Every long time nurse is acutely aware that nursing can be a leading cause of "fun" deficit. After so many hours standing behind or in front of your Mayo Stand nothing seems to bring about that good feeling that unabated fun provides. (Maybe it's just my foolishness, but I never could deduce if I was in front of my Mayo Stand or hiding behind it.) It's sorta like that chicken and egg quandary about what came first, but when the surgeon is bellowing, I think it's best to be rearward of your Mayo Stand. Boundaries can be a real asset. It happened more often than you would think, the on cal ..read more

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  Since my native intelligence has been flumoxed by brain numbing complications from my knee replacement surgery, I've turned to artificial intelligence image generators for some foolish amusement. I typed in Old fool RN on "Stable Diffuusion," an open source image generator and my prompts produced this appropriate image. Maybe I should replace that rather dated blog profile photo of me standing under the overhead lights in the OR. Hmmm...I love how that under the overheads lingo sounds. It doesn't take much to amuse a fool. If you have an opportunity check out Stable Diffusion. It's eas ..read more

At the height of the Viet Nam War, Buddhist Monks doused themselves with gasoline and immolated themselves near U.S. facilities to protest America's involvement in the conflict. Two Army nurses rushed to the aid of a monk who set himself ablaze near a remote Army field hospital. A Viet Cong sniper fired on one nurse, killing her instantly. The second nurse, for obscure reasons, was ignored by the sniper and survived. Screaming hysterically and subsequently lapsing into a mute state, the sole survivor eventually found her way to a long-term ward at Downey VA Hospital, a warehouse for the menta ..read more

 I encountered a tsunami of post-op complications following my total knee replacement surgery in August, but am starting to feel a return to my foolish baseline.  I received a fascinating email from Anna Pivoras, Executive Director of the Boone County Museum of History in Belvidere, Ill that got me back to thinking about this much neglected blog. Anna read my posts about Downey VA Hospital because she has an amazing collection of journals from a woman who was a patient at this facility. Janet L. was a college graduate who played the organ for several churches and was very ambitious a ..read more

 I've received several emails recently from folks concerned about my health as a result of the dearth of posts on Oldfoolrn.blogspot.com. It's heart warming to think that you care enough to shoot me an email. When I started this blog, I made myself two promises. no politics and no belly aching about personal health issues. I made the mistake of posting one topic that could be construed as political and learned my lesson; no more politics. My immobility problems have worsened as a result of a combination of osteoarthritis and Crohns disease induced poly-arthropathy. Thankfully the intestin ..read more

  I just love hospital mysteries, so I was delighted when a nurse emailed me these photos of a vintage device found in the ER at a Catholic Hospital, St. Vincents, in Cleveland, Ohio. The folks there were unable to identify it and it didn't ring any bells with me so I was thinking (a rare event for me) that maybe someone from my vast readership could lend a clue. My first guess was that this was some sort of contraption from the hospital laundry. After sheets were dumped from a gigantic steaming cauldron, they were run through rollers to squeeze off excess water. Those rollers were a se ..read more

  What's that old Madison Avenue advertising axiom? If I remember correctly, it's "sell the sizzle not the steak." Sure, every nurse is aware of drug reps acting as poseurs for selling pharmaceuticals with their usual give aways of pens, stationary, and assorted bunk, but when Tenormin went off patent the good folks at Astra Zeneca went bananas with marketing ploys in an attempt to keep the big bucks coming for their name brand gold mine. Tenormin was consistently in the top 20 most frequently prescribed drugs and no doubt brought in gazzilions of dollars which brought smiles to stockhol ..read more

                                                                        Veterans Administration Hospital                  Downey, Illinois 60064               December 4, 1974                                   Mr. Old Fool R.N. Nursing S ..read more

  Routine scheduled elective surgery during daylight hours always reminded me of church services on Easter Sunday or Christmas Morning, packed with posers and pretenders making a show of strutting their stuff like a peacock spreading their feathers. Midnight surgeries were of a far different persuasion and akin to a mid-summer church service during vacation season where only the true faithful showed up. The pretenders were a totally different breed from the passionate. Middle of the night trauma surgery participants were hard core folks with a mission on their mind. Dr. Slambow, my favor ..read more