wizap

Rural Nurses stretch and grow!!! Never know what you will be doing next!!!! LOL:lol2::balloons:

Practice, practice, practice...that's how you get good at IV's. P.S.- messy ones aren't bad ones, sometimes they are very good ones! Also, do not pass up the chance to start children and the elderly. Not everyone has big beautiful veins.... Good luck, and remember, starting IV's isn't all there is to ER nursing!!!

People can be rude and crude. Especially drunks who just ran their car into a tree and are trying to get out of their spider straps and off the back board. It is your job to keep them safe, even if they have a "potty mouth" Do not take anything they say personally. I will never forget, it was change of shift one night. I went in to introduce myself to the patients and to tell them I was taking over their care. One jerk said, "Thank God, I don't want that f** B**** any more." I said, "That f** b**** is your physician, and if I were you I would treat her with the kindness and respect she deserves!"

Rozerem works for me. I got free samples from my MD. I take it only when I need it. It works better than Melatonin. I do not wake up feeling drugged like I did with diphenhydramine. You do have to find out what works best for you. Sleep is very important, and lack of sleep can cloud your judgement. Good luck finding what works!!!

Working with great people can make all the difference...and being there for one another! Knowing that you are part of a team where everyone is working for the welfare of the patient...that makes all the difference, in how you feel about yourself, your co-workers and your job.

Keith, I am a frontier nurse. As one, I have never had to work on a tele unit as you describe. Our cardiac patients are all sent out to larger hospitals. By the way, I can read an EKG ... and I can tell if my OB is a 7 and 90% effaced. And incompatant nurses can receive more training, The problem is you can't fix a nurse that is unfeeling.

NO....Wasn't, pinned, wasn't capped, didn't go to graduation... and I feel like a REAL nurse! Wow.

I'm a Charge Nurse working 12 hour night shifts in a frontier hospital. At night there are only 2 RN's working. If it is crazy, it is hard to cover for each other. I think meal breaks are important, they should be taken, for all the reasons stated above. I think it is part of being a team that you "look out" for your other team members. You depend on one another, as do your patients... It is easy to be kind to your co-workers..."The Golden Rule" does apply also at the workplace!

I turned 50 this year. I am a Charge Nurse at night. I work in a Frontier Hospital, and pretty much do whatever comes in the door. I love my job!

I wear scrub pants, a matching Tee shirt- in the winter a long sleeve turtle neck, and a jacket. I do not have tatoos to hide, but I do feel very comfortable wearing cotton. Most scrubs are polyester...They're OK for pants...

Sorry if I was ambiguous! We have been using DTaP instead of the older dT on patients who present with lacerations, or other complaints that need tetorifice boosters in the ED.

We are starting to give out DTaP shots to adults in our ER instead of the traditional dT shots. I am not sure how I feel about this. Yes, there are breakouts of Wooping cough, but should we be immunizing everyone? What do you think? Is this being done routinely in other ED's? Thanks for your input!

I usually do three 12's in a row. I have done 5 in a row. I will refuse to do that anymore...it is unsafe!

I will routinely draw blood off my Chest Pain patients who have big bore IV's, and have done this for years. The ER doc's know we do this. However, I will not draw from a 24g. in a toddler. I don't want to loose my site!

My mom had quadruple bypass at Mt. Sinai in New York two years ago. I traveled from Montana where I live to New York To care for her. I am a BSN, RN who practices in a frontier hospital. The hospital would not discharge her, she refused to have home health nurses come to the house. They discharged her to me. They did not ask to see my credentials. She was one of the most difficult patients I ever had, until I learned to see the world through her eyes! I would suggest that we walk to the park bench. Mom would reply, "No, I don't feel like it!" I then said in passing,"...I wonder if Macy's has a pocketbook that would match my shoes, I was unable to find one in Missoula..." It is amazing how you can strengthen a fresh post-op by checking out whats new around a mall!!!! Yet she wouldn't walk to the park!!! As it was getting time for me to leave, I made her show me that she could pick up a few items at the grocery store and the drug store. My threat was, "...if you can't take care of yourself, you will have to come home to Montana with me! Oh, by the way, I have two brothers and a sister who live near Mom... and are hopelessly helpless!