OK. This is disgusting…

I posted a question in Twitter where I asked people what they thought was growing on top of those hand gel dispensers. And a whole bunch of people sent me back some disgusting stories.

Not a week later… a friend of mine sees this (below) and sends me a picture from his iPhone. He had just finished seeing a patient in isolation for C.diff and almost swiped his hand across the top of someone’s drink that was resting on the isolation cart.

It got me thinkin’… maybe I should make pre-formatted PDFs for printing on stickers. Sure, we can write policy after policy… we can clean all of the cups up when the Joint Commissioners are on another floor… but if you really want to reach someone, do it with humor. I bet putting a C.diff sticker on that drink would do two things – (1) it would make them laugh, and (2) it would make them think.

If you have any ideas for stickers, let me know. In the meantime, I’ve posted a bunch of medical humor products that could serve the same purpose at the GiggleMed Store.

I toyed with the idea of a C.diff humor St. Patty’s Day promotion, but then came to my senses. Anyway, here’s the link:

Lots of people are facing hard financial times. And while everyone is reporting depressing news of layoffs and bankruptcies, I wanted to touch on some news that’s a little more practical (and funny). If you work in a hospital – nurses, techs, doctors, interns, administrators, NPs, PAs, etc – you should be aware of these “9 Signs that the Hospital is in Financial Trouble“. If you see anyone of these bad boys going on at your workplace, start looking for another job.

• Rent-a-catheter program
• The nurse and the physician ask for their portion of the bill each day.
• Discount on surgery in exchange for semi-permanent tattoo – “Like my CABG? Call 1-800-
• We-Cath1″
• When patients bring medicines to the hospital, the pills are collected, counted, and added to the hospital formulary.
• The 64-slice CT scanner is operated by a technician and Vinny, the “billing supervisor”.
• Triage includes collecting your bank routing number in addition to your insurance information.
• Napkins provided with your meals have logos of various local fast food places.
• Passing by the cafeteria, you note that they are washing the plastic utensils and styrofoam cups.
• Patient lunches are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies.

Got some of your own signs to add to this funny list? Post a comment below (no patient identifiers, no copyrighted material, and we can do with it whatever we want). Or, just let us know your favorite. Post a comment now.

How many endocrine disorders to you see represented in this nurse clip art?

This is not a GiggleMed image. And it’s probably not meant to be funny.

You know that phenomenon of looking at someone and secretly wondering about their medical disorders just based on looking at them? We all do it and we rarely talk about it. It’s not really appropriate to bring it up outside of the health care setting.

Well, the same thing happened the other day when this clip art image was posted on a NPO sign outside of a patient’s hospital room. One endocrine disorder immediately jumped out, but on closer inspection, there are several. You can see the answer here, on this Endocrine Humor – Poster Child graphic.

It is not often that an MRI is helpful in diagnosing or ruling out psychiatric illness, but this one sure does…

Who the heck let that other guy in the MRI machine?!

A patient comes into your office and complains of hearing voices. Before claiming it’s a hallucination, you better make sure no one is actually saying something to the patient. And if they are, for God’s sake, don’t let them follow the patient into the MRI scanner.

CT scan: Intra-abdominal ewok or panda?

Is that a panda in your abdomen or are you just happy to see me?

Some people look and see it right away. Others have to stare at it for a while. Once you see it, it’s kinda cute… in a liver-on-your-head sort of way. This real CT reminds me of that ewok that had the bandage on his head in Return of the Jedi. Others think it looks like a panda.

If you see something else, post a comment below.

Is this sacrum smiling (or straining)?

Is nothing sacral anymore?… A laughing sacrum?

This image is a real slice from a patient’s CT scan. We first saw this image in the middle of a pretty hectic day. It made all of the doctors, nurse practitioners, and nurses crack up and brought the tone of a tough day back to earth.

If you have digital imaging at your hospital, you’ll see these things for sure. The spine, the pelvis, and the kidneys are great for uncovering funny facial expressions.

Of course, patient care first… but if you have any funny images, send them our way. (No patient identifying info, no copyrighted material, and we can do with it what we please – See our Terms for details.)

This is a legitimate scale for stool quality

I take no issue with describing stool quality for medical purposes. I take no issue with graphic representation of those qualities. And, I take no issue with creating a scale for easier communication between doctors, nurses, and other health care providers.

I do, however, take issue with the fact that it reads like a breakfast menu…

Sources:

Lewis SJ, Heaton KW (1997), “Stool form scale as a useful guide to intestinal transit time”, Scand. J. Gastroenterol. 32(9): 920–4, PMID 9299672

“Constipation Management and Nurse Prescribing: The importance of developing a concordant approach” (PDF).

Wikipedia: Bristol Stool Scale

SCOE 10X – The Odor Eliminator – for Types 2 through 6 :)

We made this funny warning label from the service offered by this warning label generator. It’s easy to do… no skills needed… and it’s free. Make a funny medical warning label and send it to us. If we like it, we’ll post it. (No patient identifiers, no copyrighted material, and we can do with it whatsoever we darn well please)