bluefrog

Yikes! That sounds like a terrible night I am sorry that you had to experience that. Out of curiosity, how was his blood pressure before he came to your unit? I ask because when I get report from the emergency center, I always ask the last set of vitals, and if they tell me that SBP is over 170, I kindly ask them to stabilize the patient and administer any blood pressure medication that they have on order and call me back when the blood pressure is under control so I can admit the patient to our med-surg unit. The reason why I do that is because we are not allowed to administer any blood pressure meds as IV drips on our unit, and because the process of transfer from EC to med-surg takes approximately one hour and the doctor doesn't come to see the patient for next 3-4 hours, and the pharmacy doesn't always deliver/stock meds on time for the new admit. I see no sense of admitting an unstable patient just to transfer them to a progressive unit so they can hang IV Metoprolol on them. Nurses in EC usually hate when I tell them that I will not take their patient as in "What do you mean you will not take this patient? I already called transport and they are loading them on the stretcher!" But as much as they gripe on the phone, they do what you ask them to do and that patient comes to the floor with a stable blood pressure or doesn't come to the floor because the EC sent them to MPCU for that IV drip after all ....

Hi Guys, I have two SICU internship interviews scheduled for the next week and I was wondering if anyone could recommend what questions I should ask the managers. I already have a couple of questions lined up: 1) pt to nurse ratio 2) how are the assingments made (acuity vs proximity, and who makes the assingments) 3) what happens if there's a call in or the unit is short staffed? 4) what types of anxillary personel are available on the unit? What are they responsibilities? 5) what type of educational resources are available for new nurses? 6)the length of orientation and possibility of extending it if there is a need 7) have you ever had an orientee that you had to ask to leave, why and how this situation was handled. Thanks for all your help in advance.

Dear Marjoriemac, Thank you so much for your reply. I will definitely incorporate it into my paper. Did you have to obtain additional schooling to practice in geriatrics? or did it depend on the hours of experience?

Hi everyone! I am a nursing student who is interested in geriatrics, i would love to ask a nurse practicing in this area a couple of questions: 1. what is your title? 2. what motivated you to choose geriatrics? 3. describe your job setting (do you work in a hospital? nursing home?) 4. what is your typical day like? 5. how do you manage your career and your family? 6. what do you find challenging about being a geriatrics nurse? 7. what do you find rewarding about being a geriatrics nurse? 8. what additional education did you had to obtain? thank you all very very much! i can't wait to hear from you!