spiceyqueen

we have room 12 that always seems to get brain deaths ( young females).... and we have room 7.. its an exceptionallly cold room no matter what they do to adjust the aircon.Patients seem to last not more than 3 days there( most die, or are palliated adn sent of to the pall ward), and if they stay they end up being VERY LOOOOOOng admissions with multiple issues, i have always wondered about that room.I mean we still end up having possitive outcome patients butits a creepy room....

worked during nursing school ( full fee paying student) so really i had no option. worked two jobs through all my uni years, and studied full time. worked even through my clinical placements,came out of it still sane. Its not the best life but assess your needs first, and your how you can cope

we discharge a few cases directly home, first they have to be " non-complex" patients i.e patients who have been mostly well before admission, and will return to normal funcntion after discharge, have to be very stable while in ICU and also in the same instance as Sicushells mentioned,

not funny, but a wake up call.... been pretty run down at work of late, and havent had leave in 14 months( manager keeps giving excuses about training etc, notenoughregular staff in the unit and all that crap, and studying n workign full time etc...... last week i dreamt that one of our patients( a vent dependent Quad) who has been with us for months on end tried to strangle me using IV tubing, but was i panicking that someone is trying to kill me, hell nooo, i was so excited that all i could say was " yes yes finally i go on workers compensation, stress leave, " needless to say i spoke to the unit manager and explained to her that i really need time off before i lose my mind... got two weeks off coming n am going to Vietnam...

that funny, i can just picture it

out of curiosity,( i have n oidea about O& G nursing) what causes women who are not lactating/pregnant to have breast milk..... and is in normal though? coz am just thinking of those days when people had wet nurses yet some would have fairly grown up children!!! what of young girls who have like milk production etc,,,, we were having this discussion @work, and none of us had a clue what the story is with that

THANK YOU SO MUCH ICUFAQ.ORG :heartbeat( its in caps, not becaue i lack "netiquette" but just to show much ho w much i appreciate the site) Its funny how its has helped me and a few other collegues...... having a pleasant nigth shift so far

GEEZ, this got me laughing!! am going to have a very good shift tonight!!!!:yeah:

we got lots of pretty stickers ( well actually just standard labels) its not policy, but its definitely practice, i do it at the distal end as well, and always trace back at least twise a shift just to be sure,

and children are not allowed in only a few cases where wife gives birth while hubby is in ICU,

we have NO VISITING between 9am-11am and 1pm-3pm ( and those are the only four hours that are visit free. an not begging or pleading will let anyone in AT ALL anyone can visit anytime in otherwise, HOWEVER its locked door facility and we generaly try to minimise visitors as much as possible so that we can get to do our work( it works well though) coz we have locked doors as well. we do not let visitors in during change over either then again depends on the case if we have say under 18's parents can stay in all through, or if we have paliated patient family can stay in,

when i do arvo shifts, ending at 10pm,Computer, a glass of wine,and if am not overly tired and feeling adventurous, i hit the town ( mostly fridays, if am off saturday). read a book, have bath, blast some music, but in winter i just sleep.....

take naps and stretch before rising.......ooooh!!!!! and the pics are just beautiful

we use the bristol stool chart, i must say its not too bad!!!!! AIM for a 4 is like our motto...

3 things have actually made my week really special. 1)a patient who has been in our ward for like 4 weeks with receptive/expressive dysphasia has called me by my name for two days in a row!!!!!! i feel goood!!!!!!! 2)one of our patients(when admitted looked like the definition of death), has stepped up to a rehabilitation ward.....one of our greater success stories 3) had my first In Charge shift (well out of circumstance more than chioce) with two new graduates and an Agency nurse(she was pretty good!!!!). and my N.U.M. told me that she didnt think i would be that good, handled admissions, transffers, problems, delegating work with no probz, and had my own patient load as well....geez, didnt even know i had it in me to do that!!!i must admit i was a bit overwhelmed at first but i told myself, if it went well, i think coz the other three are very good in their work too...

definitely for the money!! i doubt if many do it for the love of the job

depending on how the ward runs, and how the staff are, never be afraid to ask for help if you need. take a break, because in my experience, if you dont really take a break, you get flustered and that doesnt really mean you will get more work done. break down your tasks and prioritise, speak to the in charge if you feel you are lagging. Hey If its any consolation, you dont sound like a baby.I have been in your shoes!!it takes a while to get your feet in a new place/new role. take it easy on yourself too!!! And remember YOU come first

sometimes i wish my patner was a nurse, then he may be able to understand some of my rants and raves....he just doesnt get some of them.

most places have an order that states how long the feeding hours, rate, amount to irrigate and how many hours in between. mostly its the dietician that sets out the feeding regime and all. well, that depends on your facility's protocols

when i startes nursing school its coz i needed somethign to do, pass time before i get a career i want. hated it at first, grew to love it. now am really into it, wouldnt choose a different path. firstly because i knowits an "in demand" career. then also because i know i can go "ward hopping" if i get too familiar with one place I do have days that are so S***** , when al i do is rant and rave.but hey every job has its moments. what i wanna do is grow in my career till wherever i can, and enjoyit in the process. so not every nurse is negative,i think we are negative within reason, especially when the system fails us.

remember i once did a placement in a gastro-surgical ward. had this prisoner who was in for among other things inserting a pair of glasses in his orifice, eating blanket. his endoscopy was the most fascinating i have ever seen, his gastric contents....oh man he was shuckled to bed and all, but some how he managed to take his IVC out from his wrist and insert it into his member. RN went to prepare antibiotic, got caught up for about 15 minutes with a doc, Guards were standing at the door, one was seating in the chair reading a mag. RN walks in notices a bit of blood on the bed sheet when he asked to flush his canulla, finds it missing, guy doesnt say anything, swears like ****, and required a search.when he finally needed to pee, he said ( very clamly, as if, he was talking about the next golf game)he has a cannulla in his member, and it need to get out before he takes a leak... two weeks later, same dude, brought in with plastic spoon, and bits of his hair in his orifice.

if a facilitator/instructor deserves it, then why not. i think it also gives them a sense of satisfaction as well, and feel appreciated. am not talking about a big gift, but yeah whatever group we were in we got them a card with flowers/chocolates etc. and for the nurses we get chocolates, and a card or flowers we had an exceptional one, she was very pregnant, but she made time for each of the ten students she had to facilitate through a massive teaching and refferal hospital. she was passionate about her role, so we got her a album/diary from baby's first day. as one poster said, for as long as the grading has been done and nothing is altered, go for it.. but then again if you aint comfortable, well let your collegues know

i work in a 9 bed unit, i get three patients a day.. but when it come to med, there is the 5R, concentration, put a little dot before i sign, check for allergies, cary the MIMS just in case i dont know the particluar medication, and i also check the recomended daily dose, just in case someone is on 200mg of something daily yet they can only have say 80, if am still not sure check with a collegue/consult the physician(we have one at the ward 16 hrs a day, and one on call on night shift). i also try and explain/watch for any adverse reactions..

:chuckle

25 minutes by train, wait 5 minutes, the 15-10 minutes by bus. would be 1.5 hrs if i drove, plus the stress of traffic, the swearing.....Wish i lived 10minutes walk from work