MarkHammerschmidt

Latest Activity

1. What would you do for this patient?

   MarkHammerschmidt replied to UM Review RN's topic in CCU

   It's simple enough - slowing a patient's rate when they're in rapid AF or whatever gives them better chamber filling time, so their pressure improves. Breaking the AF will also give them back their atrial kick, which is something like 25% of cardiac ...

2. Iabp

   MarkHammerschmidt replied to bullseye's topic in MICU

   Sure. Afterload is just SVR, which you get from your PA line numbers. Augmentation you measure manually on a printout, or by using a cursor on a screen-freeze, it's the difference between the patient's systolic peak and the "assisted" systolic peak, ...

3. Is there a max dose of Levophed?

   MarkHammerschmidt replied to KevinS's topic in MICU

   We go as high as 100mcg/min, straight drip. This is usually a terminal situation though.

4. New Graduates In The Icu?

   MarkHammerschmidt replied to Aaron Catmull's topic in General Nursing

   I can't get past the feeling that a new grad has enough on their plate just learning the basics of practice, without the added stress of the ICU. There are lots of pros and cons to this, lots of opinions, and sure, some people do fine. But I think th...

5. New Graduates In The Icu?

   MarkHammerschmidt replied to Aaron Catmull's topic in MICU

   I can't get past the feeling that a new grad has enough on their plate just learning the basics of practice, without the added stress of the ICU. There are lots of pros and cons to this, lots of opinions, and sure, some people do fine. But I think th...

6. "Slow" codes

   MarkHammerschmidt replied to txdude35's topic in General Nursing

   Another aspect... suppose an attending made a "wrong" call, and "allowed" a "clearly terminal" patient to pass away, possibly in good faith that everyone in the family had been in agreement... and some previously undetected member of the family poppe...

7. "Slow" codes

   MarkHammerschmidt replied to txdude35's topic in MICU

   Another aspect... suppose an attending made a "wrong" call, and "allowed" a "clearly terminal" patient to pass away, possibly in good faith that everyone in the family had been in agreement... and some previously undetected member of the family poppe...

8. Can't believe they do CRRT this way...

   MarkHammerschmidt replied to jbp0529's topic in MICU

   I think your concerns are totally on the money, and the resistance you're encountering is just what they used to call "chickens**t", in the service. We use four three-liter bags of replacement fluid, running a 1.6 liter/hour volume turnover - but we ...

9. Excellent Resources for Cardiac Nursing

   MarkHammerschmidt replied to VickyRN's topic in Cardiac

   My wife and I run a cottage-industry website, offering free-access FAQ articles for new ICU nurses, at http://www.icufaqs.org - we've got upwards of 20 files up now, which are being serially updated over time. Something like 600 pages, we think, cove...

10. "Blood Products and Transfusion" has been updated on the MICU faqs website...

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in MICU

    Hi all - our article on blood transfusions, products, and the like has bee updated on the MICU faqs website, at http://www.icufaqs.org - let us know what you think? As usual, free of access, and all comments are welcome. Also dog pictures, we like th...

11. "Foley Catheters for Beginners" is up on the MICU faqs website...

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in General Nursing

    Hi all - a new article: "Foley Catheters for Beginners", is up on the MICU faqs website at http://www.icufaqs.org - this is the second in a series for new grads coming into the unit, covering topics that deserve a close look, for people unfamiliar wi...

12. "Pressors and Vasoactives" has been updated at www.icufaqs.org

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in MICU

    Hi all - our article on "Pressors and Vasoactives" has been substantially updated on the MICU FAQs website at http://www.icufaqs.org - let us know what you think? Thanks!

13. "Sedation and Paralysis" has been updated at www.icufaqs.org ...

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in MICU

    Hi all. Our file on "Sedation and Paralysis" has been updated on the MICU faqs website, at http://www.icufaqs.org - let us know what you think? As always, our materials remain free, and comments and advice always welcome :)

14. "Sedation and Paralysis" has been updated at www.icufaqs.org ...

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in CCU

    Hi all. Our file on "Sedation and Paralysis" has been updated on the MICU faqs website, at http://www.icufaqs.org - let us know what you think? As always, our materials remain free, and comments and advice always welcome :)

15. Slowly updating the MICU faqs...

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in General Nursing

    Hi all. A quick note to say that we continue to (slowly!) update the articles at http://www.icufaqs.org - most recently we've started adding quiz questions at the ends of the files, in our own style, which we hope you'll both enjoy and find useful (g...