kalycat BSN, RN

CVICU CCRN

Member

About kalycat

kalycat has 5 years experience as a BSN, RN and specializes in CVICU CCRN.


2014 RN/BSN; neuroscience geek. I enjoy camping, running, riding horses and photography.

Latest Activity

  1. Oh @KatieMI!! I just had to post and wish you well. I’ve followed your posts for years and remember you mentioning your allergies in a thread where we were discussing restaurant food and epi pens. I am so, so sorry this happened to you! I am glad ...
  2. kalycat

    Left my job d/t health reasons yesterday.

    It's a loss. A true loss. There will be somewhat of a grief process around it for sure. Try to use this time to regroup and work towards your dreams/goals, particularly ones outside of work. Give yourself some quality time. Major life changes, especi...
  3. It's actually part of orientation to our CVICU that you observe a CABG or other open heart procedure - you spend two days in the OR. I think it's awesome. I used to work as a circulator and then went to the unit, and the context and breadth of experi...
  4. Add me to the list of people who were actually bullied at one time - the time I transferred to my "dream" unit. Believe me, the behavior went far beyond jamming a copier or eye rolling. Think screaming, malicious rumors, personal attacks, being set u...
  5. kalycat

    Best/Worst EHR

    I've used both the DOS based meditech and the windows based "upgrade" one. Both were absolutely terrible and the second took 75 clicks to locate a simple lab result. I love epic as much as it's possoble to love the endless charting. At least it's fa...
  6. kalycat

    Very concerned

    I'm sorry to hear this. I've worked at facilities that had fatigue guidelines before - but they seem to be few and far between. Unless her work hours were in direct violation of policy, I personally would avoid that topic in your appeal. Management m...
  7. This is a very interesting discussion. I don't work for MultiCare, but this may be applicable in my region. When I used to work the floor, we had "break buddies" at night with no resource nurse, and it could be an utter nightmare. Even on stepdown wh...
  8. kalycat

    Very concerned

    I read through this whole thing and was hoping someone would mention this. I've only been a nurse for 4 years and was told numerous times in nursing school to never do this. OP: I'm a CICU nurse in a high acuity facility. Everyone here has given you...
  9. We have a special sign with a dove on it that's kept with our other iso precaution signs. It's just our way of letting others know what is going on -- lab, other nurses, etc. With 72 beds, we can have a ton of staff around and things can get hectic.
  10. kalycat

    L&D Nurse After Stillbirth

    I am so sorry for your loss. I suffered the loss of my first daughter in the mid second trimester due to a variety of complications. My experiences are what, in part, inspired me to become a nurse (almost 20 years later!). My experience was a very, ...
  11. kalycat

    It is a broken system - rant

    While I agree that we need to put our own perspectives aside since it's about the patient and their goals, I feel very strongly about being an advocate for mitigation of suffering. Very strongly. I have seen strong, healthy men of 90+ lose all sembl...
  12. kalycat

    Risk of getting your family members sick?

    I was on an immune suppressing med in nursing school - only time I ever got sick that I could directly tie to the hospital; it was norovirus. I changed my meds and lifestyle, don't take that med anymore, and I've been fine. I have pretty severe asthm...
  13. kalycat

    Need help..hate my job :(

    A couple of thoughts to add to the great info you've received... If you think that resources are a major component of your stress, perhaps dayshift on your unit would be a better fit? We staff very lean at night on my busy cardiac transplant and mec...
  14. kalycat

    Pt. regurgitated/vomited NG tube

    I've had adults do it - not as often as kids though. Just happens sometimes. Nothing to do but drop a new one.
  15. kalycat

    ACLS certification

    This is a great little website that I used when I initially took acls. It really helped with rhythm recognition - I wasn't a new grad but hadn't worked on the floor yet; I went straight to the OR and then transferred to cardiac and became a code team...