Okay guys- stop with the jokes already-- this is a serious post about what I’m packing in my lab coat pockets these days when I am at clinical.
Well, before I continue, I have one confession-- I hate wearing my lab coat to clinical. I wore it during my first clinical rotation in the Neuro ICU but in the current Medical/Cardiac Surgery ICU where I’m rotating now, only the attending wears a lab coat. The fellows and the NP who is also my preceptor all wear black scrubs. The med students and I wear the green operating room scrubs. I definitely prefer the green, so comfy I could wear them to bed scrubs over any white, but very dirty if you look closely lab coat any day.
So, what am I carrying around in my green scrub pockets? Glad you asked.
A pen: no explanation needed.
A penlight: I used this penlight several times/day on my Neuro ICU rotation. I still use it daily in the Cardiac Surgery ICU but it definitely needed a battery change after all of those pupils I checked on the stroke patients.
Littmann Cardiology III Stethoscope: When I first started out in nursing school I purchased a budget friendly stethoscope that seemed to work just fine. After I began my first job as a bedside nurse, I noticed a variety of stethoscopes and wondered if the ones that looked more expensive were actually worth the money. After borrowing this one from a fellow nurse it was obvious that this Littmann Cardiology III stethoscope was definitely worth the investment. I am a firm believer in the value of a great stethoscope. I can appreciate heart mumurs much more easily and can hear breath sounds loud and clear- it's a definite must in my opinion.
Pocket Medicine Handbook: I use this book daily at clinical. It is well organized and incredibly easy to use. If I have a basic question about management of common diagnoses found in the ICU or even on the floor, this quick guide gets me on track. It covers everything from infectious disease to status epilepticus. It also fits easily in my back pocket.
Cardiac Surgey Manual: When I started working in a cardiothoracic ICU several years ago, my preceptor recommended I purchase this book so that I could familiarize myself with how to take care of patients immediately post-op cardiac surgery. At the time, the book overwhelmed me and I don't think I spent as much time reading it as I should have.
Now, as a NP student in the Cardiac Surgery ICU I use this book daily. It is written by Robert M. Bojar, M.D. a cardiothoracic surgeon. He goes into just the right amount of detail about every pertinent topic as it relates to cardiac surgery. He even includes sample ICU order sets for the management of these patients immediately post-op.
Even though this beast (820 pages) doesn't fit into my scrub pocket or lab coat pocket (if I wore one)- I always keep it close by.
How about you, what do you keep in your lab coat or scrub pockets?
Glad you asked! I have a lot of things in my lab coat: Tarascon's pediatric outpatient handbook, AAPs ICD-9 coding handbook, Walmart's $4 prescription list, an immunization schedule, a picture of the inner ear, a poop chart, prescription pad, blank sticky notes, a ruler (for measuring skin lesions), business cards, reading glasses (I'm old), pens, hand cream, and lipstick. I also carry my iPhone in my pocket--my Lexicomp is on there, and I use the calculator a lot, since we dose meds in pediatrics by weight. I wear my stethoscope around my neck, and like you, believe in the value of a good stethoscope. I have a Littman II pediatric (smaller bell/diaphragm).
ReplyDeleteI don't particularly like wearing a lab coat, since it freaks out some of the kids, but we are required to wear them. Mine is white, the physicians wear gray.