Tiiki

That RN to patient ratio is frightening. Do you have the ability to put in a "work-load grievance?" We do that soon as we feel that the RN to patient ratio on our med floor (acute medecine, with ventillators) is unsafe. If we have one unstable pat...

Hi, here in Ontario, I am about 3hrs north of the NY border, We had a touch of flurries yesterday. I was so very depressed!! It has been wonderfully warm, to the point of me wearing my spring jacket!! -9C today. They "predict" (don't you love th...

Cudos to you!! Celebrate that call!! Too often we are caught up in the negitivity of our work, pts complaining, DR's frustrations. We may forget our reasons for choosing our profession. I am often asked "why are you a nurse." My respose has not...

I was totally addicted to this forum. Then..work/life became overwelming and for the first time ever I wanted to forget I was a nurse. I put all my journals aside, stopped logging on. Things are getting better. How do I know? I'm back!! I sure mi...

Your support has been over-welming. Thank you. My grandmother used to say.."there is always someone worse off than you." Sometimes it's hard to remember that. I have found only nurses understand the feelings of other nurses. It's so nice to have...

Thank you Lois. Your caring insightful words brought a smile. And I too am glad I'm back!!! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :)

I feel for you. It's so stressful being a student, and having staff nurses looking over your shoulders doesn't help. Where was yoru instructor while you were in the process of discharging your patient? Secondly, the floor nurse is still responsib...

self scheduling!!! in our er and icu we have self scheduling. do any of you have this, and if so, how do you like it? for those of you unfamiliar with it, you self schedule your shifts for a 6 week period. you are obligated to do so many nite shif...

All I can think about..is that maybe the ER is not the place for you. I was sent to a neuro-rehab floor when I injured my back. This was quite an adjustment from the acute medicine floor where I was used to working. I found myself quite lethargic,...

rude..hmmmmmmm i was a floor nurse, now i am in er. so i can finally speak from both sides. you will surely (spel) hear that floor nurses are rude, but you'll also hear that er nurses are equally rude. i have come to the conclusion that the big is...

Ok, here's my two cents worth. When I worked the floors, there were less nurses on nites, so essentially you had more patients, but you didn't have to worry about am care, dressing etc. I never really noticed an "attitude" between dayers and niters...

People repeatedly ask me how I manage the stress/sorrow/work load of nursing. My reply remains constant. Where else can you work, leave at the end of the shift and count the positives? Each shift is a learning experience, something positive always...

Everyone doing clinicals has their favs and their not so favs. For me my stressor was OR. I would do just about ANYTHING to get out of an OR. The instructor knew this too! Each am she'd annouce the surgeries in the corresponding OR's. You'd sign...

Save beds?? We are lucky to find beds!!!! We have 3 ressusitation beds off our observation area. Our obs has 11 monitored beds. Those who don't require monitoring go thru corridor, or cubicles. We also have an evaluation area for pts that we nee...

Wow, so much has been said, what can I add? My biggest surprise in going to the ER from the floor was seeing the pts first hand, not "prettied up" as they were when they usually got to me upstairs. I love not knowing what/who is going to come in ne...

Ok, here's my two cents worth, (bout a penny U.S) LOL, anyway, I swear by Nike Air Walkers. I also buy new ones every 6 months. My physiotherapist recommended it. Apparently even tho the outside is great, the inside has usually lost the essential ...

I work in the ER. My last name is whited out. Everyone covers their last name one way or another. It's a safety issue. I cannot imagine forcing people to have full names on. Years ago I worked in Legal Aide as a councellor. I used my maiden nam...

The summer holidays seem to be flying bye. :( Both kids start back the Tuesday after labour day. Shopping, thankfully isn't too much of an issue for my youngest. She wears a school uniform and only needs a few polo shirts and a new school vest. ...

My personal treats are getting my hair coloured every 6 weeks, and my weekly scab magazines, such as Enquirer, Star. I also don't skimp on hair products or skin lotion. I found the most wonderful moisturizer for my hands called "Cowboy Magic." It's...

I work in the ER, and I've also worked the floor. It has always been the Dr's responsibility to deal with code status. They are the ones who appoach the family and patient. We can update the family on the pt's condition, but it is beyond our relm...

Hi, I finished my ER orientation a bit back. Regardless of your past history (skills, education) we all orientated together. The first day was a brutal exam, covering all sorts of things like hemodynamics, MI, CVA, etc. From their the nurse educato...

You are pregnant, you are experiencing something that is keeping you awake at night. If you had called our triage desk we would have told you to come in. Pain can mask so many things. It is never wrong to get checked out. Because there are so many...

We band our patients when they are registered. The hit triage first, and if they say are shuttled to obs or recuss, we put a temporary band on them.."F45555" for example with their own unique number until they can be registered. Once the patient is...

I have found that if a patient is concerned about addiction, they will queery their meds. I think the most impotant thing with pts is eduation, what they are getting, why they are getting it, how often they can get it, and all possible side effects....