating Probation. If you’re in trouble with the State Board of Nursing– you better do everything they say otherwise it could end up in total revocation of your license.

To read further on these points– check out this article. 

News Stories for Authors: Police Sue Woman

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Honestly, sometimes you just don’t have to go very far to get plot ideas. They are in the news every day.

This news story totally shocked me– and honestly it takes a lot to do that for me these days.

Evidently, a woman called 911 yet “failed to report how serious a situation was” though evidently did say a man was on bath salts and acting belligerently. The situation became volatile and the man was shot and killed but one deputy was injured in the scuffle. He’s the one that’s suing. Here’s a link to the news story.

Very early in my nursing career, a man was transported to us via ambulance. He had passed out and cut his head open on a rock mowing the lawn in the Midwestern heat and humidity. I mean, who wouldn’t, right?

Now, if you know head lacerations– you know they bleed pretty severely. Even small wounds can bleed impressively and this man had a significant laceration and blood was everywhere. He wasn’t all that coherent when we tried to ask questions and get a history so we bypassed that and began his medical treatment. The physician and I were gloved up and raking through his hair when his sister arrived and we began asking her his history.

“Does he have any medical problems?”

“Yes, he’s HIV positive.”

I mean– we both just froze and I remember thinking I wish I’d been in the habit of triple gloving. The physician and I were fine because, as healthcare providers, we assume EVERYONE is infected all the time and we should be using precautions based on that assumption. Always assume the worst case scenario.

Which is why I can’t reason this officer’s actions for the following reasons.

1. Every responding officer should assume they are going into a volatile situation until proven otherwise. I don’t think it’s routine to put on Kevlar after you get on scene.

2. People aren’t good at disclosing details that may be pertinent to your job when they are having an emergency. They are thinking of only a few things. “I need help.” “Come as quickly as you can.” “Did I say fix this now?” It’s up to us as emergency responders to ask for the information that we need yet realize even then– the answers may not be accurate.

3. This is a workman’s comp issue. If you’re injured in the performance of your duties– this becomes a workman’s comp claim and I have no idea why a police officer thinks suing her for money will engage the public trust.

I am a HUGE supporter of the police. My brother is a police officer. But, we don’t want civillians worried about getting sued when they truly need help. I hope the courts throw this case out.

Please.

What are your thoughts?

Up and Coming

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This Labor Day weekend was my birthday! Yea, me, right?

I don’t know if birthdays are as sweet as they once were. You get to a point where you don’t want to see your age increasing. What I will say is that I do feel better this birthday than I have for many of my past ones because of some physical challenges I put myself through over the last several months. Things like running a 5K, a 10K and a mud obstacles course.

And some thought I hadn’t truly run the course because I wasn’t muddy enough in the pictures I posted so I have included a few more as “proof” of my endeavor.

What do you do, regardless of age, to keep your life interesting? I had just seen a man over 60 attempt American Ninja Warrior. He didn’t get very far but he trained and tried.

What dream do you have that you need to take that first step toward. I think this man proves age does not have to be a limitation.

For you this week:

Tuesday: Evaluation of a police scenario.

Thursday: How would a medical person lose their license?

Hope you guys have a fabulous week and hope you enjoyed our Labor Day Weekend!

Jordyn

Being a Male Nurse

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If you’ve seen the movie, Meet the Parents, you very early on painfully realize the torture than Ben Stiller goes through as his character Greg Focker is a male nurse. Of course, there is parody and good ribbing from Robert De Niro but what’s it really like to be a male nurse.

No, this is not my co-worker.

Evidently, being a male nurse is becoming a little less rare. Male nurses have tripled in the work force since the 1970s and 1 in 10 nurses are male. You can read more about male nursing statistics here. 

I wouldn’t know personally but I do work with one– yes, just one right now. He really is a great nurse and pretty quirky so I thought I’d ask him– “What’s it really like to be a male in this profession?”

And his first response was, “It’s f***ing hell. If I would have known working with this many women would have caused me this much anxiety I would have chosen another profession. Oddly enough, it only took me three years to start menstruating.”

As you can tell– he’s somewhat of a jokester. And no, he doesn’t use that kind of language around his pediatric patients. They love him . . . seriously– tattoos and all.

So what is unique about being a male nurse? What does he face that the rest of us estrogen laced cohorts don’t?

Here’s his list.

1. I’m either a brother or a therapist. I now have two-hundred sisters.

2. I’m asked more often to deal with difficult people– those that are under the influence or intoxicated. Difficult family situations.

