cardiacmadeline RN

That's so sad! It amazes me how many nurses, including seasoned ones, don't understand how medications work and why their patients are receiving them. I see this too many times with beta blockers (I've administered these to patients with heart rate...

Bedrest time can also vary based on the type of closure device used--Angioseal, Perclose (?), manual pressure, etc. I've seen a patient bleed a week after his procedure.

I agree with psu, one of my biggest pet peeves is when nurses hold Coreg based on BP and HR and not seeing the big picture. I see his baseline HR was in the 50's and that he had been on it for awhile. I don't know your patients story or clinical p...

What was the patient's baseline heart rate? Was the coreg a new medication or had the patient been on it previously?

I have seen a nebulizer med given iv. It wasnt a common drug, I can't remember what it was. I don't recall anything happening to the patient.

I have tried to have a positive attitude about bedside report, but I hate it! I waste time looking for the offgoing nurse, and then I am told what I already know because I just read the chart! Now, if something is going on with the patient like an ...

What if the patient coded? We have allowed a couple of people to sleep over and bring a cot in the room, but I tell them we need to have enough room in case something does happen like a code. I once had a family member bring a cot in and she was se...

It was my first semester of nursing school. 9/11 was the first day my clinical group was to meet. I was home studying and had no idea what was going on. My husband came home because they had canceled his classes for the day and he told me what hap...

If I was a doctor and received a phone call from a nurse asking to give a second norco to a patient still in pain after receiving one pill and there is an order that says you can give 2 pills, I would not be very happy and I would question the critic...

You are logging on so much into EPIC throughout the shift, you will have many chances to see that you have new orders. The icon telling you there are new orders should pop up on the first screen.

Love: 1) My cardiac and thoracic surgery patients 2) My coworkers (99% of them) 3) My pay and benefits, able to live comfortably 4) My elderly patients 5) The fact that I am not sitting behind a computer all day. I like the fast paced environme...

2.4-patient totally asymptomatic

Pretty much everything can be scanned in, including tele strips and 12 leads, making it very easy for a doc to interpret when they are elsewhere in the hospital. As far as new orders, an icon will pop up letting you know there are new orders.

I live 45 minutes from work and drive a small car, nothing fancy. I have never had to call in for snow in the last 7 years. I stay up to date with the weather and road conditions. We shovel ourselves out, even shoveling part of the street once so ...

I agree with you on this one. If my patient is taking prn pain meds every 4 hours, I will keep track of their next dose and bring it to their room so they don't have to call and ask for it. It's prn, as needed, they need it every four hours.

I work on a stepdown unit and am curious what your criteria are. I know we have sent patients that we could take care of on our floor, but sometimes if they are one on one care it makes it difficult to take care of your 3-4 other patients. I love i...

If they are going to get rid of soda, they should get rid of all the other crap food. And I am not quite sure how I feel about that yet. My opinion is that some (and I emphasize some) parents should be more responsible for their children's health a...

I take about 5-6 weeks of vacation a year. I try to take time off about every 3-4 months.

Guess I am one of the lucky ones. We have a Dynamap mounted next to the bedside in each room, and all of the different sized blood pressure cuffs in the rooms too!

I don't live in PA, but we are supposed to give medications within half an hour of the scheduled time because that is what medicare thinks we should do. I don't think most people really make much of an effort to pass meds this way, unless it is a me...

I have always wanted to do cardiac, even in school. I started in cardiac and don't see myself leaving anytime soon.

Oh my, honestly I think you need to get out of the health professions all together. Can't wait to hear Ruby Vee's response.

I think it depends on what hospital you work at. I feel very fortunate to work where I do. I like my coworkers, we have great teamwork on our floor. I feel for the most part that administration listens to what the nurses have to say and do their ...

1) What kind of facility do you work for? (Hospital, Nursing Home, Assisted Living, Home Health Agency) Hospital 2) How often do you come into contact with bed alarms? Every day 3) On a scale from 0 to 5 (0 being not effective at all, 5 being complet...

We assess vital signs, motor strength, site every 4 hours, everything you do. We don't assess dermatone levels. We document respiratory rate every hour for the first 15 hours. We also have them on continuous oximetry for the first 15 hours and the...