ilikesharpthings

I recently brought a 70-something post-op patient a couple of warm blankets and she said, "oh honey, at my age that is better than sex!". ☺️Cracked me up!!

Can someone please help me to understand scoring for ataxia using the NIHSS? If a person has limb drift in both arm and leg unilaterally, how do you determine whether the "clumsiness" is "out of proportion" to the weakness when doing the finger-nose-...

ISTJ - med c tele

I just bought a new littman stethoscope and the instructions specifically said to use alcohol to prevent ruining the tubing. My old one (a lightweight littman) I used the clorhexidine wipes and the tubing hardened.

So I had an order to remove a foley from an ETOH with AKI patient who had pulled his foley during his acute withdrawal. He was now A&O and having good output, no blood in the urine. So I deflate the balloon and pull and a fountain of blood just p...

Write a note in the emr, "report given to such and such RN" when you leave the floor and "report received, this RN resumed care" or something along those lines when you return.

I can't believe how many nurses can't pronounce metoprolol! Metopolol, metropolol, metroprolol.

Just wanted to share a special moment that helped to remind me why I do what I do. I admitted a homeless, poorly controlled diabetic yesterday whose feet were... Well, you can imagine. I had a student who was excited to go through the admission proce...

Thanks, everyone, for your kind replies and your stories. I think we all need moments like these to buoy us through the frequent moments when we're thinking, "What did I get myself into?! Why didn't I become a (insert profession here)?" I don't know...

. Fav

What I do sometimes is put on 2 masks with a mint teabag in between.

So, I am fairly new to the medical/telemetry floor where I work (about 8 months in) and we recently began having the influx of nursing students. I have had students assigned to me a few times - both ASN and BSN students at different points in their p...

My husband worked for UPS when I was in school and would occasionally bring home in his pockets these awful black waxy crayon things that he would mark boxes with. So the night before my very last clinical day I threw my school scrubs in the washer a...

I work med surg, but I bought 3 sets of pump parts so I just put them in a ziplock bag after each pumping session and use clean ones for the next time. Then I throw everything in the sink and wash when I get home. Saves lots of time.

Something like what you described, BluegrassRN, would be so great. Not all students are completely clueless, and there have been times where they seem really proactive or the instructor is really involved but I feel like there is a communication bar...

In a pinch you can put a mint tea bag in a mask! Really helps with C. Diff!

Be willing to accept that the real world of nursing often looks different than the NCLEX/nursing school world. Ask non-threatening questions about differences you see. Instead of saying, "Well thats not how WE learned it", ask your preceptor WHY they...

I have found that I usually do a short report at the bedside which is when I'll introduce pt, do a brief history, discuss current issue and plan, check lines, wounds, drains. Then a more thorough report after leaving the bedside. One issue we have is...

I worked as a pdn for a while and what I might have done in this scenario is work to update the care plan and 485 to reflect the patients normal VS and what should be reported to parents and then physician. Also, a friendly note in the communication ...

I agree with the poster who said scrubs are practically PJs! I love working in my pajamas at the bedside, and plan to stay at the bedside as long as I am able to. In my pajamas. :)

I'm not a CNA - I am an RN but I love and appreciate the CNAs on our team and have a great deal of respect for them and the work they do. I love working side by side with them to provide great care to our patients! One crazy morning one of my (very l...

You're giving 5ml over 5 mins. Or 1ml/60 seconds. Each ml on the syringe is divided by 5 calibration marks. So 60 seconds divided by 5 marks is 12 seconds per mark. Does that make sense?

So true!

Oregon 3 yrs Medical floor with telemetry $37.50/hr $2 diff for weekends, $5 nights No union