Arterial line is best. Especially if they are on pressors or cold (hypothermia protocol), or even have very calloused hands. When I have an art line available I never use finger sticks.
A few options in the future: Document when there are safety shortfalls. No chair alarms? Document it. I had to document a "system" problem when the phones were apparently down and my trauma patient decided to de-recruit a lung. Not my fault, not the...
I think many people fail to prepare for HESI, they assume that they will be prepared without actually doing much preparation. Did that 25% invest time in studying or doing practice exams? I personally prepped for exit HESI by reading, reviewing, and...
This is not unheard of. They're setting a minimum passing score based on exams. I cannot even think of how this would be a "legal" issue, how schools grade is not regulated. If it's clearly stated it's definitely fair game. There can be all kinds of ...
That's really a little rude. I think it's totally normal to worry about "being behind." The OP hasn't shared anything about themselves other than they're worried about delaying graduation. OP, don't worry about it at all. You'll work with nurses who...
vera4130 replied to WorriedNurse25's topic in Relations
Had a patient come in with hyperkalemia and was going to need dialysis, wasn't currently on dialysis and so didn't have access. Didn't seem emergent and renal was swamped so they decided to hold off until the following morning. Throughout my nightshi...
Why not just get the experience? Short cuts are not always the best route. What makes you qualified as a manager if you have no experience? My best managers have had clinical experience and an MBA or MSN in admin. I honestly can't imagine working for...
vera4130 replied to student_nurse2016's topic in General Students
There are research nurses too, and many do more than just taking patient histories. Public health could be a good option too. I hated nursing school so much I almost dropped out. I also had a previous degree and thought that I wanted to do research,...
vera4130 replied to wonderwoman92's topic in Job Hunt
Yes. It is as much me evaluating them as it is the other way around. I care about how units schedule, floating, staffing, education opportunities, etc. Well thought out questions should be seen as a bonus. And I'd get benefits info up front from HR.
I'll second that. Some places may be an outright no, others will want more information. But I'd want to find out before spending the time and money to go to school.
I had one who was a "therapeutic touch" practitioner and believed she'd healed someone's DVT or some non-sense. She taught our first semester lecture and I've never had a more worthless class. Thinking back it's clear she wasn't really qualified to t...
vera4130 replied to novicenurse1384's topic in Critical
Get familiar with how to look things up at your hospital. For example, if I have a question about what is best practice for a certain diagnosis, I usually start with UpToDate. Find where to look up information about diseases, medications, equipment, ...
Nursing is stressful, and critical care is stressful in a different way. I think the only way to survive sometimes is to have a life outside of work. It's not that I'm not a team player (trust me, if you need help I'll probably stay late), but someti...
vera4130 replied to Guest07/13/15's topic in Texas (UTA)
YES! Do everything in APA format up front, it will make revising easier!! Your assignments the first three weeks (I think - I've already starting blocking out the painful memories of that class) will result in a rough draft of your final paper. Do th...