GermPhobe

Latest Activity

1. Can a patient purposefully become febrile?

   GermPhobe posted a topic in General Nursing

   I have a patient who has been 100% afebrile during the day. At HS he says he's chilled (but has no temp). So I bring him a warm blanket, which he hides under. Several hours later, he has a 102-103 degree temp. He's done this two nights in a row. ...

2. Organization

   GermPhobe replied to MedSurgMale's topic in Med-Surg

   I used to lose my "brain" (report sheet) constantly, until I started carrying a clip-board. Everyone else just folded up their sheets and stuffed them in their pockets, but it just didn't work for me. I also lost my pen constantly, until I made a r...

3. Can you explain a chest tube leak?

   GermPhobe replied to GermPhobe's topic in Cardiac

   Thank you again! I knew that the end of the tube was in the pleural space (and even the anatomy of the pleural space), but I just wasn't getting the fact that the visceral pleura was damaged--allowing leakage from the LUNGS into the tube. DUH! I f...

4. Can you explain a chest tube leak?

   GermPhobe replied to GermPhobe's topic in Cardiac

   Thank you, Dinith. I like the milkshake analogy. I guess I should have asked where the most likely place for an air leak would be. The cases I remember where docs were really upset about leaks were thoracotomies. In this case, the pleurevac would...

5. Murmur vs. Bruit?

   GermPhobe replied to GermPhobe's topic in Cardiac

   Yes, he had a known murmur. But, being a new nurse, I'd only heard very quiet murmurs. HOLY COW that one was loud--and sounded like the bruit that was diagnosed on another patient I'd dealt with. Putting two and two together, I concluded this murm...

6. Murmur vs. Bruit?

   GermPhobe replied to GermPhobe's topic in Cardiac

   A bit too basic, LOL. I know the physiological difference between the two--but I'm wondering how they sound different. In one case, the "murmur" was so loud it could be heard while I was auscultating bowel sounds! Of course it was INCREDIBLY loud ...

7. Can you explain a chest tube leak?

   GermPhobe posted a topic in Cardiac

   When you've got bubbling going on in a Pluerevac, WHERE exactly might the leak be? Some people have said it's at the dressing site, but this doesn't make sense to me. The open end of the tube is in the pleural space, right? If the Pleurevac is emp...

8. Murmur vs. Bruit?

   GermPhobe posted a topic in Cardiac

   Can someone explain the difference in sound between a murmur and a bruit? I've had two patients recently who I thought had bruits. But other nurses had charted murmurs. I thought a murmur was a kind of "soft" heart sound--a blurring of the "lub" a...

9. Pt Ptt Inr Huh?

   GermPhobe replied to Holly27's topic in Cardiac

   A friend told me a good way to remember which test is for which anticoagulant therapy: the correct test/therapy combo adds up to 10 letters PTT (3) + heparin (7) = 10 PT (2) + coumadin (or warfarin) (8) = 10 It's impossible to get it mixed up no...

10. Heart Sounds anyone?

    GermPhobe replied to ltrnkoczy's topic in Med-Surg

    Take your time. Listen for lung sounds first, since they often obscure heart tones. Then listen "under" the lung sounds, and you'll hear the heart. I used to think patients knew I was incompetent when I did things slowly. I now know that they app...

11. Med/surg orientation

    GermPhobe replied to chvysangel's topic in Educators

    Well, I'm not a NE, but I am a new nurse. I'm also over 40 years old, with a large and varied resume behind me. Here's what I can tell you. I have NEVER felt so ill-prepared for a job as I did when I graduated with my BSN and finished my 3-month o...

12. Questions about trauma I witnessed. (LONG)

    GermPhobe replied to GermPhobe's topic in Emergency

    That's what I was thinking. Poor man. He had some major abrasions on his upper arms, but was treated and released. The newspaper said his wife was a passenger on the motorcycle, and that the man had "lost control" of the bike. My thought was that...

13. Questions about trauma I witnessed. (LONG)

    GermPhobe replied to GermPhobe's topic in Emergency

    Agreed and understood. But I also understood from the other RN that the patient WAS breathing and pulsatile. I still think I probably should have done my own assessment, though.

14. Questions about trauma I witnessed. (LONG)

    GermPhobe posted a topic in Emergency

    On the way into work on Sunday, I came upon an accident scene before the paramedics arrived. I'm a new RN, with less than a year of experience (no trauma experience), and I'm still a bit shaken by the whole thing. A woman had been thrown from a moto...

15. QUICK! How much did the NCLEX cost?

    GermPhobe posted a topic in New Nurse

    I'm trying to do my taxes, and I can deduct the cost of licensure and NCLEX, but I can't remember how much I paid. Does anybody know?? THANKS!