My pharmacology professor reiterated over and over that blood does not thin. He discussed it so much that now when I hear someone call an anticoagulant a blood thinner I literally flinch.
The clotting process is very complicated. One doctor told me they actually spent 6 weeks on the topic in med school. There are different kinds of anticoagulants such as coumadin (warfarin), heparin, lovenox, plavix, and aspirin just to name a few. Aspirin and Plavix are actually anti-platelets. They make the blood cells slick so they don't stick together and form a clot. Heparin is a short acting anticoagulant. It is out of the system within a few hours. Coumadin is a long acting anticoagulant and takes several days to get your blood to the clotting time needed. They work on the actual clotting process, slowing down clotting time.
When you take coumadin you will need to have your blood clotting time checked. A test called an INR (International Normalized Ratio) is how the drug is regulated. Say for example the 1:1 ratio of blood clotting is 10 seconds. If you need to take coumadin we would want your ratio to be between 2 and 3 which would mean we want it to take 20 to 30 seconds (using 10 seconds as an example of 1) for your blood to clot.
We see a lot of people on coumadin due to Atrial Fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm.
Til next time,
Tridil
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
My first blog
This is something I have been thinking about doing for a long time now. Not that I have any preconceived ideas that what I write here will some how change the world...
I am a registered nurse. More specifically I am a Cardiac Nurse. It is fascinating work and generally very satisfying. Let me clear up one point about doctors; they are not Gods. They may tell you they are, but it is only in their own minds that this misguided title exists. I spend a great part of my shift calling doctors to discuss things they missed or ordered incorrectly. Yes they are busy and yes they have numerous patients, but most doctors rarely acknowledge how many times their butts have been saved by a nurse. And they would never admit how much more difficult they make life for the nurse.
One day in particular I remember being in a patient's room with the doctor. He was discussing treatment plans and his idea of what was causing the patient's current symptoms. He motions me out of the room and tells me he is going to start the patient on a specific antibiotic all the time whispering so that the patient wouldn't hear him. He did not want to take the time to tell the patient so he was prescribing this medication without their knowledge and leaving it up to me to provide information on what the drug was, it's purpose, and it's side effects.
Doctors do not like to talk to patients. They will get together and discuss how nurses give the patient too much information or wrong information but they leave the patient with numerous questions and no one, but the nurse to ask.
It is all about time. Too many patients and too little time.
Enough for now,
Tridil
I am a registered nurse. More specifically I am a Cardiac Nurse. It is fascinating work and generally very satisfying. Let me clear up one point about doctors; they are not Gods. They may tell you they are, but it is only in their own minds that this misguided title exists. I spend a great part of my shift calling doctors to discuss things they missed or ordered incorrectly. Yes they are busy and yes they have numerous patients, but most doctors rarely acknowledge how many times their butts have been saved by a nurse. And they would never admit how much more difficult they make life for the nurse.
One day in particular I remember being in a patient's room with the doctor. He was discussing treatment plans and his idea of what was causing the patient's current symptoms. He motions me out of the room and tells me he is going to start the patient on a specific antibiotic all the time whispering so that the patient wouldn't hear him. He did not want to take the time to tell the patient so he was prescribing this medication without their knowledge and leaving it up to me to provide information on what the drug was, it's purpose, and it's side effects.
Doctors do not like to talk to patients. They will get together and discuss how nurses give the patient too much information or wrong information but they leave the patient with numerous questions and no one, but the nurse to ask.
It is all about time. Too many patients and too little time.
Enough for now,
Tridil
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