scrabblern

What is the absolute quietest nursing specialty? A job where one doesn’t need to verbally communicate.

Not much changed while I kept in touch. I have been out of close touch for some time, and what I can see from the unit posts is that there are a lot of new faces...

Hello everyone! I was hired as a Triage/Advice Nurse in Feb of last year and suffered an acoustic incident on the job in May. I worked in a small call center environment, and the positions have been moved to remote due to COVID after my injury. I was exposed to extremely loud noise via headset. It was so loud a nurse 2 cubicles over (spaced out due to COVID) could hear it. As a result of the acoustic incident I now have disabling acoustic trauma, pain hyperacusis, permanent tinnitus and have developed trigeminal neuralgia. Worker's comp, all the fun... I've worked all kinds of light duty across the hospital system and that has been pretty interesting. Anyway... I am on baclofen and nortriptyline. I am unable to have prolonged conversations, I'm sensitive to sounds most people consider normal. As COVID restrictions ease, I won't be able to enjoy going to restaurants, movies, concerts, busy streets, etc. My quality of life has been greatly diminished. I can't do the dishes, husband opens wrap packages while I wait in another room, the fridge is an enemy now, etc. I have noise cancellation devices and they help, but they don't keep me numbness or pain free, just ease my symptoms. Per management I was the only person they've seen suffering with this issue, but research shows otherwise. There was no education about acoustic shock or trauma during orientation or at any other time. I asked my employer to investigate how this happened and they haven't taken ownership of this. Does your department offer any education about acoustic shock or how to protect your ears? If you have examples you can share I would love to see them. This is a real risk for staff who are on the phones for hours and I would like to see what is your department doing to advocate for you. I think ear protection should be a a part of triage/advice employee education. My department will return back to the office after COVID restrictions ease. I have found a number of sources touching on acoustic shock and since I am not posting articles I will just post titles and you can Google at your own convenience. "Reducing Noise Hazards for Call and Dispatch Center Operators" NIOSH (attached as PDF) "Demographic Patterns of Acoustic Shock Syndrome as Seen in a Large Call Centre" (attached as PDF) Also search: "ACOUSTIC SHOCK AND HEARING DAMAGE WITH CALL CENTRE AGENTS" poly blog (previously Plantronics) "Acoustic Shock" by hear-it.org NIOSH - Reducing Noise Hazards for Call and Dispatch Center Operators.pdf demographic-patterns-of-acoustic-shock-syndrome-as-seen-in-a-large-call-centre-2329-6879-1000212.pdf

I can't imagine the stress you're going through and seeing people who deliberately choose to harm themselves and endanger their environment only to end up in a situation beyond salvation, leaving you as a witness. There's little I can say to ease your pain. This is an abnormal time, similar to war effort nursing. The people who will understand you best are your peers. Turn to them, and try to collaborate to have a space for healing, whether online or outdoors. Look for a counselor/therapist now as they are hard to come by even when things are normal... I would expect this entire cohort of COVID nurses to be treated for PTSD, to be honest. So while you're away from the floor, just do your best right now to take care of yourself, indulge yourself however you can, whether it be bath bombs or ice cream, extra snuggles with your pet, whatever works, so that you can mentally survive the stress of being a COVID ICU nurse. Even when COVID passes, you will still have patients who harmed themselves, who are beyond salvation with ignorant families. You will still have a code on your floor at least weekly. You will see it all, just less frequently as long as you're an ICU nurse. As a fellow nurse, I admire you, and thank you for your service.

FYI... I moved to a Union hospital on West Coast in 2014. I can't even describe how much better our working conditions are. We're taken care of, our assignments have been fantastic and that really reflects in patient care we provide.

Hello, Does anyone work in a unit that uses VPT? Our unit is looking into possibly using this method for our patients but have not found any policies. Would anyone be interested in sharing the info with the rest of us? I'm aware of the study in AZ, haven't found anything else about it. Thanks!

