ktliz

ktliz

critical care

Member
  • Content

    379
  • Visitors

    12,142
  • Followers

    0

About ktliz

ktliz specializes in critical care.


Latest Activity

  1. Cleaning up lines

    Managing your lines is something that will come with experience. I remember being a new nurse, and tracing my lines over and over and over to make sure I knew where everything was going. We do the 3 labels thing, with one at the patient, one by the b...
  2. A previous poster said they found the ICU over-stimulating. Personally the combination of routine and adrenaline in the ICU has been perfect for me. But, a couple years into my career, I'm starting to have more issues with inattention. Now that I'm m...
  3. Most drips at once

    One of my worst days on the unit--up to 16 pumps running at once, including abx, electrolytes and blood products. Four stacks of four pumps each. Patient was on CRRT so I was doing hourly Is&Os, clearing the volume on every one of those pumps eve...
  4. We are moving toward a paperless report in our unit, using the computer to look up information rather than referring to a written Kardex. Previously, the off-going nurse would make a copy of the patient's Kardex for the oncoming nurse to take report...
  5. nursing care for chest tube of cabg patient

    I've been told never to strip an intrapleural chest tube, but it's ok to strip the smaller, mediastinal drains.
  6. Your PROPOFOL stories wanted

    Propofol is our go-to drug, usually with 50-100 of fentanyl Q1H PRN, or sometimes a fentanyl gtt. If propofol (max of 80) doesn't keep the patient adequately sedated, then we will go to midazolam. We don't check trigylcerides routinely, only if the p...
  7. sedation

    Propofol. Or sometimes fentanyl with prn ativan. We will use dex when trying to extubate a patient who wakes up WILD when you turn the propofol off. In our facility, dex absolutely cannot be used for longer than the fda-approved 24 hours.
  8. Does this feeling go away?

    Sounds about right. The completely wiped-out feeling does diminish with time, but will never completely go away. You just learn to work through it. I will say that the mental exhaustion seemed to get much better after a year. Now it is just the physi...
  9. University of South Alabama FNP program

    Sorry, Rhia, I didn't start at USA after all, due to finances. Hoping to start my MSN this fall but at a different school (with the help of tuition deferment!)
  10. Highs and Lows ICU style

    Just about 2 years of experience in the ICU. Highs.. -Making my patient as comfortable as possible. Whether that means a bath, getting up and sitting in a chair, allowing them a few hours of uninterrupted sleep or providing just the right PRN med. -W...
  11. To DKA or not to DKA, that is the question...

    Was doing a little googling for my own information, and found this page explaining the types of ketoacidosis... http://www.anaesthesiamcq.com/AcidBaseBook/ab8_2.php
  12. To DKA or not to DKA, that is the question...

    I think you may have missed the part where the OP states that the patient is a type I diabetic. Therefore, the patient does require insulin and the DKA protocol would be appropriate.
  13. when to start compressions?

    Great thread. Just this week I had a patient in torsades requiring compressions and defibrillation. Following the code, we started a milrinone drip with a loading dose. Apparently his heart did not like that loading dose because he went into a rhyth...
  14. Is ICUfaqs.com outdated?

    There may be a few tidbits that are outdated (meds, maybe?), but as every document on the icufaqs site states, it is not intended to be the "last word" on anything. It is a general overview of things you will encounter in the ICU, and still an excell...
  15. Ativan

    True. So far haven't had this happen though. Often, when we withdraw care and the patient is too sick to go to hospice, they already have a central line/picc/port or something. If I lost IV access on my minimally conscious patient, I would be highly ...