Any Nurses Here?

[beckyb]

Any nurses on Raw? and if so, I would like to start a thread on what we
see on a daily basis!!

I'm an RN and work in the Recovery Room at 2 hospitals. I have been a
nurse for 20 years. I have noticed a trend in the past 5 years that patients
are getting sicker and sicker. It was very rare (maybe once a month) that
we would see a patient diagnosed with cancer.

Now, I am seeing at least two or three patients a week with colon, rectal,
liver, stomach, or breast cancer (newly diagnosed).

I have also started my own little survey... As the patients wake up from
surgery, they are very honest and you can ask them anything and they will
tell you (just a secret of the trade). I always tell them their surgery is
over and ask them if they are in any pain. My next question is usually this:

What is your favorite food? If you could eat anything right now, what would
it be? Where do you eat out?

Here are some of the answers I get:

I love Fried Food, anything fried I eat, I know its bad, but I love it -
(spoken by a women operated on for an intestinal obstruction) - Part of
her colon was removed - She had an NG tube and almost died postop.

Fried Chicken, Greens, Pork Chops - Patient dying of kidney failure - Will
be in dialysis 3 times a week unti he dies. Age 38 years old.

Boiled Shrimp - I can't get enough of them - Patient diagnosed with Irritable
bowel syndrome (cramping, diarrhea, rectal bleeding)

I want a Whataburger and Fries!! -- Patient with rectal bleeding

Cheeseburger/Fries/Coke - Patient just had a heart cath with 2 vessels
blocked, severe coronary artery disease. He got this on his lunch tray in
the recovery room!! (GAG)

The list goes on and on and I don't want to bore you guys here, but
would like to hear from other nurses on this subject!!

Thanks

Becky

[robertandenith]

omg that's sounds surreal and sad :( I am not a nurse, my major is nursing actually but I am changing to Alternative Medicine really soon :)

[rawlee]

Hi BeckyB! I am a nurse working in a 20 bed ER. I also have been in the profession for 20+ years. Our biggest patient load is chest pain, SOB, and abdominal pain (which covers a host of things from appendicitis to obstruction, etc.).The link between diet and disease is mightily apparent. I actually had a discussion today with one of the attending docs and my raw diet came up via another co-worker. He was interested but it seemed more like a "you eat what!?!" Every time he asked me something, "can you eat bread? can you eat eggs?" etc. he followed with a "oh, I could never do that! It's too extreme". Ha! I bit my tongue a few times and then finally said, "I can eat whatever I want and I want raw." BTW...feeling any burnout yet? Linda

[fallenangel]

hi Becky,
I think its horifying that we have been so ignorant as to the terrible effect that our diet has on our bodies, I suppose its like putting deisel into an unleaded car!! Its eventually going to break down! I am new to raw and have been suffering with ovarian cysts for a long time, I have had 1 and a half ovaries removed already, I am young and wonder about fertility! I can,t help wondering if poor diet is the underlying cause. I am hoping that the transition to raw will help my situation!
I think it is wonderful if your post operative food questions wake up a bit of reality in your patients!!

xx
fallen angel
Ireland :) :)

[sweepea32]

Hi Becky,

I am an RN working in the pre-surgical testing area of a large hospital.
I am always noticing how much sicker people are at much younger ages.
People are having their gallbladders removed in their early 20's!!!
Never saw that years ago. Also GERD is rampant with young people also getting that nowadays-from what??-POOR DIET CHOICES!!.
I see at least 2 times a week a cancer patient who is going to have surgery. It is frightening to say the least.
I think all cancers have increased at least twofold in the recent past.

It is amazing to me how people rush into having surgery-instead of trying to deal with their problems 1st on their own. When the doctor says something people listen...

glad to see some other nurses here


Mary


PS-as far as burnout-I have experienced it many times in the past 20 years-and when I do I switch jobs-the beauty of nursing-you can always find work and be trained in a new area.

[dreamrawalwz]

In October '05 I had surgery on my duodeum (sp?) (connects stomach to intestines). Anyway, They wouldn't let me eat or drink, only ice chips for a few days post op. Then they gave me orange juice or apple juice. I refused since I knew it was cooked and all proper nutrients were out of it. When I was allowed to eat they wanted to bring me fries and potatoes and stuff. I graciously said "no thank you" and hobbled to the cafeteria in my gown with my mom and got a salad bar and fresh strawberries lol. They weren't feeding ME yucky hospital food!

