arbley

I am a new director of a small home health agency. This agency recently obtained a Prothrombin machine and the nurses have been using it for monitoring PT's per MD orders for our coumadin patients. I think this test falls under our CLIA Certificate o...

I worked with a lady named Tomorrows Dream.

I agree, Platon20. And I love that we are finally getting some protocols in place to prevent folks from heading too far down the sepsis highway before we catch on. While catching someone heading into septic shock earlier by using the various monitor...

There should be no need for the "holier than thou" routine, and there is really no excuse for being a general crab. But - having said that - ICU is a different world, as are most specialty units. This certainly adds to the attitude differences. ICU n...

I worked with fresh heart pts. up until a couple of months ago. We had some patients arrive in our unit straight from surgery already extubated. Obviously that won't work with some patients. Depends on the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and the patie...

Go to nursebob.com for info on nearly everything you can think of pertaining to Critical Care nursing. Bob's site has the occasional misspelling, but he is the real deal and the information is good.

Hopefully, Dougb61's cynicism and unhappiness are not evident to the patients he cares for. Sadly, feelings like that are hard to hide. As a couple of others have said, there are certainly pros and cons to any profession. Please don't let a few nega...

Larry, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understood your post to mean something positive. I think what Larry meant was, There's no way you are too old. Don't just sit there and THINK about it. Just do it.

Not often, but every once in a while a patient will ask me if I am a male nurse. My answer is usually, "Last time I checked." That whole male thing just gets old. I tell patients my name and that I am their nurse. I think it is funny when folks fe...

I graduated from nursing school 20 years after I graduated from high school. There were several of us around the same age. If I remember right, there were only two "traditional" students in my class of 25. Ages at graduation ranged from 22 to 41. ...

Why no mention of the pharmacists that supplied the stuff? Even if there was Diprivan laying about all over the unit, it had to be accounted for somewhere.

Didn't want to keep looking for the exact right thread for this one. It IS the middle of the night. Just looking over some MD orders on my patient. Found one that says, "Culture fluid from Rear." After laughing for a while I realized it means R. E...

The comma shows up as part of the link. That is why it doesn't work. Even with the comma removed I end up with a strange page. Tried the old Google search and it still didn't work.

Please don't worry about those gender issues. We are all nurses. There are so many more men in nursing now, that many patients don't even seem to notice. You will do just fine.

I have been a male since conception, a nurse a much shorter time. In my years of nursing I have had maybe two or three patients tell me that they would prefer that a female care for them. No problem. I have yet to be questioned as to my sexuality. ...

Hey JHUNurse! You started this topic and then bailed out. What's the matter? Don't you like the responses? As far as bagging an MD . . . . be careful what you wish for. you might get it.

Most nurses have equipment that they prefer, and it varies from one nurse to the next. Personally, I find butterflies a little bit awkward and slow. I first learned to draw blood using a vacutainer with a 21g needle. These work ok if you are used t...

Go for it. Do whatever you need to do. I was 32 (I think) when I started nursing school. I was blessed with an understanding (already a nurse) wife who encouraged me to keep plugging away. Besides marrying my wife, going to nursing school was the b...

I would be interested in any information on this topic too. Our unit used to tape record report, but recently changed to a one-on-one format. One quick result has been that nurses are on the floor caring for patients at least 1/2 hour sooner.

The big difference between 8 hour and 12 hours shifts is that the 12 hour shifts are longer. :) The other nice thing is that you (usually) get to work fewer shifts per week. That is a great selling point.

I worked as a CNA in a nursing home while I was in nursing school. One day when I entered a patient's room, I saw a row of little brown balls about the size of marbles on the window sill. I really wasn't sure what they were until I got a little clos...

It is often better to act and beg forgiveness than to ask and be denied.

I am a relatively new manager of a cardiac surgery step-down unit. We have "regular" staff, pool staff, part-time staff, local agency staff, and travel nurses. Usually our staffing and census are such that floating is not an issue, but when it is, i...

Be thankful that you did not get that job. Dysfunctional with a capital D for sure. I spent some time in a unit with a similar type of manager. I feel lucky to have escaped with my license intact.

I chose nursing as a 2nd career because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of patients. I still have that altruistic feeling and I am sure I made the right choice. I am sure you will too.