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Funny/sad story.. We had one of our regular homeless come in quite a lot recently (a lot even for him), for stuff like back pain, knee pain, a fall, etc. It was so excessive, I wanted to explode....

In T-system, we have an entire page that we can pull up to put in an infinite amount of information about EMS and their report, ranging from IV site and meds given to detailed information about a 12...

Level 3, 20 bed main ER, 10 bed fast track. We have a nurse-patient ratio of 4:1. Typically we have 1-2 float nurses/medics (3 on a fully staffed midshift) and 1 am tech, 1 mid tech, 1 pm tech, along...

The patient dictating to me their course of care and what I'm going to do. Sorry, no. You are in my bed, in my room, under my care. You are here because you need me to take care of you. Emphasis on...

On Monday, Krispy Kreme gave us donuts all day! That rocked the casbah, to say the least. Today we had catering from all around town and had the "Scrubby" awards. In the words of Nurse Jackie.. only...

This is an endlessly discussed topic. My opinion is that it depends on the new grad. A motivated, teachable new grad can succeed anywhere, just like a lazy, hard-headed new grad can fail anywhere.

This whole situation just blows my brains out. Does your facility not let RN's do EJ's and/or US PIV's independently (our ER docs "check" us off on skills such as EJ, US, etc)? I love my ER docs and...

Yup, I got a job as a new grad on a step down unit and then transferred to the ER. There's a lot of things on the floor I learned that really help me in the ER. I think working on a tele floor and...

This. A simple way to explain it to someone who's not having a life threatening emergency is that we are here to make them feel better and their PCP is there to cure them.

Erowid This is a site really meant for people who do drugs, but I think it's a terrific resource for education about drugs. Personally, I think people who do drugs are a far more reliable source...

Actually, let me correct what I said.. they are 1200 ml/hr. I had to grab one to double check it. For some reason I had it halved in my brain. My bad! Anywho.. 600.. 1200.. my thoughts on 24 gauges...

24g angiocaths, that is.

Our angiocaths state 600 ml/hr on the packaging.

Sure, there are definitely varying degrees of trauma and yes, pretty much anything you can do in an 18 you can do in a 20 (however, I don't think a 22 should be put in any trauma pt, I don't care how...

Maybe the 15 minute wait was due to shuffling. We have hall beds in our ER that get used when we are totally full (as was the case tonight). However, I'd rather have a pt hang out in...

I think Stargazer said it best: triage is an extremely subjective area. One man's emergency is another man's, well, non-emergency. There's a lot of variables we don't know.. the experience of both...

Well if you want to look at the numbers, you can put 600 ml/hr through a 24g. Does that mean we put 24g's in every pt that isn't going to be getting rapid infusion? Nope. Hell, most ER nurses would...

I use the term "throwing" loosely. Absolutely if you don't see a vein you can access in a couple of attempts, it's IO time. I'm not implying you should stick and stick and stick. IO is definitely a...

You page the MD and get your co-workers to help you. I don't care what they are doing. If someone is circling the drain, you go grab someone. If they feel inconvenienced, too bad. That patient's life...

You should buy this and always have it on you. Learn to read EKG's and telemetry. There's a plethora of books/guides out there for EKG's. You absolutely must must MUST know your cardiac rhythms in...

If all you are is an adrenaline junkie (or as they are known in the ER: trauma junkies), don't even bother trying to be an ER nurse. The best ER nurses I know all share common traits and their best...

I started in ER with only BLS and ACLS and I did okay, but I learned as much as I could from other nurses. So by the time TNCC rolled around, I already knew most of what was covered, e.g. spinal cord...

I love T-system. Welcome to the ER. Always remember to stop and take a breath. If you don't breathe, you'll drown. It's a stupid analogy, but it's true. As far as triage needing to be done right...

Is this homework? And I strongly suggest a drug handbook or an app such as Medscape or Epocrates that allows you to look up drugs including administration, pharmacology, et al. You won't always...

We share a similar story. I hated floor nursing... seeing the same patients for several nights in a row, doing a lot of repetitive tasks, etc. However, seeing that variety of cardiac patients and...