[swingbolder]

Hi all,

I'm a nursing student, doing my pre-reqs and will graduate (god willing) in the spring of '09. I am hoping that being raw will enable me to stay on my feet for 12 hours straight!

[Spectatrix]

People are having their gallbladders removed in their early 20's!!!
Never saw that years ago.
I had mine removed when I was 18... :o I started having what were probably "gallbladder attacks" (pancreatitis) when I was 15. My diet before then wasn't great, but it certainly wasn't as bad as a lot of people's. I didn't eat a lot of fast food or fried stuff... in fact, about the only time I'd eat fried food would be when my family would go to a chinese buffet (I'd get crab rangoons and egg/spring rolls). I was very much addicted to soda, but that's not really a contributing factor to gallstones.

Ah well, c'est la vie... after that and especially now with kidney problems, I'm much more concerned about my health and diet. I'm hoping that with my dietary changes, my fiance will follow suit and we'll be able to avoid any major health issues with him.

[Goddess_girl]

I have also started my own little survey... As the patients wake up from
surgery, they are very honest and you can ask them anything and they will
tell you (just a secret of the trade). I always tell them their surgery is
over and ask them if they are in any pain. My next question is usually this:

What is your favorite food? If you could eat anything right now, what would
it be? Where do you eat out?


That is mean and an invasion of privacy and NONE of your business and NOT part of your job. You are judging them and there problems based on what they eat. I can point out MANY vegan that get sick and have cancer; my cousin for one. Raw may help in some aspects but it will NOT cure you of what you are predestined to get. It is just that simple.
Not to mention you are taking advantage of their state of mind.

[JinxieKat]

<snip>

Cheeseburger/Fries/Coke - Patient just had a heart cath with 2 vessels
blocked, severe coronary artery disease. He got this on his lunch tray in
the recovery room!! (GAG)

<snip>




Goddess_girl,
While I am not Becky just looking at this one quote and taking into account that she said her job is to work in the recovery room it could very well be that it is part of her job to ask that question. As for invasion of privacy that would be more of a concern if she was listing her clients names along with the information. How can you be invading someone's privacy when none of us have any idea who these people are?
The point I'm taking away from this is that alot of people are slowly but surely killing themselves through their food choices. In the above quote the man just had heart surgery for blocked arteries.. You know his Dr. has told him to stay away from high fat, fried foods. Yet what does he ask for right after surgery to try to correct the damage done to his body, the very items that caused it!!! The adds we see on TV, how we are taught to eat as children, the rapidly growing food service industry are all signs on how we are patterened to eat junk that is awful for us. As a whole the majority of society is so conditioned that even when our very lives are at risk we still will eat this junk.

Jinx

[mypinkbow]

Interesting topic. I had a situation last week when I went to see my doctor for an annual pap. I go to a doctors office that is a teaching family practise in that my doc is a resident. This was a new doc. They had a form for me to fill out asking all kinds of questions from the age i first had sex to if I was being physically abused. When the appt was over I asked the doctor a question. I said I am curious why you ask all these questions but ignore the fact that I am obese by BMI standards........BMI is 40. He said yes he was guilty as were many of the other docs. They said they typically dont panic when they see an over weight person until they come in weighing 400 pounds or more. He said alot of people are not open to the discussion about their weight. He was however open to the discussion with me after I brought it up and appeared to really be listening. After I left, I thought to myself do they not bring up the fact that a person has cancer or heart disease as I would think these too were not pleasant topics of discussion. Obesity leads to an aray of disease processes and to ignore it until there is a problem is in my opinion irresponsible of our medical community. Here's an idea......PREVENTION and EDUCATION.

[Light of an Angel]

Becky you seem like totally different "type" of a nurse from what I know. For instance this girl I know who is two months pregnant is smoking cigarettes because "when she found out she was pregnant she was smoking a pack a day and it would be too much stress if she quit." That is coming from a girl who is studying to be a nurse and whos mom is one also. Makes you wonder :confused:

[harp]

hi becky,

this may be off your subject but i just started raw and i'm not sure if i'm detoxing or had an allergic reaction to a food. do you know any way i can tell the difference? thanks very much,

jahfree harp


Any nurses on Raw? and if so, I would like to start a thread on what we
see on a daily basis!!

I'm an RN and work in the Recovery Room at 2 hospitals. I have been a
nurse for 20 years. I have noticed a trend in the past 5 years that patients
are getting sicker and sicker. It was very rare (maybe once a month) that
we would see a patient diagnosed with cancer.

Now, I am seeing at least two or three patients a week with colon, rectal,
liver, stomach, or breast cancer (newly diagnosed).

