SprightlySparrow BSN, RN

SprightlySparrow has 17 years experience as a BSN, RN and specializes in MICU-PedsCardsStepdown-PCICU-PICU-Onco Infusion RN.

Latest Activity

1. June 2013 Caption Contest: Win $100!

   SprightlySparrow replied to Joe V's topic in Announcements

   1.) This obesity epidemic has brought a whole new set of occupational hazards... 2.) This is nothing...you should've been there for the rectal exam! 3.) "Be a veterinarian," they said..."specialize in exotic animals," they said...

2. Low blood pressure great neurological status?

   SprightlySparrow replied to umcRN's topic in PICU

   Whoa!!! Keep us updated for sure!! I am so curious!

3. Low blood pressure great neurological status?

   SprightlySparrow replied to umcRN's topic in PICU

   Gosh these cases sound crazy. Were thyroid levels checked? Cort stim? That's all I've got! ?

4. 2013 Nashville Area New Grad Pay

   SprightlySparrow replied to serenitylove14's topic in Tennessee

   I PROMISE you Vandy will NOT pay a new grad anywhere near $24 an hour. You may get $18-21. They have good shift differentials though, and good insurance. And another poster mistakenly said they require one OT shift each six weeks, which is slightly ...

5. TN Nurses - Any input on Schools?!

   SprightlySparrow replied to combsj25's topic in Tennessee

   I went to Belmont, and while it was a fabulous institution, I am now deeply in debt. From experience I can tell you that both universities are wonderful and are highly respected. What school you attended doesn't really matter as much as you might th...

6. Continuity of care/Routines

   SprightlySparrow replied to umcRN's topic in PICU

   That is so disheartening that your Child Life Specialist isn't doing what she should be doing. Both peds ICUs I've worked in have had amazing CLS and social workers. I was going to suggest your CLS coming up with a schedule (with the parents) and t...

7. Best Websites/Apps for Travel RNs?

   SprightlySparrow posted a topic in Travel

   Hey everybody! This is my first travel assignment, and I've gotten a TON of helpful information from my fellow travelers thus far during orientation. I'm hoping to add this post in an attempt to get some additional helpful info for not only myself, ...

8. Awake, alert, oriented & non ventilated...on ECMO??

   SprightlySparrow replied to umcRN's topic in PICU

   I know the original post here is a little old, but I just stumbled across it. At my center, we actually had our first pediatric ECMO patient to be extubated not too long ego (VA ECMO). I'm not sure whether this has been done before in the US on a p...

9. daily weights in your unit?

   SprightlySparrow replied to picurn10's topic in PICU

   I'm not sure that it would matter much one way or another if the child was eating/drinking (unless you are thinking about it from the standpoint of interrupting the child's dinner, in that case, maybe that child could be done last in line). Otherwis...

10. daily weights in your unit?

    SprightlySparrow replied to picurn10's topic in PICU

    Our stepdown unit weighs every patient every night around 2000. (Actually, it's part of the nurse tech's responsibility, but the nurses assist when they are able). Though this makes the beginning of the night kind of busy, the parents are awake as w...

11. daily weights in your unit?

    SprightlySparrow replied to picurn10's topic in PICU

    I was not under the impression you were speaking about larger children. That is why I used the phrase "I may be missing something". Clearly I was...one would never expect the nurse to lift a patient that large in the manner I was speaking about. Mos...

12. daily weights in your unit?

    SprightlySparrow replied to picurn10's topic in PICU

    I forgot to say I was appalled when I read the original post about using sling scales! I am SO sorry you guys have to do that...it seems absurd to do that on a postop. Dangerous! Our kids are weighed/measured immediately prior to surgery and are no...

13. daily weights in your unit?

    SprightlySparrow replied to picurn10's topic in PICU

    I may be totally missing something here, but can y'all not just lift the patient, zero the bed w/everything on it, then weigh the patient after he/she has been placed back in the bed? Our Panda beds as well as some of our cribs have built in scales, ...

14. You know you're an ICU nurse when...

    SprightlySparrow replied to Fox_RuN's topic in Critical

    When it's no biggie for your patient to have an open chest and be on 12 different drips takin' up 10 lines of space on your monitor, but the thought of a patient alone in a room on absolutely no continuous monitoring absolutely FREAKS you out!!

15. Travel companies for a PCICU Nurse?

    SprightlySparrow posted a topic in Travel

    I am looking into traveling, and I have only found one company thus far (Cross Country Travel Corps) who seems to have job availabilities for my speciality which is Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care. Every other company website has Peds or PICU listed...