aj1973

aj1973 has 12 years experience and specializes in ICU, PICU, Orthopaedics, Spinal.

Latest Activity

1. Do Nurses have to work in rotating shifts in almost all the jobs?

   aj1973 replied to shakshi's topic in General Nursing

   It depends what kind of nursing you're looking at doing. If you want to work in an acute ward situation, then you're going to have to do some nights, at least when you're just starting out. From my experience, there aren't many places that have enoug...

2. Drinks in the nurses station...

   aj1973 replied to mcknis's topic in General Nursing

   Wow - I never thought this would be such a big issue. I don't know that I have ever worked on a ward where you can't have water bottles, or your morning cup of coffee in the nurses station. Where I work now (ICU) we all have our drinks in our rooms, ...

3. doing stuff differently

   aj1973 replied to cvryder's topic in MICU

   AH I see, thanks for that. Being an aussie, it never ceases to amaze me how different the terminology is between us and the USA - I think I'd be stuffed if I ever decided to move to the USA to work!! :)

4. Pulling chest tubes..

   aj1973 replied to gwlillith's topic in MICU

   Yep, in my unit CCRN's can pull chest tubes, its one of the competencies we have to complete as part of the CCRN course. RN's can pull chest tubes if supervised by a CCRN. :)

5. doing stuff differently

   aj1973 replied to cvryder's topic in MICU

   hmm, i have a question - what do you guys mean by 'draw an artline'? do you mean drawing blood from an arterial line? just thought i'd ask, as i haven't heard that term before. seriously, some of you need to come work 'down under' for a while. i'm am...

6. ICU RN's responsible for CRRT or CVVH

   aj1973 replied to graciev's topic in MICU

   In my ICU (which is med/surg/neuro/trauma/anything else!!) in Australia CCRN's set up, troubleshoot and maintain CVVHDF, but if an existing dialysis patient comes in, the dialysis unit nurses will bring down their CRRT and do the therapy. Only CCRN'...

7. uk to adelaide

   aj1973 replied to grantcowie1970's topic in International

   hi there grant! i've lived & worked in adelaide all my life, i'd be happy to give u any tips u need to get settled here. feel free to email me with any questions! cheers, mandy:beer:

8. visiting hours in the ICU

   aj1973 replied to kim_b's topic in Safety

   Hi there We are fortunate in the ICU I work in - we've recently had a MAJOR redevelopment, and visitors and the monitoring of them was a big focus. We now have visiting from 0830 - 2030, 2 visitors at a time. We have volunteers present through visi...

9. 12 hour shifts

   aj1973 replied to witzend's topic in International

   The PICU I work in has a choice of 8 or 12 hour shifts. I gave the 12 hour shifts a try for a few months last year, but gave them up for a couple of reasons: 1. I was SO exhausted on my days off, that extra 4 hours makes a huge difference, leaving ho...

10. Use of saline for sx'ing vented babies?

    aj1973 replied to NICU_Nurse's topic in NICU

    In the PICU I work in we're allowed to use saline, but only when assisted by a senior RN, no juniors are allowed to use it on their own, and it's generally only used when all other options have failed. I think it's useful though, what else can you d...

11. Nursing terms

    aj1973 replied to kurtz's topic in Humor

    my favourite at the moment is:code brown - a warnng to other staff that we are dealing with a large smelly revolting bed full of poo!!:roll mandy

12. Is nursing exercise?

    aj1973 replied to mihi's topic in General Nursing

    Yup... There definately is exercise in nursing, particularly ward nursing. I transfered from Orthopaedics to PICU in April and have put on almost 4kg - and I SWEAR it is because I'm now sitting on my butt for the most of the day looking at monitors,...

13. Attn Icu & Er Nurses:what's You Opinion Of Med-surg Nurses?

    aj1973 replied to welnet66's topic in General Nursing

    Hey there, Personally I think that having a med/surg background is a brilliant foundation for working in an ICU. I've worked in adult ICU, then on the wards, mainly in orthopaedics, for a few years and have recently transferred to PICU. I think wor...

14. Patient Loads, How many patients do you have?

    aj1973 replied to Jan B's topic in Orthopaedic

    I know what you're dealing with, I've just moved on after 4 years wroking in orthopaedics in Adelide, the last year of that as a CN. the accuity of the patients you describe was pretty standardm, lots of joint replacements, and just about always a r...

15. Why did you want to be a nurse? Why be a nurse? Why not be a doctor?

    aj1973 replied to getbabygirl's topic in General Students

    Very simple really, when I finished hig school, you neede 56/100 to get into nursing and something like 99.2/100 to get into medicine - needless to say, I got 58/100 in year 12, so there really wasn't much choice in the matter. There's also the litt...