beckster_01 replied to BunnyBunnyBSNRN's topic in Disabilities
I'm also in the northeast. I agree with connecting with DDNA, an added bonus is that their offices are in Texas. I went to the San Antonio conference in 2022 and it seemed like there is pretty good networking in Texas.
Scene: Patient is comfortably sleeping while on a trach collar, the ventilator next to him reads "STANDBY" in big, bold letters. Resident walks in and stares intently at the ventilator for a few minutes, then looks at me and asks "so what are his ven...
I talk to my husband about work if I need to. When I first started in the ICU I had a lot of things to talk about. But now I usually give simple indicators of how my day was (good, fine, busy). "Crappy" (or @&!#ty) means that I need to talk. It r...
8- hour nights sounds like a dream. 8-hour days can be tough since there is generally more going on. If you have a busy day there are generally a lot of loose ends for evenings to tie up. When I work 11p-7a it falls into a nice rhythm. Most of the ti...
I am curious what your "average" is. I time my work drive so I arrive between 6:50 and 7 (or 7:05). It varies according to traffic and the line for coffee. But I also get out early more often than not. It balances out so that the occasional swipe out...
beckster_01 replied to beckster_01's topic in Medications
I totally can embrace C-diff for what it is. Truly most smells don't bother me, my nose is actually a little broken! Good call on your MIL- I can't imagine willingly spreading this stuff on my face of all things! Unfortunately capsules are not an opt...
I'm not in a good state to give advice for levels of snark- I'm feeling a little snarky myself today. But you should definitely clearly communicate that this is a patient safety issue. They are nitpicking. Very annoying!
beckster_01 replied to beckster_01's topic in Medications
A little bit yes. There is only one case study that I know of, but it isn't an unheard of recommendation. The idea is that Omega3's are essential for neuro growth and recovery, so lets give huge doses to saturate this person in fish oil. But there ha...
beckster_01 replied to beckster_01's topic in Critical
Sorry it has been so long to reply, I haven't logged in for awhile. I think he ended up being 1:1 for the next two shifts so about 24 hours. He was on D30 and still needing amps of bicarb, and I think he was still hemodynamically unstable as well. It...
beckster_01 replied to beckster_01's topic in Medications
We did just break out the essential oils. So now it smells like a minty fish. Or a fishy mint. I'm not quite sure but it is preferable. We also tried getting a hold of activated charcoal but the pharmacy told us they don't carry it (?!?) and ED told ...
So we have been treating our anoxic brain injury patients with high doses of Omega 3's- the back story is that we had a patient whose mother found research that it helps with long term recovery. She advocated for the treatment for her son (he was in ...
Hello all :) Today I initiated high dose insulin to treat a beta blocker overdose for the first time. We have done it before on our unit but it is quite rare (1-2 times in the 4 years I've been there). Our toxicologist gave me great literature so I d...
beckster_01 replied to Nurse326's topic in Emergency
Goodness, give the OP a break. It is HARD to talk about new job issues without tipping the scales between sounding whiny vs. know-it-all. I can relate with feeling like you've covered the same ground over and over and still being met with the same as...
beckster_01 replied to contemplations's topic in General Nursing
Stress: The first year is very stressful. You will second guess yourself, make mistakes, make people mad. But its all worth it when you get to the point where people are asking you questions and you realize that you are actually competent. After that...