ER rotation

CountrifiedRN · Feb 8, 2002

I'm glad you had such a great day! It must feel great to have gotten all that experience in one day! Our class is doing med-surg now, and we are always looking for procedures that we can do.

Keep up the good work!!

bassbird · Feb 8, 2002

I'm glad you had such a great day! Maybe you found your niche in nursing. When do you graduate?

Wow, we aren't allowed to start IV's until we get hired on as RN's! I guess that is just the policy in the hospitals here. We don't do a rotation in ER either. I'm in my last semester so I will be doing a 10 week preceptorship in CCU. Some of my classmates are doing ER, some Med-Surg, Hospice and one is doing the burn unit.

It amazes me how different all of our programs are. I graduate in 3 months and we haven't even learned to do blood draws! Maybe it depends on the state you live in...

BrandyBSN · Feb 8, 2002

That is a bad hospital policy Bassbird! How can they expect you to be a fully functional graduate if they wont let you do IV starts? Is there any way you can petition to have this policy changed?

I am so happy that you are enjoying your ER rotation! Im doing 120 hours in the ER this semester, and so far, I am loving every minute of it :) I've gotten to do a lot of skills that we never got to practice on the regular floors. 23 blood draws, 16 IVS (although I didnt get 2 of them) and 3 foleys. I am also getting a lot of experience reading EKG strips, and last week I started doing independent discharges of patients, and full admissions. I love the ER, and I have a WONDERFUL preceptor.

I wish you the best of luck! Its a wonderful area of nursing!

BrandyBSN

old-master · Feb 9, 2002

I am in Nursing school and personal nervous about the whole IV thing. Ever since Carter on ER screwed up a pt's IV, way, way back, during his student days. Also, I had this girlfriend in high school, that was in a LVN program, she use to use me to prefect her IV training. Ah, the things we do for love! I look like a Heroin IV user for the damage! Was it has hard has it looks?

old-master has spoken........

bassbird · Feb 9, 2002

Brandy - that's the way it has been up here for a long time (as far as I can tell anyway). My sister graduated in 1977 and they didn't start IV's either.

A lot of the hospitals have IV teams. I know the ICU/CCU and ER nurses start their own IV's but the floor nurses don't. As for nursing students, it's probably a litigation issue. Oh well.....

I am taking ACLS next month so I'm pretty excited about that! :roll

-Roberta

crnasomeday · Feb 9, 2002

I don't remember Carter ever screwing up an IV on ER. Are you telling me I missed an episode?!? Darn it.... I remember the one where that girl screwed up the central line, but that's way way different. There's nothing really to be nervous about starting an IV. I mean, either you get it or you don't, and even very experienced nurses have difficulty getting one sometimes.

As for getting to do a lot of stuff in clinicals, I can totally relate to how you feel janleb. I've gotten to do a lot of stuff this semester that I haven't had the opportunity to do before. I've started about 12 or 13 IVs and done some NG tubes too. I do a lot of blood draws and catheter insertions at work, so that's not as exciting as it used to be. In a couple weeks I start my preceptorship in the ER, so I'm hoping to get to do a lot more IV starts there.

zacarias, ASN, RN · Feb 10, 2002

Originally posted by old-master
I am in Nursing school and personal nervous about the whole IV thing. Ever since Carter on ER screwed up a pt's IV, way, way back, during his student days. ........

Hey guy,

You have to remember that when Carter was asked to do that IV, he had never done before and was never trained on how to do it!! They just said, "start her IV." He probably knew that he was supposed to go into the vein but that's it!!! LOL In nursing we at least get training.

Z

jobear · Feb 10, 2002

that's exactly what the doctor needs to order. you'll be supprised how far that boost will carry you. stef