erjulie

what does shearing effect mean? what's the mechanism? Thanks!

We're having a lot of trouble keeping up with +culture callbacks. Currently, all cultures are routed back to the ED via printer from the lab as they become positive, and the secretary pulls the chart for the + results and places it in the "culture b...

I've worked critical care all of my career, both ICU and ED, also briefly in Tele and cath lab. I understand all sides of the issue. However, it is a power game that nurses play when they ask questions about obscure medical symptoms/events etc. W...

Illinois has programs, as does the county we live in. Most areas have women's shelters, or a crisis line that can provide info for you to get the information. I would hope that every town, city, county and state of the Union has something in place. ...

I'm an ER nurse, and the estimate is that 30% of the females we see are victims of domestic violence. We have a state mandated screening tool that we ask every patient if they are safe at home. I've rarely had a patient answer yes, and it certainly...

you're taking the first step down the burn-out road, one which I know well! The nurse following you is there to continue your work. Work is never done in the ER, as you know. I'm better about this once I realized that. You've got to trust yoursel...

you'll have the quickest asessment skills on the planet...what an advantage that will be! Plus, they'll be right on about 90% of the time. Plus, you'll be humble enough to learn from the other 10%!

NG tube- then run it slow (like to gravity) helps to have the NG tube placed when their "sort-of" sedated, but good timing is rare... Really you can warm it in the microwave? I ALWAYS have trouble, but then again I have trouble even cutting off the ...

boy this is a hot button topic for me and the staff that I am lucky to work with...I actually had a patient trip me while I was going to a code because he wasn't getting care for his sore knee ( sore for 6 months)...that was a few years ago. I went ...

:chuckle love that. If they only would listen...

congratulations! laugh at yourself, learn a lot and try to have fun...then kick butt in medical school, and never forget your colleagues: ER workers.

changing the dose of the drug in response to a change in the patient's condition. For example, escalating chest pain pt's nitro can be titrated (in htis case,increased) until the pain is relieved. or, insulin drips can be increased or decreased in ...

had a guy bring in his son with the 3 way hook embedded in the kid's cheek, just like the fish gets it. the guy was leading the kid by the fishing line still attached to the hook- sounds cruel but it was FUNNY. He was a little aggravated with the k...

are the rules changing for babes under 2 months with fever? in the peds er i used to work, anyone under 2 months with fever over 100 got the "works". (I always found the residents had better luck with the sitting position.) The tap, I think, is much...

why journalists? I particularly hate spoiled yuppie scum...but I cna't for the life of me remember if I've ever had a journalist...

this just enrages me...the simpering pandering crap the manager/director/"leadership" shovels at these patients. It does nothing but undermine the work of the triage/bedside staff member who probably has every good medically sound reason in the worl...

dc orders I've been tempted to write: 1. Always be looking over your shoulder. After verbally abusing me and my co-workers for the last (fill-in-the-blank) hours, and suggesting what we may do to enhance your sexual pleasure, you can be assured tha...

in our 21 bed ED (40,000/year) level 2, there are no room assignments. The charge nurse assigns pt to you depending on what you have going on. We have a tracking board. This works well with most of the charge nurses, but there's always one! She i...

seriously, that could have been me as a new grad in a PICU. I had the most psychotic mean woman in the world as a preceptor who essentially destroyed me in one year. It was awful despite the fact that I had a previous degree, tons of experience and...

This reminds me of an article that I read last year about a Nurse assistant in a nursing home in Texas. He was arrested for using drugs....he was taking the fentanyl patches:barf02: off of the old folks and cooking them in water, then injecting t...

We're having a huge problem with just this issue....any advice would be appreciated. There is not ONE decision that can be made by senior staff/ charge nurses that does not have to be run though the Director (who is currently managing the unit due t...

I'm not an NP, wish i were, actually.. Our ER started using PA's about 5 years ago. Many ER RNs were insulted by this. The Medical Staff decided they would rather go with PAs. The ER docs weren't actually consulted, but I think they had input. Th...

never assume that you know what's going on....it'll come back to haunt you! ALWAYS ask if unsure, no matter how many years you've worked. There is no shame in failing, only shame in not asking for help. old erjulie

evil patients/families do suck the life out of you, but really only if you allow it. I'm not sure how not to allow it, there are different strategies depending on how you yourself are doing that day. I usually get very quiet and businesslike, and t...

:chuckle It's Tallulah...that's how Tallulah Bankhead's name was spelled, she was a great favorite of my mom's. Here in the ChiTown suburb, I had a pt whose nephew was first name was Ryno, middle name Wrigley...