Darkfield

Darkfield

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About Darkfield

Darkfield has 4 years experience.


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  1. Death- your experiences

    I'm taking an informal survey here. I work in critical care and I see quite a lot of death. My attitude towards death has become quite callous - when someone is sick, they should be a DNR, and when someone is really sick, they should be comfort care....
  2. Death and Dying in the ICU

    I work in the northeast. I think our attendings are very good about addressing code status with the families when it starts looking bad or when the pt is very elderly or has a poor quality of life. If the family states they want to do DNI/DNR or comf...
  3. Nurse burnout/Moral distress/Compassion fatigue

    Not all places are that terrible! You might feel bad for leaving, but if it is for your own sanity, do it. Go somewhere else, and switch to days. Having no circadian rhythm is a killer. I know what you mean about being irritated when someone starts ...
  4. Ever seen a pt live after 5 chest tubes?

    He went for a trach and came back with a 6th pleuravac, draining the pericardium and two jp's, draining the puss around his treachea instead. Then I was off for a few days. There is a happy thank-you card from his family in the break room, so I'm ass...
  5. Chlorhexidine Baths

    We started using them after evidence showed that MRSA is found (not on those stupid yellow gowns) most often in the basins. My friend counters that by getting a new bath basin each time she bathes someone, but that isn't very practical, landfill wise...
  6. "Stupid" questions and working as new RN

    I've been a nurse for about four years and I find myself making a lot of little mistakes, but you learn. I do stupid things, but I never do stupid things more than once. If you break a rule, think about how important that rule is. The pt is supposed...
  7. How do you measure temperatures?

    monotherm foley caths. Unless you've got a freak ICU pt that doesn't need a foley (that happens) or someone with a 3way, it's the way to go.
  8. Ever seen a pt live after 5 chest tubes?

    Had a guy who aspirated his own vomit when he was drunk, ended up with empyema, loculated fluid collection, all out white out left lung. Five chest tubes. He was in the OR for a trach when I came on the other night, but he came back with 2 jp's drain...
  9. exact same at my place a little further upstate. 7 max at night on med surg and it only goes down. I worked days with a 5-6 max and it was unbelievably busy and sometimes unsafe. Would never take more pts.
  10. Is it possible to titrate paralytics?

    I'm guessing the original poster doesn't actually know what a paralytic is-it is completely inappropriate to suggest for a post-extubation pt. The fact that the nurse in question's response to confusion is to "sedate" tells me a little bit about his/...
  11. Dopamine infused by infusion pumps

    Just have to reply to this as well; the pressor you use has a lot to do with why you are using the pressor. If the pt is septic, for example, you'll want levophed because it constricts the periphery and increases flow to the central organs. Dopamine ...
  12. Dopamine infused by infusion pumps

    I can't imagine ever ever running a drip like this on my old med surg floor. I may have had insulin twice and a lasix drip; otherwise the only thing resembling a drip was a pca. And why would a line be dc'd with a pt still on a drip, especially one t...
  13. feels like a real icu today

    I just want to say I had the ultimate patient last night. Sometimes I feel like a terrible person because I like it when people are really sick, but I don't actually want them to be sick, right? But this guy was; one of those weird MICU pts that was ...
  14. How about your favorite Old Wives Tales related to health?

    I know a lot of Europeans that wear scarves around their necks when they have colds...I saw a German girl do it in India, and it was about 85 degrees out.
  15. Sedation..Your thoughts?

    That is not a ton of propofol. Are you sure you're not talking about mg instead of mcg? Most people I've met can stay awake on 15 mcg/kg/min. In answer to the original question, if the pt was comfortable, I'd leave her where she was. That's actually...