- Lean forward slightly with the head tilted forward. Leaning back or
tilting the head back allows the blood to run back into the sinuses and
throat, and can cause gagging or inhaling of blood.
- Spit out any blood that may collect in your mouth and throat. It may cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea if swallowed.
- Gently, blow any blood clots out of your nose. The nosebleed may worsen slightly when you do this but this is expected.
- Pinch all the soft parts of the nose together between the thumb and index finger.
- Press firmly toward the face - compressing the pinched parts of the nose against the bones of the face. Breathe through your mouth as you do this.
- Hold the nose for at least five minutes. Repeat as necessary until the nose has stopped bleeding.
- Sit quietly, keeping the head higher than the level of the heart. Do not lay flat or put your head between your legs.
- Apply ice (wrapped in a towel) to nose and cheeks afterwards.
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Nosebleed Fix
There are many ailments and first-aid situations one experienced as a child growing up in Africa. One of them was having a nosebleed. The way our elders told us to stop it, which is probably the way they saw their ancestors do it, was to sit still and tilt your head (hyper-extend your neck) as far back as you could and keep it that way until the bleeding stopped. It usually eventually did, and it personally happened to me tons of times, which is fascinating because I have since learned, in nursing school, that there is a more effective way to do it. I have copied simple steps from www.medicinenet.com/nosebleed. These steps are for a simple nosebleed. The webpage also tells you how to prevent a reoccurrence and how to handle chronic nosebleeds. And I often wondered what caused them. It says on that website: dry air, allergies, constant blowing or picking your nose, taking blood thinners, using nasal sprays, inhaling recreational drugs, a structural problem with your nose, having a polyp or tumor in there, and more. So here are your first-aid instructions:
A Detective and a Sponge
Not to toot my own horn here (really!😄) but in the broader context of this post, I have been described by former bosses, collaborators, or professors by various phrases. I have chosen some that are relevant here - excellent communicator, has excellent social skills, insightful, highly motivated, diligent, an accomplished professional with unbounded energy, an active mind, hardworking and focused, consistently demonstrates an ability to rise to any challenges she must face...
My professor from the nursing program where I graduated this past May reached out to me yesterday and called me "a detective and a sponge". And when I told my mentor this, he said, you need to write about such an eclectic and interesting choice of words.
So I got to thinking about it. In retrospect, I was the type of student who would learn something new in clinical rotations, like about dialysis, and want to know everything about it. In this case, I requested to spend more time in the dialysis lab, took diligent notes, asked questions to fill in the blanks, and then came back to very excitedly tell the class the whole story. It always helped for me to get the full story so that I could paint a mental picture and that way a concept better kept in my memory. But generally, when I found something fascinating, which was often, I devoured every word. Back to this particular case, the step by step process in dialyzing. The very idea that a machine could drain out your blood, do the filtering work of your kidneys for you, add back the right amount of electrolytes and then return the blood to your body, was to me an amazing concept and one of many I "sponged" up in my worthy journey through nursing school.
But the second part of this is that when people you have collaborated with, people you look up to, who are leaders in their own right, highlight the leadership qualities you possess, then you are not only motivated, but have almost a moral duty to hold yourself to such standards.
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” - John Quincy Adams
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” ― John F. Kennedy
My professor from the nursing program where I graduated this past May reached out to me yesterday and called me "a detective and a sponge". And when I told my mentor this, he said, you need to write about such an eclectic and interesting choice of words.
So I got to thinking about it. In retrospect, I was the type of student who would learn something new in clinical rotations, like about dialysis, and want to know everything about it. In this case, I requested to spend more time in the dialysis lab, took diligent notes, asked questions to fill in the blanks, and then came back to very excitedly tell the class the whole story. It always helped for me to get the full story so that I could paint a mental picture and that way a concept better kept in my memory. But generally, when I found something fascinating, which was often, I devoured every word. Back to this particular case, the step by step process in dialyzing. The very idea that a machine could drain out your blood, do the filtering work of your kidneys for you, add back the right amount of electrolytes and then return the blood to your body, was to me an amazing concept and one of many I "sponged" up in my worthy journey through nursing school.
But the second part of this is that when people you have collaborated with, people you look up to, who are leaders in their own right, highlight the leadership qualities you possess, then you are not only motivated, but have almost a moral duty to hold yourself to such standards.
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” - John Quincy Adams
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” ― John F. Kennedy
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