Nursetastic

We have peppermint, spearmint, cinnamon, and wintergreen oils that people bring in to mask foul odors. A few drops in an O2 bubbler connected to air not oxygen, will help cover C-diff and GI bleed odors pretty well. The bubbler tip is cut off and no O2 tubing is used so the fragranced air comes out of the bubbler to provide scent to the whole room. We just ask the patient before doing it. We also had a family using oils on a patient. No problems until they used an oregano oil on his feet. We had numerous complaints from staff about that smell so we asked them to stop. They were gracious about it, thankfully.

Watch out for green urine. Some patients develop almost fluorescent green urine. That's all I have to add. But I agree with hypotension and triglyceride levels.

PLEASE do oral care! Vented patients need it at least every 2 hours. A/O a few times a day depending on dentition, diet, O2 use, etc. PLEASE moisturize after a bath. CHG baths are very drying and can irritate skin if not rinsed well and followed by a moisturizer. PLEASE do not get offended when I ask you to help turn a patient for a skin check before you leave. I'm not trying to accuse you of not turning our patient, I simply want to see their skin early in the shift to monitor for changes. PLEASE clean up after yourselves in all areas. Patient rooms, staff break room, nutrition rooms, med rooms, etc. And if a trash can ANYWHERE needs emptying, just do it! Lots more, but these are all from the past 2 shifts.

I ran across Detroit ER yesterday and liked it better. I enjoy NY Med but I agree that the nurses they highlight are definitely spruced up for TV. Though, they are knowledgeable and seem to be good nurses.

Right shirt pocket: 1 blue pen, 2 black pens, alcohol swabs in the smaller pocket Left shirt pocker: 1 red pen, chapstick, stick or 2 of gum, cute bandage scissors (patterned so I know they are mine) Right cargo pants pocket: spectra link phone and report sheet Left cargo pants pocket: a few saline flushes and empty 5 cc syringes Bottom right side of scrub top: hemostat with one roll of plastic and one roll of paper tape, clipped to the hem On my badge reel: locker key, small flashlight, small Sharpie

The caramel color doesn't dull whites?

It is out of line, inappropriate and borderline harassing in my hospital right now. No Mary Kay or Avon. But this pyramid travel thing. I'm sick of these, on FB and at work. But when upper management is in on it...well, let's just say it's over the top inappropriate at my hospital right now. And if you are missing work to participate in these things then you should really be able to quit nursing and sell your crap full time. Your coworkers are sick of covering for you so you can network with the other pyramid believers. I'm all for a good deal but I refuse to spend money to save money. And I don't like Kool Aid so I won't be drinking any of yours! Rant over.

We get ignored during Nurse's Week. They have "Hospital Week" later in the month to celebrate everyone. However, Respiratory, Lab, and Radiology all get stuff on their own weeks throughout the year in addition to goodies and celebrations during Hospital week. Nurses always get shafted. Especially night shifters.

Where I am, we need Affirmative Action for whites...

You did great by her! I love those rare occasions when a patient truly appreciates what a nurse has done for them. I know many patients appreciate us, but so few actually verbalize it. A "thank you" goes a long way.

It's common at my hospital to use one's 30 minute lunch break for a nap. As long as everyone knows exactly where you are going to be (locker room or break room) it is not a big deal. The buddy system makes sure you are awake 5 minutes before break ends so you don't come out all groggy. This is only acceptable with the approval of the charge nurse and is dependent on census and acuity. Otherwise, any sleepy folks are really good at getting up and helping with bed baths or supplies.

Our cath lab crew has cliquish, bratty, holier-than-thou behavior. They complain about everything from IV's in an awkward place (um, at least you have one on that 80 year old, dehydrated patient!) to patients that smell bad. Yes, cath lab nurse, I'd love to bathe this unstable STEMI patient. Nothing like the turn of death just so you prisses don't have to smell foot cheese for an hour in the cath lab. But I WILL let you borrow my wintergreen oil to use on your mask if it makes you happy. To say that cath lab is tacky in my hospital is an understatement. I'm very interested in working there, but not until about 4 of their crew are gone.

Imagine doing CPR with those butterfly wings attached to your back. What if your fairy dust drifts from your hair during a dressing change. Or how about consoling a family after the loss of a loved one while dressed as an M&M. Now imagine being the family who is receiving bad news by someone wearing a cheerleader costume. Wear holiday themed tops or coordinate colors appropriate to the day, but for goodness sake, please leave the costumes to your personal time.

You have vents and insulin gtts on a tele floor? AND confused patients? What is your patient load like? Sounds very unsafe all the way around.

Circus music, but especially this one... Can you survive 10 minutes of the afro circus? - YouTube

I dilute pretty much everything, especially if pushing through a PIV. If a patient has a central line or PICC there is no worry about irritation of the vein but you don't want adverse affects from pushing too fast either. Think about what the med is for; narcotics, beta blockers, benzos...all can have adverse effects on vital signs or clinical status so push slowly no matter what. Also, it's easier to do a slow push if you have diluted the med into a 10cc syringe; you can control it much better.

I have on of my coworkers audit mine before I leave. After missing "little boxes" twice, I was not willing to get a written warning in my employment file. Our charge nurses are supposed to do the audits before they close shift, but they never do...the fact that there is no accountability there is a whole other ball of wax. Anyway, my habit of getting someone else to check has caught on and my shift hasn't been "dinged" in ages.

It is legal, especially if they've written it as policy. Our restraint charting is audited as well. We get an email the next day if we didn't do what policy states (Q2h charting on all restrained patients and notification of family). If we are not scheduled the next day, we get a phone call. We have 7 days to fix it, 24 hours on the computer or beyond that as late documentation on paper. The hospital isn't looking at your charting for your protection, it's looking at it for theirs. Never misinterpret their interest as being focused on you. It's not.

We have the same type of policy in our ICU. Personally, I don't think anyone under the age of about 10 should be allowed to visit ANY patient room. Not only because they are exposed to, and expose patients to, many different pathogens but also for OUR safety. Those little buggers get in the way! And God forbid the nurse ever have to redirect their curious little hands...I've been yelled at for telling kids to sit down and keep their hands off of the equipment. I'm a nurse, not a babysitter. Keep the young'uns at home.

Was the secondary hanging higher than the primary? Regardless of what the pump is programmed to do, it will always pull from the highest hanging bag first. I learned that one the hard way as a newbie hanging a K+ replacement.

We have the pharmacy and nursing staff collect vial tops then we gather every couple of months to create new badge holders and share horror stories. We give them away instead of selling them. It's just a good mood booster around the hospital. The "paralyzing agent" and "must be diluted" ones are always the first to be chosen.

If your cap has a hole in it, please replace it with a sterile cap without a hole. The hole defeats the sterility of the system.

Absolutely!!!

Fresh post ops in our hospital are 1:1 until extubated. IABPs are always 1:1.

RN found with a 10CC syringe full of Propofol that he had pulled from the port above the pump. Our hospital is too cheap to invest in lock boxes for sedation. I can't believe full bags of versed haven't been swiped right off the poles.