chest tubes

i really hate chest tubes. they suck and i never want one. if anyone ever tells you that you need a chest tube, please ask them to give you A LOT of sedation as well as A LOT of pain medication. i had to help with a pigtail chest tube, granted this one was smaller but still the same thought - they have to stick a tube into someone's lung cavity to drain out fluid. so that was the first time. pt was ok and the drain was working but then his sats started to suck and we had to use the ambu bag to keep his sats up while they had to do another chest tube - the big nasty thick huge ones where they use the scalpel to cut them open then stick their finger in their chest wall to open it further so you see the flesh and the blood and the doctor is using his finger to pry it open and make the opening larger until he feels the gush and then sticks this hugeantic tube in his chest. and then when the patient still isn't breathing well, you have to call an airway emergency so they can put the patient on a ventilator! it sucked. last night was the cruelest april fools joke ever. anyway, at least i don't work til wed, or at least i'm not scheduled too. anyway, can you see why i don't like chest tubes? blah. so remember, ask for some dilaudid, fentanyl and most importantly, versed.