wildlaurel

wildlaurel specializes in Emergency.

Latest Activity

1. Name the Hospital and Starting Salary

   wildlaurel replied to idani's topic in North Carolina

   I don't think most hospitals consider BSN vs ADN when setting the hourly rate. I've heard that Duke is now starting new grads out at $25/hour. I was surprised by that because they used to be the lowest paying hospital in that part of the state!

2. At the end of my rope...hate nursing.

   wildlaurel replied to Brittany2206's topic in General Students

   You don't say you hate nursing or caring for patients...you hate the hours, the place, the people...You will most likely not find your dream job right out of school, but you might find one that is a little more compatible with your lifestyle in terms...

3. I feel so dumb... I got flustered - about a patient in respiratory distress

   wildlaurel replied to LalaJJB's topic in Emergency

   I agree with several of the other posts, call RT - get them to assess the patient. If the patient had a hx of COPD - you have to be careful about over oxygenating. Go to the EDP and say, "I'm really concerned about this patient and need you to come...

4. What was the MOST ridiculous thing a patient came to the ER for?

   wildlaurel replied to JUSTYSMOM's topic in Emergency

   I had a lady take an ambulance to our ED at 2 am once because she didn't get her piece of fruit before bedtime...because nobody was home to give her "care and comfort." I wanted to give her a fruit cup and send her home - the EDP wanted to work her ...

5. Pharmacy Techs in ED

   wildlaurel posted a topic in Emergency

   Hello, We're getting ready to implement the use of pharmacy techs in our ED with ALL patients. We already have techs who come in and verify meds on patients being admitted, but we'll soon have techs doing all patient meds. We're having conversation...

6. Violent psych patients - how do you handle them in your ED?

   wildlaurel replied to wildlaurel's topic in Emergency

   Yeah - there was no reasoning with this patient - they were completely psychotic. Those people just scare me - I can take a mean drunk or a manipulative personality disorder - but psychotic people just cannot be reasoned with.

7. Violent psych patients - how do you handle them in your ED?

   wildlaurel posted a topic in Emergency

   I would like to hear about how various ED's handle violent patients (psychotic - not a patient you can reason with) in the ED? A patient who became so out of control that one of their family members was injured (by the patient) and a nurse was injur...

8. The Patient That Helped My Patience

   wildlaurel replied to Loque's topic in General Students

   Wow! So well written and engaging Loque! It is a good reminder that something that is small and annoying to us can be huge to someone else. I had a little old lady patient who came into the ED one day with constipation and I really felt for her - ...

9. Fainting... so dramatic

   wildlaurel replied to Double-Helix's topic in General Nursing

   I have passed out one time - in nursing school in the OR...and I knew it was coming, so I got to a wall and just slid down into a sitting position! The worst fainting episode I've ever heard was a patient who'd just been discharged and was at the di...

10. 4 days left till NCLEX..What do you do? Relax? Study? Cry? Pray?

    wildlaurel replied to leanjess's topic in NCLEX

    When I was studying for the NCLEX I read in several places not to study the day before - relax, see a movie - just let yourself come down from the studying! That's what I did pretty much. I made some flash cards with lab values and things like that...

11. Handling rude or dishonest patients

    wildlaurel replied to wildlaurel's topic in Emergency

    Thank you guys! I did document on it, but I guess my main question was - do you confront the lying? With the patient who said she'd called out for 30 minutes I finally said, "I'm really concerned that you aren't happy with your care and I'm sorry a...

12. Handling rude or dishonest patients

    wildlaurel replied to wildlaurel's topic in Emergency

    Oh, by the way, I'm an ED nurse!

13. Handling rude or dishonest patients

    wildlaurel posted a topic in Emergency

    I have had a recent spate of plain old rude, manipulative patients. I can ignore rude behavior, but it amazes me when people lie to/about me. For instance, the other day a patient called out for assistance to the BSC. I was charting and a tech imm...

14. Nurse/Patient ratio in the ED?

    wildlaurel replied to jlan79's topic in Emergency

    We have a 4:1 ratio on acute side and it can be 6:1 in Fast Track. There are times though when we may be short-staffed or really busy and we'll have to go up by a patient or two. That is pretty unusual though thank goodness.

15. Calling Code Blue in ED

    wildlaurel replied to becca001's topic in Emergency

    In my ED we don't call Code Blues when we have a pt arrest or a CPR in progress come in. ED staff handles all codes in our department. If there is a Code Blue called anywhere else in the hospital, one of our docs responds with one of our EMT's and ...