I have also started my own little survey... As the patients wake up from
surgery, they are very honest and you can ask them anything and they will
tell you (just a secret of the trade). I always tell them their surgery is
over and ask them if they are in any pain. My next question is usually this:

What is your favorite food? If you could eat anything right now, what would
it be? Where do you eat out?

Here are some of the answers I get:

I love Fried Food, anything fried I eat, I know its bad, but I love it -
(spoken by a women operated on for an intestinal obstruction) - Part of
her colon was removed - She had an NG tube and almost died postop.

Fried Chicken, Greens, Pork Chops - Patient dying of kidney failure - Will
be in dialysis 3 times a week unti he dies. Age 38 years old.

Boiled Shrimp - I can't get enough of them - Patient diagnosed with Irritable
bowel syndrome (cramping, diarrhea, rectal bleeding)

I want a Whataburger and Fries!! -- Patient with rectal bleeding

Cheeseburger/Fries/Coke - Patient just had a heart cath with 2 vessels
blocked, severe coronary artery disease. He got this on his lunch tray in
the recovery room!! (GAG)

The list goes on and on and I don't want to bore you guys here, but
would like to hear from other nurses on this subject!!

Thanks

Becky

[beckyb]

Wow, first of all, I NEVER thought that I would be ATTACKED on this forum!!

As a nurse, we have to KNOW our patients.. this includes diet, exercise,
diseases they have had, surgery, allergies, etc. I don't consider asking a
patient what they eat an invasion of privacy. I am not forcing them to
talk, in fact, most patients waking up from anesthesia want to talk about
alot more than food. (Sex, dreams, seeing dead relatives, phobias, feelings
of guilt and shame, affairs). I have been hit, screamed at, spit at, blood
spattered , vomited on, crapped on, you name it, its been slung at me).

My "job", is to relax the patient as they are waking up. To talk about a
subject that is of interest to me, is of no invasion on a patient for sure.

For one thing, it is an inspiration to keep me on my raw journey. To see
a patient in agony does not make me want to run and eat a meat burrito
or get a large order of fries for lunch. I hate it for them, and I was where
they were not too long ago. Everyone comes to raw from a different place.
Maybe the handout I give them on how to increase fiber in their diet
will trigger them to seek out alternative ways to eat. I always educate
whenever possible but do not force my lifestyle on anyone.

I also would NEVER divulge a name or even the name of the hospital of
where I work in case someone might even think I am revealing information
on a public forum about a patient of mine. I am a professional!!

Speaking of burnout, its the public's attitude towards nurses that have
caused most of the burnout creating a severe shortage of dedicated
nurses. I have worked in labor and delivery and now in PACU.. I hope
to embark on a new career involving raw food in the near future.

For all my nurse friends on this forum, is ANYBODY at your hospital receptive
to your way of eating ? What kind of feedback are you guys getting?

You do have more energy eating raw, however, I do have to eat every
2 hours to sustain it. Just grabbing some grapes, an orange, lots of water
helps alot. Sometimes its hard to make it to the bathroom!!

I appreciate the feedback!! Keep it coming!!

B

[Gosia]

I love nurses and admire them for their work. They are the ones who are with the patient when no-one else is. When I gave birth to my first child, through a ceasarian, in Greece, there was this sweet young nurse who nurtured me when I needed that, helped me to go for my walks when my family abandoned me. I wish I spoke Greek better and told her how grateful I was. If I bumped into her now, I would give her a big big hug.

Hugs to you beckyb, you are doing a great job. Thank you for that!

Gosia.

[beckyb]

Thanks!! I needed a HUG!! I do want to say that I have alot of patients
that are very appreciative of our care and thank us when they leave.

I even gave one VERY interested patient DW's website thebestdayever.com
and she called me later in the week to thank me. She had been suffering
terribly with diverticulosis and all the doctor could recommend was
"increase fiber" see me in 3-5 years!! Hopefully she found her way to raw.

B

[Dawn39]

As far as discussing the patients..........................

The word is "scenario" very common practice in the medical field. They have them in every RN magazine / Medical journal etc. Heck at UNIVERSITY ( Learning Hospitals) they can take pictures of you and display it in class. I'm in a Medical Journal somewhere due to a tragic accident when I was 18.

I saw a post here where the Doctor asked when the patient first had sex, is that invasive?
Perhaps the intention was misinterpreted?

I worked in an ER and on the Ambulance Team in the Military ( we did rounds in other areas to prevent burn out).

