mamiekay

At the hospital I switched between my Danskos, which I really like but do not love, and a good pair of either stability or motion control running shoes. I wore the Danskos when I was on the floor and the running shoes when I was charge. I usually put...

What is your role? Will you be providing long term care or short term, hospital stay care? Long term, every one of her co-morbidities will affect her outcomes. However, you can't bombard her with too much information. Start simply, post-op care &...

And THOSE are the moments, precious few and far between for some of us, that make us remember exactly why we got into nursing. We give and we give, we care and we care, and there are a few of those who just seem to suck it all up and need even more, ...

Perhaps the person you knew on the panel has reasons for not wanting the others to know where he worked previously??? You never know. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you.

I am curious about where RN's work that they have to take so many patients! I've got a little over 3 1/2 years' experience, I work 12's and I usually have 6 patients at night. Our day RN's never have more than 4, and that's a full day's work! Of cour...

Our shifts overlap by 30 minutes so there's time for report, e.g. night shift ends at 7:30 am, day shift starts at 7:00 am. We do written sign-outs online and then do a verbal hand-over when the next shift is ready. That generally takes 5-15 minutes,...

We use either morphine or hydromorphone for acute pancreatitis. In our facility, meperidine is rarely used on a med/surg unit. The following article explains why meperidine is not the drug of choice. http://www2.kumc.edu/druginfo/pharmkey/Meperidine%...

The patient was "just a bit difficult to handle"?!?! She was in a hospital, not a hotel! When I have patients like that, first I explain to them that the hospital treats hundreds of people every day and we may not be able to accommodate their own per...

I work on a GI/GU/GYN floor and I, personally, don't consider 0-1 voids overnight decreased urine output...generally. If my patient has been voiding WNL during the day, I'm ok with that. Many people don't get up at all overnight at home, and if they ...

Around my neck with a roll of tape on one side...unless I'm going into an iso room. I tend to take mine off & lay it on my desk when I'm charting, then forget to pick it up before going into a patient's room. IMHO, it looks far more unprofessiona...

Our hospital's protocols take into account the patient's lab values. For instance, or potassium protocol checks not only the K+ level, but also the creatinine & whether the patient is on diuretics. It even states something to the effect, "If pat...

If you place a NG due to bowel obstruction or ileus, the gastric contents are not moving through the gut. The body is continuing to produce fluids that are building up in the stomach, causing nausea, vomiting and severe discomfort. You hook the NG up...

As always, FIRST check your facility's policy. In our hospital, when checking residuals through a NG on someone who's been hooked up to suction, we don't return the residuals. The reason behind it is that it's just sitting there, it's not going anywh...

Those are exactly the moments I DO want to be a nurse. There to hold someone's hand, to provide a little encouragement or comfort, to just be present when patients are going through those hard times. Yes, it can be emotionally & spiritually drain...

Obviously we can't diagnose here but it sounds like your toes are a) scrunching up against the ends of your shoes and b) your feet are sweating & toes are staying moist for long periods of time. Definitely get it checked out by a doctor & the...

I have a few things to add that saved my sanity. I had three kids--22 mos., 4 1/2 & 10--when I started school. I started at Square 1 because I had dropped out of college many years ago, so it took me 5 1/2 years to get my ADN, going part time. I ...

Sorry, my computer's acting up this morning. My last message posted before I was finished. Anyway, here's my routine: turn off fluids, lay out on the bedside tray all of the supplies I've gathered, flush with 20cc NS the lumen from which I'm going to...

We were taught to stop everything before drawing from a PICC, or any line. Stop whatever's running, then flush the lumen you're going to draw. If I'm just drawing a blood count, I flush once. Any time I'm drawing levels--BMP/CMP, heparin levels--base...

This site has a very good chart. As you work, you'll learn what works best for the types of patients you have on your floor. You'll also learn that sometimes what works best for one person doesn't work as well for another & sometimes it takes sev...

When I interned and did my final preceptorship before graduating, I had brand new preceptors. They precepted by choice, but I was their first student. On my first day, we were out of the count so we could get to know each other a little bit, orient t...

mcknis is right. I've been at my job for 1 year, 7 months. I remember sitting in my NM's office at the end of my orientation in tears because she, my preceptors and my educator all felt I was ready but I *KNEW* I wasn't. They forced me to go out on m...

The trick is not to "keep from getting so emotional", but to allow yourself to experience the emotions. I presume you were not in a patient's room when you were viewing these videos, so feeling sad and torn up, and allowing yourself to fully experien...

We do written reports, in our computerized charts, in our hospital. Then each RN gets report on his/her own patients. When a podmate or work buddy goes on break, the RN taking over gets a short report on each of the other patients--dx, relevant hx, c...

I know this is a tough job market and there may not be any other positions available, but maybe you could find an open position on another unit. I applaud your concern for your patients' safety, but obviously the tele class is part of being a tele nu...

I'm 41. I've been a RN for 1 year, 7 months and been at my job for 1 year, 5 months. I've been told I look much younger than my age, which always makes me feel good. Often the conversation starts out with talk about the patient's children or grandchi...