Trauma1RN

Applied to 3, got into the first two I interviewed at.

Because it's a Friday at 3:30pm and the MDA wants to go home...

On my unit we use mannitol for increased ICP's, not to prevent swelling. If a CT shows cerebral edema we hang a hypertonic saline like 3%, and in extreme cases I have seen 24% used. If a bone flap was removed soon enough I have seen good outcomes, b...

If I were your friend I would take the extra learning opportunity and make the best of it. As long as she works hard her competence will show itself on its own. I doubt she will have to explain herself to anyone because most people will come up wit...

Typically before someone herniates their brainstem their HR with go through the roof along with their blood pressure. Your first instinct is to grab some labetalol, but if you push it you will be sorry in a few minutes. They will brady down shortly...

What is the respiratory rate? Are they over loaded? Do they need lasix? Do they have COPD? If they have COPD you could knock out their respiratory drive with a NRB. Being a new grad in the ICU you need to ask questions, the ones who don't are th...

I work at a 1,100 bed teaching hospital and I am good friends with a RRT nurse. We have 2-3 RRT RN's on at any given time. They go to codes, get rapid response calls, and a variety of other things. As an ICU nurse I call them to accompany my patie...

You know your a Neuro RN when: You SDH patient's BP sky rockets and their heart rate goes to about 180 and your first thought is "better get some Atropine"

I will have a year this week in the SICU at Royal Oak. I am happy with my unit and job. I see a lot, and the pay is competitive. My manager holds people accountable, is fair, and leaves you alone. At Royal Oak the critical care tower is as follow...

My unit is a 20 bed Level 1 Neuro/Trauma unit. We use invasive monitoring such as swans, a-lines, bolts, caminos, continuous bladder pressures, CVP's etc. Our neuro patients seem to come in waves, summer is trauma season so we have more currently. ...

Do you have a large population of penetrating injuries? Thats the one thing I wish I saw more of.

It honestly surprises me how many people are losing respect for M.D's these days. Nurses especially, if you are going to act like you know everything a M.D does then go to medical school and stop complaining about you pay.

Hey guys and gals. I am a Macomb from 07'. My tip would be to get a N-CLEX review book and study the specific sections before your test i.e the Cardiac chapters for the Cardiac exams... duuh.:nuke: While I was studying for the N-CLEX I was slappi...

I guess the way that I look at it is... you aren't going to solve their problem by not sending them home with a PICC line, and you most likely won't be able to find access when they need the abx if they didn't have the PICC. If they are not serious ...

I totally agree with the above poster. I started as a new grad in a neuro/trauma SICU in January as a GN. I did have two years prior experience on a med surg floor as a aide and then a tech. Seems like all of the staff is telling me that I am doin...

Until you start just relax and get ready for an exciting challenge. I graduated in December and started as a new grad in a level 1 Neuro Trauma SICU and I absolutely love it. This week is my first week off orientation and I am on my own. It feels ...

Don't believe everything you hear. I am at Royal Oak and love it. I just graduated and I don't think there is anyone in my graduating class making more money per hour. The Beaumont system has has the best nurse patient ratios I have seen yet. The...

My patient last night had a Swan-Ganz and I was getting cardiac indexes of 0.8 and a SVRI of 9700!! She was post op and had lost about 3 liters of blood, but received 6 units of PRBC's in the OR and upon return her hgb was 15.0. CVP was around 4-6 a...

No one?

I made the switch from a construction foreman to a nurse. Wow, what a difference. Seems like such a long time ago that I switched. Long story short, I love my career. I would do it all over again if I had the choice to go back. My biggest recomme...

When you help float a swan in your patient and the first time you shoot an output the cardiac index is 1.3, SVRI is 3,300, and the MVO2 is 41%. Came in the following morning and the "bereavement bagels" were in the break room, I didn't even have to a...

Thats terrible!

Or says something like "I am going to get the car", "I need to get out of here", " I want to go home". All of those can be mistaken for confusion, but if they are talking about going anywhere... watch out.

I ask things like "What do you like to see from your employees?", "Do you promote advancement?" etc.

You check the labs of your trauma patient that is on the way up from OR: pH 6.92 and has a Hgb of 1.6 after 22 units of PRBC's, and then you see a med student running around the corner with a level I infuser yelling "where can I plug this in?".