V. Nightingale

I aspirate, and what's more, I have gotten blood return! On one patient the needle apparently hit a little vein beneath the surface of the skin; I was glad I checked, because my SQ injection almost became IV.

I'll be the voice of dissent here; I don't necessarily think that you need to go off work just yet. I worked in the ER up to delivery with my first, and worked my last shift there last week (I am scheduled for a c section on Monday). That said, your coworkers need to do what mine did -- step up and make sure that you aren't taking patients who could put you in danger. A pregnant woman at any stage has NO business taking care of patients who are high or violent. Let your friends take those patients, and you take the little 90 year old grannies for a while.

In my dreams I am a: successful novelist FBI agent stay at home mom

I've worked in places where none of us got together after work, I've been in places where a group would go out, and one of the nurses at my job now has becomse one of my best friends. We get together every few weeks on a day off and shop or go swimming or have lunch -- in fact, we took my son to the zoo this morning and had a great time. A lot of it depends on individuals and it also depends on the 'culture' of the unit. I like having good friends at work; it makes the shift easier to handle!

I think a lot of us feel the same way. When I was floor nursing (I'm in the ER now) I carried a clipboard and wrote down everything, much like geekgolightly. The first thing I did each day was make a list of what each pt. needed -- lab result to be pulled, dressing or IV site changes, discharges, permits, the works. It really helped me to stay organized. And eventually my mind got into the habit of holding onto that stuff so that I didn't need the list so much. I'm in the ER now and am pretty good at keeping up with what needs to be done. And honestly, if a patient asks you for something and it slips your mind, tell them that and apologize "Oh, Mrs. Smith, I am so sorry I forgot your glass of water. I got called away and it slipped my mind! Let me get it for you now." Something as simple as that can go a long way toward making things right.

Legal in Alabama, and I'm fine with it. Mothers who, for whatever reason, can't handle caring for a child are provided with a safe place to leave the infant. It's not about punishing or not punishing 'bad' mothers, it's about keeping babies safe.

"Hi there, my name is Valerie, and I'm one of the nurses who will be taking care of you today. I understand you've been having some (insert chief complaint here). Tell me a little about that." I also make a point to explain anything I'm doing. "First we'll hook you up to the heart monitor, and then I need to draw some blood and start an IV." I find that it just puts the patient at ease to know what's happening.

Leave the container of charcoal (pre-mix) in a basin of hot water for a few minutes -- the amount of time it takes to perform a gastric lavage is just about right. Softens the stuff right up.

My last shift (I work ER) was 2 days before my son's birth. I maintained my regular work schedule throughout the entire pregnancy. I avoided psych patients, fever/rash of unknown origin, and extremely heavy lifting, but other than that had no restrictions. Mine was a normal, healthy pregnancy without complications until the day before Sam was born, when my doctor diagnosed mild PIH and suggested we go ahead and induce labor.

My baby was born on Feb 1 of this year; I worked a 12 hour shift on Jan 29. It was rough! I found myself getting very tired and extremely cranky during the last 6 weeks or so. My coworkers were great about helping me with things, but it was really hard to work right up to the birth.

In my experience, drunks aren't usually too bad. Irate family members are usually more likely to create a problem, or patients who didn't get what they wanted. Family members pitching tantrums are the worst; they'll shout, swear and threaten violence. I've worked in ER for four years, and in that time I've seen my coworkers threatened with knives and guns, I've been bitten, and I've known of a physician who was slapped in the face by a patient (she slapped him back, and more power to her!). ER is just like every other arean of nursing; there's always the possibility that trouble will break loose, and you just try to either defuse the situation or get the heck out of the way.

well, she swallowed the spider to catch the fly. . .

My husband bought me a G-Shock watch for Christmas 2 years ago and I love it. It's solar powered, hooked into the atomic clock in Colorado so the time is always right, and it's practically indestructible. Instead of metal or fabric it has a resin band, so it doesn't hold onto yucky stuff I pick up at work.

A surgical mask or non rebreather applied to the patient's face works wonderfully to discourage this behavior I work in ED and we use restraints for both patient and caregiver safety. Mostly they're applied to keep the pt. from falling out of bed ( a last resort, but we don't always have personnel to stay at the bedside with someone who is confused and repeatedly tries to get out of bed), or with patients who are combative (fighting a lavage, or trying to hit/bite/kick staff). Restraints are a last line of defense after other methods have been tried, and we almost always try to use soft restraints to the wrists only, but attempting to harm staff members will buy you four point leathers in a hurry!

CPR is brutal, for both the patient and the caregiver. The first few times I did chest compressions my arms were very sore the next day! Frankly, if you aren't breaking a few ribs (on the patient!) you probably aren't doing it right. It's very tough to get good, effective compressions on most people, especially those who have extra tissue (either muscle or fat) around the chest and abdomen. And for what it's worth, I've more commonly seen/felt ribs breaking loose from the sternum, rather than breaking the sternum itself. Just remember, broken ribs will heal. Dead won't.