stressgal RN

And here I thought I was the only one who had a rough week, lol. Our facility, including critical care has open visitation, anyone and everyone can visit at anytime. We had been told by management that we would "always be backed" if we needed to ask ...

Love my Tarascon Pharmecopeia pocket giude. Small, fits in my pocket and has all the info I need. I also have the Critical Care pocket guide. I must say these are my FAVES, and I do tend to buy lots of reference guides :)

Yes and absolutely

A few thoughts from an ICU staff nurse, charge nurse, preceptor, and clinical instructor for 4th quarter ADN students in the ICU: As a liscensed RN I am responsible for the patients assigned to me during my shift. As a liscensed RN precepting student...

I would save my money. Hospitals will pay for the certification once you are hired. In my area it would not make you more "marketable". We actually don't allow our new grad critical care nurses to take ACLS until the have been on the floor for about...

Each department at our hospital wears a different color scrub. The uniforms are provided by the hospital, pretty much. We get an allowance annualy and if we want to spend more than that they payroll deduct. I like knowing who is in my patient's room...

I work Intensive Care and here is how our shift change occurs. The off going charge nurse gives a brief report to all nurses coming on shift on all patient's in the unit. These include dx, drips, rhythms, O2, chem sticks, treatments etc, takes about ...

I agree with the above poster. New grads are very task oriented. Nursing often does not allow for a set "routine", some days you are simply stamping out fires as they occur. With that said I attempt to take report from the off going nurse, doing so w...

Our facility invested in the "Vocera" system. Basically it is a cell phone that we wear around our necks on a lanyard. It is a hands free device that works on voice activation. It will announce the caller and ask if you can take the call, you simply ...

Congrats!!!!!!!

My understanding is they have the same purpose/action. Calcium Gluconate is perferred as it is less irritating. Still nasty, worst infiltration I have ever seen.

Good Job!

No raise for us this year but the Hospital did cover the rise in insurance premiums. I do participate in the career ladder program and will see a couple dollars/hour increase from that. We too are running a tight unit/hospital with staffing and are t...

I studied for about 2 1/2 months with the Laura G videos and Pass CCRN questions. I spent a little bit more time as I work in a 13 bed community hospital ICU. We have about two baloon pump patients and a handful of PA lines annually. I passed the fir...

Stay strong and put in the time. I too faced challenges as a new grad in the ICU. That was over 4 years ago, now I have earned the respect of my peers. Believe me, it isn't easily given. A couple of the "seasoned" tough nurses have retired, a couple ...

I attended Chamberlain College of Nursing. It was a bit pricey but I completed in less than 12 months, had no clinicals and it was completed ALL on line. There are many options available. My suggestion is to do your research on each school and decid...

Congrats!!!!!!

Great advice from all the above posters. I will add though that holding meds without clear parameters from a physician is "practicing medicine" or "prescribing" without a license to do so. While I may not administer the medication initially based on ...

13 bed ICU, 1 nurse per 2-3 patients. Sometimes we have a tech or two, sometimes we don't and provide primary care. Our techs are trained to provide and assist with a lot of tasks and often these tasks are missed during primary care. IMO consistancy ...

Yep. Never have I known of an individual being fired over one offense.

Our facility provides visits for newborns to the moms residing in ICU, when it happens. Usually a couple of times a year. I cannot understand how the "newer" ICU's are considered dirty. We are not a ward but private rooms. Reverse airflow in each ro...

I am not sure I understand the problem. You have a job, working in Neuro. Your facility is paying for critical care training. You will have experience that, after obtaining the required hours, qualifies you to take the CCRN exam. And the problem is y...

We are required to double check insulin, PCA pumps, and any heparin product. This includes TPN/PVN which contains heparin/insulin. Yes we were crabby at first (still are at times). We use a computerized MAR and must scan our bar code, found on our na...

In my facility we take patient's when we are in charge. Some people are better at assisting while in charge than others. These are the nurses who are normally team players. I think you will come across a lot of different "styles" of nursing. Find the...

Not required, but as an ICU nurse I will be offered first and will take the vaccination. My fear is that I will be immune but my husband and daughter will not.