This is just an observation and a personal expercience I would appreciate input on. This is brought about by an incident when I attemped to call report on a pt from the ER to Med/Surg on a chest pain pt. The charge nurse of the Med/Surg unit flatly refused to take the patient until the half life of lopressor I had given had past (six hours), I was dumbfounded. And it took several meetings and memos to "allow' patients to the Med/Surg after receiving any cardiac IV medications prior to the half life "expiration."
I then began to wonder, how able are our nurses, as a whole, in taking care of wounded soilders/civilians when on deployment. The hospital I am currently stationed at ships out most of our trully critical pts, our traumas tend to be sprained ankles or if we are lucky a tib/fib fracture. I tried to keep up my skills in a civilian level one trauma center, but my additional duties, meetings, and other military related appointments either precluded me from having a life or to quit moon-lighting (I want a life). My command were not flexible in allowing me to work either, schedule comming out a week before it started, inconsistent shifts, and a general lack of understanding of what civilian nursing is all about.
When I was line side, our primary mission was to train for war, virtually everything we did revolved around it. Since I became an RN, the focus has shifted to other concerns. So I have some questions for all AD RNs
If/when Big Willie closes, where will nurses go to obtain or maintain our competancy in caring for truly ill pts?
Should new nurses be placed in clinics before having actual inpatient experience?
Should the command allow duty time for AD nurses to work in a nearby civilian hospital?
These are just the ramblings of a sleep deprived mind, thanks for reading
