INnurse

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I know it means three in a row. I have been told I must wait x # of hours between samples. I have never heard that before and just wondering if anyone else had or if it's true.

Not wrong at all! When I was taking sociology and we were studying death and dying, my professor shared the story of her losing her young son. I can tell you that her sharing had a large impact on me and what I learned and how to deal with death, dying, and grieving families. I still remember her stories so well.. and that was 20 years ago. I have no doubt that it would not have had such an impact had she not shared her personal story. You did nothing wrong. Furthermore, you are human and that loss is a part of you.

Just a question.. Is there a time frame that you must wait between specimens for collecting serial hemoccult stools? For example, when there is an order for hemoccult stool x 3, how long of a time period (if any) between samples is acceptable? Thanks!

At my job, we work our weekend plus one holiday shift. Other full time employees must work two holiday shifts. Holidays are the actual day and the eves. This year I work Thanksgiving.

As you gain more experience you will get better at knowing what questions to ask during report to bring out the problems. Sounds like you have already made progress in that area. The next time it happens, I would definitely address it directly with her, in a non-confrontational manner. When a person knows they will be held accountable for his/her actions, it improves the quality of work. Maybe you could request to do a walking round with her during or after report to possibly catch some of the issues while she is still there. Also, I would consider doing a chart check immediately after getting report so that if there are orders she didn't pass along you will know about them at the beginning of the shift rather than the end.

My suggestion to her would be to contact her pharmacist.

Friday night was our Relay. This was my 9th year to participate. My uncle died 8 years ago at the age of 33 of testicular cancer. We were 3 years apart in age. My family participates every year in his memory. This year I was also the luminary coordinator. We had an awesome time. My team raised $4,700 and our county raised $113,000. We Love Relay!!

HI Everyone, I really need some help here figuring this out. Let's say a pt is in rapid afib and has a bundle branch block. How would this show up on the monitor, and how should this be treated? Would this be a wide complex tachycardia.. should it be treated as afib or vtach? I recently had this scenario. My 85 year old male pt had a history of afib. He also had copd, along with multiple other medical problems. When I came on shift his rate was 145-148. This was not new with him for this admission, with any activity his heart rate had been up to 160. His activity was changed from brp to cbr. He had an order for cardizem for sustained rate over 120. I immediately started the gtt ( had not been started by previous shift). The order was for 5mg/hr only -- cardiologist who ordered is very familiar with this pt and his hx. Slowly, his heart rate did come down to acceptable level. However, throughout the night with any activity on his part, even just sitting up in bed or coughing, his heart rate would go back up to 140-150. When his hr would elevate it kept coming up on the bedside monitor as pvc's and vtach. When his rate would slow you could clearly see the afib and a bbb. I got 2 stat ekg's on him on my shift and they did not show vtach or pvc's but rather ectopic atrial tachycardia. Any comments welcome. Thanks.

re: fingerprints I think what she means is to log in to the pyxis you use your actual fingerprint. Not that anyone dusted for fingerprints.

My son was hit by a car 4 years ago, when he was 8 years old, and the ER nurses allowed me to stay in the room with him the whole time. I was even allowed to ride in the helicopter with him when he was stat-flighted to the children's hospital. The MD and nurses later told me that my calmness and helpfulness played a role in their decision. I was so thankful because it would have been horrible on me to have to leave the room or drive the 50 minutes to the hospital not knowing about him. He had a skull fracture but is now, Thank God, fully recovered with no residual effect.

Family Medical Leave is a federal program. The act states "An employee shall be entitled to a total of 12 administrative workweeks of unpaid leave during any 12-month period". Hope this helps.

Old Navy for sure!

WE have a form that the US includes in the chart of every new admit. It has the assessment/criteria for who should receive the vaccine. It has been pre-approved by all drs. It is the admitting nurses responsibility to see that it is filled out and faxed to pharmacy. The form serves as the actual order. We use the same process for the flu vaccine.

My hospital went smoke free on July 1, for patients, visitors, and employees. Employees are not even allowed to smoke on breaks. You don't clock out for breaks, therefore you can not leave the premises. This is a legality. If you want to clock out for your 30 minute break and go off the premises and smoke you can. So technically a smoker can only smoke once during a 12 hour shift. I am a non-smoker so this hasn't affected me. But in the last couple of weeks the employees who are smokers have been taking "walks" (night shift) a few times a night and they come back smelling like smoke.

Insulin syringes are small volume, do you round up insulin? No. The syringe is calibrated. It is possible to be precise.