mochamonster

K+ of 1.5 yesterday and dropping with boluses. Didn't work today and I'm not back until Thursday.

I pray I have a good CNA, because they have always been the ones to make or break a float for me.

Here's what else I do: Zero the bed, lower it and put all the side rails down Remove blanket, top sheet and extra pillows Take the recliner out of the room (our bathrooms are big enough to put it in there) Ensure there are flushes, IV tubing, etc. Se...

I am interested in finding out how you all cope with giving post mortem care. It has never really bothered me, but I see, from my coworkers, that it bothers them. When I give post mortem care, I treat the patient as though they are still alive. I ...

This made me tear up. I'm glad she had that picture. ETA: in response to the post above this one.

The only thing I could come up with is perhaps they were previously compensating for an acidosis (respiratory depression from the morphine perhaps) which drove up the bicarb (which takes longer) and then started hyperventilating making them alkylotic...

This is what I was thinking.

Hello everyone, It is my understanding that patients still experience sleep/wake cycles while sedated on propofol. However, I am having difficulty finding more information about this. I am curious if measures can be taken when a patient is sedated ...

I stayed at school after class and studied there. I also started studying after they went to bed or got up early to study.

Hi everyone,So at work today I got an abnormal migraine and was unable to take care of my patients. Other nurses took over their care, but I feel awful because I was sent home by employee health and we were already short staffed. I haven't had one ...

Thanks for your input folks. Unfortunately mine do respond to meds and are on the rarer side. I have neurological symptoms, but no pain. I felt like I was letting everyone down by not being able to care for my patients. I am sure I am being harde...

Hello wise nurses, Perhaps you can help me understand this. Patient comes up to the unit with pneumonia, rules in for sepsis. Pressures in 140s/100s during time in the ED even higher in the unit but also tachycardic. Desaturated in upper 60s upon ...

Usually after, yes. What is prompting me to write this is a patient that has their days and nights so mixed up that they sleep all day and then they are a wild banshee all night. Unfortunately they had to be put back on propofol because they are so...

I'm with ESME12, but like you say we weren't there and who knows what they saw. Mattmrn2013, COPD is not a confirmed diagnosis, just my suspicion from looking at the patient. They just "looked" like a COPDer to me along their decades long smoking h...

Point taken Altra. It is.

Thanks for your responses everyone. Patient was not a good historian. All the patient could tell was that they had a "lung disease" (suspect COPD, but ABGs were good on BiPAP) and history of heart fibrillation from the patient's adult child (a-fib ...

That is beautiful, thanks for sharing. Hopefully she dies with some dignity with her loving (and well-informed) family with her. Bless you!

Also, often times the person who knows the patient's health history best is not the physician running the code, but the nurse (at least where I work, ICU). A wise physician would ask if anyone else has any ideas before ending the resuscitation effor...

Hello everyone, I am a new nurse in the ICU. Lately I have been dreaming about death a lot lately. Of course I know where this is coming from and I'm sure it's just my psyche's way of trying to reconcile what I see at work now. I am not upset by t...

Hello all, I am curious if any advanced practice registered nurses also work at the bedside? I wonder if this is possible since, at least in my state, you retain your RN license in addition to your APRN license. Or does scope of practice become an i...

Thanks for your response tonet. I appreciate hearing what it is like for an APRN who does work at the bedside. It seems like this arrangement works really well for you and your patients benefit from your added knowledge. I know I want to continue...

This is the exact thing I was concerned about. Since they are treating you as an NP and not an RN by asking your opinion and making decisions based on that NP opinion, are you not "practicing" as an NP when you are working as an RN? Also, conversel...

Because I have an inquiring mind and wanted to know, I've taken a 10cc syringe and filled it sucking up left over fluid from our IV tubing including the cassette. That was not counting the drip chamber.

This is what I was afraid of. It's a shame because I'm sure I'm not the only one who is interested in more than one area. It's one of the reasons I was drawn to nursing. I haven't gotten my MSN, so I guess I may just put that off a little to enjoy...

There are many things that you will be taught in nursing school that is not practical in the real world. The key is to realize that nursing school is the ideal way to do things (ie. no budget or time constraints, no staffing shortages) and the real ...