Rotifer

Once you have 5 patients it isn't an ICU.

I wasn’t being facetious, the original poster kept the patient alive under stressful circumstances – job well done. He/she deserves part of the blame because had this nurse been more experienced, he/she would have hastened the transfer to CCU. You are right, not a well written paragraph. Note that I also assigned blame to everyone, particularly the charge nurse.

I know this is old but I had to revive it. Excellent description of WWCC! Heh!

Don't do it - they will eat you alive. An agency hired me over the phone four days after I got my nursing license (RN) and dispatched me to the home of a 5 yo recently discharged from the hospital after being shot in the head. I'm not sure what they will offer you as an LPN but assume the worst and, at least, you won't be surprised by what they throw at you.

I would not mind having LPN’s, I simply have no experience with them. From comments, it appears they are a vanishing species on the West coast – not necessarily elsewhere. A cost issue, I imagine. One can have nurses in a 16 bed ICU doing primary care with the aide of one hardworking, poorly paid CNA. On a medical floor, 7 nurses with 35 patients and 4 CNAs. Throw in LPNs and they are generally rather experienced, therefore you have to pay them more, while certified to do less – not cost efficient from an administrative standpoint. Could they serve as mentors to the labile young BSNs? Heck yeah, but most of the young nurses need to be broken down a bit before they can learn anything, and they tend to poop on anyone they think is below them. So, I don’t know. Perhaps LPNs, with certain qualifications, should be allowed to challenge the NCLEX. As, in some states, one can challenge the bar exam without law school.

In four years I have never worked with an LPN, saw one once.

i've known several nurses that were/are cutters - with forearm scars to show for it. you will not find a more supportive community than nursing, but you have to earn it. be proactive and work hard, be forthright about your limitations but don’t use them as a crutch. hey, i’d love to have a cna that can’t sit down! seriously though, good luck.

I can promise you this nurse has left stuff undone. Exactly. Serious error but we have all done it - so has the surgeon. And he/she will rant and rave just as someone ranted and raved at them. The nurse following you is stuck dealing with it, let her vent a little. Bring her some chocolate and/or burst into tears right in front of her - works with most. I'm male but I've witnessed these tactics! He he. Oh, and never do this again.

It is everybody's fault, including yours. I see this happen, particularly with nurses new to the ER and young Hospitalists. I have also seen admitting send septic patients to the stepdown/tele floor mistakenly. You and, more appropriately, your charge nurse should then recognize the error and get the house supervisor's eyes on the patient you are attempting to stabilize. This is how we learn, congratulations on a job well done.