Music in My Heart

Former engineer here... Was always easy to find new work in my 30s... once I was in my 40s, though, being laid off was brutal... and that's what finally led me to bail out of engineering altogether and move into nursing... best career decision I...

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Hands down: Marino's "The ICU Book"

11 years of Level 1 (adults and peds + burns) and Level 2 for me... TNCC x5, ATCN x2, ENPC x3, CEN, ABLS... and I disagree... trauma really isn't that complicated... large-bore lines, blood products, antibiotics, fast-track to the OR... rapid infuser...

Trissel's IV compatibility is state of the art... and lets you check fluids as well as meds. Davis Drug Guide also lists them but you have to look it up... and is only updated with the new revisions.

I'll stand with the minority on this one... Like it or not, in the healthcare setting, the term "doctor" is considered by the general public to mean "physician." I consider it inappropriate for mid-level providers (or pharmacists or PTs or simpl...

I personally believe that verbal report is grossly overrated... and a lot of nurses seem to take great joy in asking numerous detailed questions that are beyond the scope of a basic SBAR handoff... Once I got comfortable saying, "I don't know...," th...

My personal success rate is, including infants/neonates: 1 stick or less: 94% 2 sticks or less: 98% 3 sticks or less: 99.8% Total USGPIV insertions: 4,200 Total lab draws via USG: 10,500 Total years experience: 10 L...

Old patients die Sick patients die Frail patients die Infections happen; sepsis happens. I'm glad that you're meticulous in your care and introspective/self-critiquing, but take a look at the mortality statistics of those kinds of...

Since you've gotten no replies, I'll chip in... 1) Your title, "School vs The field" reflects a misunderstanding of terminology... the field is everything that happens outside of the hospital environs... ambulances bring patient in from the fiel...

Since you've gotten no replies, I'll chip in... 1) Your title, "School vs The field" reflects a misunderstanding of terminology... the field is everything that happens outside of the hospital environs... ambulances bring patient in from the fiel...

Personally, I WOULD NOT speak to your professors or clinical instructors. They're not going to have a good answer for you and it simply creates... difficulties... they have no need to know.

I wouldn't worry about it and I certainly wouldn't share that information with anybody in your management chain. Your allergy was quite likely to have been in response to an IM injection (how cephalosporins are often administered to kids) or IV ...

While I've generally got on well with the people in various study groups, I've never been part of one that was as effective as I am when studying by myself. Unless required to join a group as part of an assigned project, I eschew time spent with othe...

Vent away, my friend. But lighten up on your feelings, brother... feelings are just that... not logical, not predictable, not rational, not reliable... your feelings are getting in the way of your rational mind. Take this statement, for exa...

Hospital/department 1: Two RNs doing sedation (opiods/benzos); MD + tech doing procedure Hospital/department 2: One RN, one MD doing sedation (ketamine, propofol, dexmetomidine); MD + tech doing procedure Hospital/department 3: One RN for s...

Once you get through nursing school, I'd suggest trying to land in an ICU rather than an ED, just for the critical care experience. Large, urban EDs will generally provide a fair amount of critical care experience but not compared to the ICUs in...

Even in the ED and the ICU, regardless of what anybody tells me, the first thing I do when I assume care is a quick flyby to introduce myself, do a quick ABCD assessment, AND flush the line(s)... Regardless of who says what, access is MY respons...

Vessel integrity and hemodilution... that's what it's about. People are, I think, confused about the WHY of the bore size... a myth persists, even, that one cannot give blood through a 24 or even a 22... despite all the transfusions that our NIC...

Between two jobs (1x 12h and 1x 8h), 42 days consecutively I once did 19 straight 16h shifts.

I would love to entertain this as a topic unto itself but limited time and energy at the moment... other than to say that I would challenge this contention. Perhaps another time.

Short of volume resuscitation, a larger bore isn't necessary. And I figure that if you/they want additional access, they/you are perfectly capable of attaining whatever is necessary for their purposes. If a 22 was suitable for the patient c...

Take comfort in the knowledge that about 85% of US-educated, first-time test takers pass... do you really think you're in the bottom 15%? And... unless you either (a) have HUGE knowledge deficits or (b) suffer from debilitating test anxiety... o...

Some comments are worth emphasizing... like this one.

I'm an ED nurse and I get so tired of them asking this question. Usually I respond with, "I don't know" to which they sometimes get snarky. When I'm feeling snarky I've responded with, "Start at the left index finger and trace a path to the right... ...