topkat

Thank you for your comment. I have been taking these assessments for many years. I'm just beginning to feel a little "out of the loop" as time goes on....

Hello fellow NICU nurses. I worked NICU for about 17 years. During that time I sat for my Low Risk Neonatal nursing certification thru NCC. Since 1997 I have only worked intermittently. The last time I actually worked has been well over 10 years. I have chosen to keep my certification as I worked very hard to obtain it. I just renewed my certification and it's time to take the assessment to let me know which areas I need to focus on. Have any of you found a resource to study before taking the assessment? I feel like I'm at a big disadvantage since I've not worked in the field in such a long time. I sent an email to NCC, but they really didn't respond with any resources. Any recommendations are most welcome!! thank you in advance. Kathy Laminack RN,C Temple, Tx

I would like to be added to your group. I'm going for my BSN after 37 years as an ADN. wish me luck!!! email address: [email protected]

We have had it at our hospital for about 18 mths and I have noticed a much lower incidence of pt's coding. I haven't heard anything negative regarding family members abusing this either...

I've had people actually ask me " so why don't you go back to school and become a Dr.?" like that makes me second rate....I love nursing....I have been able to re-create myself over my 28 years in nursing....if I feel like I've done all I can in one area, I just transfer to another area and work with a completely different type of pt, pediatric, cardiac, renal, geriatrics.... I feel sorry for docs because they spend so much of their time training to do medicine in one field.....except family medicine...that has a lot of variety... I especially feel sorry for the proctologists of the world.....what a way to spend 35 years of your life looking up rectums every day....no way!!!!

why did your facility ban them??? if you don't mind me asking....topkat

too bad the OP didn't have the tazer available in the CT scanner..although it sounds like this guy was so blitzed he probably didn't care or had so much "anesthesia" already on board he couldn't feel it....hope the OP is working thru this..best wishes topkat

I went to a seminar on acute pain mgmt. It had some good ideas for guidelines on treating chemically dependent patients. Here is an excerpt: " Pain Mgmt Guidelines Periods of acute illness often represent opportunities for meaningful intervention in addictive disease Aggressively encourage entry into addictions treatment But, addiction treatment is not the priority during the period in which the patient is experiencing acute pain" As nurses, we have a responsibility to assure our patients receive adequate pain relief. Treating acute pain doesn't equate to feeding in to their addictive habits. remember the pledge: With loyalty will I endeavor to aid the physician, in his work, and devote myself to the welfare of those committed to my care. best wishes to all those that care for these patients...they can be very manipulative and demanding...remember they often develop drug/alcohol addicitions because they have poor coping mechanisms to begin with...disease only exacerbates the issues.... topkat

thanks augigi...I did find one article on the CDC website!!

I work for a Neurosurgeon that has always shaved the scalp in preparation to perform a craniotomy. Our Infection Control dept. has sent an article to me regarding the controversy surrounding this... Question: "In 1996, convinced by an operating room nurse and the literature, our cardiac sugical team abandoned the use of razors to prep patients for any procedure. At the same time, we limited the amount of hair removal to a minmum. Most surgeions, when presented with the literature (even though it may not be perfect and answer every question), do not cling to the razor prep. We instituted using clippers for all surgeries. However, the neurosurgeions want to use razors just for their craniotomy cases. They are telling me that they need to get a close shave to properly prepare the patient. Please share with me how people are dealing with this in their hospitals. Are they making exceptions and allowing razors for use on craniotomy cases? Answer: This is a common question, but there are places that have solved it. No razors really means no razors in successful hospitals. When one uses clippers properly, it is possible to get the same "close shave" as with a razor, but with less risk of cuts to the skin. The important thing is to ensure user training, because clippers in an untrained hand are worse than a razor. I would suggest seeing if you can get a neurosurgeon to agree to a small test of change: test removing the hair on one patient with clippers, and see if the surgeon feels that it is acceptable." My Neurosurgeon is not willing to change his practice. I am looking for practice guides from other Neurosurgeons. Does anyone out there have any information on this topic? articles, infection control study results, etc. thanks in advance for any help...topkat

I agree with the other posters.....I look at nursing as a "calling"...when I first went to nsg school in 79 it was all I ever wanted to do from that point on....26 1/2 years later, I'm still in love with my profession.....nsg isn't for everyone....there are other areas to pursue in the medical field that don't require actual hands-on care per se....such as a medical secretary, radiology, performing ultrasounds....these generally pay pretty good too....good luck with whatever you decide to do....topkat:nurse:

yeah, but they do a pain assessment every 24 hours??? doesn't that seem a little over the top??? maybe I'm wrong, but I just don't see it as needed that often for a neonate. and we do use a modified version of the FLACC scale BTW...topkat

I have a little different slant to this issue. Since it has been decided that assessing the pain of EVERY patient is paramount, we have added a variation of the pain scale to our neonates. Now, call me crazy, but unless the neonate has had surgery, had a traumatic delivery with a lot of bruising, etc. for example,would you expect for a typical say 34 wk infant now 2 weeks old to have "pain"???? I mean, growing pains maybe (hehe) but pain??? any thoughts on this??? I think they took a good idea a little too far... topkat

My Dad is in the early stages of Alzheimer disease. My Mother suffered a mild stroke and has been in a nsg home for the past couple of weeks. He has done a couple of things that made absolutely no sense, but he does know where she is and he's trying to take care of himself the best he can. I check on him every day and he's actually doing pretty well. I hope that when he gets to the stage where he isn't doing so well that I will remember what I've learned from this post and help to make him feel safe and loved instead of more confused and frightened. thanks for a great post.....I believe that we're never too old to learn something new.....topkat

:mortarboard: :monkeydance: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTT