PamperedRN

I am not an OB nurse but it gives me chills when I hear moms to be say they want c-sections to keep from pains of labor, chose due dates. I want to scream hello major abdominal surgery. Complications can arise. And as a critical care nurse I don't want to be taking care of a post partem mom where something "happened" during their primary elective section. Now that being said I have delivered by both routes. Vag with 1st, second was an elective section due to a list of medical reasons for baby and me. I have the issue of my section was easier to recover from than my lady partsl birth. I told this to my ob and she said this was not something you heard everyday. I try to shy away from telling this to first time moms because I don't want them to try to get a elective section because it may be easier.

Most of the time if a family member wants to know what an emergency drug does they want a simple answer. Dopamine raises BP, heparin thins blood, succ's paralyes pt briefly, morphine usually for pain, epi atropine speed up hr, lido amnioadarone change heart rhythm back to normal. In an emergency situation the simple answer works best. More teaching on a drug can be done after the code is over if family still want it. A code is not the time or place to try to explain in depth what and why a drug does what it does. I agree with bargain hound assure the family that all is being done to help pt. Assure them that they are getting good care and we are trying to save them. In situations where you have time to more thoroughly explain a drug stay on the simple side of things to the lay person. Most people don't care about the mechanism of action on a drug. They simply want to know the basics of what a drug does and side effects. My hospital has a program that you look up drugs and print general info about the drug. This is handy because you give it to the pt and they have a copy of what the drug is, what it does, side effects and interactions. Not to indepth, kinda like the info you get when you go to the pharmacy. Hope this helps.

If the pt is from a unit at our hospital a nurse must go with the pt. I usually wait in the tech room with the monitor facing towards me. If one needs to at the pt side, we use lead aprons to shield ourselves. I have seen nurses, docs, rt, techs in with the pt but they always have lead on.

I went straight from nursing school to critical care. One of the reasons I was hired was because I had also been a student extern in CVICU. I had had some experience with critical care. Also my hospital provides a great critical care oreintation. My preceptor was wonderful. I think it pays to look into the orientation you would receive if you go into a specialty. If it has a thorough orientation then I would say go straight to the specialty. But it will not hurt to get the med/surg experience either. My piece of advice is stick with whatever you chose for at least one year. Even when you hate it. It makes a sense of accomplishment and shows commitment. Good luck

My husband thought he would pass out during my c-section. He told me this before the day so I told my nurse. They got him a stool for in the OR.Funny thing was I wanted pictures of the doc holding up baby. My husband still not wanting to look just held the camera above the drape and pointed in the general direction. Never got the pic I wanted. I am glad he didn't pass out though.

My 5 week old was 10lb 1oz born via c-section. He was two weeks early. I would have hated to see how much he would have weighed had I waited 2 more weeks. My first baby was 8lb 15oz born lady partslly. Big babies run in my family.

I am currently on maternity leave. When I was pregnant my doc let me lift but told me to always ask for help. She did put me on lifting restrictions for a month when I started bleeding at around 13 weeks. I think she did this mainly for my peace of mind. This restriction pulled me off work. Our hospital states a nurse must be able to lift with assistance at least 125lbs After I stopped bleeding she allowed me to return to work. She did place me on pt restrictions at my first visit though. I couldn't take care of any isolation pt except c-diff pts. Her statement was if I can't treat you while you are pregnant for the disease then you don't need to be taking care of a pt that has it specifically MRSA VRE. And at the end I was put on 8 hour shifts. I was a high risk pt also. Most of the time my doc said do what doesn't hurt. My unit was great also. They always lended a hand to help boost and lift, wouldn't give me the 500lb pt, also I was on the code team they stopped giving me the beeper after about 5 months. SOmehting about being my belly being in the way of doing effective compressions. :) As long as people are willing to help then I see no reason why she shouldn't be able to lift.

Graduated from CSCC Columbia campus in 2005. Nursing school was HARD. Instructors were HARD. Seemed like it wasn't fair at the time. Am a better nurse today for it. CSCC nursing is very hard and some of the instructors are difficult but they want to make you the best nurse they can. After I graduated and had worked for about a year I saw some previous instructors and thanked them. They were the hardest instructors I had, feared them at the time I had them. Their tests failed over a third of my class. But they were hard because when you are out there at the hopsital it is hard. You can't get a second chance when it is somebody's life. And it isn't always fair. It isn't fair to get critized by a doctor bacause you didn't do it the way he wanted or when someone critizes you and it honestly wasn't your fault. Some of nursing school is being able to learn how to handle bad situations. My advice read read read and study. Don't get suckered into complaining about instructors. Spend the time you would be complaining studying. IT will pay off. And your instructors will notice and be willing to help you out if you have tried your hardest.

This was a task that I cringed at when I first graduated nursing school. My first experience when I placed one was horrendously awful. But I tried. The next time it was easier. I always have to remember why the pt does need the ng tube. Usually the pt has had surgery or can't feed themselves or came back from endo with it. Thinking about why a pt needs it may help. A pt may need suction to keep from vomitting and a ng tube can help so the pt won't aspirate. Also I work in the CCU and most of the time we place OGT on intubated pts. Placing them on a sedated pt is less nerve racking since they aren't awake during placement. It helped me get technique down. It can be more difficult but it is a way to gain experience. It helped me overcome the nerves of possibly doing it wrong. Don't be afraid to ask for help and if you feel like you are going to pass out let someone know. Better to be embarrassed than hitting the floor. Besides most nurses don't want to call a code on a nurse that passed out. Hopes this helps