Nursing Tid Bits

1. Nystatin powder is to be used SPARINGLY- only a light dusting, brush it to get the excess off.

2. Don't inject more than 1mL of fluid into deltoid muscle- IF they have a butt or thigh please use it.

3. If you forget and inject Dilantin into LR solution, please stop the flow of the precipitate before it gets to the patient (Dliantin into NS only).

4. Do not put bleach into an old vinigar bottle for cleaning up the dialyisis room- it makes a vapor that is hazardous to your health.

5. Ostomy appliances do not need to be covered with plastic prior to bathing and should not need changed more frequently than every 72 hours (and this is pushing it).

These are just a few of the miss steps that co-workers have done on my watch as Charge Nurse. :)

What happens if you put more than a light dusting of Nystatin powder? I've never heard that before.

I think you mean never to push lasix faster than 10mg/min. A 40mg lasix push would last 40 min then.

Never give zofran into tubing with LR it will precipitate. A RN did this when I was a student and I will never forget that one.

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people hang dilantin with D5. Didn't we all learn that it would crystalize in nursing school? Dilantin can ONLY go with NS.

Make a bed roll before you bathe the pt. It makes the linen change go much faster. Same if you need to just change the linen.

Great information. I'm psych NO! floor nursing skills.

Oops! Typing error. You are correct - I meant 10mg/min. Now I can't figure out how to go back and edit the post. :) Thanks!

I was taught this by my nursing instructor and never forgot it:

A quick assessment of your patients at the beginning of the shift can save your butt later. (You never know if you will need that "baseline" info during your shift) :wink2:

We use Zofran with LR all the time. The Merck web site states that it is compatible as well. Never been a problem. I work in a pre and post surgical unit so all we hang is LR, that is what patient's come back to us with and Zofran is our first choice for postoperative nausea and vomiting.

My cardiac instructor told me that if you are having a hard time hearing a heart rate through your stethoscope, ask the patient to sit up and lean forward. It brings the heart closer to the chest wall and then you are able to hear it. I have used this trick several times since I learned it. I always just thought I had a bad stethoscope!!

Nystatin powder gets all clumped up from moisture if there is too much put on the skin. In clumps it is not as effective against the yeast/fungus on the skin and has the same effect as any overuse of antibiotic- the fungus becomes resistant and is more difficult to get rid of. Plus it is just plain wasteful. :)

I think you mean never to push lasix faster than 10mg/min. A 40mg lasix push would last 40 min then.

Never give zofran into tubing with LR it will precipitate. A RN did this when I was a student and I will never forget that one.

I cannot tell you how many times I have seen people hang dilantin with D5. Didn't we all learn that it would crystalize in nursing school? Dilantin can ONLY go with NS.

Make a bed roll before you bathe the pt. It makes the linen change go much faster. Same if you need to just change the linen.

What does precipitate mean?

Make a bed roll before you bathe the pt. It makes the linen change go much faster. Same if you need to just change the linen.

You know, before I worked at the hospital where we work, I never knew to make a bed roll. When I started working at the hospital where we work and I discovered the bedroll, I was sooooooooo amazed. LOL. It makes giving a bath sooooo much easier.

precipitate is when a solute (crystals) falls out of a solution. When the dilantin is added to LR chloride crystals form and it looks like it is snowing in the tubing. Not to pick on you personally but this is why nurses need to have a college chemistry course.