Years later I went to work at a Day Surgery Unit & was Shocked at the number of Gall Bladders being removed Teens & Up . I thought there was an outbreak. We lived in NV @ the Time & I always was concerned w/ the water there ( visions of bomb tests).
I have to admit the diet there was better than what people consume here. There was a higher concentration of Vegans there than here. ( I did not here of the Raw diet until 2004.)
I couldn't get over what our hospital fed the patients under the guise of "Good Nutrition". The number of deep fried foods.
Yes I asked the patients what food preferences they had to ensure that they received what they wanted @ meal time.

That's my thought ya'll

:)
Dawn

[dreamrawalwz]

"I'm in a Medical Journal somewhere due to a tragic accident when I was 18."

I am too for my surgery in '05.

[ljannise]

I think if anyone attacks you it's because ppl place a lot of trust to allow theirselves to go unconcious with ppl they do NOT know.

Kinda feels like you are playing schemy tricks.

My dad just had prostate cancer surgery so I'm trying not to take your post TOO personal. Hospitals are indeed full of nurses like you. Everywhere.

All the nurses that allowed my grandmother to fry in bed with bed sores until the day they killed her all patted theirselves on the back for what a "wonderful" job they were doing. When they hid her records when she died, they still went home with "I'm a damn fine nurse" mentality.

You might want to think about what ppl really ARE. They arent your guniea pigs for your personal jokes or games. They dont deserve to be treated this way just because they caught up in the standard american diet & are facing addictions & dont know another way out... yet.

I would LOVE to give you credit for being an awesome & powerful nurse & damn, I'm sure there's some out there, but all you have to do is your job. It's not your place to have patients do circus tricks for you.

Invasion of privacy, YES.

You can pick apart, manipulate, & attempt to control the post I made above- I'm kinda expecting that, but trying to turn words around to suit your needs wont make things better.

I am appauled by this thread.

[sigtau66]

That is mean and an invasion of privacy and NONE of your business and NOT part of your job. You are judging them and there problems based on what they eat. I can point out MANY vegan that get sick and have cancer; my cousin for one. Raw may help in some aspects but it will NOT cure you of what you are predestined to get. It is just that simple.

I'm glad that Becky is judging them on what they eat because their problems are almost always DIRECTLY related to what they consume. These people (even though I know she doesn't do this) should be shamed by someone else for what they eat. They wouldn't be in the hospital by 28 getting their gallbladder removed if they didn't eat all the processed crap that goes for food today.

As for your comment about vegans getting cancer. Just because they're vegans automatically makes them less succeptible to diseases than a normal person? If they're a "normal" (SAD) vegan, they're still going to have the same diseases a non-vegan would. These vegans are still consuming a large part of a standard diet...soda, processed vegan foods, etc. Even a raw vegan could still develop these same problems long term if they're eating "wrong" foods long term. Paul Nison speaks about this in his lectures (if you have a change to check one of his lectures out).

If you truly believe that you're pre-destined to get some type of disease, why are you eating raw? We eat raw because we believe (and science mostly backs us up) that it heals our body of all problems. If I was already pre-determined to die of a heart attack in 7 years, why did I just now start denying myself of foods I've enjoyed my whole life? I did it because I believe the foods I am eating now will prevent any problems I could've developed if I would've stayed on the same diet path.

I replied to your message because I think your anger directed at Becky is misplaced and wanted to try show you some perspective about what you spoke about. Please don't think I'm attacking you because this is not what this message is about. It's about enlightenment which all of us have already experienced (because we eat raw foods!), but we can always experience more.

[Svadhyaya]

This is the attitude I hate among people who follow a healthy/alternative lifestyle. Holier-than-thouism is rampant and common and I find it very offensive. Please be kind.

Also, Becky said:
As the patients wake up from surgery, they are very honest and you can ask them anything and they will tell you (just a secret of the trade). I always tell them their surgery is over and ask them if they are in any pain. My next question is usually this: What is your favorite food? If you could eat anything right now, what would it be? Where do you eat out?

This is a perfectly clear case of a nurse taking advantage of a patient in a vulnerable situation for her own "personal survey" (as she stated.) If this practice, indeed, is a "secret of the trade" then "the trade" is corrupt and patients are having their privacy invaded. There is simply nothing right or okay about this. If you truly want to help them, Becky, wait and question these patients when they are fully awake and coherant. Every patient should enjoy the right to be honest, lie, or tell you it's none of your darned business what they eat. You are overstepping your bounds.

[Dawn39]

In all fairness to the qoute stated above...........under those conditions I bet that I'd fail Becky's test.

