MPHkatie

She is the one who told me the expiration date, so I am making the assumption she knew. Often other people give me things they aren't sure of, but this particular person was well aware of the exp. date.

I'm definitely going to ask the surgeon what he wants to do with it- I don't want to have the weight if it won't be used. There was that media expose- I think maybe 60 min? But the situation was that many of the dates on the items are like Milk- a sell by date, rather than a use by date. The milk is still good for 5 or 6 days after. But, I have wondered about the plastic leaching into the saline- which is why I'm told not to warm NS in the microwave.... My instinct is to throw it away, but then part of me just keeps wondering, I think I'll try to get some from another source... and keep poking around the drug rep corner for what actually degrades in NS. If it were a case of expired levaquin, I'd know what to do!!!!!! Plus you know, I still have to send this lady a nice note, and though the stuff may be good this is really what I want to say and if I can get away with it, I might. Thank you so much for your charitable contribution of an item which legally can not be used anywhere in United States Health Care. It touches my heart that you care enough to send items especially chosen to show how you feel about these people. They are sure to understand your estimation of their value in this world by your gift.... Etc etc etc. ok, don't get me started.

In a bit of a bind here. I am taking a trip to Africa to assist in Surgery in May. I've put out a call for donations of supplies etc, and have gotten some things, and some more are coming. Today, a nice lady donated 2 big boxes of 0.9% NS in 250 ml bags, perfect for hanging our preop abx, but they have an Exp date. I called Baxter, who made them and they immediately told me to throw them out and they would sell me more and that the normal saline would "break down". When I asked the guy what it would break down into he was at a loss for words, and actually said, Ummm, uh it will just degrade. Being a bit confused, I called my pharmacist buddy and she said, "Normal saline is just normal saline, it can't degrade like mannitol". So now, I'm torn. Does the stuff really expire? It has no chunks or flecks floating in it, and it is clear and not discolored. It is all still in sterile wrapping around the bags as well. What do you think?

It is a very very strict policy at our hospital (850 bed level one trauma etc). It is a bit old school, as we don't have to verify other, just as dangerous medications, but we definitely sign off on both. perhaps we are a bit paranoid, but we also sign off on bizarre medications such as protamine sulfate, which are only given once in a blue moon.

I was a new grad in a neurosurgical ICU after 6 weeks orientation. My patients did quite well. We had a nine bed ICU with 4-5 nurses on so it wasn't like I ever really flying solo like I might have been with the pt assignments I heard about in Med surg. Now, prior to my orientation I had spent the past three months in a student class required of all nurses at my school- 36-40 hrs a week working in a surgical ICU So I had been already suctioning and adjusting drip meds for that time. In addition, prior to graduation, I was certified to read telemetry, and had completed ACLS- so perhaps I was a bit mroe prepared. 6 weeks was quite adequate. In addition, I am just a nosey nurse nancy and asked a lot of questions, all the time and didn't hesitate to do insane things like call the atttending at home at 2 am if I wasn't understanding what the resident was doing....and no one else on the unit did either.

I must admit, all I want are this: Why is the pt here. What has been done.and how did the pt react to what has been done What needs to be done by me. What is pending and what is not pending. Now, I work ER, so if a patient stays over a day that is definitely news. and I must admit, I am a chart reviewer- so I look over the chart and get most of the info from there....I too, get annoyed when people start to ask a million questions regarding social history or what not. the pt is here for a broken leg- and we have a nurse who asks: Does he have a hx of PUD? Oye Vey.

Well, I had lots of warts burned off my feet when I was 13-14, and it was so terribly painful, that I qoouldn't recommend it. One summer they simply went away. I also got one very ugly one on my pinky, and covered it with a bandaid because I didn't want anyone to see it. Oddly, about two weeks later, I took the bandaid off (remember, I was about 13) and the thing was just plain gone. so, those new bandaids that work like a tegaderm but dont breathe might do the trick. I think the brand name is nexcare.

That actually was my most horrific moment, I had an a line set up- with the saline on a pressure bag, and for some reason (for which i can not remember) I pulled the spike out of the bad and thus was showered with NS at a pressure of some 250mmHg. Whooosh. Probably not my most embarrasing moment, but it is right up there.

I occasionally work pediatric ER and have found most of the older kids who end up needing IV's are fairly ill and don't put up much protest, even kids who have in the past fainted while getting injections.

Sterile technique is a basic nasic skill of nursing, so basic in fact that Nurse Aides (level two) are certified to insert urinary catheters. But mark my words, the nurse will never admit to using anything but a new sterile catheter, no matter what Mom thinks. I think it would be career suicide, because she should know better and there really is no grey area, nor is this some sort of special thing not taught in school. I have seen difficult cath's due to moving patients etc when sterile technique was questionable, but this doesn't sound like the case. I must agree, if the nurse feels like she doesn't have experience, she needs some assistance, as she may do something more permanent next time, such as retract the foreskin and leave it....

that last sentance should say, dependeing ont he equipment the hospital was using.... ha ha sorry. I'm sorry, but that is a totally avoidable thing and it frustrates me that it still happened.

That nurse must have worked very very very hard to get the feeding tube connected to the CVP. Because of errors years ago (In the 1970's) the companies have made the tubing almost totally incompatible- so that when you are trying to do such a thing, you get an idea that it isn't supposed to go this way. She would have almost had to have rigged the thing, depending on what the hospital was using.

but my friend has worked on Labor and Delivery through two pregnancies, worked all the way up to the end, and was busy and on nights. She did fine. but I think it's all how your pregnancy goes. Don't let anyone pressure you to do something unsafe- follow your MD's advice, and if necessary get a "note"... to assist you. If there are other people with kids on your floor they should remember how it is, and help you a bit as you get further along and turning the patients gets to be interesting. Best Wishes for you and your little one!!!!!!

I date a resident. He's a very sweet guy, I watched him for a while (true about 6 months), never saw him flirting with anyone at all, so I guess I lucked out. True, he's busy all the time, but since I am traveling about every three months for weeks at a time, it works out well for us. However, most of the Med sutdents/interns/residents I know (I work at two teaching hospitals one PRN, one full time), are already married engaged or soon to be divorced. So there's slim pickings if you are interested in dating people, I just sort of fell into the relationship I'm in now. He's just a great guy, I have never really given much thought to his earning potential, which I think he appreciates. WHere I work we have one RN engaged to one of our attendings, and one RN who has been married to an attending at another hospital for about 20 years. And a few former Nurses, PA students, who are also married to MD's (men and women) They seem to be fine with their lives, no divorce proceedings in progress. It does depend on the person.

I occasionally work Peds ER and I have had multiple parents and children of varying ages say that Motrin makes them sleepy- go figure, I have always assumed that it was because it relieved pain and now the pt could rest? Tylenol? never knew it, but as for tylenol PM, it is just benadryl as the sleep aid, so if you aren't sensitive to benadryl, tylenol pm won't help either.