opossum

Original poster here....it's been 4 years since I wrote that post. And I can say with confidence that it DOES get better. It gets easier. I've learned to accept that I will never be perfect, nor should I be: if that were the case, I would never le...

Just finished my last 12 hr shift this week...I'm sleep deprived and I've been bouncing around between Med Surg and ICU. A brief background: I graduated in 2010 and it took me 9 months to land this job, which I've been working for about 3 months, on...

I've been a nurse for 4 yrs now and have both ICU and M/S experience. I've run across several nurses (almost all from M/S) who tend to downplay their knowledge and skills, as if they're not 'good enough' to work in critical care. What's up with tha...

You are quite possibly the Worst. Supervisor. Ever. And....your scrubs are hideous.

Just stumbled upon this thread. I love courage wolf, too! My favorite is this: Not *exactly* courage wolf, but similar. Like his cousin.

My stock answer is "I have a boyfriend and a cat". The other night, I had an elderly woman w/mild dementia who asked me the marriage question, to which I gave her my stock answer. She then said, "Well, what're you waitin' for, Christmas?" I think ...

Hi everyone, I'm currently looking at various policies re: visitation in the ICU and it got me thinking about issues with shift change. At our 10-bed ICU/stepdown, we restrict visitors from 0700-0730 and 1900-1930; my personal feeling is that we sho...

That's true, there always will be "those" families that impede your workflow. Then again, I really would expect parents to hover around their children...it's the adult ICU patient's sister's boyfriend's cousin's dog's brother-in-law bombarding me wi...

Love this. Thank you, CheesePotato.

Sorry you have to work with these people...sounds like your coworkers need to 1) lighten the &*^% up and 2) get over themselves. It was good of you to get out there and try stuff! Don't let immature folks dictate how you feel.

Well, it looks like we've revised the policy to basically reflect what the AACN recommends: http://www.aacn.org/WD/practice/docs/practicealerts/family-visitation-adult-icu-practicealert.pdf We agreed that it should be flexible enough to allow nurses...

Thanks for all your replies; it's good to get a sense of what policies other ICUs have. Ours is pretty generous, as we let basically anyone in, however many want to come in as long as it doesn't interfere with patient care. We have a locked unit wi...

Everything you've described sounds like a "good" patient to me; I'm glad you've recovered. It must be tough being in the hospital, feeling miserable and worrying about stressing out the nurses...but I think that empathy you have for others is what m...

I think I know this guy...

I work in ICU, but also oriented to the ED a few times...I thought I'd like it but I learned that indeed, I am simply not cut out for ED nursing. I lack the patience and wherewithal to deal with the nonsense described above AND drop everything to at...

Sign-on bonus...isn't that the nursing world's unicorn? In all seriousness, I think I've only seen them offered by travel agencies.

I remember first learning about this at an AACN conference last year and was blown away by it - it truly does lead to faster extubations. However, I think it requires a dedicated team approach of MDs, RNs, RT and PT to make this all happen; in my h...

Welcome to the hospital...sorry you're sick. Section I Here's what I care about while you're here: Blood going round and round Air going in and out* *Not necessarily in that order Section II Here's what I don't care about while you're here: Ingrown ...

Yes!! I work both ICU/CCU and Med Surg...I've learned that it largely depends on acuity of pts and staffing ratios (which are almost always stretched to the limit).

I agree...I just don't know how to approach this. It seems overwhelming. Strength in numbers, perhaps? Regarding the fact that "nursing care" is included in the charge of the room...I'm still floored by that. I remember a preceptor in nursing scho...

I love grumpy old folks. I also love watching any patient make a big recovery when their prognosis was grim from the start. Anyone who uses humor to cope - it's how I deal w/stress and uncertainty, so I feel more connected to these pts

I have a hard time with anyone presenting with vague pain. I feel helpless as it is and if there is indeed something psychosomatic going on, I feel even more at a loss. I'll take the DT pts...

It sounds like for you, this is not really an issue of nurses speaking ill of patients, but one of *people in general* not speaking ill of one another. If that's the case...if you've never said a bad word about anyone - ever - then you are a better ...

To a pt's family member: I seriously doubt you'd pass "the nursing test" just because you've "been in and out of hospitals so much." Also, please DO NOT touch the ventilator settings. (I actually did say this loud and clear...This same family member...