gregemt

Check out The Cardiac Catheterization Handbook by Morton J. Kern. It is a great resource for starting off in the cath lab.

Yes, just started earlier this year.

ST with LVH and LAE.

Air & Surface Patient Transport: Principles and Practice is the textbook that goes with the CFRN. It is very comprehensive, but I will warn you that it can be a dry read. A good review is: Back to Basics: Critical Care Transport Certification Review by Orchid Lee Lopez. It is full of good test questions. I am studying for the exam myself and have not taken it yet, but if you study I am sure it is possible that you can pass it. However, the CFRN will be easier with flight experience, especially things like flight operations and physiology.

Get this book! As a new CVICU nurse, I have learned so much from reading this: Manual of Perioperative Care in Adult Cardiac Surgery by Robert M. Bojar

You need around 5 years experience as an RN in ED/critical care, even better if its at a level 1 trauma hospital. A BSN looks good, as well as certs like CCRN, CFRN, CEN, ACLS, PALS, NRP. Getting your paramedic license does look good, though is usually not necessary.

littlemissgator made some excellent points. I would also add, you may not be able to go straight into critical care after graduating. Most ICUs will not hire many new grads, and the ones they do typically worked in the department as a tech. You may have to work on a step down unit or med-surge for some time before being able to get into an ICU. I also agree with not going the LPN route. I work with quite a few LPNs at my hospital, though none of them work as LPNs, they are techs (start around $10-11/hr and do not push any meds). Go straight for your RN if you can. Good luck to you. I hope to one day be an anesthetist as well, one more pre req left for medic-RN bridge!

Anywhere between $20-23 plus diff, I think the higher end is if you have your BSN for Orlando hospitals. As far as Halifax, don't know too much, but heard good things about it. I believe the ER is a level II trauma center

Peyote and mushrooms (psilocybin) cause the pupils to dilate. The same is true for LSD. GHB is a possibility, it won't show on most tox screens and is eliminated by the body pretty quickly. However, it sounds to me like its primarily a psych issue. Maybe the pt did have an opioid in her system as well that didn't show up on the screen.

Just a thought on the travel positions available. I would seriously consider an assignment in Gainesville, it is a decent college town that is affordable and has decent hospitals. Shands @ University of Florida is located there and is a big teaching center with a Level 1 Trauma Center. Also, you are only 2 hrs away from Tampa and Orlando, so you can scope out jobs in those areas pretty easily. I just moved to Orlando last month from Gainesville and am working at Orlando Regional Medical Center which is part of Orlando Health. They own 6 hospitals in the area and are always looking for RNs. They have everything, a children's hospital (Arnold Palmer), a neonatal/women's hospital (Winnie Palmer), and ORMC has a level 1 trauma center, and everything else you can think of. I really like the company and the people that work there, not to mention Orlando is a good place to live. If you are interested in Tampa, I hear Tampa General is good. You can also look into the St. Petersburg area too (which is across the bay). Bayfront and All Children's are there and pretty good places from what I've heard. I think a travel job is good because it is hard to come down here over and over again for interviews, and I agree with the previous poster, make sure to have something lined up because the market is tough right now.

This patient needs a protected airway ASAP. I would RSI on scene, unless for some reason it seemed like a difficult airway (extremely anterior,etc.). I have never had much of an issue intubating a patient with a c-collar on, and according to new PHTLS guidelines a c-collar can be removed for intubation as long as c-spine immobilization is held manually. There are other factors to take into consideration, the ED two minutes away, is it a trauma center, if not how far is the nearest center? How much assistance do I have on scene (Fire rescue)? If for some reason I couldn't get the patient intubated, I would proceed to drop a King Lt, or OPA and BVM to the ED. Now if my service didn't have RSI, only sedation I wouldn't attempt to intubate and would bag the pt. to the ED. This patient could still have an intact gag reflex, might start to clench down during laryngoscopy. Of course it depends on how unresponsive the pt. is, what was the GCS?

Hey, Jenafuzzy...I hope to do the same. I also live in Gainesville, though I am not a nurse yet, just finishing paramedic school. Our head lab instructor is a flight medic with Shandscair, they are an amazing program, good training and very safe (excellent pilots). They respond to a lot of scene calls in Marion County(where I work) and the crew is very talented. Some things I have learned to give you a heads up...Shandscair is very hard to get a job with...hardly any turnover and they are picky when it comes to hiring...they need to know who you are. Also, if you want to be a flight nurse with them, you need to be a paramedic as well, their nurses are double certified. Anyway, good luck...go Gators! -Greg

would try combitube if unable to intubate, if this didn't work, cricothyrotomy. This is in the field, don't know what I would do with all of tools available in hospital setting.

Hey, good luck with all of your plans. I think being a medic before RN can only be good. That being said, you are just finishing EMT-Basic and will start medic school in the fall, then start nursing school right at the end of medic school? (if I am incorrect let me know). I think you may be rushing things a bit. The previous posters have mentioned the change from medic to RN, but one thing that has not been mentioned is the change from EMT-B to medic. I would not recommend going straight to medic school without any experience as an EMT. You can pass through school without experience, but you won't be ready to be a medic without some road time (clinicals at school are not enough). Being a paramedic is a lot of responsibility, you are in charge of the scene. You can't run ALS if you haven't mastered BLS. My advice is that you work as an EMT for at least a year with a busy 911 service before medic school. Get some codes, severe respiratory calls, and some bad trauma before deciding if you're ready to step up to the advanced level. Just my 2 cents. My partner is a field training officer so we have all new hires ride with us (my service runs around 55,000 calls a year) and most new medics with no experience do not pass through training. It is very hard to take control of chaotic scenes if you've had little time running calls. You have to be aggressive, that doesn't happen overnight. I think you are on the right track though. I hope to go through nursing eventually as well. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I currently work as an EMT, I always witness when my partner wastes excess narcotics. This is the standard for my department. I have never seen a nurse be used as a witness, but I'm sure it can be done.