Back in the day......

9 I was regaling a new grad the other night as to how things have changed in the 35+ years since I became a nurse.

She was appalled to hear that:

Gloves were for surgery. Only. Yes, we cleaned up messes and changed dressings/ started IVs with our bare hands

The only 'treatment' for hypoplastic left heart was to place the baby in the mother's arms.

We mixed our own TPN.

Benadryl and ibuprofen were only available with a prescription.

PLEASE share you 'back in the day' stories!
fingercots

This is always a great topic......how nursing has changed over the years since we became nurses "back in the day".You might be interested in reading some of the responses in this allnurses article: Nursing: Then and Now.Like the song says....Those were the days, my friend........

LOL - I can relate. Clinical instructors in my BSN program told us that wearing gloves could be psychologically damaging to patients - making them seem "untouchable"... so we were to only use them for sterile procedures. We had to wear extreme isolation garb (space suits) to care for the first (diagnosed) AIDS patients in the early 80's... had no idea what caused it, just that it was deadly and there was no effective treatment. Pretty scary in retrospect.Foley care was with Betadine.... srsly. Bed Baths were not acceptable unless it was a very wet & soapy experience for the patient... we had to wear rubber aprons. EVERYONE got "PM care", including back rubs. Average length of stay was ~ >5 days for routine surgery. We only charted (manually, of course) about our patient care - no Core Measures, HCAHPS, or regulatory mandated forms... <sigh>. Most facilities actually discarded a lot of nursing documentation (including care plans) when the patient was discharged because it wasn't considered important enough to maintain in the "medical" record.

TPR graphs with BP written in. Hung on a clipboard hanging on the foot of the bedBig red rubber sheets (like draw sheets) used for incont linen protection on hosp bedsAnd yes, HouTX, the use of gloves were frowned upon for fear of 'offending' our pts.

I just thought of this - remember NO MED CARTS! We used to give meds from lite blue trays that looked like mini-muffin pans with little multi-colored med cards (red=stat, white=daily, blue, orange, green for the multi doses). And the syringes used to stand up on end on the trays.And we did this from a med cabinet/closet (with 'step shelves) in the nurses area. You know the area, a chart rack, an addressograph and an antique call bell system.

Gloves as a part of basically any sort of care that involved touching a patient really only came about in the 1980's. Primary push was the emerging AIDS crisis which in the early days no one knew what they were dealing with.Prior to this working as an assistant was told off by more than a few nurses for wearing gloves when say changing/cleaning a patient. One nurse asked "do you wear gloves when you go to the bathroom"? The other oft comment was "you are going to make patients think there is something wrong with them". Be as all that may soon as one hit the floor at the start of each shift would stuff my pockets with gloves. *LOL* Only time I didn't wear them was for taking vitals and making beds.

Quote from HouTxLOL - I can relate. Clinical instructors in my BSN program told us that wearing gloves could be psychologically damaging to patients - making them seem "untouchable"... so we were to only use them for sterile procedures. We had to wear extreme isolation garb (space suits) to care for the first (diagnosed) AIDS patients in the early 80's... had no idea what caused it, just that it was deadly and there was no effective treatment. Pretty scary in retrospect.Foley care was with Betadine.... srsly. Bed Baths were not acceptable unless it was a very wet & soapy experience for the patient... we had to wear rubber aprons. EVERYONE got "PM care", including back rubs. Average length of stay was ~ >5 days for routine surgery. We only charted (manually, of course) about our patient care - no Core Measures, HCAHPS, or regulatory mandated forms... <sigh>. Most facilities actually discarded a lot of nursing documentation (including care plans) when the patient was discharged because it wasn't considered important enough to maintain in the "medical" record.

Quote from amoLuciaI just thought of this - remember NO MED CARTS! We used to give meds from lite blue trays that looked like mini-muffin pans with little multi-colored med cards (red=stat, white=daily, blue, orange, green for the multi doses). And the syringes used to stand up on end on the trays.And we did this from a med cabinet/closet (with 'step shelves) in the nurses area. You know the area, a chart rack, an addressograph and an antique call bell system.

Quote from amoLuciaTPR graphs with BP written in. Hung on a clipboard hanging on the foot of the bedBig red rubber sheets (like draw sheets) used for incont linen protection on hosp bedsAnd yes, HouTX, the use of gloves were frowned upon for fear of 'offending' our pts.

Re: fat charts in the old chart rackIt was usually the MD/resident intern who 'dropped' the chart. We nurses would have rubber bands holding the pages in, but the physicians never replaced the rubber bands, and then PLOP!

I wasn't a nurse back then but I was an EMT back in the 80's. And I remember only gloving up when it got messy! A regular, routine call ..pssh.. : )

Gloves were degrading to the patient. We mixed all our own IV fluids and meds. We suctioned our babies every two hours around the clock and did vitals too. We gave every patient a bath every AM and changed all the linen every day. We didn't know about AIDS.We rounded with the docs and wrote their orders, and then spent the rest of the day hunting them down to sign them! We wore our caps We put tape over our IV sites not tegaderm, and said tape rode around in your pocket!