You Know You’re A Respiratory Therapist When…
I came across these a while back when I was browsing through the groups section on the site Facebook.com. I would like to share them with you...all credit goes to the original writers.
(Read original post.)
See how many apply to you.
-- B.J.
You Know You're A Respiratory Therapist When...
- "clubbing" no longer refers to the hitting up of the bar scene downtown
- You call someone "SOB" and are NOT calling them a son of a...you know.
- You look at bigger people with no necks and think, "man, they'd be a difficult intubation"
- SpO2, MDI, SOBOE, DPI, AECOPD, IPPA, FiO2 and R/A all mean something to you
- You measure the amount someone smokes in pack years
- You can hear the phrase "bronchial toilet" and not laugh
- You know the alveolar air equation backwards and forwards, in your sleep
- You know that the "breathing tube" doesn't actually go down the "throat" per se
- "pink and frothy" no longer describes that strawberry shake you had for lunch
- "blue bloater/pink puffer" means something to you
- You can measure someone's RR just by walking by the patient
- You've been shot by an uncovered trach
- You know there's an "H", a "G" and no "F" in phlegm
- You call it a "ventilator", not a "respirator"
- You measure things by color, consistency and smell
- You know "BiPAP" doesn't involve a smear
- A/C no longer stands for "air-conditioning"
- You find yourself breathing with the same force/technique/frequency as the patient when doing things like spirometry and puffer teachings. You are then as out of breath as the patient.
- You can guess a saturation pretty accurately just from looking at the blood
- You never underestimate the importance of nurses, and keeping them happy at all times
- You discover that sedation can be your best friend, and your worst enemy
- You realize a jaw thrust is not something that happens in a bar fight; and a chin lift doesn't only happen during plastic surgery
- PEEP has a meaning other than a sound made by a chicken
- You are happiest when newborns are crying(at birth)
- Your long, tiring day of missed lunchs/breaks is made complete when a patient gives you a unexpected 'thank you'
- You start to think you've forgotten what normal breath sounds sound like
- You have auscultated your significant other
- You count chocolates as a meal, and ALWAYS welcome them into the department
- You know and fully understand the dangers of an uncovered trach, and avoid standing directly in front of one at all costs
- You would rather intubate yourself than do equipment change
- Your Lego skills as a kid some into play when trying to hook up two things that don't want to go together
-You take the best care of any patient