"GUY-101"

There are certain things electro/mechanical that females will never comprehend. The reasons for this lack of understanding are obscure to me. Over my career, I have found it has made me an invaluable assest to the nursing unit. Whenever something is non- functioning and I am summoned, it is usually something easily fixed. Once everything is back to normal, they invariably ask me what I did. I will never tell them exactly, but I do tell them I learned it in "GUY-101". What are your GUY-101 tips. I'll go first:

1) If an electrical device isn't working . . .check the on-off switch.

Heh, Heh,

I love it. Granted there are some pretty clever female problem solvers among nurses. I have experienced similar situations from feeding to IV pumps, to beds to suction machines.

Sometimes I have to wonder if it out of laziness.

Kind of like when you have an IV team you can call to start IVs. You lose the incentive to try and start them yourselves.

When you have nurses with specialized skills in say starting Foleys, or IVs, or putting down NG tubes, others tend to ask you to do it, rather than attempt it themselves.

Not necessarily a good thing. Granted I can always use the ego boost when someone asks me to help them solve a problem. At times it is better to let them give their own brain cells a workout.

I've learned to say "no" on occasion (regardless of if I like the person or not).

Andrew Lopez, RN
http://www.nursinga2z.com

is it a guy skill? I get asked to solve the computer problems and the machine problems and I'm not a guy. Maybe it's a ask the person that can do it problem. I do have a brother who asks me to solve his computer screw ups also.

I hear all the time how men will not follow directions. I have found that many problems I solve for my supervisor (mechanical), I pull out the directions. When they asked me what did I do? I just say, "I read the directions". I do like the response "GUY - 101"

Here are some courses for men AKA Men 101:

Training Courses Now Available for Men




1. Introduction to Common Household Objects I: The Mop
2. Introduction to Common Household Objects II: The Sponge
3. Dressing Up: Beyond the Funeral and the Wedding
4. Refrigerator Forensics: Identifying and Removing the Dead
5. Design Pattern or Splatter Stain on the Linoleum?: You CAN Tell the Difference!
6. If It's Empty, You Can Throw It Away: Accepting Loss I
7. If the Milk Expired Three Weeks Ago, Keeping It In the Refrigerator won't Bring It Back: Accepting Loss II
8. Going to the Supermarket: It's Not Just for Women Anymore!
9. Recycling Skills I: Boxes that the Electronics Came In
10. Recycling Skills II: Styrofoam that Came in the Boxes that the electronics Came In
11. Bathroom Etiquette I: How to Remove Beard Clippings from the Sink
12. Bathroom Etiquette II: Let's Wash Those Towels!
13. Bathroom Etiquette III: Five Easy Ways to Tell When You're About to run Out of Toilet Paper!
14. Giving Back to the Community: How to Donate 15-Year-Old Levis to Goodwill
15. Retro? Or Just Hideous?: Re-examining Your 1970s Polyester Shirts
16. No, The Dishes Won't Wash Themselves: Knowing the Limitations of Your Kitchenware
17. Romance: More Than a Cable Channel!
18. Strange But True!: She Really May NOT Care What "Fourth Down and Ten" Means
19. Going Out to Dinner: Beyond the Pizza Hut
20. Expand Your Entertainment Options: Renting Movies That Don't Fall under the "Action/Adventure" Category
21. Yours, Mine, and Ours: Sharing the Remote
22. "I Could Have Played a Better Game Than That!": Why Women Laugh
23. Adventures in Housekeeping I: Let's Clean the Closet
24. Adventures in Housekeeping II: Let's Clean Under the Bed
25. "I Don't Know": Be the First Man to Say It!
26. The Gas Gauge in Your Car: Sometimes Empty MEANS Empty
27. Directions: It's Okay to Ask for Them
28. Listening: It's Not Just Something You Do During Halftime
29. Accepting Your Limitations: Just Because You Have Power Tools Doesn't Mean You Can Fix It

Hey epi. . . zuuup?

I agree with you on the handbook instruction thing. Whenever we get a new piece of equipment and the rep or the inservice "educator" is there, I will always grab the handbook to see what the thing can do for me. They design some pretty neat stuff into these devices. So I start asking them about this or that function and invariably they get this suprised look on their face and then you can't shut them up. All the girls want to know is a)How do you turn it on? b)How do you set it up? and c) How do you disable the alarms?

_______________
2)If the on/off switch doesn't work, check to see if it's plugged in.

uh . . . cassioo. This is the "Male Nurse Form" and unless you know the secret handshake, we kindly request you keep your flaming posts to youself. We put up with enough of it at work.

Thank you, thank you very much.

