stephenfnielsen

stephenfnielsen

ICU, Informatics

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All Content by stephenfnielsen

  1. Saline flush without a physician order?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in General Nursing

    Umm... well a number of people feel that they can do said activity without an order, which I think we would both disagree with, so I feel justified in raising the

  2. Saline flush without a physician order?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in General Nursing

    Well... my job is to split hairs! LOL. When a nurse tells me they are doing something without an order "'cause that's what we always do", it's my job to look into it. It may seem insignificant to some...

  3. Saline flush without a physician order?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in General Nursing

    touche!

  4. Saline flush without a physician order?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in General Nursing

    I said it in response to the idea that a nurse could use flushes simply because they were on an order set. We agree that it would be acceptable to do so if it were on an order set- as long as that...

  5. Saline flush without a physician order?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in General Nursing

    Where we agree: 1)It SHOULD be written with the saline lock 2)The nurse would be covered IF a standing order was in place (a standing order being an entirely different order than a protocol. The...

  6. Saline flush without a physician order?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in General Nursing

    I'm all for order sets, which contain myriad protocols and parameters which state if a then b and if x then z... but the order set must first be implemented by a physician right? Aside from something...

  7. Saline flush without a physician order?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in General Nursing

    As often as you want? Say, maybe 25 of them in 5 minutes for a quick 250 ml bolus? That might be taking it to the extreme, but I'm just trying to figure out where flushes end and IV fluid boluses...

  8. Saline flush without a physician order?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in General Nursing

    Where in the nurse scope of practice can a nurse put saline into a patient's veins without an order? Just because it is best practice, or hospital policy, doesn't mean that it can be done without an...

  9. Saline flush without a physician order?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in General Nursing

    Let's say the institution has a policy that the IV is to be flushed q8hr, but there isn't an order for the patient... I like the idea of doing it "per protocol", but remember, nurses can't initiate...

  10. PLEASE HELP!!!!! Accelerated BSN vs ADN (cost difference)

    stephenfnielsen replied to melanyblame's topic in General Students

    Hmmm... let's see... in NYC you will be making in the neighborhood of $75000 your first year out of school. So even if it costs you 40g to do the BSN you will still come out ahead because you will be...

  11. Would prior IT experience trump clinical experience?

    stephenfnielsen replied to betakurt's topic in Nursing Informatics

    The best informatisists are the one who can communicate well with both the IT and clinical worlds. Not having clinical experience will negatively impact your career as a NI. You need to be able to...

  12. Psych or Cardiac Telemetry for future Informaticist

    stephenfnielsen replied to rnformaticsr4me's topic in Nursing Informatics

    You've probably already made your decision so this may be moot for you, but for the sake of the thread I'll add my 2 cents. The tele floor is going to expose you to more technology and more...

  13. Neuro ICU RN interview

    stephenfnielsen replied to sherlande's topic in General Nursing

    I would worry less about clinical questions. I'm not saying that they won't ask them, but the fact is that is that it is just too vast. They know that you've never worked in a neuro ICU and you still...

  14. second degree BSN, ADN or direct entry MSN

    stephenfnielsen replied to violin9's topic in General Nursing

    The answer depends on a few things. 1) What are your career goals? -If you want to work in a hospital your resume will be stronger if you have a BSN or MSN. Where I currently work ONLY BSN prepared...

  15. Adn, which is better BSN or a Health Administration with informatics?

    stephenfnielsen replied to RN-2000's topic in Nursing Informatics

    I would do an ADN to MSN program with a nursing informatics specialty (Pheonix and Walden both have programs that seem ok). That way you kill two birds with one stone. Plus you put yourself in a whole...

  16. Anyone familiar with Epic?

    stephenfnielsen replied to mappers's topic in Nursing Informatics

    Epic has a lot going for it. It tracks more closley to a generic Windows or Mac application as opposed to what I would call the very "programmer-centric" functionality of a system like Meditech. This...

  17. NI salary really 90K

    stephenfnielsen replied to Visuals's topic in Nursing Informatics

    Salem OR salary range 63-90K. I saw a job posting for a hospital in Portland with an hourly range of 25-60/hr. But I'm assuming that the upper range would have a pretty significant amount of...

  18. Anyone know of an RN to FNP prog. without a Bachelors?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    Very intriguing program, especially since I would be able to transfer the bulk of the bridge credits. Thanks for

  19. Anyone know of an RN to FNP prog. without a Bachelors?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    Fair question! Has to do with my employer's tuition reimbursement

  20. Anyone know of an RN to FNP prog. without a Bachelors?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    There are a lot of MSN programs programs out there that allow you to go straight from ADN to MSN (with emphasis in education, informatics, leadership .etc), but NP programs are harder to find I've...

  21. Anyone know of an RN to FNP prog. without a Bachelors?

    stephenfnielsen replied to stephenfnielsen's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    I appreciate all of your comments. My situation is a little bit unique which would behoove me to find a program that is either direct entry, or one that ties up the BSN in the NP

  22. Now with Changes in Ecomony which is better ADN or BSN

    stephenfnielsen replied to proudmommy's topic in General Nursing

    Yes BSNs are getting hired at a greater rate. Yes it is a tough market for everyone. It's my advise that you should get into nursing school as soon as you can. If you have the choice between an ADN...

  23. Senior nursing student needs your advice on working as a tech

    stephenfnielsen replied to sweetER's topic in General Nursing

    They will teach you what you need to know to do your job well... do that. The difference between a good tech and a great tech in my opinion is communication and presentation. With that many patients...

  24. what will happened to MSN NPprograms in 2015

    stephenfnielsen replied to greatgirl123's topic in Post Graduate Students

    If wishes were fishes for academia they would have us going to school for 30 years. That won't happen and neither will the DNP mandate (at least not anywhere near 5 years from now). The increased...

  25. NO jobs for new nurses, I may quit school.

    stephenfnielsen replied to oceanbaby's topic in General Nursing

    Don't quit- period. Even the best reason that has been stated on this thread ("quit if you think nursing isn't right for you") is bogus. You can't possibly know if nursing isn't right for you at this...