Perpetual Student

As stated, they could terminate you if they so desired. It sounds like honestly they need nurses, and you sound like a motivated employee who happened to get really sick, so I doubt they will terminate you. By the time they terminated you and trained...

As a patient, I try to be extra accommodating and non-demanding. I will quietly voice any requests, but make it clear that I think it's a kindness for someone to do anything other than keep me from dying and that I have no problem waiting until it's ...

A student has no business taking an independent patient load in an ED nor any other sort of critical care area. While it's incredibly stupid that the facility does not provide access to the EMR to students, that shouldn't be the determinant of whe...

Specialized units with mandatory call often provide opportunity for OT (OR, PACU, IR, cath lab, and so on).

If the fluid is compatible with the drug I always just let it keep running (often turning up the rate if it's on gravity tubing to provide further dilution). When I am done pushing the drug I draw in some fluid from the bag to use to flush it. I defi...

From staff perspective: the money can be nice; it's also better to have to work some OT occasionally than be so over-staffed that you have to take a ton of low census hours. For example, as a full time person I'd rather work 60 hours per week than 20...

Yeah, I would assuming they're complaining of significant pain or showing signs thereof. I'd give a smaller dose (perhaps 25 mcg of fentanyl) at increased intervals (10-15 minutes) until the patient reported relief or became too sedated. I would also...

My mindset is to look for reasons to not give pain meds, not reasons to give them. Those reasons are rather exceptional--completely unresponsive, denies pain completely (even then I'll give something PO before transferring the patient and continue to...

I prefer to be very aggressive re: PONV. I personally absolutely hate feeling that way, and figure most patients share that view.You also lose style points if your patient is puking all over the place post discharge from the PACU.I will give one anti...

Refractory to means not fixed by in that context. So if shocking your v-fib isn't working, what other intervention might you want to try? You're on the right track when you mention that it's a pharmacology question.

The possibility of forgetting to document something that will bite me on the butt makes me a bit uneasy. This job would be so much easier if there wasn't such a huge focus on CYA/make-some-regulatory-organization-happy documentation. Having to have a...

I would do it as above posters described in the situation at hand. Another way to do it is to draw up some NS from the flush into another 10 cc syringe, then draw up the appropriate amount of drug. That would be the correct way if you needed a precis...

I'd fold it into an awesome paper airplane and then do my own homework. All kidding aside, what information would you like to have that you don't have? Is that information necessary to safely give the drug? Does your P&P manual provide the missin...

It annoys the heck out of me when someone calls nursing "medicine" or worse yet uses the phrase "medical field." It is misleading and disrespectful of nursing as its own discipline.

Call for help while assessing and start BLS, and other interventions once adequate assistance is on hand. Start CPR as promptly as possible. Don't be afraid to direct others in what to do to assist you. You need to be AGGRESSIVE. Learn to harness ...

The only real problem in the post I see is where the above was used as part of the rationale for not starting CPR. Those are indications to perform CPR, not withhold it! That said, you've received some good advice here.

The ICU nurses in our hospital are floated all over the place frequently. A buddy who now works in the PACU with me left the ICU mostly because he was tired of working on the floors. He said if he actually got to work in the ICU most of the time h...

Get dressed and wander in with a grin. Whoever is the first in should check that the bays are all set up. Take a look at the schedule for the day to get a feel for what's gonna go down, but expect everything to change. Be sure to say hello to everyon...

All they gotta do to get around that is put some clear fluid in the vials. Shy of taste-testing or sending it to a lab, there's no way to really be sure.

Reassuring and comforting fearful patients, especially those in severe pain. Riding that fine line between agony and apnea is my specialty. I am the BEST at making a mess. If you want wrappers and such all around the garbage can instead of in it, I'm...

I work both phase I and phase II in a mixed inpatient and outpatient department. We typically use the gurney from the time the patient changes into the clothes until the time he goes home/to the floor. So furniture isn't really a factor in our practi...

All of that pregnancy and birthing related stuff was incredibly challenging for me. It was (and still is) totally alien to me. Don't get me wrong, I kind of liked learning some of it as it's an important part of life, but talk about complicated.

If you accept that prayer works why wouldn't you accept that God exists and elect to worship him? I don't mean to troll. I'm actually what you could call an agnostic. I WANT to believe. But I don't believe in anything anymore. Even that which I can ...

It's too much when the patient stops breathing sufficiently or becomes totally snowed. If a patient is awake and with it enough to realize it's been two hours it's obviously not too much.

A bikini is totally the way to go. The skimpier the better.