Ellekat

What are your favorite nursing CEU sites? I like inexpensive/free, so I use Medscape and PowerPak most often. I'd like to expand my list to include a variety of sites.

I'm not scheduled tomorrow. I'll be in Thursday, no matter what. I won't volunteer, however. I used to do that, until I found out that while I didn't get time and a half because I volunteered to come in, others that they had to cajole to come in g...

I work on a surgical/ortho floor. We take report, check lab values, pass meds, then start dismissing/admitting like mad. We assess head-to-toe once, but assess continuously for changes with each patient contact. If it's a small hospital, learning ...

It will vary by state. In Kansas you would be considered to be working under the physician's license as long as your are working in his/her office/clinic. Just draw a clear line between your job as a phlebotomist/patient tech (or whatever you are c...

Like Christine, I give a vague answer; Over by _____ school, on ____ street. Never an exact address. They are just trying to make conversation and "place" me in the community. I often get asked my husband's name, too. We don't have a listed phon...

I believe that nurses SHOULD have a BSN and that gradually we will see that change. If most computer charting is like ours, I see the nurse getting further and further from the bedside. I've found that in the last three years I've moved from the b...

My name is Elle...and I have a cat. Lol.

Just curious. Did he have SCD's on at any time? We've had several patients lately who have developed large, fluid-filled blisters on the top of their feet; we think it is the SCDs.

I guess I'm "old school" because yes, I will. Our doctors put in long hours and need access to the patient records. We have one computer for the doctors, and usually 4-5 doctors on the floor at the time. I do my assessments and take notes on the c...

Admits from OR or ED are assumed to be stable; the aide takes vitals and the nurse sees them as soon as possible. It does keep us from seeing patients. Getting an admit at shift change can put a nurse behind by several hours throughout the day. Wh...

I work surgical, ortho and peds. Most of our pediatric patients are respiratory. We occasionally have a tonsilectomy that the physician wants to have watched overnight or an appendectomy, and a fair number of viral patients that need supportive ca...

Dialysis can (but does not have to) remove fluid from the circulatory system. Most patients are assigned a "dry weight" that is the weight the patient should be when he/she comes off the dialysis machine. I don't know where the fluid in the bladd...

My one experience with suspected blood transfusion reaction was from an autologous infusion. I called the physician, who insisted the blood should continue. After conferring with the house supervisor, I followed protocol and stopped the infusion. A...

We usually start out with six, although it's supposed to be four. We'll have 4 nurses and two aides for 18-24 patients. We've had up to 15 admissions on one shift with just three nurses (and that obviously means we've had many dismissals, too). Ye...

Job 1 - 3 years; remarried and relocated Job 2 - 3.5 years; needed days for special needs of a child, so Job 3 - 2.5 years; husband relocated, so Job 4 - 8 years I keep thinking I need a new job but don't have the energy to look!

Our hospital fired all our experienced supervisors and hired mostly-male nurses (2 women, the rest men) to be our supervisors; one had never even worked in a hospital before. I was told I was "too old for your job" when I protested staffing levels o...

We usually have one aide, three RN's for 18-24 patients on nights. It used to be 1 aide, 2 RN's. On days, two aides to four RN's plus a ward clerk for the same numbers; it used to be two aides to 3 RN's. Since the inception of a very poorly designed ...

If I were a family member, I would want to know the type of care being given. Hospitals are much more likely to act on a patient's family members' concerns than they are on the report of an employee of poor care. If the care is not even adequate-no...

Has your friend spoken with Human Resources? Your boss may not know the law or even your facility's policy in this situation. She may also want to consult an organization for people with MS or lawyer who is experienced in this type of case.

The simplest way to avoid that mistake is to set up a totally new line, even if the running IV is NS. If becomes a habit (I use a 500cc bag of NS) to do this and to switch over the entire line, you won't frun the existing IVF even when you are abl...

I would welcome everyone having ACLS; I just re-cerified and had to do it on my own time, paid for by me. They will pay for PALS, as we have pediatric on our floor, but don't consider ACLS "necessary" for med/surg. I don't pretend to be totally com...

As an experience clinician (17 years) and an older nurse (55), I must admit my reaction was the same as yours towards nursing education. Nursing was my second degree. I have totally forgotten any theoretical knowledge and feel that much time/energy/m...

We use TB syringes (still 1ml). Our insulin syringes don't allow the needle to be changed; we have 25ga needlles and use the 5/8" length. We don't need longer to go into the SQ tissue. I'm assuming you are giving prophylactic heparin?

You have to make the final decision yourself, but why not give the school nursing a try? Your family would probably enjoy seeing you working a "regular" schedule and your health might improve. As an experienced nurse, you should be able to find ano...

Our anesthesiologists will put a patient under with a port (any of the pre-opl nurses can access it for them), then establish a peripheral line for their work. Let them know what you want; you may not get it, but at least you will have made your wis...