No matter how Raw I eat....................I still Have SAD temptations & I'd prob would state one of them if asked if I could have anything I want.

[hotgugon]

hey!...my mom's a nurse...she says that she gets a lot of overweight patients and it's scary how overweight they are...they weigh around 200-300lbs. scary.

[blesshisname]

That is mean and an invasion of privacy and NONE of your business and NOT part of your job. You are judging them and there problems based on what they eat. I can point out MANY vegan that get sick and have cancer; my cousin for one. Raw may help in some aspects but it will NOT cure you of what you are predestined to get. It is just that simple.
Not to mention you are taking advantage of their state of mind.

Wow, why is everyone attacking eachother on here lately??

I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm sure in life everyday we judge people by our own eyes. I'll be the first to admit, that if I see someone in the grocery line with tons of SAD items, I begin to think of what they'll suffer from as they age. And yes, that may be bad, but I used to be the same way they were.

And I would like to say I don't agree with your comment, about how a 100 percent raw diet will not cure what you're predestined to get. I've heard numerous stories of healing, and I've seen things in myself heal.

I could understand if Becky was putting her hands on her patients in an innappropriate manner, but asking them what they eat is by far invasion of privacy.

People, let's keep the support coming, instead of the attacking.

[Sharon in Colorado]

I believe Becky, you are a caring and wonderful person and nurse - I think maybe this is a judgment call and the way the question is asked - and the intentions of why the question is asked. Is it asked for hospital food purposes or is it a prying question.

I have always feared being sedated because I am really sensitive to all kinds of drugs. When I tried pot as a teenager it made me paranoid. When I was given laughing gas during a dental procedure it made me feel really uncomfortable and trippy in a bad way. I once had a surgical procdure done and was given a shot - I reacted really badly to it (can't remember the drug they gave me), I got very paranoid and they had to give me oxygen. I am allergic to the additive in the local anastethic given at the dentist so they have to use the non-adrenaline kind which means more frequent shots as the numbness doesn't last as long.

If I were to ever have to undergo a procudure where I was put under like that, heaven forbid, I really hope nobody would ask me personal questions either. Even though I'm a vegetarian and raw who knows what I'd say. I still have my addictions and cravings that I fight daily.

[rawpriestess]

If it is part of your job to ask them about food, then that is fine, if it isn't, then only you know what to do.

If you are supposed to keep them calm, why not ask them nice questions, like what is their favorite thing to do, their favorite songs, their favorite movie star, their favorite movie, or book, what wil they be doing when they recover, what is their favorite flower, and color.

I would think that helping the patient to think about recovery and what they will do once they recover is much more important than what got them into the hospital in the first place.

[mom4twins]

WOW!! I completely agree with the above post. As someone who has watched 90% of her family pass from different diseases and has had micro-preemie twins I have nothing but support for nurses and the job that they do.

If I woke up from surgery I would just love someone to be interested in what I had to say (not a very usual occurance in the OR). Who cares what the motives are?!? Both the question and speaking are both reassuring and needed in that situation.

We can only sit and support one another--our perfections/imperfections should never be judged by others--support is necessary for success on this program and throughout life.

[Goddess_girl]

It boils down to morals and who takes advantage of incapacitated and, drugged patients for ONE'S own sick research and pleasure of posting to make one feel better about there own choices.

[swingbolder]

All the nurses that allowed my grandmother to fry in bed with bed sores until the day they killed her all patted theirselves on the back for what a "wonderful" job they were doing.

I'm very sorry this happened to your grandmother.

A lot of the neglect that patients experience in hospitals is caused by hospitals trying to skimp on staffing and overworking the little staff they have left. The try to save money by not hiring enough staff. Too many patients + not enough nurses = patient neglect.

Nurse burnout is common for this reason, and this is also the reason for the nursing shortage. There are many licensed nurses who have simply left the profession bc they do not want to work in those conditions. That is also the reason hospitals are offering thousands of $$ to new nurses they recruit -- it is the only way to fill those positions.

[Svadhyaya]

Great Post, RP.
Beautifully and diplomatically worded.

[snowbunny]

I felt it was only fair to let you know that you are under attack on another board, because a user here has posted your thread elsewhere.

I wanted to send that message via PM to the OP, but for some reason I can't PM, so that's why I posted it here.

Very sorry.

I am happy that she posted the link to your board, because I've enjoyed lurking on this board and can see that the members are pursuing healthy lifestyles. Not eating raw -- yet -- but am vegan. ;)

[prana]

What can you say???



People love to hate.