heartrn716

Our PCA pump also allows a basal/continuous rate. I agree, continuous morphine, dilaudid or ativan that is not on a locked pump is too much of a temptation for some licensed staff and you never know what the visitors are capable of. Investigate what the literature suggests.

Hi, Congrats on graduating, I dont know about Onslow county's ICU program, but I can tell you that Cape Fear Valley in Fayetteville has an ICU program that is excellent. Many of the nurses who have served their two years as new grads from the program, have gone on to CRNA school. http://www.capefearvalley.com best of luck to you Heart:nurse:

Help!! The hospital I work in is, once again, taking a look at the visiting hours policy for the ICU's. Currently we have set visiting hours, with each nurse setting the visiting hours for the family, (ie if the family wants to come in early, if they are helpful in calming the patient, etc) I have done a literature search and have not found anything new on the policy of visitation in the ICU's The information on this board is dated from 2003, can anyone tell me what is the policy at your institution? Who has open visiting hours, who has restricted hours. Who allows the nurse to set the visiting hours for indvidual patients. :balloons: Thanks, Heart

The very small step down unit I worked in was having night time staffing issues, I agreed to rotate to nights to help them out. It was a 4 bed, newly renovated unit. It was around 3am, and I was watching the monitors, listening to the patients snore. The pencil draw slid open, I didnt think much of it since the hospital was on a very busy avenue. I thought it was caused by the vibrations from the trafffic on the busy road below. After sliding the draw back several times, I decided if the draw felt it needed to be open so be it Several minutes later : I heard a noise in the room, the patients bathroom door opening and the sound of someone pushing an IV pole. Since I did not have clear view of the bathroom, I just thought one of the staff members from the main floor had dashed in to wash their hands. I looked up from my monitor viewing to see a patient we recently had in the unit. Mrs.G. An older woman who came in with atypical chest pain, became septic due to a gallbladder issue. She evidently had expired in the unit. Although the hospital itself had been on this site for years, the unit was newly renovated, right down to tearing down walls and putting up new ones. I heard the patients bathroom door open and again I heard the rattling of the IV pole and shuffling feet. I looked up and saw Mrs. G. standing there in the middle of the floor, one hand pushing the IV pole, the other hand on top of the pump on the pole. She stopped walking, turned waved, nodded her head said everything was going to be okay took a few steps and disappeared. It was quite a site to see. Shortly after that "vision" one of the nurses from the floor came in to see if I needed anything. I told her no I was ok. And asked her if she had ever seen a ghost in the hospital. She looked at me, gasped and said no why. Explained to her what had just happend. She said she would never step foot in that room again. Mrs. G was the first patient to die in that unit. She was well liked by all the staff and my feeling was that she was watching over us. The day shift came in, and I told them my story. They werent surprised. Through the years working at various hospitals, worked as a Nurse Extern my senior year in nursing school.And heard older nurses telling their stories about ghosts...I thought they were just burnt out. HA!! Yes there are ghosts in care facilities, If they are not seen their presence is felt. They leave an energy behind.

Hi Macy - I used to describe myself as "tough as nails" (to myself) - and what I meant was that I was willing to accept any situation, to always help and do as much as possible, no matter what the circumstances of the patient - even if this meant taking as much extra time as necessary to do what was needed, or to understand. I just came to accept this about myself - that this is the way. To never turn away. I did not feel stress because I had made this decision. I felt satisfaction in my work. And I know that many of the patients appreciated this. I wouldn't change it - unless that I could do even more. And Severina - thank goodness for your compassion, and your willingness to take the extra time. And Dixie - I like your approach to "fight it" - I agree - cultivate your will and strength to overcome. Tough as nails, nawww.. I would say you have to be able to go with the flow. And dont take too much of what your co-workers, the patients or the patients family or even the physicians say as a personal attack. Patients only know what we tell them. We are the source of their information, wether it is correct or not, the same goes for family members. Our co-workers, well, let those amongst us who have not had an occasional bad day and just want to scream be the first to cast stones.....mmmm I have not seen anyone who fits that criteria. And the physicians, please, they are so stressed out most of the time, have sooooo many patients they dont remember who you are talking about and always have to be given a brief synopsis of why the patient is there. The most important thing is have faith in yourself. Remember everyone had to start somewhere and don't quit!!!! Oh btw, in the Critical care unit I work in 95 percent of the nurses are on some kind of psychotropic drug, either for depression or anxiety. You have to recognize your short comings and deal with them. Just because we are nurses, does not mean we are not capable of being afflicted by the same problems that the rest of the world is. Good Luck!! Heart Good Luck!!

Nurses, we can be our own worst enemies. Personally, as a nurse for 15 yrs, I love my job, in fact love both my jobs. I have been a critical care nurse for 9 yrs and and am now a treatment coordinator for a research company. I love working with patients and their families. I live in NC and there are at times a ton of jobs here, but anyone who has been a nurse for more than 5 years knows that jobs are cyclical just like the nursing shortage is. For 2 yrs you might not have any new positions in an institution, but then bam.. there they are.. people move around, get bored etc. That is why nursing is so wonderful. The type of work we can do is always portable. People always need health care. I will tell you though, if you are getting into nursing for the money... forget it. You have to like people, even on their bad days. Be patient with yourself and others. Above being care givers, we are humans too who have families and issues in our own personal lives. But lets try not to take it to work. Unless of course you have a wonderful crew to work with who can support you through tough times. I dont know what life is like for an LPN, the woman who wrote the article was an LPN, they have some difficulty getting a hospital jobs, most hospitals prefer RN's no matter now much or how little experience they have. Good luck with your career choice. Like I said, I love my job.... :balloons: :balloons: