nerdtonurse?

nerdtonurse? BSN, RN

ICU, Telemetry

Member

All Content by nerdtonurse?

  1. boils, furuncle and abscesses-skin cultures necessary? most likely MRSA?

    nerdtonurse? replied to linguine's topic in General Nursing

    Not every infection is MRSA/ORSA. People have had carbuncles and "zits" for centuries. However, I do think that instead of putting the MRSA + people in isolation 10 years from now, we're going to...

  2. Holy Abscess! Not for the faint of heart

    nerdtonurse? replied to Brian's topic in General Nursing

    This is why I love wound vacs....I have seen wounds like this (one on a sacrum that was bigger, even -- you could see the whole back of the pelvis) and after about 6 months, they heal up. It's...

  3. Family just wants Grandma to die

    nerdtonurse? replied to Platypus's topic in General Nursing

    Here's what I wouldn't want to see. Pt comes into the ICU, septic, pneumonia, lungs sound like junk, O2 sats in the 70's. We start pressure support measures and IV Vanc or Gent. Pt doesn't know...

  4. Holy Abscess! Not for the faint of heart

    nerdtonurse? replied to Brian's topic in General Nursing

    All I could think of was, "geez, can you imagine what his CBC looked like?" His WBCs must have been sky

  5. How much Versed/Fentanyl is too much????

    nerdtonurse? replied to SleepynurseRN's topic in Patient Medications

    I'm like Catshowlady, I work in an ICU. As long as it's not dropping the pt's pressure (they're on a vent, so it's not like we've got to worry about the airway emergently), follow the protocol at...

  6. Staple left in wound?

    nerdtonurse? replied to KhloRN2be's topic in General Nursing

    I've seen orphaned staples, especially on a person who had a major trauma or was just a horribly complex surgical case. I've had pt's tell me they had staples under the skin (and you could feel them...

  7. Wildest lab values you've ever seen?

    nerdtonurse? posted a topic in General Nursing

    I was just wondering what's the most off the chart lab values (true values, not lab screw ups) that you'd encountered where the patient lived to discharge? I've seen: Hgb 2.8 -- we just about emptied...

  8. Can anyone tell me about the ICU nurse liaison position? Does your hospital have one?

    nerdtonurse? replied to bustthewave's topic in General Nursing

    Sounds like a wonderful idea if you can get the funding for a stand alone position. During dayshift, usually we have a chaplain and the nurse manager/charge nurse perform those functions (i.e.,...

  9. Losing patients you are close to...vent

    nerdtonurse? replied to highlandlass1592's topic in General Nursing

    In my heart, I have a little box, and in it is a collection of souls. In it are people like the man I'll call "paratrooper." He was with us over a month, as he fought to get off the vent and get...

  10. Annoyed by what I saw in the dining room...vent

    nerdtonurse? replied to mom2cka's topic in General Nursing

    Maybe the instructor did it for the same reason I let someone who's in scrubs and working go ahead of me in the cafeteria if I'm just over at the hospital visiting a friend? If clinicals were over...

  11. need ideas for nights off

    nerdtonurse? replied to abg.icu.rn's topic in General Nursing

    I learned how to knit and crochet as a child. I make booties/hats etc. for babies in NICUs via charity crafting websites, I do "hand work" on my quilting so the machine doesn't wake up the whole...

  12. It's my life and I'll do what I want

    nerdtonurse? replied to steelydanfan's topic in Emergency

    This is one of the things that "killed" St. Vincent's in NY. It was a great hospital (my aunt worked there and loved the place) but the city treated it like a homeless shelter without compensating...

  13. Shift Wars! Just need to vent...

    nerdtonurse? replied to RxOnly's topic in General Nursing

    Same here....we hit the door running, yet they stroll in late almost every shift, go get coffee or breakfast BEFORE getting report, chat up their charge nurse about how their kids did in a play or...

  14. A few (somewhat embarrassing) questions?

    nerdtonurse? replied to eaRNed's topic in General Nursing

    For the EKG, I highly recommend Amazon.com: Rapid Interpretation of EKGs, Sixth Edition (9780912912066): Dale Dubin: Books. Dubin is awesome at being able to explain rhythms. Best 26.00 I spent in a...

  15. Rude docs - not letting it get to you

    nerdtonurse? replied to muesli's topic in General Nursing

    I had a surgeon screaming at me in the hallway because I'd sent security to get him in an ice storm; he'd performed a GU procedure on a patient and the patient was bleeding like nothing I've ever seen...

  16. getting "gifts" from patient every other day

    nerdtonurse? replied to Blackheartednurse's topic in General Nursing

    Canesdukegirl is right on the money. As for the books, you could offer to get her a contact at the local nursing school where she can donate the books to those that would appreciate

  17. Stop yelling! (vent)

    nerdtonurse? replied to nursej22's topic in General Nursing

    Maybe we work at the same place....I had a family member who was livid that I was not giving her back-from-surgery-30-minutes-ago-and-still-asleep mom a drink, a bath, change of linen (honey, she's...

  18. Fields that blend nursing with IT?

    nerdtonurse? replied to scrubbee's topic in Nursing Informatics

    Keep one thing in mind. At my hospital's IT department, they pay about 2/3 of what I made in a non-hospital environment for the same job, with a smaller budget and crappier equipment. At the...

  19. Rapid Response vs Code Blue?

    nerdtonurse? replied to JennyJo22's topic in Critical Care

    Code Blue -- patient is dead Rapid Response -- change in pt condition from respiratory distress/severe hypotension all the way up to "almost dead, just about to die." Don't call a Rapid Response if...

  20. Best online RN to BSN program....CHEAP?

    nerdtonurse? replied to TonyaM73's topic in Online Distance Learning

    I'm in the middle of looking for a program myself. As I didn't feel nursing required a class in Texas History :-) , I think I'm going to Jacksonville University, but I'm not set in stone about

  21. How to tell the family the patient has died

    nerdtonurse? replied to PAERRN20's topic in General Nursing

    I've had to do too many middle of the night phone calls. Often, I can tell a patient's getting bad, and we get the family in house, or at least on the way and knowing the patient's not doing well....

  22. Meds to given instead of ambien?

    nerdtonurse? replied to stram87's topic in General Nursing

    From what I've seen, Ambien does this: 30% of patients take it well, it works, no wonkyness noted; 30% take it, and it does zip for them (I'm in that category, didn't even make me yawn); and about...

  23. Tips for a Struggling Nursing Student?

    nerdtonurse? replied to Azure1213's topic in Nursing Student Assistance

    For me, it came down to one thing. Learn the HOW and WHY. Then you can figure out the WHAT. For example: if you have a patient who presents with pacemaker failure, what would you expect to see?...

  24. Stress Relief after a BAD shift?

    nerdtonurse? replied to JStollRN's topic in Health, Stress Management

    Watch a scary movie...hard to be upset when you're home alone, sitting in the dark, whipping your head around going, "what was that sound?!?!?!" I got a Nook, and I'm slowly working thru a lot of the...

  25. Going from RN to Paramedic

    nerdtonurse? replied to mater44's topic in Emergency

    Sounds like you'd be a good flight nurse. A lot of the programs that I know of want the RN/Paramedic combo. You'd get the EMS side of the house a plenty with people who were really in need of your...