Technological Disconnection

/in /by

I am not the type of person who uses technology very often as it is, but during my conscious effort to cut back for a day, I noticed many things. It seems like a good portion of people walking around campus by themselves are looking down at their phones as they walk. I believe this is because people are afraid of eye contact or verbal engagement with anyone they may pass. Sometimes I am guilty of doing this as well, possibly due to my irrational dislike of small-talk. If I run into someone I know, but not well enough to want to contact them and arrange to spend time with them, it is always the same 5 questions… “How have you been?” “How long time you graduate?” “Are you still working at [place]?” “How is [name of high school friend] doing?” “What else is new?” A good portion of the people who are on their phones as they walk are likely not even doing anything besides looking through social media to kill time.

Another thing I noticed was the lack of people on actual phone calls in comparison with the number of ones texting. In a full day, I only noticed 3 people on phone calls and I lost count of how many people I saw texting.

During these last 24 hours I called 4 of my best friends that have moved out of county or state, and spoke to 3 of them. I know this isn’t the same as an actual visit, but it was more than I’ve been doing lately to maintain relationships so it was beneficial:)

Protected: The Grin Reaper

/in /by

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

Technology

/in /by

Technology is a major part of our lives today. We are constantly texting, emailing, calling, tweeting, uploading posts to Instagram, snap chatting, and updating our Facebook page. This week our professor asked us to disconnect from technology for 24 hours. I, however, did not disconnect for 24 hours and just thinking about it seemed impossible. But, I did disconnect for an hour at the car wash waiting and observing all of the people there. It was so interesting to see how many people were just on their phones and sitting far away on the benches from one another. One person even moved his spot at a bench to another empty bench because someone came and sat mid way in the bench somewhat close near him. No one talked to one another except right before I left one guy went up and started talking to this one woman, but that conversation ended up with them each looking at their phones. Overall, it is amazing and quite sad how attached our society is with technology. We get instant gratification by connecting to social media, texting, and calling. It is important for us to recognize and disconnect to make personal connections with one another.

Connect – Disconnect

/in /by

I’ve been thinking a lot about the assignment for this blog entry, and trying to notice how much I “connect” electronically as opposed to in person. It’s an interesting thing to pay attention to, and it’s not a black and white issue. Human interactions are so so important to all of us, whether that’s family, friends, work, school, world news… Anything or anyone that we want to “keep up” with.

I started to wonder, “Do we disconnect with the people that are important to us, by using electronics instead of face to face?” I think that answer is yes and no. We’ve all been tempted, when hanging out with someone, to check our phones to pass the time. In that situation we are passing up an opportunity to really spend time with someone, and we all realize at some point that those opportunities are not as permanent as we think they are.

UnknownBut on the other hand, I notice that most of the texting and social media that I use is to connect with people that are the most important to me. For me, it’s my family. My immediate family is very big and we are all really close, but people move away or just spend a lot of time away from the home. Social media is actually becoming more and more important to me as my sisters move on with their lives and I spend less time at home.

So my conclusion: Sometimes we need to disconnect in order to connect better, but often technology allows us to stay connected with the people that are really important.

The era of technology

/in /by

If there was anything that I learned about attempting to stay away from my phone, it’s how overly dependent our generation is on cell phones. Between school, work, family, and friends, I was physically incapable of staying away from my phone for longer than an hour or so. I would use my phone to organize study groups, to figure out what time I needed to go to work, to google directions to the place where I was going, and so on. Granted, I’m sure that a majority of the things that I used my phone for could have been saved for when I saw the individual in person, but a lot of people now become worried or offended if a call or text is not answered within a timely manner. I don’t think that this dependence is any sort of problem (except for when people can’t get off of their phones while driving!), I just think that our generation has grown around technology to the point where it has been incorporated into the way of living. It could be compared to back when cars were first invented; sure people had lived for so long without cars, but the invention of cars made things so much easier and eventually became a daily norm to the point where now it is not even questioned.

Below I have posted a video that I think everyone in my generation should watch. We were born with all of these amazing advances in technology, that not everyone is fully appreciative of the progress that has been made in just a short amount of time. This is one of my favorite videos that I’ve watched about 100x, enjoy!

A Day Without Technology

/in /by

Our class assignment from last week was to attempt to spend a day without the use of technology. For me, this included Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and Pinterest. Unfortunately, because of my job as a nanny and Communication Chair position in a campus organization, I was unable to turn off my phone a computer completely for the full 24 hours. I did text and email during the day, but only for pertinent circumstances. Everything else I uninstalled from my phone and I’ve spent the last few days without.

