That Bites!

Sometimes being nice just doesn't pay in the end.


My first week of work here is memorable for various reasons. It was very stressful because there was absolutely no transition from the previous nurse to me....she had retired that May and I was not hired until August and my first day was the Friday before Fall classes began. You can imagine.....it was like being thrown into the fire.


Anyway, one of the most memorable things about my first week in this job was that I had a student that had been bitten by a dog. She had hopped into a pickup that was headed out to help (for free) at a branding and while there, the rancher's dog bit her on the leg. It was not a savage attack....she and the hound were both in the act of trying to get a cow to progress down the alleyway....and her leg got in the way. Anyway....it did break the skin. So we updated her tetanus shot and made sure it was clean and not showing any signs of infection and then we had to determine if we needed to worry about rabies.


She did not know where she had branded - she was just going along to help out. She only knew the first names of the other kids she had gone with. So I tasked her with locating someone that she rode out with to find out what the name of the ranch was. I called my friend at the Health Department and found out that if the dog had not been vaccinated for Rabies we could 1) quarantine and monitor the dog for 10 days or 2) if the dog could not be located then she would have to start the Rabies vaccine.


This info really motivated the student to find out where they had branded. That afternoon she came back in and told me the name of the rancher and I knew them well. I said "SUE BIT YOU?!" (It is sad that I know the name of the dogs in the community better than the people) The girl said "That was her name, SUE!" So....my detective skills kicked in and knowing Sue's owners I figured they were up on their shots. We have three local vets. Two large animal and one small animal. Most of the time ranchers use large animal vets for everything on their place so I called the first one listed and BINGO. Yes, Sue was a patient of theirs and yes, she was up to date on her shots too. Success!


This process took up most of the day. But it was very satisfying to get to bottom of it all and help her out. She has since graduated but we bonded that day and always had stuff to visit about the rest of her years here.


Strangely enough....I had a similar case this week. One of our students had noticed a very thin mangy cat out by McDonald's. He fed him a can of smoked salmon one day and I get the impression that he has sort of been watching for this little cat since. Monday night...he saw him/her again and got a burger at McDonald's, called the cat over and fed it to him from his hand. The cat was so hungry that he was wolfing it down and chomped down on the students finger....went all the way through too. YEOW! (I guess you could call it a Big Mac Attack)


So...a little different scenario. First we checked the tetanus status and that was good. No booster needed. Then I called for an appointment at the clinic. Cuz....he needed some antibiotic for sure. They were not able to mesh with his schedule and unfortunately he was headed out of town for a meeting in Eastern Nebraska. I left a voicemail for the Dr to advise us about the need for Rabies vaccine. I called the local PD and left a message for the Animal Control Officer about the cat and to let me know if they find the cat. (They haven't yet....but we still have hope.....)

The Dr. called me back last night and suggested that we get the student to a clinic this morning. I called the student to let him know. His meeting was in a town in which I know the college nurse well. I called her to let her know that we needed to get him referred to their local clinic.


If we can find the cat and watch it for 10 days and it doesn't act strange in that time we are clear...if not then the student will have to start the vaccine. It is expensive and hard to get right now because of a shortage so tomorrow I have to touch base with the hospital pharmacist so she has a heads up that we might need to get some vaccine.

This has taken up a lot of time over the past two days. I don't mind...I'm just saying...it is time consuming stuff.

So....back to the "sometimes it doesn't pay to be nice" comment to start this post. Both of the above are good examples of that. I have another example.

We are currently chasing (stalking) about 100 students who are not complete on their immunization requirements. Mostly that means that they are not current on their tetanus shots and or have not turned in a form. It is not a difficult thing to get accomplished. They just need to come to our office. We bend over backward to help them locate shot records etc. In order to "encourage" their compliance I put a hold on their registration until the requirements are complete.

A young lady came in yesterday to find out why she had a hold and could not register (even though we have sent 3 letters out since the beginning of the semester). I had no information on her at all. So I had her fill out the forms, she was under 19 so we needed a parent to sign as well and we needed a copy of her immunization records. I nicely offered to fax it all to her Dad's office so he could sign and jet it right back with a copy of her shot records and she could get registered asap. So that is what we did.

This morning he faxed all the forms signed back and a copy of her shot record too. Mission accomplished. But wait....he added a note on the cover letter:

"As a doctor it seems quite ludicrous to require these forms and prohibit my daughter from enrolling for spring classes as she is enrolled already this fall. In my feeble mind these already were the forms I had filled out previously, evidently, carelessly misplaced at (our office).

My money at work?"

(Heavy Sigh)

Do you see how it sometimes doesn't pay?

Are you wondering how I reacted?

Really?

Well...only to myself and under my breath but very emphatically I responded by saying.....

BITE ME.