murphyle BSN, RN

Emergency, Critical Care (CEN, CCRN)

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All Content by murphyle

  1. murphyle

    ER vs ED

    murphyle replied to SpacemanFL's topic in Emergency

    It's Emergency Center at all three of the hospitals in the system I work for. Most places around here use Unit or Department - nobody that I know of has a Room anymore, except in
  2. murphyle

    Is it true about the poo?

    murphyle replied to gaia1214's topic in Nursing Humor

    Haha - your family sounds like mine! Mom's a DON of OR/PACU, Dad's a general surgeon, uncle's an internist, aunt's a MSW, their daughter's a paramedic, and there's two or three drug and device reps...
  3. murphyle

    Short for???

    murphyle replied to JDougRN's topic in Nursing Humor

    We heard a few good ones while rotating through med/surg: Studying for the final exam - terminal pt who's suddenly taken an interest in religion Transferred to Eternal Care Unit - pt expired Peek and...
  4. murphyle

    Is it true about the poo?

    murphyle replied to gaia1214's topic in Nursing Humor

    I've already told my worst poo story elsewhere in this forum (it involved a fecal management system and a well-intended though ultimately flawed decision by my preceptor not to change the bag until...
  5. murphyle

    How to survive a 12 hour shift?

    murphyle replied to MrRockerSN's topic in Nursing Student Assistance

    Seconding what's been said about having a snack available. I also precepted on CV-SICU, and I got into the habit of carrying either an energy bar or a pack of peanut butter crackers in my pocket,...
  6. murphyle

    The Nursing Math Thread

    murphyle replied to Tweety's topic in General Students

    In the case of the first question, I would read that as the 10 mEq have already been added, and it's a straight drip-rate calculation: (100 mL x 10 gtt/mL) / 30 min = 33.3 gtt/min. In the second...
  7. murphyle

    Choosing the Infusion Set

    murphyle replied to Cilantrophobe's topic in Nursing Student Assistance

    In our IV module, we were told to use macro sets for basic fluids (NS, LR, D5 1/2, etc) and for large volumes over relatively short periods (i.e. > 250 mL over 8 hr), and - the biggie - for use in...
  8. murphyle

    Nursing Superstitions?

    murphyle replied to JustEnuff2BDangerous's topic in Nursing Humor

    Agreed with the comments about Q****, S*** and our favorite, L****. "Oh, this should be a light assignment..." will invariably turn out to contain: A) the most demanding patient on the unit, B) at...
  9. murphyle

    Flu shots

    murphyle replied to Aisha29's topic in General Students

    I was exceptionally lucky in that my nursing school got their hands on a shipment of H1N1 vaccine back in October when everyone was lined up around the block for it. We received an email from SON...
  10. murphyle

    Stethoscope cleaning

    murphyle replied to CanuckStudent's topic in Scrubs, Uniforms, Gear

    Why clean the tubing: It picks up microbes just like any other piece of the stethoscope - more so because it's likely been riding around your neck all day. My scope cleaning protocol: Wipe down and...
  11. murphyle

    Stethoscope help for 2nd career nursing student

    murphyle replied to Triathlon13's topic in Scrubs, Uniforms, Gear

    Classic II SE was a very popular choice among my classmates. I had a Master Classic II that got me through school, which is still one of my favorites. (I never had a problem with the single-sided...
  12. murphyle

    We're told to buy cheap stethoscopes

    murphyle replied to Kina21's topic in Scrubs, Uniforms, Gear

    Your lab instructor is right. We tell our SNs never to cheap out on scopes - especially when you're first starting out and learning to auscultate, you won't be able to hear anything useful from a $15...
  13. murphyle

    Nursing School Bloopers

    murphyle replied to Jabber964's topic in Nursing Humor

    I was in my last half-semester of school and doing my preceptorship on CV-SICU, and my preceptor and I were assigned a woman who, frankly, had every life-threatening condition known to modern...
  14. murphyle

    What pranks have you played on your boss?

    murphyle replied to systoly's topic in Nursing Humor

    Pulled this one on two professors at our nursing education lab. We all decided to go out for lunch together, and one professor is known for being absolutely horrible with directions. Naturally,...
  15. murphyle

    Wildest lab values you've ever seen?

    murphyle replied to nerdtonurse?'s topic in General Nursing

    * INR of 14.1 r/t Coumadin overdose (pharmacy said give 10 mg QHS, nurse gave 10 mg QID). We couldn't load him full of Vitamin K fast enough. I think he got every bag of cryo and FFP in the...
  16. murphyle

    Where did you learn all of the acronyms??

    murphyle replied to mell260's topic in General Nursing

    The particular acronym soup you deal with daily will depend to some extent on your unit. For example, on my OB rotation we lived and died by BUBBLE-HE and APGAR, but when I went to CV-SICU for...
  17. murphyle

    Help! How do I sign my name??

    murphyle replied to Epona's topic in General Nursing

    I'm a second degree BSN too. My lab coat (which I only wear at our teaching lab, where such things are emphasized) says (murphyle), RN, BSN. That's the style all my school's instructors use. If an...
  18. murphyle

    Does allnurses.com make you a better nurse?

    murphyle replied to Brian's topic in General Nursing

    Yes, it has. I'm an Accelerated 2nd Degree BSN, and allnurses.com has been a huge resource for me, both in terms of education/theory (Daytonite's fabulous math lessons saved my sanity if not my grades...
  19. murphyle

    The Nursing Math Thread

    murphyle replied to Tweety's topic in General Students

    That depends. If it's an easy calculation (i.e. pt's Rx is for 12.5 mg hydralazine PO BID, drug is supplied as 25 mg tablets, what do you administer), then yes, you can and should be able to do that...
  20. murphyle

    What do you nurses think of these allied health professionals?

    murphyle replied to Inspired By Silence's topic in General Nursing

    We loved our Respiratory Therapy techs during my preceptorship in SICU. Since we primarily dealt in open hearts, everyone came to our unit vented, and many of them stayed that way for the first few...
  21. murphyle

    Blood pressure question

    murphyle replied to crawlyberry's topic in General Students

    Popliteal, use the diaphragm. Pedal, use the bell. (You won't be able to get a good acoustic coupling with the diaphragm unless your patient has size 14 feet.) Use light to moderate pressure -...
  22. murphyle

    Does this sound like a typical Clinical experience?

    murphyle replied to anon695's topic in General Students

    When I went through Med-Surg I, we had to have bed baths done by 1200 for those patients who required total care. If the patient was a self-bather, they could decide when they wanted to do it as long...
  23. murphyle

    Blood Pressure...am I really this stupid?

    murphyle replied to caffeineRx's topic in General Nursing

    First, take several deep breaths and get yourself centered. I work as a teaching assistant in our nursing education lab, and you don't know how many students have come to my vital-signs validation...
  24. murphyle

    The Nursing Math Thread

    murphyle replied to Tweety's topic in General Students

    Hi Daytonite-- Final verdict on the IV therapy question. I had the opportunity to speak with a NICU nurse on my unit last week, and she explained that the whole business with the clock resetting is...
  25. murphyle

    The Nursing Math Thread

    murphyle replied to Tweety's topic in General Students

    Hi Daytonite - thanks for the fast response! "I may be calculating this wrong, but I am working from the viewpoint that the baby needs 13.09 mL/hour (120 mL x 2.618 kg/24 hours) and not including the...