javajunkie

I love it!

Thanks for everyone's suggestions! I will post the winning quote when I know what it is. Meanwhile, keep the suggestions coming! Thanks!

Katie, I appreciate your point about nurses dressing professionally. One of the reasons the "T-shirt phenomenon" has become popular at my hospital is because we have a strict dress code. Nurses have to wear navy blue scrubs with the option of wearing a navy, white, or khaki undershirt. Our shoes have to be white, black, or navy AND our socks have to match our shoes. Annoying as it can be, all of our nurses look darn good and professional. One of the goals of the logo shirts is to instill pride and recognition to our nurses. I guess this would be an example of the "meaningful recognition" the AACN supports in the Healthy Work Environments initiative.

Hi everyone! Does anyone have any creative ideas for a T-shirt slogan for intensive/critical care nurses. My unit is a mixed medical/surgical ICU at a fairly conservative hospital. I really wanted to design a shirt that says, "ICU nurses, here to save your a$$, not kiss it" BUT I don't think that is going to go over well. For example, our cardiac unit recently used: "Cardiac Unit: Never misses a beat" (I would have said, "We got the beat" but I am a big dork). Any ideas for ICU? Thanks!

My favorites are the hideous older ladies who were drinking in the womb and have been smoking since birth. You know, scary gruff voices. Really bad oral hygeine. They just love male nurses. Doesn't matter how sick they are, as long as they are extubated, they are flirting with the boy nurses. One especially sticks out in my head: this lady mid-60's (actually closer to 85 in her body), COPD exacerbation, tubed for weeks, and finally extubated. I could barely understand a word she said, but I got this: She asked me how much money I thought it would take to get one of our particularly attractive male nurses in bed with her. NICE. What I wanted to say was, "Honey, you don't have that kind of money." But of course I have a little compassion left. One of my top 5 Five-star patients was the 16 year old brat that PEDS ICU refused because they didn't want to corrupt the babies up there. The cops brought this kid into ER because he swallowed a crack bag in an undercover drug deal. So he gets his complimentary charcoal in ER and comes to visit me in the ICU. MAJOR ATTITIDE on this one. Obviously mad at the world, maybe for a good reason (his mom refused to come up to the hospital). Anyway, peds resident decides that a jug of Go Lytely is in this child's future. So we get started with it. You know, I served it up on ice with a little lime wedge... Shockingly, this kid drinks over half the jug with no problem, but somehow manages not to start pooping. Get's nauseous and refuses to drink any more. So after much deliberation, I get ready to drop an NG. As soon as it hits the back of his throat, he barfs up all of the Go Lytely. So, I was a new grad at the time, desperately wanted to get this NG, so I didn't notice that he had puked up the crack bag too. He noticed though. I had to take this basin to the hopper, fish out the crack bag and keep it in a biohazard bag in my pocket until the cops came to get it 3 hours later. I'm still mad at that kid 3 years later.

I am personally afraid of Nipride. Maybe because the one time I titrated up 1/2 a mic or so, I left the room to grab something and when I got back my patient was diaphoretic and getting ready to lose her lunch because her pressure went from 140 to 60. Good afterload reducer though. Super good in this case.

Kathy White's Fast Facts most definitely.

Kathy White's Fast Facts most definitely.

I am looking at the AACN website and it appears that the CCRN exam has changed. According to the website: "The CCRN certification examination will NOT be available at AMP assessment centers between the dates of Monday, May 17, 2004 and Friday, July 9, 2004. Eligibility periods will be extended to allow exam candidates an actual 90 days to schedule and sit for the CCRN exam. Computer based testing will resume on Monday, July 12, 2004, with the revised, 150-question, 3-hour CCRN exam." So is that content different? Anyone know anything about this?

Can I sign up my ex for your experiment?

A friend of mine is going to school in St. Louis and she said they had a program in the past and they are trying to start it back up again. Maybe just a rumor, that would be cool though :)

I heard a rumor that Barnes-Jewish in St. Louis is going to get a program up and running in the somewhat near future. Anyone hear anything about this?

Who doesn't want Versed? Just kidding. I agree, another drug would have been appropriate. While in nursing school, I once told a confused alcoholic patient his lactulose was whiskey and got my butt chewed. I learned a few valuable lessons though: A. Liver poo stinks and B. Be honest.

LOL, I know every CT surgeon is different. All I know is that if I ever feel the need to make one of ours cringe, I say the word "Neo." They hate it. Get out the dobutamine and nitro. However, I do believe in your question, the neo is used to maintain MAP against the nipride. Where did you interview?

Wow! Dare I ask a question about something more complex than IV fluids? Tenesma, do you teach? You should. Your answers are great.