RedSox33RN

Our Urgent Care is attached to our main ED also, and we regularly get those that must be transferred (just a w/c ride away) to us. I wish we could do the same thing, but unfortunately, no downgrading in triage. We get a LOT of pt's that say the mag...

I would not like having such a policy, but would follow it if we did. It does seem very time consuming to have to escort ALL pt's to their car (and what if they are waiting for the bus? Do you have to wait with them until the bus comes??). I know ...

Yup.....damned if you do, damned if you don't. Don't start a line and get labs and they'll be wondering why you didn't, and if you do, you'll get the doc that says "I haven't made any assessment of the pt yet, so why did you??" I will continue to dr...

I must admit that I do the same thing. Any c/p, sob - any cardiac or respiratory, really - gets a full RR count, also those with suspected o/d or just had narcs, obviously, but everyone else, 10-15 secs then multiplied is what I usually do. I see a...

I have a pair of Reebok cross-trainers that I wear to work. I know some people swear by clogs, but I didn't find them practical for myself. I've had feet issues in the past, and need some support. I know several ED's I interviewed at are prohibiti...

I can look at most things, but the two things that heeb me out are snakes and maggots. I know some maggots can be beneficial, but after seeing a horrible sight of them burrowing under the skin, making it move, of my favorite chicken (who had died a ...

Agreeing with TraumaRN here: I LOVE getting a sincere "thank you" from my patient or their families. It is sometimes those really nice patients and feeling appreciated that carry me through the nasty, "I was here first!", gimme-gimme-gimme ones. I ha...

VIP??? Is she SERIOUS??? The only time we've ever been close to having a VIP, was when Secret Service came to inspect our ED and develop an emergency "plan" when Hillary Clinton was coming to speak in town. If you have Secret Service, you're a VIP...

Me too!

That's my biggest pet peeve, even more than the FF with insurance looking for narcs. I hae a few of these also, mostly they are lonely and looking for someone to talk to. Several are on disability for BS reasons (the "back pain" reason is common, b...

I must admit that on many occasions, I've asked how they afford the cigs in their pocket and cell phone attached to their hip, but can't get some generic ibuprofen for $3. And as much as they don't like to hear it, I'll also say something about the...

I've never heard of such a Patient Care Technician either. Sounds fishy.... Unfortunately, being in a "smaller" ED, a lot of the docs will give the standard 1-2mg Dilaudid and Zofran. One memorable one recently got a BOATLOAD of narcs, including 15...

I whole-heartedly agree! I say this as I just finished working two 12-hr shifts this weekend, and today, had a 47yo male that got the "full throw-up workup" (he'd been vomiting since 9am today, came in at 2pm), complete with labs, blood cultures x2...

I will draw labs from the initial IV start, as long as it's a 20 or larger and in a good vein. If it doesn't draw well but flushes, I'll do or let the lab do a butterfly stick elsewhere, rather than risk the line. This is especially true for the el...

Had an 18yo woman come in via EMS, chatting on her cell. Her complaint: Constipation x14hours. Apparently had "not gone" that day, and was normally 2x/day. She was sent to me in triage and then to the WR for about 4 hours. Doc ended up d/c'ing her wi...

I usually go for the 18, 20g if they are elderly with fragile veins, but had to do a 24g the other night on an elderly woman. Anything smaller than a 20g and I don't even try to draw labs when I start it. 9 times out of 10 it will be hemolyzed anyw...

....and don't you love the ones that claim pain is a "30 out of 10", then claim they have a "high tolerance" for pain, "so I know it's REALLY bad this time", while eating a sandwich from Subway, talking on their cell, and chatting with the slew of fr...

There aren't any in our ED, and since I'm fairly new there, I don't know about ICU or other areas. Where I came from though, there were 2 LPN's, both with a lot of experience, and both were going for their RN. The only problem was as was said before...

I'm sorry about your grandfather. Why can they? Because they KNOW they can, because hospital management is almost ALWAYS on the patient's side, because this is one of many places that society - or the law - thinks that human beings don't need to be ...

There were certain specialty units in my last hospital that got "specialty" pay. I worked ED, and got an extra $1.10 per hour.

I must admit, I'm one that has a hard time breaking in when I'm with a "talker", so on several occasions, I've looked at my "beeper" and said, "Oh, I'm being paged! I'll come back and talk to you later on." My beeper? It's an insulin pump!

Just recently, at a hospital I left due to a move back North, we had instituted new skin care protocols, namely that we had done a complete head-to-toe skin care assessment (after primary and secondary triage and surveys) and charted it, mostly of th...

That is our policy also. It's hard, because we have some "walkie/talkie/pretty coherent" drunks that are .20 or greater. I've seen it a bit higher, but heard of some with unreal levels!

I just started in the ED in December, but had done some work in LTC and M/S, but only per diem. They had an extensive "new grad" program for new ED nurses too, which included classroom time and floor experience. My advice is to first be willing to a...

In our ED (well, my old one, since I just left and moved back to New England!), they would be seen for the chief complaint, but we would always assess fetal heart tones and chart them. If the pt was over 20 weeks, no matter what the chief complaint,...