Chaya ASN, RN

Gotta crunch on something. Peanuts, usually with hummus, crackers and cheese. Then I don't want to go to bed on a full stomach so I end up on allnurses and fall asleep in front of the computer!

In my experience it goes both ways. I've had LOL's that didn't want a male doing anything of a personal nature with them. I also recently had a gentleman who was s/p prostate surgery who wasn't going to let a woman assess his surgical site-thank good...

If they are just sounding off I smile and nod...if they are questioning why I need to follow hospital policy, f'rinstance, what it comes down to is that since I am the one on duty assigned to their family member, it is MY license that is on the line ...

My experience has been similar to massrn116. How about if the recognition write-ups were anonymous (even if the identity of the person was more or less known) and you posted them on a thermometer-type poster like you see with organizations solicitin...

It's been just about that long for me. Sure brings me back (the part about the abject fear especially!)

Major frustration-ya do wonder what she was thinking you were going to do. (Umm...sorry, my magic wand is in the shop?). You could almost argue her incompetent to make medical decisions for herself...

Just what you did, assuming you were not timid about stressing the importance of it. Just out of curiosity, do you know what did happen on the next shift? Did the pt end up voiding or consenting to be cathed? Sometimes I find pt's will consent to a p...

Interesting take on the situation. As for family dissatisfaction, as an eve shift RN I do find that it is usually between 1600 and 2000 that families are actually in visiting, each expecting you to spend 20 min going over EVERY med Grandpa has taken ...

Med-Surg/ Tele floor here; we also get change of shift transfers (like arriving at 1845) waaay too often for it to be a coincidence. We are lucky enough on weekdays to have an eve Unit Coordinator to do orders, if not the Charge makes every attempt t...

An instructor can be as tough and strict as they want as long as their interactions with students are conducted with respect. They shoud NOT be mutually exclusive.

Nosy RN jumping in here. At first,about all you will be able to do is try to keep up with the personal care stuff. However, as this becomes more automatic to you, you will be able to be more observant and will be able to pick up if a patient is devel...

I guess it was random whether you were asked about a good hand-off or a bad one. I was asked about a handoff as the off-going nurse when I thought I did a good job (handing off). For me, the best learning experiences were when crucial information was...

Yeah, we have the same program with the cards and all. There is a bulletin board with these things tacked all over it; the people whose names get up there are the ones who are the most perky and outgoing for the most part, which is OK...I'm friendly ...

We still transfuse blood without a pump unless the pt has a central line. Our old EKG electrodes were fastened to the chest by suction cups that you filled with conductive goop (it was a nice touch if you warmed it first).

If a minor mistake I would just rectify it without assigning blame. If major I would approach the person responsible and allow them to take action. "Taking the bullet"as such is actual falsification of information; you do not want to go there.

This would be totally inappropriate except where all rooms are private and no family are present. We do report at the nurse's station, then do a quick walk-around into the rooms, introducing the oncoming nurse to any pt that is awake and their family...

Can see your frustration here; this kind of stuff could only work if the patients' time is similarly regulated: Rooms 203-212; toileting only between 9 and 9:30; no longer than 6 minutes in the bathroom please. Call lights only to be used every 2 hou...

Well yeah... we do COVER THEIR BUTTS!!!

So, what would happen if your car broke down, or you had a wreck on the way in. The point being, you couldn't physicall (safely) get there?

Nah. That's when I tell them "Sometimes nursing is more of an ART than a SCIENCE!"

I'm not a wound specialist but have seen many, many wounds of all varieties. I would definiately look into a wound vac dressing; I have seen them work miracles with wounds that had had no progression in monthes.

This brought a smile to my face. Where I work now it's pretty hard to do and not generally necessary; if we get a new order we need right away we can often enter an "override" order in the med Pyxis or call the 24 hour Pharmacy to remotely reprogram ...

Each shift has to do a shift check of all orders for the 8-12 hours they were there.This means that when the 24 hour check is done, each order has already been checked. Night shift then is re-checking the previous 24 hours. (At least that's how it's ...

Good communication requires that the nurse have enough TIME to allow for a little more involved conversation if the situation warrents. This is what TPTB can't get thru their heads (or budgets, more likely). There needs to be a little extra time buil...

Ordinary people don't GET why nurses have to work holidays until their Mom/ kid or whoever needs to go to the hospital on a holiday. Then they are indignant that we are not fully staffed. Sorry, we're a little short on extra blankets. Sorry, the atte...