HamsterRN ADN, RN

Mainly just the hornet's nest part. I think we all benefit from thinking through the things we do, even to the point of monotony, rather than just blindly doing them, even if it makes no difference in what we end up doing.

As I pointed out earlier in this very thread, I have a feeling it is wise not to divulge identifying characteristics in this forum including your home state. I'm not usually that paranoid but the atmosphere here is contagious. Maybe you'd be willing...

I don't see how making a potentially acutely hypoglycemic patient find their way to the ED without checking their BG is prudent or legally safe. In my state it is lawful according to my BON and our Good Samaritan law to provide personal tylenol to a...

The scenario I referred to as ridiculous did not include any medication, but was the one you posed about refusing to check the blood sugar of a visitor who said they were diabetic and felt dizzy. Where I work our glucometers require scanning the pat...

While it's not uncommon for nurses to wear white lab coats, it's not considered good practice anymore for MD's to wear them which we should take into account: Why do doctors wear white coats? - By Adrian Chen - Slate Magazine This hasn't caught on i...

Of the students currently starting nursing school, more than half are going into nursing as a second career. There is certainly no disadvantage, either in Nursing School or in looking for a job, in having a wealth of general life experience.

I won't argue that without taking into account specific state laws and facility policies we're unlikely to come to a firm conclusion and I certainly don't think I know the textbook answer, but there are some apparent misconceptions being thrown about...

That sounds ridiculous, I don't even know where to begin on this one, even ignoring the supposed tylenol/hemorrhagic stroke connection. I can't imagine coming to work everyday just hoping to not get sued.

I had a similar situation once; a patient's wife asked for a tylenol since she usually takes one at night for her arthritis. We had no policy and nobody knew the answer, the house manager decided the wife should go the ED to get her tylenol. I sent...

Where I work new grads are actually required to work a 1.0 for a year (it was 1.5 years until recently). There are definite advantages to hiring new grads as full time, the biggest being having them work a long string of shifts so they can follow pa...

I use "magic expiration date finder 2.0 for Mac" (just kidding) While the expiration date of pills in an organizer is unknown, there isn't any way of knowing for sure that a med brought in the original bottle is not expired either since you can't con...

Definitions and requirements for dispensing could vary by state, but in my state this is not dispensing since the drug is not being packaged and labelled for a patient to self-administer. Even if it was, Registered Nurses are allowed to "dispense" i...

Commonly available drug identification resources which will tell you the medication and dosage.

That was actually my point; it's not just the rate of infusion that needs to be considered due to the stomach contents, which is why the policy where I work is that it is to be off for 30 minutes prior to laying the patient flat.

It's really not that difficult to ID medications with a decent resource. I'm not sure that it's better nursing practice to un-medicate a patient than just identify and label the meds. It's not really fair of nursing to encourage use of these organi...

The rate is only one factor. If you had just started the tube feed when the patient is laid flat, then only the amount infused during that time would be the amount in the stomach that could aspirate. But since tube feeding does not pass through the...

We do give these where I work after we have identified them. We use micromedix for identification and this is done either by nursing or pharmacy. We are required by CMS to allow "patient's own" meds (if they can be reasonably identified) to observa...

While it would be nice to see more research on everything we do, the rationale behind this is pretty strong. With a feeding tube in, the sphincters that normally prevent stomach contents from flowing back up to the level of the trachea are kept open...

Is banning internet access common in other hospitals? that seems really irresponsible given the amount we use the internet as a resource for patient care where I work.

I have to admit I wasn't sure what a scoop neck was exactly, my wife told me "they're for showing off your boobs", which doesn't sound very manly, although it does sound like you've chosen an interesting nursing school. If you're tall (taller than mo...

Another way of looking at these terms: A "Client" is a participant is a financial or business relationship. A "Patient" is a participant in a therapeutic relationship. The terms we use to describe people say a lot about how we view them. If you were ...

"Client" is no longer the preferred term for the general patient population. In 2000, the ANA decided to try the using the term "client" as a way of empowering patients. This turned out to be more offensive than empowering, and in 2004 the ANA Prac...

Giving a beta blocker to an MI patient is a core measure, unless they have a history of CHF. The reason for this is that multiple studies have shown a significant decrease in cardiogenic shock related to MI, which is thought to be due to decreasing ...

Incident reports are privileged quality assurance documents and are therefore non-discoverable (protected from subpoena). Confirming the existence of an incidence report does not change their status.

Hawaii is a particularly tough place to find work as an RN. There are a large number of military personnel in Hawaii, many of which received their RN through a service. When their commitment is up they often look for civilian RN jobs in the state. ...