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Our hospital came up with the brilliant idea that EVERY patient should have a red allergy band applied, if they have an allergy or not. If the patient does not have an allergy, we write NKA on the band. Great alert, huh? We figure a pencil pusher who has not taken care of patients in a very long time came up with that idea! GRRRRR!

I was a Clinical Analyst with Meditech and really liked it a lot. It took a little longer to get comfortable with the "f" keys but otherwise it was a stable system. We just went live with Cerner recently and it's been pretty miserable. Since it's Window's based, the staff seemed to pick it up easier. But, there is frequent down time and the clinical documentation does not flow easily. It's nice because you have immediate access to medical records but you have to sort though a lot of documents to get what you need. I would give Meditech an A and Cerner a D. I have not used McKesson.

I currently work at Florida Hospital. The ERs are very busy and are usually hiring. They offer FT and Flex schedules. Florida Hospital Ormond has a CVICU/CIU/CCC area. The hospital offers an extended Critical Care orientation (3 months, I think) for new grads and returning nurses. Give them a call.

Great response RN/Writer. It's actually liberating when you can shake them off. I have to admit that I still have times when I come back with a comment without thinking but that is a rare event. I never want to empower the evil people with words I've said that can be used against me or that I regret. You mentioned the simple comment that "it's not personal". That's it in a nutshell. They're the one with the problem. They are the ones with the issues or the agendas. I don't know how many times a week I have to tell my self "whatever" and keep going.

I just "zone out" and do what I have to do. Rude comments don't deserve a response. Sometimes these angry people want to get a rise out of you...and I refuse to play that game. It's not ok for them to take their displaced anger out on me. I have to do a lot of self talk. I refuse to let these evil, nasty people rent any of my head space. They aren't worth it. I remind myself that I'm going to go to my happy home and family and enjoy my life and I thank God that I'm not miserable and ugly like that person is.

I was burned out with nursing after 20 years so I went back for a degree in computers. It didn't take me long to figure out nursing is not so bad after all. I couldn't deal with office politics and back stabbing. At least with nursing you can work three 12-hour shifts, come in and do your job and they're just happy that you showed up. Now I'm back in nursing with the knowledge that the grass is not always greener on the othe side.

Primarily I use the Epocrates Drug program. It's a life saver. Also, Davis' IV drug program. Also Pepid for nurses has alot of valuable information. Also, the calendar program is nice for keeping track of your schedule. Our ED has standing protocols that I entered into the PDA, so if I have a brain fart, I can quickly refer to the protocols. I call my PDA my brain extension or my Hard Drive.

I've been in the ED for many years and I'm healthy as a horse. I believe that we are exposed to so many germs that our immune systems are stronger than the average bear. Granted, when I first started in the ED, I was sick more often, but with time I had an immune system that's as strong as steel!

Go ahead and get your nursing degree. Try nursing for awhile and see if it works for you. You will have duel degrees which could make you more marketable. You can always go back to IT if you have to. I recently made the switch from Nursing to IT. I was a nurse for 22 years in all positions, Peds, ER, Med/Surg, Home Health, in management as well as staff. I found that the older I get the harder the physical labor was and I wanted to get into something less physically demanding. I got a degree in Computer Networking. I now work as a Patient Care Application Specialist in the IT Dept. at my hospital. I have the best of two worlds. I can still apply my nursing knowledge and I get to learn the IT aspect of the hospital system. I'm loving Monday-Friday. I actually have energy when I get home. Although I was sooooo ready to give up patient care, nursing if very flexible. If you burn out in Peds, you can go to OR. If you get tired of OR, you can go to Home Health. If you hate your boss in Home Health, transfer back to the hospital. Unlike many professions, nurses that move around alot are awesome because they have a wide variety of experiences. You have to do what's best for your family. They are more important than a job!

As nurses, we all know that life can be short. So we should make the best of it. I scuba dive as well as ride motorcycles. I take all the safety precautions that I can. I wear a helmet and I dive within my dive tables. But, I'm going to enjoy life!

The only way I've coped with the chaos for all these years is to be in the mind set that, at work, "it's all about the patients". When at home, it's "all about me". I bring quick snack foods that I can shovel in if I can't get a break. If I'm busy and I take a 30 minute lunch then I'm 30 minutes behind when I return. It's not worth it to me.

It means that you save time searching through bins in the med cart looking for the pill that was sent for your patient that someone swiped because it was missing from their patient's bin! The pyxis is GREEEAAAT!

Be a sponge and soak up all the information you can. No one expects you to walk into an ER and automatically become an ER nurse. Ask questions. Do not do a task if you are unsure of what to do. Have someone show/watch you. Learn it right the first time. Then jump in and roll up your sleeves. You won't learn anything by standing at the desk. Practice, practice, practice. Do as many EKGs, IVs, foleys, NGs, ect as you can. The more you do, the more comfortable you will feel. Enjoy the experience!

This is a gray area in our ER. If they are unstable, they get portables only. If they HAVE to go to radiology, CT, or anywhere out of the department, and they have to stay on the monitor, a nurse or paramedic has to go and stay with them. Where it gets sticky is there is no black and white policy. We often send R/O CVAs with stable vitals to CT without a nurse. CT is next to the ER and they are back in 10 minutes. TECHNICALLY, they could crash in CT. But, it's pretty much up to the nurse to decide if they are stable enough to go alone. Call it wrong...bad.

Our medics do not give meds, do assessments or chart. They can do EKGs, IVs, foleys, blood draws, vitals, and transport. Most of all they harrass the nurses:chuckle :chuckle