NICUNURSE

I also live in So Cal and started in a Level IV NICU as a new grad. If you are going to start in NICU as a new grad, I would recommend looking at one of the Children's Hospitals in the area (for So Cal that would be CHLA, CHOC, Miller's Children's, ...

Our LC staff does suggest this to parents. And I have been asked to do this occassionally. That being said, this is not something that I EVER do. Like you, I have yet to see research that says this is safe/effective. Quite honestly, I worry about the...

This is a bizzare question. Does it really matter when you administer it?

I think that depends. Are the private duty and clinic jobs you have, jobs that require you to work under your RN license? If they are, then you prob won't be eligible for a new grad program. Since most RN's that are going back for their BSN, are wor...

roseorchid: I'd love info on the company you work for also. I'm in So. Cal. Please pm me!!!!

I am a new nurse and have recently heard that the nurses at my hospital are considering going union. It seems (at least on my unit) that the biggest issue is pay. Are any of you guys union and if so, what do you think? And for those of you who don...

On our unit, we have a PICC line team, made up of nurses, who change and repair all PICC lines. These are nurses who work on our unit, but have taken a special PICC line class. That being said, changing the dressing is similar to how you would do an ...

On our unit, we routinely run our pressors through a central line. PIV's are used only as a backup. And truthfully, I feel a lot more comfortable using a central line, as PIV's are so darn tempermental (positional, blow easily, etc.). One thing that...

Before last week, we just double checked meds such as narcotics (when taken out of pixsis), K, insulin, etc. As of last week, we now have to double check ALL meds, po meds included. Evidently, a nurse made a BIG med error. We put up approx 24 hours ...

I can't lead you to a specific article, but I know our attending said that an article he read stated that a CRP is actually more indicative of the previous 12-24 hours. So like Tiki said, a high CRP would mean that approx 12-24 hrs prior, the infect...

RN 10 months (graduated May 2002) Level III NICU Los angeles, CA $21.50/hr nights: 10% diff for 1st 4 hours & 20% for last 8 hours w/ no weekend diff. With benefits, although our contribution is quite a lot Apprx $41,000/year

I work at a Children's Hospital, so with that said... The ICU nurses float only to other ICU's and the floor nurses only float to other floors. So as a NICU nurse, I can get floated to PICU or CTICU. It's kinda scary, because even though I work in an...

I agree with Nell. I'm also a CA NICU nurse, and we have mandated 1:2 ratios. The 1:2 are usually feeder/growers, or you might get a more stable vent pt. with a feeder/grower. Every once in a while, if we get an admit in the middle of the night and d...

I responded to your e-mail and also sent the consent letter, etc back. But then I got another e-mail from you saying that you'd never recieved it. Could there be something wrong with your e-mail system?

Okay, I have a really dumb questions, but bear with me, I'm still kind of a newbie!!! I had an ex- 26 weeker the other day, who is now about 34 weeks (corrected). The other day, the NNP ordered a suppository (glycerin slicer). So as I'm attempting...

Thank you guys so much. I've never heard of the TB syringe or the cath trick! I love my allnurses buddies!!!

You see, I can handle puke, mucous, blood, trach care, etc. You can throw anything like that at me, but please DO NOT ask me to take care of a pt. with any kind of nasty skin condition. AAAHHHH!!!. I once had a pt. ( a homeless man) who's skin wa...

We are a 32 bed Level III NICU. Usually, we try to staff at about 21-23 RN's at any given time (we only have 2 LVN's on staff). Our more critical pt. are 1:1, while some of the more chronic kids are 1:2. We have about 120 nurses on staff right now ...

Enfamil has a wonderful parent book. The language used is very appropriate and it goes through just about everything that they can expect to see while their baby is in the NICU. What I like is that they use the medical terms that they will hear, bu...

I graduated last may and I took Kaplan. Although it is expensive, I thought it was worth it. It really gives you a good idea of what the questions on NCLEX will be like. But the key is getting a good instructor, so ask around. I also had a few stu...

I want to play... I work in an NICU and we get new residents all the time. So one of our newbies (consequently the one with the biggest chip on her shoulder...) orders: 1 unit PRBC's AFAP Okay, first of all, we don't give neonates 1 unit of ANYTHING...

My turn, my turn... I'm a new RN, so bear with me... I work at a Children's Hospital with a Level III NICU. Because we are a children's hospital (no L&D) all of our babies are refered and transfered into our unit. Most of the babies we get e...

I just started working in the NICU and I love it. I think the best part of my job is being able to see the babies who come in really sick, go home with their parents. It really makes you realize what a miracle children are. It is stressful in the se...

Okay, I'm absolutely appaled at this article. I think we're all forgetting something that is really important...alcohol has not been found to have ANY anti-microbial properties, what-so-ever! Ever wonder why, we use betadine to secure our sterile f...

I've found that it helps to make a schedule every day. I list the time on one side of the page 0700 0800 0900... And then across the top of the page, I list my pt. names. M. Jones R. Smith G. Williams... Then for every hour of my shift, I lis...