StayLost BSN, RN

I just stumbled upon this post. As a nurse manager in CT surgery, I have worked with the most amazing group of Clinical Nurse Specialists. I can speak for the ICU-- this is such an important role. Healthcare keeps stretching and divesting in Nurse E...

The gold standard for Cardioversion is Propofol Rapid IVP right before shock is delivered. There are times when a patient is symptomatic and can not tolerate the hypotensive effects of proposal, which we would give fentanyl and versed. And then ther...

I work in New York City. It's the norm here for ER nurses to oversee 16 or more patients.

We routinely use Amicar as well. If there are problems with bleeding, it's not uncommon for our patients to receive DDAVP in the OR.

It would be impossible to answer this questions without being there. Was there a proper waveform with diacritic notch? Were you able to draw back any blood? What was the difference between the systolic and diastolic - a dampened waveform will often...

The patient does not need to be flat for zeroing lines- in fact, the lines don't even need to be connected to the patient to be zero'd. We lay patients flat when we zero so that we can get the most accurate numbers, specifically the CVP. The 'flat a...

YES! IMO, this is how an experienced nurse gives report- don't need to know how long the bypass/XClamp time was for a patient going to the floor. If at any time I need to know about the patient's grafts (which has never ever happened) I can look th...

Your patient does not need to be flat when changing the pressure lines to a swan What I usually do is kink the PA and CVP before inserting the new line, then draw back any possible air from the new stopcock. There are times when I use kelly clamps/he...

I have worked with cardiologist that will run dopamine wide oven during a code, especially with asystole.

At my current hospital we do not get any compensation when caring for ECMO patients. In the past I worked for a hospital that would pay me an additional $8.00/hr for VAD/VA ECMO patients. Should an ECMO patient be 2:1 or 1:1 ? With any device, th...

At this point it's time to consider either VV ECMO or discuss withdrawing. I would not attempt CPR while a patient is prone.

As a cardiac nurse, let me take a stab: Afterload is the pressure that the heart must pump against. SVR (System Vascular Resistance) calculated value we use to evaluate afterload. We calculate the SVR using the Cardiac Output, Cardiac Index, CVP, Ar...

TPN always needs it's own dedicated port Bicard should be run though it's own dedicated like, as its incompatible with virtually every med.

CT patients can go to sh** on you faster than any patient - extubated and sitting up one 1 minute & bleeding with a MAP in the 40's the next. I had a patient completely exsanguinate in less than 10 second through the chest tubes, with blood overf...

I much rather get paid less and have a better work environment. I was just talking about this last night with a coworker. My last job was amazing- New equipment, higher quality supplies, more staff, fast turn around with labs and medications from ph...

Same here - 1:1 the whole time

The unit always comes up with new forms for us to fill out, some that make me uncomfortable and some that take up my time & annoy me - BUT ALL OF WHICH are NOT part of the legal chart. One of these forms is a hand-off sheet, were the nurse highl...

Unlike teaching hospitals with a ton of residents, I have worked in private hospitals where it's not uncommon to run pressers through a PIV- like when it's the middle of the night and there is no provider to place a central line. My question to the ...

What I am speaking about is not a summary provided by an EMR. It's a separate form that has fields for every body system where you pencil in key info

Amio bolus of 150 mg IV over 10 min and then started on a drip at 1 mg/min X 6 hours, then decreased to 0.5 mg/min continuously. When transitioning to PO, the drip is turned off after the second PO dose.

My hospital's practice: Lines are pulled by the department who placed the (i.e. Cathlab tech). This is because the nurse needs to be free to manage the patient. 1) Verify ACT 2) When the sheath is removed, manual pressure is held over insertion s...

Sometimes we transduce a CVP just because we can.. a patient has a central line or even a PICC, so ... why not? In this patient population, I probably would leave it open to CVP, DRIP, & PT. I would intermittently check an accurate CVP by turni...

#1 - There is a ton of stuff involved with a transplant work up. It's very complicated and there are many rules We used to give Isuprel to increase HR in Sinus brady, but not with post-of heart transplant patients. Taking care of a Post-op heat tran...

I have a Master Cardiology and it's AWESOME. Where is it? In my closet. My current unit puts a cheap disposable one in each room, and they work just fine. I agree, save your money and get one down the road.

I disagree. In my experience, nurses who transfer to the Critical Care from tele often have a difficult time adjusting their priorities, which in the ICU translates to bad habits. Besides, after 3 years of working in the ICU is there really a distin...