3. I don’t know who can handle my antics and who can’t.

4. It’s the first time I was a minority as a white male. I got tons of money for grad school.

5. If it wasn’t for my tattoos it would probably be assumed more often that I was a doctor.

6. I’m not disrespected by doctors like my female co-workers are.

What’s it like working with women all the time?

1. Taxing. Because I have to watch what I say. For instance, I got pinched in the butt by a horny old lady in front of supervisors from five different units one time in the elevator. Exactly what do you say?

2. I’ve got to be careful what I share and I can’t be on Facebook. All Facebook did was cause me problems because co-workers would look at my pictures and ask me who I was in relationship with.

3. I want a lot of alone time after I work three twelve hour sifts in a row because I also live with two women. I need to hang out with guys or just have alone time.

4. I receive a lot of unwanted and unwarranted advice.

Any other male nurses out there? What’s your experience like?

Seven Medical Must-Do’s For Fall

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If you are like me– you sent kids back to school this past week and celebrated cried as they walked their book-filled laden backpacks through the school doors.

The start of school generally increases the pace of the pediatric ER. Kids are in closer contact and therefore– sharing all those wonderful germs with one another.

There’s usually an increase in illnesses when school starts– strep throat and meningitis are a couple. And, if your child starts daycare– you can expect quite a few illnesses as they adjust to their new germ-filled environment.

I like to do a few things to get ready for the coming viral onslaught that fall and winter bring and I thought I’d do a little public service by sharing these things with you. It’s better to do these things now than have to fight weather to go get them when you really need them.

The snow senses when you’re not stocked up and will dump three feet of frosty flakes on your house just to prove it.

1. Make sure you have a back-up for your child’s medications. Things like rescue inhalers, epi-pens and insulin.

2. Have fever reducers/pain medication that are appropriate for your child. Make sure what you have on hand is not expired. Tylenol for infants under six months. Ibuprofen and Tylenol for infants/children six months and over. No aspirin for any kids unless prescribed by a physician.

3. Stock up on replacement fluids. This would be Pedialyte (or equivalent) for kids two and under Gatorade/Powerade for kids two and up to adult. Don’t forget yourself. Usually if one person comes down with something in the household– everyone else is bound to get it.

4. Kleenex and hand gel. Good hand washing is always the best prevention for illness.

5. Hats and mittens. Snow Pants for those that live in cold climates. Buy a few pairs. It never fails that you won’t be able to find any mittens for your six-year-old when the first blizzard hits. I buy a few cheap pairs as extra.

6. Don’t forget– kids playing in the snow should be wearing sunglasses– particularly at higher altitudes (like when skiing.) 

7. Get your flu shot!

What else do you do to prepare for fall/winter?

Up and Coming

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Hello Redwood’s Fans!

Are you like me and maybe celebrating a little too joyously the children going back to school?!? I do love my children but it is nice to have some quiet in the days as well to get back to writing.

I DO love fall and am excited for all things pumpkin to come out over the next several weeks. Autumn is really my favorite time of year. Plus, it’s the beginning of the holiday CANDY season– yep, trainer dude is going to be ecstatic about that, too.

This week is also birthday week– me and my oldest daughter will celebrate. I think we’ll focus more on hers than mine. 

For you this week:

Tuesday: I thought I’d do a little public service and help get you all ready for the fall/winter viral season. This post will be seven things I do to make sure I’m ready.

Thursday: What’s it like being a male nurse? My one and only male nursing colleague steps onto the edge to let me know his deepest darkest thoughts– and it is pretty hilarious, too.

Hope you all have a great week.

Jordyn

How People Die

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Are you curious to know what people die of where you live?

There are tons and tons of websites that can help you get a feel for the leading causes of death in a particular area, a particular age group, a particular race and gender.

I have to give a shout out to my agent’s wife, Becky Johnson, for posting this to her Facebook page and I thought it would be an excellent resource for all you medical nerds to bookmark in your research folder.

It’s a website called World Life Expectancy. I know– right? I just got chills.

I’ve linked you to one particular page that looks at the top 15 causes of death in the US and ranks each state and where they fall.

The state leading in death by heart disease: Mississippi.

How about cancer? That would be Kentucky.

How about something more mundane like accidents? You get the gold West Virginia.

It’s like Becky said– “If you want to live a long, disease free life– Hawaii seems to be your best bet.”

There is literally a plethora of information on this website. Life expectancy– down to your particular county. It also has lots of data for the WORLD. 

How does your state fair? Does it give you any plot ideas? I think cancer clusters always serve for interesting medical plots.