I typically don’t spend much time anyway with social media or television, but it was definitely a new experience having no notifications on my phone from all the apps. I’ve kept the apps off my phone and it has been refreshing to not feel obligated to answer every single message, birthday, or update. I’ve found that I’m staying more focused on what I’m doing at any given time, rather than stopping to check something on my phone and then get back to work. I think this will be helpful in the upcoming weeks, when we are finishing up the semester, so that I can be sure that I am completely invested in my studying ans school work.

Generally, I think this is an important exercise for everyone to try every once in a while. It is obvious that many people spend a ridiculous amount of time using electronics, whether it be video games, social media, online shopping, etc, and not enough time focusing on the present. It seems as though we are so absorbed in the lives of others that sometimes we are lacking in the attention to ourselves and to the people around us in our own lives. I hope this becomes a more common realization and people are able to take a step back, leaving the technology aside to truly experience life.

24 Hour Disconnect

/in /by

Let’s just start off by saying, no matter how many days I tried to disconnect from social media and electronics for a full 24 hours, I failed EVERY TIME. Although it may not be why you think I failed. I am not addicted to social media and I have an easy time putting my phone away to study and do homework. The problem is that my phone has become my lifeline. It has everything in it. This includes my work schedule, events, study groups, and homework assignments. I can promise you this: if it is not on my phone calendar or in my notes on my phone, then it might not get done. I also have a planner that helps to keep me organized, but I do not always have access to it, whereas I always have access to my phone. Another reason is that I am a nanny and must have my phone with me at all times in case the parents need to get in contact with me. I am also listed as an emergency contact for the children, so if for some reason the school could not get ahold of the parents I would be called. I take my job very seriously, so I always have my phone on me just in case. Lastly, being a nursing student, double majoring in psychology, and working is really stressful. At the end of the day everyone has their own ways of decompressing. My way is talking and venting to my boyfriend because he has been my biggest support system throughout this crazy journey. He always knows how to make me feel better. The issue is that he lives 200 miles away, so the only way we can talk is to call each other. All in all, I really did try to disconnect. It just isn’t a realistic thing for me to be able to accomplish, especially with my job.

Sepsis

/in /by

Sepsis

Image result for sepsis

 

Sepsis is a state of complete body inflammation. Inflammation is normally one of the first lines of defense during the invasion of the body by pathogens. However this inflammatory state must be short lived or systemic inflammation can lead to organ failure. First we need to recognize sepsis before we can treat it. So in order to do this we need only remember the acronym

I see Sepsis patients each shift and they really exhibit all these signs and symptoms. And after a while it becomes really obvious who is a candidate for a Sepsis protocol and once you have seen one sepsis patient you will not forget it. So the next question then should be how to we treat Sepsis. There is currently a Surviving Sepsis campaign that includes early recognition and treatment of this condition. It is also becoming a core measure at most hospitals. And a core measure is Evidences Based Practice that results in optimal clinical outcome for the patients.

According to the surviving sepsis campaign the following care bundles must be implemented

TO BE COMPLETED WITHIN 3 HOURS OF TIME OF PRESENTATION:

  1. Measure lactate level
  2. Obtain blood cultures prior to administration of antibiotics
  3. Administer broad spectrum antibiotics
  4. Administer 30ml/kg crystalloid for hypotension or lactate ≥4mmol/L

TO BE COMPLETED WITHIN 6 HOURS OF TIME OF PRESENTATION:

  1. Apply vasopressors (for hypotension that does not respond to initial fluid resuscitation) to maintain a mean arterial pressure (MAP) ≥65mmHg
  2. In the event of persistent hypotension after initial fluid administration (MAP < 65 mm Hg) or if initial lactate was ≥4 mmol/L, re-assess volume status and tissue perfusion and document
  3. Re-measure lactate if initial lactate elevated.

 

 

 

References

Surviving Sepsis Campaign. Society of Critical Care medicine. Care bundles retrieved from

http://www.survivingsepsis.org/Bundles/Pages/default.aspx

Protected: Disconnect

/in /by

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

No electronics!

/in /by

This weekend I attempted to go 24 hours without any electronics (emphasis on the word attempted). I was only able to go about 5 hours without picking up and using my cell phone or laptop. Most of this time was spent reading and studying. I found this challenging because I don’t live with my family and most of my friends live too far away to see on a daily basis. For me this cell phone connection to the ones I love is important. I don’t think I could go 24 hours without texting or calling my mother. I do acknowledge the importance of “being disconnected” when the situation is appropriate.

I only ever use my cell phone in clinical to look up medications or send quick messages to my instructor. There is always a time and place to be on ones cell phones and during patient interaction this should NEVER be the case.

I paid special attention to other’s using their cell phones, laptops, iPads, etc. this weekend and found that their use was seen everywhere. I went to the grocery store and noticed people talking on their cell phones or texting when at the checkout line instead of interacting with the cashier or even those around them. I thought this activity was interesting and wish to be able to complete it one day.