MissERN

Hi! My question is this: Do you have a nurse manager that is dedicated solely to the ED, or is he/she also managing other departments? I feel that the ED is a department that needs a manager who can dedicate his or her time completely to the ever ...

My grandmother had severe dementia prior to passing away, but she ALWAYS laughed about everything. Last week I had a patient that reminded me so much of her. She presented to the ED after a syncopal episode. She was not thrilled about my using a f...

Johnny1414, Your peers are sadly mistaken. You must realize that, generally speaking, in the ED you are starting from scratch. Your patients will arrive with nothing, and often they need many intervetions quickly, and more times than not you get mu...

First of all I want to congratulate you! Secondly, you will NEVER go wrong by bringing King Cake, just as long as you don't make the one who gets the baby actually bake the next one! :) (I'm kidding, of course :) I hope you love your job in the E...

The number of nurses we have on a day to day basis is fixed, despite the number of patients we have in the department. From 1a-9a we have 4 nurses, and then another comes on at 0900. At 1000 we get another nurse for the main ED, and we also have a...

Hey Tweety, Would you please bring me some takeout Chinese when you get yours?!?! I couldn't find anything open when I got off, so I got frozen pizza from Walgreens...I think I'd have been better going to bed hungry!! :) Merry Christmas!

Congratulations to you! Have you signed your name with CEN behind it yet?!?!

Absolutely time for a rapid response! Sat dropping to 85% and heart rate of 180 on a post op femur fracture...I'm definitely thinking PE, and I'm definitely giving more oxygen! In a situation such as this by the time you get an order for more oxygen...

I find it incredibly helpful to wear a soft scented lotion on my upper arms. It has saved me from wretching many times when cleaning someone. I am able to "sniff my arms" when I feel that I am about to gag. And it is definitely not as noticeable a...

I would also like to encourage you to continue on with your plan of working in the ED! Before I started nursing school I worked in a phycisicans office, and one day I almost passed out while watching an NP suture, and it just terrified me that I wou...

There are so many days that I realize on my way home from work that the last thing I had to drink was 14 hours ago when I brushed my teeth that morning. Food? Who has time for that? Sad, isn't it?!? I feel your pain!

I work 6 day stretches (12 hrs) and then get 8 days off. However, it doesn't take me a day to get over it...it takes 2!!!! Love my days off though!

I work ER and was bitten a couple of months ago. The bite broke the skin...this guy would NOT let go despite multiple people attempting to restrain him. You better believe I pressed charges! He knew exactly what he was doing. I'm very fair skinne...

I've been in the ER for 2 years this month, and I absolutely love it! I work in a Level 3 ER, where we don't see a lot of trauma, but get some SICK people (duh, I know...it's an ER :) I look back to when I started and I realize how much I've learne...

I agree with Batman! I appreciate what you do immensely! I can only imagine that the conditions in which you provide care are often less than desirable. Thank you for your thanks!! :)

Perhaps you also might be able to get some information from the manufacturer. I know that when we switched to new glucometers we had an inservice and they actually instructed us to place the test strip on the droplet of blood, and hold it on the fin...

Thanks so much for the reply! Yes, I joined ENA this year and went to the conference in Baltimore and really enjoyed it. I bought a CEN review CD for my computer at the conference, and wouldn't you know I dropped my laptop when I got home, and so n...

As I clicked on this thread I was swallowing the last of a white chocolate truffle...unfortunately I have nothing to add, but BOY do I ever need to read your ideas...keep em' coming!!! Merry Christmas!

And just a side note...according to ACLS protocol, once an advanced airway (ET tube/LMA) is placed, you no longer have to stop for breaths after 30 compressions. After the pt is intubated you can do continuous compressions while someone is giving 8-...

Thank you! And I wish you the best in school. I truly hope that you love nursing and that you are able to enjoy this day! P.S. It's kind of funny, but I don't mind working holidays too much, because I feel that most of the people I work with are l...

You know what? I didn't know if I was "cut out" to work in the ER either. I knew that I thought I would like to work there, but I was afraid that I just wouldn't have what it takes. I have a laid back, quiet personality, and am not naturally asser...

I know when I'm in a stressful situation it only makes things worse if I dwell on my fears of whether or not I will be able to handle the situation. When you do have an opportunity to start a line on someone, try and relax as much as possible and do...

Hey Congratulations on passing your NCLEX!! That's a pretty exciting feeling isn't it?!?! Before I started clinicals I almost passed out while giving blood...not when I was stuck, but when the needle came out...LOL! I felt fine until I started I st...

Yes, you may stand here at the nurses station and use the phone to call a ride home, because we are not going to hire a taxi for you. BUT no you may not dial 911 to give you that ride home...yes, I know that they drove you an hour to our hospital fo...

This made me think of the last time I was in triage. A name popped up onto my tracker with the stated complaint of "lac", and as I looked out into the waiting room I assumed that it must be the young gentleman who was waving his bandaged hand in the...