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 ...
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, ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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!
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 :)
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 :)
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...