Mrs.Rollins ASN, RN

Or maybe it was a nurse who doesn't usually work ICU and was already in over his/her head? Some units will pull nurses from stepdown when they're desperate with the intention of only giving them "walkie-talkie" patients, but we've seen how that somet...

I'm confused: why on earth would you be bolusing someone with propofol unless they were intubated or for the purposes of RSI?

I agree with many of the other posters. Once you've had to break this kind of news to family often enough (I don't work in a Level I with docs at the bedside 'round the clock; I am frequently the one who notifies family of a death), you'll see every ...

This type of thing happens all the time in my facility, unfortunately. We had a rash of nurses a few years ago who wanted to transfer, were completely blocked by their managers, left for another system for positions in their desired change-of-special...

I just want to take a moment to congratulate AsystoleRN for a wonderful response. There is so much misinformation about the dying process and hospice care in general within the acute care setting. Morphine isn't given to "hasten" death: it's given to...

Ditto the above poster. Never seen the balloon pulled out without the sheath, and NEVER with a heparin gtt running. Yeesh.

My standard practice (and the policy at my current facility) is to document vitals Q15mins any time I'm titrating pressors. If they've been on low dose pressors (like renal dosing dopamine, for example) and there hasn't been any titration for 2 hours...

With our population it's not uncommon for us to run 50-60mcg propofol, 9-10 midazolam, and Fentanyl or Dilaudid gtts and patients to still be awake and actively pulling at ETT/lines/Foleys. We get a lot of chronic drinkers and druggers.

If you come to the nursing station looking for a patient named "John," and when asked what John's last name is you say, "Well, I don't know. But he's one of my best friends!"

I'm a night-shifter in mid-level acuity ICU with no CNA's. We have to do nightly baths on all our patients, every night. Day shift on my unit is pretty good about cleaning up the patients during the day if they're getting really gnarly, but usually t...

...when you arrive for your shift and there are copies of Safe Harbor forms hanging at the time clock. True story, yesterday. Quadruple ICU assignments.

Had one 3 weeks ago with a serum glucose of 1472.

ABG: pH 7.13, pCO2 88, pO2 46, don't remember the HCO3, but it was something equally ridiculous. This patient was not intubated, by the way, and the attending didn't seem to think it was warranted because "she can open her eyes." She did, in fact, op...

Actually, only Methodist in The Medical Center requires a BSN; all the other locations will accept ADN. However, Methodist is notorious for almost always choosing BSN over ADN applicants, regardless (frequently) of qualifications. It's just their thi...

If you're planning on working in the Dallas area I'd be a lot more concerned about Group One than about having your BSN. I work in the Houston medical center for one of the big ones (I won't say which) and have an ADN. None of the facilities in the ...

Godwin's Law! And it only took 3 pages this time.

A great portion of people I graduated nursing school with were only able to find jobs in home health. I know at least 3 of them weren't able to stick with it and quickly bailed (2 of them left nursing altogether, having never found jobs in the hospit...

I think the term "bedside report" is inherently confusing. I've always taken it to mean that at some point we go into the room together to look at the patient, clarify/discuss some of the physical assessment data, verify gtts/vent settings/CT's/etc, ...

I agree with all the responses to our poster who, after only 2 months (all which spent on orientation, I'm sure), thinks us ICU nurses are all whiners if we're on 3:1. Nothing to add there other than reality can be a cold, hard slap in the face somet...

I'm one of those people who absolutely love working nights. Love, love, love being a creature of darkness! I've been orienting to my new facility on days and it's been rough (I'm not cut out to be a daywalker). But it's definitely reminded me that th...

My stepdad just went through this EXACT situation. And believe me that he got screwed out of every other job he applied for. His former employer even told one of his prospective employers that they were considering reporting him to the board! He hir...

I D/C central lines and Swans in the ICU/CVICU, but RN's on the floor usually don't. We also don't do a CXR following. I'm not sure I understand what the necessity for that would be, unless there was a question of complete removal.

I had to take a semester of Medical Terminology for my ADN. It was very well worth the time.

If you are an RN I don't understand how you can work as an LPN. You don't hold an LPN license; you hold an RN license. Could it be they're asking you to take a position normally held by an LPN and get paid at that rate, as opposed to RN scale? Sounds...

Had one last night Hgb 3, crit 9. White as a sheet but otherwise completely stable.