nkochrn RN

I have worked both night and day shifts; I even spent a little time doing a combination of both shifts. The hardest thing about alternating between the two shifts, other than sleep issues, was that I had to constantly hear each side complain about ea...

When I was in nursing school, one thing I always remember hearing the instructors say is straight A's are not what makes a good nurse. There's nothing wrong with getting straight A's of course, but it takes a lot more than that to truly be a good nur...

My 80 year grandmother was diagnosed with AML in August. She has been taking hydroxyurea and getting blood transfusions every 2-3 weeks. She did get 1 platelet transfusion a few weeks ago also. On Monday, her oncologist told her she only has days...

Well, She wanted to prove the doc wrong and she has sure surprised all of us! It's been 2 1/2 weeks since he told her she only had "days" left b/c her WBC was 80k and her platelets were 10. She has been surrounded by family and enjoying the great g...

I am applying at Western Governer's University for a BS in Health Informatics. The degree includes certification exams for: CIW Web Foundations Associate CompTIA A+ CompTIA Project+ Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Database Administration Funda...

Our facility has a pharmacy policy for OTC meds given to the staff, the staff receiving and nursing giving them have to sign them out. I get Ibuprofen frequently for headaches. I would talk to your instructor about the incident first and then maybe ...

We had an ED patient over the weekend that posted pictures on facebook from his visit. 2 of the ED nurses were in the picture and had no idea that they'd even been photographed. They were very upset to find out that it ended up on fb. One of them ...

This is what I need to talk to the actual nurse about b/c I'm not sure how she found out. I think he was out of town and possibly one of his friends is from town and posted the pictures but I haven't had a chance to ask her about it yet.

awesome, thanks so much! Do you have signs warning patients that they can not post pictures of staff or how are they made aware of the policy?

Every time I've looked into getting my BSN I have decided the cost is just not worth it. In my rural setting it just doesn't gain me much. I know there is always the chance that I could move to another area, but considering this is DH and I's homet...

Thanks for your reply, is there anyway I could see your policy?

I had to stop one of the docs in the ED from putting an NG in a patient b/c I hadn't done it before and wanted to! They are not all that way, most of ours will help out a little if needed. I've seen a doc put a foley in a patient and also attempt t...

I told ya that she had C-Diff!

In most systems even the IT dept. does not know what your password is, they only see stars as the characters are hidden, so if you forget your password they reset it, then make it expire on the next sign on, so that you will have to change it right a...

Yes, I really am a 40 year old Man!

Does anyone have any experience with this? Thought I'd share a personal experience. My Dad just passed away from Melanoma, he was at home on Hospice and the roxanol/ativan combo just wasn't cutting it anymore. The ambulance was called to take him ...

I hadn't ever seen it until I helped with the advanced EMT class and they were taught how to do it. This was the first time I actually saw it on a real patient though. They use the MAD devices also. It seemed like the IN worked even faster than th...

I took care of a family member, actually my husband's family member. Not taking care of family isn't always an option in a small rural hospital, but I try to avoid it as much as possible, since having to call my FIL and tell him his brother died!

LOVED this article! It brought tears to my eyes and hit close to home as my Dad is dying from Melanoma. I never knew so much about skin cancer as I've learned over the next 6 months! I hope I can help teach others from this experience. I had a nu...

DH and I have talked about me doing this once our kids have grown up, so I've got many many years to prepare. I can't wait to hear all about it and anyone else's experiences!

Hi, I've been trying to find the perfect ink pen, so I can buy several to stash in my locker and always have one. It seems ink pens tend to be hard to come by some days. I don't want to waste a bunch of money buying new pens all the time that I don...

Sending up a little prayer for you to get your own little miracle. The best things I've learned in the "real" world of nursing are all things that I have learned by being a patient or patient's family member. My experiences through labor/deliver/po...

This is such a beautifully written piece! It brought tears to my eyes as I think about my own father's terminal illness and what his final days may be like. I LOVE the way this ended!

There's not a whole lot that make me want to vomit, other than vomit. I was very close to vomiting one day when emptying a foley, the patient was on palliative care due to the end stages of cancer and her urine was very thick with a very foul odor. ...

A new nurse was just hired at the hospital. Her and I have the same last name, we also have the same first inital and are both RNs. I didn't think too much about it until the other day when she said, "I don't know how I'm going to sign my name now,...