WhiteCaps

A pain detector!!! I'd like to see a gaget you just touch to a pt's skin and it tells if and how much pain they actually have!!!

If you could see the sweet swirly loops I can make on the top of a soft serve ice cream cone, you'd know why my dream job was to own a Dairy Queen. LOL

My husband shaved his moustache once. He looked just like his brother. Eeeeeeuuuuuhhh! He hasn't shaved it since! Yes, the daughter over-reacted, but it really is a big deal to a person's identity.

I've got to agree with llg. It's a joke. He pokes fun at everyone. And when he does, I don't take those jokes seriously either. Lighten up.

thanks critter lover! unfortunately in our small town, the doc has no partners and his phone directs problems to the er when he's unavailable. my husband was standing right there, if they wanted to develop a therapeutic relationship, they could have. another point here is that most doc's have met my husband and his charts at the same hospital have to be a foot thick from previous hospitalizations. they could have given him a smaller quantity to make it thru the weekend. it was cruel. bottom line...... yes! we absolutely need a "pain detector machine"! let's invent it and retire wealthy!

I don't know what the "drug of choice" is in our ER, but I do have another ER horror story. My husband has a severe chronic pain condition. He received a prescription from our family doctor for po Dilaudid which he took to the pharmacy the next day (saturday) to be filled. The pharmacy did not have the particular strength of the med to fill the script, insisting he would have to get the doc to change the strength to accomodate their supply. But, being a weekend, the doc was not on call & was out of town, leaving going to the ER our only option. (Using a different pharmacy is also a no-no... doesn't look good). At the ER, we presented the intact prescription (from our family physician who is on staff at that hospital), explained the situation, asking only that the script be re-written to accomdate the pharmacy. We offerred to surrender the old script on the spot. And still, with all this, my husband was treated as a "seeker" by the ER doc! After that humiliating experience, we went to the medical records department, examined the records of that ER visit and filed an appeal for amendment. The appeal was accepted and entered into his permanent record, and the physician also received notice of the amendment.

I agree. In 30 years of using IV Demerol, I found it to be quite effective for short term post-op pain relief for most patients. We still use IV Demerol now but less frequently than in the past, and never for elderly patients.

I can handle almost any sounds or smells at work, but what I absolutely can't stand is a patient or visitor ( or other staff ) wearing the cologne Obcession!!! Obcession is worse than the smell of GI Bleeds..... ! How can people wear that on purpose??? I don't get it!

It's not unusual to feel like you've failed boards. If she did well in school, she most likely did well on boards. Give her a hug and some reassurance and prepare to celebrate her success!

Please don't do it. There are other options. You might try looking up Project Rachel sites for true stories of women who had abortions and what they went thru and how they found healing. http://www.rcab.org/projectrachel (Rachel was the woman in the Bible who's weeping could not be consoled because her children "were no more") .

Since you love your Chicago home, I would suggest getting BOTH a IL and a FL license. That way you can always go back there to work if you and your husband decide you prefer the cold, traffic, and gray skies to the sunshine and mild winters. Yes, the pay in FL is terrible, but the taxes are better and you don't have to spend money on snow blowers or winter coats. As for me, I'll take FL anyday.

Not to insult anyone here but I had an interesting talk with a doc one day in which I learned that he thought we hospital floor nurses knew more about our pt's than we do! He expected we had actually read all the pt's H&P's, lab & test results, etc before caring for the pt's. He, had known his pt's for years, from seeing them in the office etc. What he didn't realize was that I had a 10-15minute report on my group of pt's then am expected to be out there immediately giving care, meds, treatments, answering lights etc. So, I can only conclude that if he had to give expert testimony as to what a nurse should have known or done, well, he might just over-estimate the expectations! I'm not saying we don't do a great job, we do! But it's another aspect to look at.

That sounds very invasive for an employment physical!

A double meaning here. No, I don't wear a white cap, but I'm a nurse who loves the beach!

Patients vacationing in Florida have taught me: Do not play with the cute little (extremely toxic) PIGMY RATTLESNAKES on the golf course. Swimming in the ocean at night is not "the best time because you can't see the sharks". Surprisingly, the sharks CAN see you! Do not think you are skilled enough your first time on a jet ski and drunk to cut in front of a speed boat. Do not jump off the 3rd floor balcony of your vacation condo to avoid being caught for under-age drinking.

This was my first thought too. It happens everywhere and has nothing to do with race. I will say tho that in my 28yrs of nursing, the one single most difficult, pushy, annoying, arrogant nurse I ever worked with happened to be from the Philipines. But, I didn't judge others by her standard....... she set the record all on her own!

Med surg is a great place to start for the wide range of experiences available there! I also recommend at least one year of med-surg to learn and develop your skills.

When you hired in, did they explain the orientation program? I would recommend working where they have a good preceptorship program. They want you to succeed as much as you do, and a good orientation will help you. Give your best and learn from their best.

No, not on purpose anyway! LOL Our doc's usually pull them and don't order for us to do it. Is there anything special to know about pulling them?

We co-sign insulins & heparin tho it seems very "old school" to me also. I double check dosages but we don't go to the bedside to be sure it's given to the right pt! Gosh! I hadn't thought before of the legal responsibility there! Who's there when I'm setting up a PCA, Nitro or Natracor drips?? Shhhhhhhh! Don't anyone tell JCAHO what other meds we pass! Hey, if they are REALLY concerned about reducing med errors, why don't they regulate staffing better so we're not so over-worked that mistakes are made?

I would suggest documenting the behaviors & problems you see and taking it to your nursing director/supervisor. Are there other nurses who would do the same? Surely management is aware or needs to be aware of these problems.

Cool ! I never thought to ask his help with finding veins tho he really does help find other lost things!!! I'm going to try it next time!

PANTIES?!!! Not getting my size!!! Nope, not telling that! :roll:

Funny thing, clothes seem to shrink just hanging in my closet!

Our shifts are cancelled on a loose rotating approach. CNA's are often cancelled first. Our CNA's were cancelled so much this summer that one showed a 2 week paycheck of $23 ! Yikes! Not surprising we had a couple CNA's quit! Some nurses request the time off. But, I don't understand how it saves the hospital any money to have people sitting home collecting vacation pay?! They still pay anyway! I just don't accumulate much vacation/PTO pay using it like that. Our hospital doesn't let us come in and work on other things.