This is in Oregon. I looked at visiting nurse association website and saw that they don't have a branch in Oregon. Made me wonder.

She said she feels uncomfortable with it. I tried to explain pros and cons but she didn't really want to listen. The staff at ER also suggested he needed a PICC.

Hi, I am a neonatal nurse and this is really out of my scope so I'm asking for help. My friend's husband just turned 65 and he's been disabled with neuro degenerative disease for many years. He is on IV abx now and according to his wife they had to go to ER 3 times for the PIV. She refused PICC on his behalf. She said that medicare would not cover for an RN to come in and restart an IV and that they have to go to ER. This makes no sense to me. I would like how is that possible? I am not sure thst she's aware of all the resources she has. Thanks!

@NicuGal: How long have you been doing HOB flat at 33-34 weeks in your unit? Do you find that the babies spit up more with HOB flat at that age, since lots of them still need gavage... Most of the nurses where I work keep babies with HOB up until the feeding tube is out. I'm now realizing that this too may be tied into the issue of demoing safe sleep...

At what point does your unit take babies out of the isolette, and why do you wait 'till you take them out? We've just had a thermoregulation policy change, making most of our babies stay in a lot longer...

We filter TPN and clear fluids in the NICU, but the Level II nursery (different unit) doesn't filter anything. Go figure.

Hi everyone, I will be doing education on SIDS to both parents and nurses of NICU patients...in our unit we tend to swaddle babies 'till almost the very end. Back to sleep is taught once by our OT prior to discharge. I did a little bit of article digging on this and found that there's been a lot of research on this... It seems that many hospitals across the nation have a similar issue. Nurses are aware that babies are supposed to be in "Back to Sleep" at least a week prior to discharge but that doesn't happen in practice. Also parents whose babies have been in NICUs for extended periods of time and have slept prone for most of they stay tend to place their babies prone at home too. I was curious to find out how and when is Back to Sleep introduced to parents in your units? Also is there any product that your unit uses to promote Back to Sleep, such as HALO SleepSacks? If you do use the product, please describe when do you put the baby in it and how is it laundered... Do you tend to lose it in laundry much, are nurses satisfied with it, etc? Thank you!

Hi everyone, In January I will start studying toward a one-year graduate certificate in Clinical Informatics at Oregon Health Science University. I am currently an RN with a little over four years of experience. I have also worked as a Systems Analyst for about two and a half years going to Nursing school. So here I am, attempting to merge the past and current knowledge. The University's Clinical Informatics program offers several tracks (R&D Scientist, Clinical Leader, Programmer, etc.) amongst which is the Health Information Management and Exchange Specialist track. According to the Department all other tracks require a 20hr/week study commitment, while the HIM track requires 30hr/week. The HIM track also allows graduates to sit for the RHIA credential. Given that I work full-time an extra ten hours per week of studying is definitely a concern. I am already wondering if I should work part-time while I am in school. I wanted to ask the professionals in Informatics field the following question: What are the real-life benefits of posessing the RHIA credential? Does the credential justify the extra 520 hours of study over the next year? Thank you! Jelena

our state does not have unions. this has been a chronic situation, it's been happening over the past several months. nurses have been to manager and complained about assignments and safety multiple times. everyone is required to work 8 extra hours per pay period which is putting stress on staff. we have been pulling staff from other units when they're available. our census has risen two months ago and the babies keep coming and coming. still we're about 2-3 nurses short every shift. yesterday the manager told the new orientee that she had to show up extra over the weekend even though the girl had planned an aniversary vacation with her husband. the orientee is young and this is her first real job so she said yes. the girl is not even on the matrix yet. she'll end up hating it here. tonight - a day nurse working a 16h shift with two HFO/NO/pressor babies, a nurse w/HFO/NO/pressors and a feeder grower who is to possibly pick up another pt, nurse w/a post-op vent and 2 feeder growers. A whole lot better than last week.