gardenia09

wow!! omg icu drips are soo incredibly dangerous! i work in a step-down icu (a new grad, 2 weeks so far) but the potential is there as well. i am sooo paranoid. i pushed lasix on a chf trauma patient today and my patient started hiccuping and coughing and i freaked out inside. but it was just a coincidence. i think orientation is taking years off my life! lol! :oornt:

you guys are awesome! i do feel better, but i passed meds today (mostly iv) and i did quadruple checks today! lol i had to push lasix and nexium for a patient and tube feed meds. i went in the room and my preceptor had given my the rundown on all the meds but 15 mins later, she came in and said "are you finished?" i said "no still checking everything" she just smiled..because she knew what time it was, i am not playing. :lvan:

"do you have emar and a paxis next to the bedside? if so, then i would treat that in the same manner i treat my paper mar. my third and final check can happen at the bedside." -mbarn08 my unit has the med pyxis in a locked room and then 2 portable tablet emar (that was out of order at the time) and then 2 portable computer flows, or cows. so i looked at the emar on a computer at the nurses station, apparently read the wrong one, and then went into the pyxis, pulled the med, went to the patients room and grabbed a flow/cow on the way in and gave the med to the patient, check the emar again, and realized it wasn't due. you guys are right, i should have checked the emar again before i gave the medicine. the messed up part is that i had been doing that. so the first time i changed my system there is a problem. :banghead:the tablet emar is very annoying, the stylus is not in sync with the screen half the time and you have to scroll to the right date and time every time. i am just going to have to take my time and do as many checks as possible. it just sux cause i know everyone is gonna find out and think i am an idiot.

hey, that's a good way to start out. being aware of the weight gain issue. you are right, almost everyone i know has gained weight from nursing school. since you like fruit, you need to snack on that when you feel hungry between meals or when you can't have a complete meal, or even for dessert. the problem is, many students eat on the run and its mostly fast and convienence foods. also, staying up late studying causes us to munch on junk. do not keep junk food in the house. if you feel hungry at school and there are only vending machines around, i would stick with high protein snacks like peanut butter crackers, no chips, or candy bars. its best to bring your own snacks. stay away from soda, which is hard because the caffeine is much needed sometimes. but instead try a stong cup of green tea, which will give you the caffeine as well as antioxidants and boost your metabolism. you can also try bringing water bottles and "spiking" then with "emergen-c", its powdered packets that are basically multivitamins with alot of vitamin c, like an energy drink without the caffeine. i got a few ppl hooked on it. it carbonates the water a lil bit, comes in great flavors and you get vitamins and minerals out of it. its okay to indulge every now and then but not everyday. try to exercise everyday with something fun, not necessarily heavy workouts. i was able to study on my exercise bike. and whenever you think you are hungry drink a glass of cold water and wait 15 mins, if you are still hungry then eat. hope this helps! :)

i feel so incredibly guilty that i went searching for a forum to discuss this. i am a new graduate on an intermediate icu in orientation on my 2nd week. it has been going well and my preceptor is good. today i made a stupid, careless error. i had a patient receiving decadron 4mg bid. i gave them their 0900 dose no problem. then at 1200 i went to give them their other meds and i gave another dose of decadron 4mg that wasn't due until 2100. i had another patient getting decadron 4mg at 1200 and red the wrong emar when i pulled it up on the computer. i gave the extra dose of decadron and then looked at the correct emar again and realized i wasn't supposed to give it after my preceptor asked me what meds i had just given. i feel so bad because first off, i usually check all my meds with my preceptor beforehand if i haven't given them that shift. then idk why i didn't check the name on the top of the screen i just looked straight at the meds. my preceptor was obviously annoyed because its on her name as well but she was still supportive as i fought back tears and swallowed hard. we went straight to the anm and they said that there is no harm done, we called the md and did an incident report. i already feel incompetent on this unit beccause of the acuity and so much to learn that very different from nursing school. i went to lunch and couldn't even swallow my food. i tried to finish the shift with some dignity but it was difficult. i went through nursing school without any incidents in clinical at all and am somewhat of a perfectionist. i am still disgusted with myself and i am sure i will have to talk about this again. how do i keep my confidence up? this is unacceptable and could have caused harm. i have been an rn for a few weeks and this is not a good way to start. they said it will never happen again now, i sure hope so!!