nminodob

I worked as a CNA while I went to school. I can tell you that the interviewer is not looking for someone who is a medical genius - rather, they need someone who will work within their scope of practice SAFELY. They want to know you will defer to some...

I work progressive care/ICU stepdown. Outside our expertise to hang vasopressors, but we hang amio (too convoluted a protocol to go into here, let's just say you and at least 1 other nurse will be reading the protocol line by lione as you follow, an...

Nowadays between the pharmacy and the "smart" IV pumps, most of the math is already done for you - I'm not talking peds because I don't work in that area, just med surg. Of course it is critical that you be able to verify the math as well - otherwise...

All the posts were right on the money, but I would think if this woman was not already NPO then she probably should be at this point.

I work in a busy ICU step down unit and I love it - more challenging than floor nursing and more varied than ICU because we take total care pts as well as walkie-talkies. We see art lines, CVP monitoring, amio, dilt, heparin, insulin drips (to name a...

Get on one of those websites that offer online CEUs for a few dollars a unit - theres a bunch out there - I have no personal experience, but logic tells me that they would rather see you scramble and get those needed CEUs at the last minute rather th...

I am also at the 1.5 yr mark. There are still moments of panic and dread, but these are mixed with moments of pride. For example, I just had to re-cert for CPR, and while we were practicing compressions on a dummy the thought popped into my head, "I ...

Learned something new today! However the comment by RN-Cardiac that 30 min reserve was possible was a real exaggeration! Thanks, Gila!

I guess that means you couldn"t find any scientific evidence for it either...

A Google search did not yield any information regarding a person's oxygen saturation remaining above 90% after 10 minutes of apnea, Gila. And to RN-Cardiac, nothing that I can find on the AHA website indicates a person may have up to 30 minutes of re...

I just recertified my AHA BLS and, although it is all over the news that the new emphasis is on compressions, the guidelines still included 30:2 compression/ventilation ratio for 1 rescuer and 15:2 ratio for 2 rescuers. And I am still curious to see ...

I get that the emphasis is on compressions, but I wonder about the "30 min O2 reserve" part - I can't find this anywhere on the AHA website. Do you have a link? This is new information for me. Thanks

"Assuming I have a healthy patient who is well denitrogenised, I could make them apneic for nearly 10 minutes or so before their saturations even fall below 90%." Sorry, but I have to challenge this statement - how have you verified this "fact"? I wo...

maybe I am overthinking this, but if a person isn't breathing effectively you would want to give them rescue breathing after clearing their airway, and wouldn't this fall under the category of CPR? If not, why do we have to learn about rescue breathi...

Let's not forget the always stimulating Senna and Bisacodyl!

There are also patients who are "limited codes" - only pressors, no intubation, or some other combo like that.

You say that she is unresponsive, pupils pinpoint, absent reflexes, and that's not unusual for this patient? You also say earlier she was talkative and the chart shows earlier meds were given - so s it standard procedure for this patient to be able t...

Not sure if this has already been mentioned, but Haldol is never given IV push because it prolongs the QT interval and there is a risk of sudden death. This is verified in a number of studies, the stepdown unit I work at is also telemetry and we are ...

Anecdotal, I know, but...all our pts with nec fasc have been IV drug abusers. Not sure how far this type of infection would get in a healthy person with no co-morbidities. I would think it is similar to C diff - we have dozens of pts that have it, ye...

ddelete, delete, delete

Not so sure it was luck - if you made it by transitioning from new grad to agency, then you must be doing something very right! Congrats!

You can always apply at SF General Hospital - they don't always announce a new grad program but still may have some openings. Good luck!

I wouldn't blame maintenance fluids too much for elevationg a pts blood glucose. If a pt receives 100 ml/hour of maintenance fluids that contain D5 that means they are getting 5 grams of dextrose an hour - and a slice of bread is only about 15 grams....

I always understood that an advanced degree "opened doors" for you - but what I have seen in my limited experience is that the more you specialize, the fewer your opportunities. I work on a stepdown unit and I have had the dream of getting my NP at s...

well...I'm wondering how you could possibly collect cultures on a herpes lesion when there isn't currently an outbreak happening...