KyPinkRN

I work in a small ED that is part of a larger system. About a year and a half ago the powers that be decided that one of our sister hospitals needed to be a level 1 NICU. In doing that they closed the birthing center in our hospital. The sister ho...

Thanks. And yes I realize that the hospital has put us in a no-win situation when they closed our L&D. I would have even gone so far as to start some labs... I drew the blood but wasn't allowed to order any tests. A CBC would have been the ver...

This is almost exactly what I have in my pockets... except I always have a few alcohol swabs. I have found that they are quite adequate for jotting down a set of vitals. Plus I'm not wasting paper cause as soon as I chart said vitals I can use the ...

You could volunteer, that won't get you the skill set you need to survive. Here's what I did: I worked med/surg for about 2 years and learned a lot about assessing pts, and time management. Both things will get you far once you do land a job in th...

I once floated to a unit in our hospital who recorded report for the oncoming shift. The off-going nurses would just take turns when they had the time at the end of their shift and the ones getting report would do the same. It seemed to work very s...

No kidding... and what good is making all that money if you're too tired to spend it.

wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands... and when your done with that wash them again! Also as others have posted be sure to wiped down stretchers and equipment between patients. Remember, if you are healthy you are not likely to have ...

Sometimes that's what it takes to get them to realize why we have to do things. I bet he got a "deer in the headlights" look on his face and did exactly what you asked after that.

I would wait until about 6 months after you find a job. That way your new employer can see what kind of nurse the non-pregnant you will be. Your first year as a nurse is hard enough adding a pregnancy on to that may not be to your advantage. I und...

sterile gloves for doing procedures such as removing sutures and such is a waste of time. the wound itself is dirty (aka germy) i used to work on a "wound care" med/surg unit... multiple dressing changes on many patients a day. we didn't use steri...

When I have pts refusing meds like that I usually politely suggest that they would be more comfortable recovering at home (sign out AMA)... I've not once had anyone actually do it, but it gives the patient perspective about why they are admitted to t...

After receiving a complaint by a pt once... I was told to never tell a patient that I have other patients. Makes it sound like I'm too busy for them. Instead I'm supposed to say (in my best Stepford voice) "What do you need? I have the time." The...

If you are using this information for direct patient care... it's not a HIPAA violation. Perhaps that Cardiologist needs some more education on the finer points of that legislation. Or maybe you should start routing all night time calls through his...

i agree with most of what the other posters have said. i want to add that after a while being that emotional at your full time job is going to wear you out... actually burn you out. nursing is a hard job with lots to think about and even more to do...

It doesn't sound like this patient was stable enough to take oral ANYTHING. Glucagon was on hand and to call 911 would have just delay treatment of the low bs. I woulda done the same thing.

Really? attempted murder? I don't think so. I agree that you shouldn't smoke around your kids... or anyone else who doesn't smoke for that matter. This world is full of things that you shouldn't do (that could "potentially" cause harm to someone)...

The loss of tax revenue alone will prevent this from ever happening.

Generally it's a huge liability to give any type of advice over the phone. Usually, after hearing what the symptoms are I tell people that we can give advice based on a phone conversation and it's up to their judgement whether they want to be seen o...

I just finished up my first year as an ED nurse... love it! :redbeathe My advice would be that if there is anything big going on be in the middle of it. Your coworkers need things like ng's, foley's, IV's, have a conscious sedation... do it! The m...

Ask around, there are a lot of older nurses out there who had just as hard a time finding a job as some of the new grads now. I had instructors who graduated in the 80's who said they were lucky to find a job. While nursing is a very versatile degr...

Dude needs a wound vac or something... I wonder how he's doing.

I'm in the ED and if a pt has a port more often then not we access it... depending on whether we think they are going to be admitted. However, most pt's who are sick enough to need a port do get admitted when they come to the ED. The only time when ...

I agree. This fella is not only endangering the patients by spreading germs to everything he touches, he's endangering his coworkers as well. I can just imagine him picking up the phone or using the computer after he's been cleaning up that poo and ...

This post was meant to be a vent... It's not mean or hateful and if it happens to raise awareness of people who are like this then good. Some things you can't say directly to someone's face but you just need to say it. It sounds like the op is just...

Asking someone if they are pregnant in a job interview... straight up discrimination waiting to happen. No way would I be forthcoming with that info. I simply would say that I wouldn't answer that question-pregnant or not. There is a reason why wo...