O_S

that's not flamin post it's a fact post isn't it? I think I infiltrated and found out the secret handshake. Why do you put up with anything at work? Ok I'll keep my fingers quiet and be good as I always am.

removing info

We better never find out the guy that showed you the handshake . . .'cause if we do he has a serious hurtin' coming his way. Personally, I've only met 1 or 2 women in my 30 years that I would consider making an Honorary Male Nurse.


__________________________

3) If the switch is on and it is plugged in . . . check the circuit breaker or the GFI.

4) A hemostat will not work the same as a pair of pliers.

Hey cassioo, Are you a guy hater or just being sarcastic? Sometimes it's hard to tell over the PC, not that it really matters.

No I'm not a guy hater I've even married a couple, raised 2 and working on another one. But I don't know about sarcastic maybe hitting close to home for some A hemostate might not work as well as pliers but sometimes a butter knife works as well as a screw driver. I like about all kinds of jokes (go read the practical joke thread someplace I can give you some tips) I like dumb blond jokes cause I resemble that remark (but quote Dolly "they really don't bother me cause I'm not dumb or blond" ok so I am blond) As for the secret handshake my father and 2 brothers have been Grand Puba of their lodge so got an inside scoop...and also watched lots of flintstones so know the one from the royal order of the buffalo also so watch out

[ QUOTE ]
cassioo said:
. . . but sometimes a butter knife works as well as a screw driver.

[/ QUOTE ]


I'll give you that one cassioo

5) There is not much you can't fix with cable ties or velcro.

I tell my labor observation patients to take home the monitor belts and bring them when they come again and just keep them in the car for bungie cables if they forget to bring them for labor.

And the "GUY-101" favorite all purpose fixer upper is duct tape.

like the carnie who fixes the farris wheel with that roll of duct tape hanging on his belt....makes you want to be stuck on the top.

Hey guys...

Another thing I learned in Guy 101 is that a clamped tube will neither draw nor flush.

And about the handshake. Guys will understand this. Your patient is in isolation, so you have to don face mask, gloves, and a paper gown...in an ICU that is warmer than **** to keep the patients from getting too cold...in July...when the residents are brand-spanking new...with the hot floodlights on so they can see what they are doing. After standing in one place pushing meds and keeping the pt alive during the procedure...some things just start to stick together or find themselves in a less-than-comfortable position. The more you try not to think about it, the more it bothers ya... The more it bothers you, the more you try not to think about it. It starts making you crazy...

What is the first thing you wanna do for yourself when the procedure is over and your patient is all cleaned up and taken care of? Yup, that's the handshake alright. LOL

I took a patient of mine down to ER to see her daughter that had come in earlier that afternoon. What did I see, but guy with a big piece of duct tape slapped on his forehead with bloody smears around it. Talk about the ultimate bandaid.

And as for the technical aspects, I try to figure things out first, then if at all possible, RTFM.

Also, it helps relieve the patient's back pain from their air mattress deflating if you hit the CPR buttton......as some school friends and floor nurses found out.

LOL...OMG, I can SOOOOooo identify with "the handshake" after a procedure!!

BTW, Class that should offered to all female nurses:

How to lift a patient without a male present (aka Men:more than your lift team)

Funny stuff. I read the directions as well and then systematically problem solve. And i am offten the go to 'guy' on my unit. But, have you ever heard a fellow colleague (generally the 'female nurse') ask can I use your muscle for a turn?

I must say that this thread is right on the money. I've been in medicine for 15 years (4 of which as a USN Hosp Corpsman and 6 as an RN doing Oncology, Healthcare Informatics, and now Cardiac). I had a very wry and seasoned nursing instructor who once told me, "...To always carry around an emesis basin, so that when a female nurse needs lifting help you can tell her you can't because you have a patient about to throw up". My approach to the problem is this: If I were to always help lift, I'd be putting my back and thus my career in jeopardy. So at most I only lend my assistance 50% of the time and only for nurses whom I know are in need of my assistance.

Regarding the problem of female nurses lacking mechanical skills, healthcare is daily implementing more devices and I don't think the problem will go away any time soon. I can't count on one hand how many times I've had to solve a simple yet "mysterious ailment" a medical device is manifesting. Given the predominance of females and dearth of fellow males in nursing, I do find myself attending to the equipment on my unit more than I should. My belief is that nursing schools should include a "Theory of Mechanics" course required for all nurses that could be tested out of.

I have also found that several female nurses turn to medical tape as a sort of "duct tape" to try fixing things. What's up with that?

123david wrote:I have also found that several female nurses turn to medical tape as a sort of "duct tape" to try fixing things. What's up with that?

Probably because there is nothing else available. I'm planning to keep cable ties in my locker for chest tube/pleurevac connections. I hate securing the joints with tape. They all eventually get wet, slip, and disconnect.

Anyone know why we still keep clamps at the bedside of patient's with chest tubes?