Texas Tornado

Thanks! That makes a lot more sense to me. I think people are way too caught up with the restrictions of their particular system. And also the cover your a** factor. I always try to think of what is best for my patient and then think of how to make it happen with the computer system I have ... that way the system we have doesn't dictate my patient care.

We have similar uniforms to what Wales is starting and I've found that it is much more beneficial to the staff that come up to the unit than it is to the patients. Having said that, patients that are there for a long time, and our revolving door patients and their families find it helpful. Of course there are a lot of patients that have no clue and don't care.

There are things I won't tolerate. But the type of thing you mentioned I usually just use humor to deal with (which can be risky I realize). I did have a pt whistle at me a while back and I turned around and said "woof, woof". We both just laughed and I reminded him what my name was. Not everyone was raised with the same sense of manners or respect of others. Most people are pretty stressed out when in the hospital or when they have a loved one in the hospital and don't always behave the best. Do I like it? No Can I work with it? Usually. If I were in their situation I would want me to cut them a break.

We throw away bag and tubing together, emptying bag if needed as the prior poster stated. Leaving the spike in the bag protects anyone emptying or digging through the trash. In the not so common event that I need to throw away tubing that is not attached to a bag, I cut the spike off and toss it into the sharps container and then just toss the rest of the tubing in the trash.

Just wondering what everyone thought about having a National Nurse Uniform. Sounds like it will be throughout Wales. Is the rest of the UK planning on doing this as well? http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/health-news/2010/04/08/national-nurse-uniforms-launched-in-wales-91466-26197221/

How about "Butt-wiper"? Very gender neutral :nuke: Ok... just kidding... and thinking about my last two days at work!!!!

What exactly are you researching? A specific patient and their care, or is it more global, like auditing for statistical purposes?? It's good to hear someone out there is reading them :)

I read you loud and clear on the CYA aspect of charting, and that class sounds like it would be great. Having said that I somehow felt better thinking my time and effort was actually contributing to patient care.

With the exception of a few auditors and maybe the wound care nurse, the only people who routinely read my assessments are other nurses. My MD's will check out the tele strips I post and look at flowsheet data, but otherwise don't read our charting. Who reads your charting?

We don't use that same system, but one that shows what the previous nurse charted and gives the option to click the same thing. Pro's - nice b/c a lot of stuff stays the same. I also have learned a lot about charting from seeing what other nurses have written and how they worded it. Frankly we all pick up on different things and it is helpful to see what others have found in their assessments. Con's - people get sloppy and just click what the person put in before them. I've see people click on stuff from my assessment that I know had changed even before my shift was done, and in a hurry it is tempting to rely on what others have assessed. We will be changing over to an entirely new system soon that will not have this option and I must say I'm sort of dreading it. Reason being a lot of "little" stuff does not get passed on in report that is good to know if this is baseline or a change. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Any more of that good old Christian love and that poor boy might be dead! Sounds like a rather septic environment. It's great that you were there to support the young lad. Maybe you weren't the one who made the call but I bet if someone hadn't you would have.

I seem to have developed a reaction to the N95 mask. My employee health department is of no help. I've heard there are hoods available but haven't found any info on them. Anyone know of any alternatives to the N95 mask for protection against TB? Thanks!

Really? I've never heard of such a thing. Was your patient a horse?

Are you talking about a patient that has a medication running through the IV? If so there are two concerns with turning it off. First depends on what the medication is. Some medications need to run continuously (ie Cardizem) and will cause a problem if stopped. But most can be stopped without a problem. Secondly if an IV runs dry (the medication in the bag is all gone and the IV is still connected to the empty bag), this puts the patient at risk for losing their IV access. Best thing to do is flush with normal saline until you can get the next bag up - if there is more to give. I don't understand the discharge part. Is the patient being discharged to another unit or facility with their fluids running? If not - if you are planning on stopping fluids and taking out their IV then "get 'er done" - there are patients waiting in the ER who need the room!

I've worked on units that use fitted sheets with a draw sheet on top, and others that use a flat sheet under patients who need q2 hour turns/boots, etc. Personally I like the flat sheets. Does anyone know of any research on which is better/worse regarding skin breakdown? Thoughts? Experience?