BlueEyedRN

Holy smokes. Last night, we got a pt back from the OR. He had multiple gunshot wounds to chest and abdomen. We'd had him for 1.5 weeks, not looking too good and starting to develop ARDS. When the OR team wheeled him in, his arterial pressure was ...

I have been so frustrated lately with transfers into the ICU that are totally unnecessary. One case was a sweet lady who had low urine output (20-30/hr) a day after surgery. They transferred her to the ICU, put in a central line to monitor CVP and ...

I came onto a shift once where a lady had an IJ infusing propofol and fluids. The nurse said the doctor okayed it. Her neck was swollen, she was out of control, and increasing the propofol did nothing. I was suspicious and asked the intensivist to...

If you can tell from outside the room that you are going to gag, wear a mask, spray something in it or use mentholatum, and breathe through your mouth. I've gagged in front of patients before, but it was pretty bad and honestly, they knew it and wer...

It really depends on the patient. I had a verbal patient with a huge stage 4 sacral decub the other day who didn't feel a thing when I changed the dressing. I've also had the same type of decub on a patient who screamed and hollered even after gett...

I had an assistant call me with orders. I told her I didn't think I could take them from her, and she immediately handed the phone to the doc who was apparently standing right there. Why couldn't he have just given them in the first place? My impr...

Not since I was brand new, but it was expected I wouldn't be that good at time-management then. I have been told I need to give more organized reports. Okay miss only-work-one-8-hour-shift-a-week, lets see how organized your brain is at the end of ...

I would say I don't like that I don't always have enough hours on the shift to spend as much time talking to my patients and doing those extra little things like relaxation techniques and back rubs. Ooh, don't I sound like a good little nurse? And ...

I don't think that any of the nursing theories do include giving religious advice, but rather that the spiritual needs of the patient are being met, including religious needs. We always ask patients if they would like us to contact a spiritual or re...

If possible, try to find an externship in an ICU. Actual experience, even as a student is very helpful.

Oh my, students got me steamed this morning. The nurse I was giving report to was running late and both of my patients were getting 2 students each. I don't function well past 7 am and was getting antsy. The nurse finally gets there, we go over to...

I hated rounds my first year because our intensivists loved making everything a learning experiences and would ask these complicated questions that I couldn't possibly know that answer to. I eventually learned to say sweetly, "I have no idea." And ...

Hold very very still. :) I have the same problem and found that if I hold the endpiece between my 2nd and third fingers, I am able to limit movement in my hand.

Yay! What an awesome outcome. Congrats on the raise.

I don't know anything about goodpasture's so I don't know if anything is contraindication or whatever, but when you have a patient that is difficult to sedate, you have to try about everything. Ativan drips or prn pushes, Versed, Haldol, dialudid.

There are so many different areas of nursing that you can totally find a place where you feel comfortable. Operating room nursing is a specialty and there are a lot of other options. I thought I wanted to be a labor and delivery nurse, but then I t...

There is a big emphasis on leadership in BSN programs. Not necessarily going into management, but getting the skills to be a charge nurse, or team leader and mentor, learning how to work with other people, how to give advice, etc. So you could say ...

Not a policy, but definitely important. If I come in to a big tangle of IV tubing and pumps, the first thing I do is go through and label everything, make sure everything is compatible, etc. It would be horrible to push 10 mls of a med through what...

We had to wear white lab coats, but weren't required to have school patches on the shoulder like previous classes had. The result was that a lot of patients and families would assume that we were either doctors or in some way higher-ranking than the...

I had a transfer in once who had been fine, gone for a test (don't remember what) that required conscious sedation, and had then gone unresponsive. They gave her Narcan, Romazicon, called a rapid response, called the family. In report before she came...

Can you say, "I'm sorry, things have been busy for me this morning, but (tech and charge nurse) and I have been keeping an eye on you and right now you have my undivided attention." That way you are giving your excuse, but letting her know that she ...

My mom and brother are also nurses so it isn't that big of a deal in my family. But my husband says that being able to say your wife is a nurse is the coolest he can think of. My daughter also likes to tell everyone that her mom works in ICU and th...

The last hospital i worked in wouldn't let you give a reason for calling in sick. If you started to explain yourself, they would cut you off. They said there are a million reasons to call in sick and if you feel like you have one of them, it is non...

Gotta disagree with you there. My preceptor lived in her own little world, and while she was one of the sweetest person I've known, she was not the most amazing nurse. I made sure to schedule myself on her days off when I was off orientation so I c...

I never tell anyone taking care of me or mine that I'm a nurse, and I try to avoid using words and phrases that would give it away. My mom was a mother/baby nurse and when she had her first baby, she was expecting the same care that she gave others,...