Chaya ASN, RN

Yes; sometimes events-or people- hit us too close to the heart to be able to keep the professional distance we have trained ourselves to count on in order to maintain our professional facade

Well said. He created a world wide online community of nurses of an almost incomprehensible scope. So many times it was being able to freely discuss a sensitive and new (to me) issue with nurses from so many different places and realizing that I was ...

I'm convinced it's the law of averages- if it's quiet it's because all the stuff that usually happens in a typical shift just hasn't happened yet. That being said, I will NEVER use the "Q" word before or during a shift. Nu-uh!

Great forum! I love patient education when I can figure out how to get the info across so the patient understands it on their terms. I love to see that comprehension dawn on their faces as they come to understand their condition and how they can posi...

Yep, it's been a journey for me too. Started out fresh on the floor with a paycheck by investing in Real Nurse Shoes. Which resulted in agony at the end of each shift. Not just my feet hurting but shooting pain in my knees, hips, and lower back as we...

Assuming the person responding to the call light has those critical thinking skills that the call light offender is lacking and the responder has assessed for and eliminated any serious concerns (probably numerous times at this point), hopefully the ...

Uh Oh. A patient seeing little kids in their room, (especially late at night) sounds like it should be posted on one of those other threads about mysterious sights and noises...

I amuse myself by mentally composing the section of the job description for what I am actually doing ( irrigate purulent drainage from fist sized wound, pack with absorbant dressing material...)

The last place I worked on an acute MS/ Tele floor and that "nursing instinct early warning" feeling was well respected. There was an on-call Critical Care Rapid Response team dedicated to early recognition of impending deterioration in patient's con...

Yeah, that... Seriously worried about the long term financial prospects. My retirement fund has taken a hit with periods on un-or underemployment plus now we're supposed to be working at least 1-5 years past the age we originally planned to retire. M...

That's what it felt like for me at a former job...even wile telling myself I must be paranoid I felt Like they had me in their crosshairs and I was only delaying the inevitable (think nature shows on TV where the pack of wolves single out, surround, ...

All the weird medical anomaly shows on Discovery, etc: Man with no Face, Boy with 8 Legs, World's Largest Mom/ Dad/Man, My 600 lb Life, Fish Man, etc. Also the Hoarder type shows creep me out in an addictive sort of way.

Not all that unusual but had a gentleman with hypospadia; his urethral opening was on the underside of his penis about an inch or 2 below the tip. He had a foley but we had a policy of d/c'ing catheters before sending patients to a SNF. He also had a...

Our agency schedules 2 hr for a SOC. I find my patients who are newly dc'ed from the hospital are pretty well fried by that time so I even tho we are computerized I jot things down that might come up out of sequence rather than jump back and forth be...

My super power would be a Harry Potter based variation on the being in 2 places at the same time theme...ya know how Hermione Grainger has that gadget that lets her dial time backward so she could take 2 classes at the same time? When the day has got...

I have experience in acute inpatient rehab and in med/surg. I have 2 offers in Home Health companies and I'm trying to decide between a large national agency and a local, single-office agency that has been around many years. The large agency seems t...

Thanks to you both for your feedback. I went with the larger agency and just finished my first week. Most of my new co-orkers seem to think highly of it. There's a lot to learn but I'm excited-we'll see how it goes!

If I am sending an unsolicited resume to a facility, I will try to look up that info on their website if there is one. You can look for the director of HR, the staff recruiter or the nurse manager. If any of these are listed you can address your resu...

Definitely happens. Although I think the job market is becoming less tight out there, employers have definitely been dragging their feet with regards to actual offers. I can appreciate the fine line you have to walk between "still interested" and "st...

One is salaried until you're out on your own, then per case. The other is an hourly salary. Both have a quota for the number of visits per week, differentials according to acuity of task or visit and how long is alotted and a per mile reimbursement. ...

I have heard "picking" described as a archtypical end-of-life behavior and have seen it on occasion in pts that were getting close (ie-weeks to days).

Nothing wrong with noting a recurring correlation between 2 events, even if we can't explain it. It's not necessarily unscientific-just something that we don't as yet have the capacity to understand/ explain.

Cuz' then they'd have to pay for it

I kknow I'm kinda cynical but spending a little extra time periodically re-assessing your pt, maybe advocating for a lab or two and paging an MD if need be takes WAY less time than running a code..

The cartoons on the scrubs make the difference-I'm sure the in-between age kids think they are very cool. I agree that judgement should be exercised in wearing all black, especially on certain units. And Halloween? that's another subject. I remember...