MelissaRN

At the hospital I used to work for they had all one color scrubs for the Ob floor because we had a baby abduction there once. The nurses change in and out of those scrubs after they get to the floor. It's a way to know that any nurse in different s...

I've seen docs staple the drapes to the patients too. My big fear is forgetting about the staples and ripping the drape off. We have the sticky drapes and clip towels to the drape with towel clips. I also saw a doc staple Tegaderm dressing to a pa...

I had a patient admitted for cardiac workout (big surprise) and when we had to wash her she would hold her belly folds up with a towel while two of us washed her. She had resistance bands on the poles at the bottom of her bed so she could pull herse...

some of them don't wipe their bums because they can't reach. I've had to help get urine specimens for people who are too big to reach under with the speci cup.

My first few months on the med/surg floor were terrible. I dreaded going in every night and some nights I was so tired that I would have loved a car accident so I wouldn't have to go in. It does get better. Don't forget to ask for help whenever p...

I did a clinical rotation as a student in the ICU and just about all the patients admitted were morbidly obese. They actually ran out of the "big boy" beds and had to put one of the lighter patients (350 lbs) in a regular bed. He broke two of them....

OMG I have seen that too. I absolutely cringe to see a baby crawling around on the hospital floors. Have also seen overnight visitors running around in barefeet. I always offer the slippers! That's nasty. I saw a nurse attempting to hang IV Dilan...

Yea right, dare to dream. My son had surgery back in January and the hospital sent my account to collections because I was paying $50 a month rather than paying off the whole $1,000 I owed that the crummy insurance didn't cover.

Sometimes just getting someone from dayshift to come in early and have someone from evenings stays late is helpful. Also where I worked if we were short handed the charge nurse would take a couple of the easier patients to at least decrease the work...

sometimes you HAVE to say no because if you keep saying yes and coming in the powers that be won't fix the staffing problem. If the deptment head has to come in and work extra enough times, they'll fix the problem by hiring more staff.

About a month ago we had this little old lady that was admitted because her humerus fracture wasn't healing secondary to her confusion and non compliance. Anywhoooo she was a very loving little lady and wanted hugs and to touch everyone all the time...

I've always been told that cell phones aren't allowd in hospitals. We have waiting areas and the cafeteria where you can talk on them. Supposedly they interefere with equipment and the like?

In my experience we've had patients come up not fully recovered but two PACU nurses will come up and one will stay with the patient to ensure they don't need Narcan. Usually though they are pretty wide awake and alert.

I know 5 people that got all the questions and passed. One of them was the top of my graduating class.

I think it's difficult until after you've gotten a year of acute care experience under your belt, but alot of times it's not what you know but who you know. You should try getting a job as a tech or do some clinicals in an area you're interested in ...

Alot of it is that patients are going through the worst experience of their lives and they are frustrated and scared and maybe even angry. The hospital environment sometimes brings out the worst in people, couple that with the fact that some people ...

At what time do you administer the pre op antibiotics. What about if you aren't sure exactly when the case is going to start? Should the antibiotics be running in as pt is prepped or at least an hour before?

Fresh air, exercise, 8 hours of sleep most nights and a really good daily planner in order to prioritize assignments.

I came across an accident this morning on my way to work, it was on a busy interstate and there were about 6 cars lined up to give assistance. I did not stop because there were already a lot of people around and I knew that EMS was less than a mile ...

What you've described has happened to me before. I find that I get panick attacks at times especially if I've had too much coffee and am racing around. Slow deep breathing really helps because a lot of the times the panick attacks are brought on by...

This reminds me of an incident that happened when I was a kid. Our neighbor was an ER nurse and her 2-year-old went down the cellar stairs in his walker. She wraps him in a blanket and comes over to see my mother freaking out. My mother helped her...

I've been working day surgery area where the patients go before the OR and I've really perfected my IV skills since being there. I've started more IV's in the last couple of weeks than I did for a year on the floor. LOL.

Nights would have worked out better for me if I had a set schedule. The weekends were tough because the whole family was home and sleep was near impossible. I just couldn't do it any more.

Thanks Stevie! We've been debating it at work because we never know right when to give it because the cases run behind all the time. We may give it right when the patient comes to the pre-op area and then they sit there for an hour because the doc ...

I've been trying to find literature on this subject on the AORN website. Haven't had much luck. Got any literature that I could look at?