HollyHobby

HollyHobby

critical care, home health

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All Content by HollyHobby

  1. What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story?

    HollyHobby replied to steffck's topic in General Nursing

    In those days, my mom always used the a kind of fabric softener sheet that was a thick, bluish-green sponge. All the dryer sheets I've found now are thin, papery, and white (and like you say, one...

  2. Looooong narrative notes

    HollyHobby replied to General E. Speaking, RN's topic in General Nursing

    I have worked with some nurses who chart so excessively that they are unable to actually provide patient care. They depend on their neighbors to do almost all of the patient care, including giving...

  3. What's Your Best Nursing Ghost Story?

    HollyHobby replied to steffck's topic in General Nursing

    Not really a nursing story; forgive me. Back story: many years ago, my sister and our parents were in the car; Dad was driving. Dad was a quiet man and he drove on, expressionlessly, while Mom...

  4. What are "caring" qualities of a nursing leader/manager?

    HollyHobby replied to sktrgrl01's topic in General Nursing

    A "caring" quality I can think of, from experience, is the willingness to help a nurse in need. When my mom had a devastating MI, I was 1,200 miles away. I managed to cover two of my three shifts, but...

  5. Please help me interpret this ECG strip

    HollyHobby replied to chillax's topic in General Nursing

    Adenosine doesn't treat A fib, but if the rate is so fast that you can't tell if you have A fib or something else, adenosine is useful for diagnostic purposes. This is pretty clearly A fib,

  6. when to report/notified....

    HollyHobby replied to MissRed's topic in General Nursing

    Are you expecting the RN to call the doctor or otherwise fix the problem? I suppose it depends on what kind of a facility you work for, and it definitely depends on what your facility's protocol is. I...

  7. How do you manage your shift from beginning to end?

    HollyHobby replied to missdeevah's topic in General Nursing

    From what I have seen, nurses who chronically have problems getting their work done are those who 1. take a long time to do an assessment, and/or 2. chart way too much. Don't get me wrong, doing good...

  8. When did u know?

    HollyHobby replied to dscott76's topic in General Nursing

    I never wanted to be a nurse. I wanted to be a grade-school teacher. But one night, my (now ex) husband was in a hot tub with some young travel nurses and he decided I should be a nurse. So I went...

  9. hematomas? drawing blood on elderly clients

    HollyHobby replied to pear8's topic in Geriatric, LTC

    You've received a lot of good advice here. One thing I do with the elderly and anyone else whose tissue looks friable is to NOT use a tourniquet. I'll use the tourniquet to help me locate the best...

  10. ICU Ratios in the US

    HollyHobby replied to ShaunES's topic in MICU, SICU

    I worked for a long time on a unit where 1:3 was standard. Normally, two of my three would be vented, but sometimes all three were. We also did not have a lot of ancillary staff (no aides, no...

  11. Sick days in the US...and job security

    HollyHobby replied to pedicurn's topic in General Nursing

    Where I work, the policy is pretty typical. My sick time and vacation time are lumped together in my personal time off. If I call in sick more than twice in a six month period, I get written up. If I...

  12. I experienced my first panic attack

    HollyHobby replied to Blackheartednurse's topic in General Nursing

    Blackhearted, your story reminds me of the time I had the mother of all panic attacks at work. I wasn't a new nurse, but it was a high acuity ICU, I was in charge, and a patient went into PEA. I...

  13. opinions, please

    HollyHobby replied to beeble's topic in General Nursing

    It's a waste of your time and energy to be upset about this. Yes, this guy sounds like a real jerk. It's been my experience that some RTs are notoriously difficult to get along with. Maybe this is due...

  14. Skating on thin ice?(at my job)

    HollyHobby replied to nursep2b's topic in General Nursing

    You are not being singled out; as you've said, medication errors occur frequently and by different nurses. Management is doing the right thing by addressing the issue, but it doesn't sound like...

  15. Injection in buttocks: 1" vs. 1 1/2" needle

    HollyHobby replied to azilliRN's topic in General Nursing

    I'm sure everyone here remembers her/his first IM injection on a real person. Mine was on a horribly cachexic man who'd waited until he was near death to go to the doctor and find out he had cancer....

  16. colostomy with rectal tube.

    HollyHobby replied to optimusgts's topic in General Nursing

    We have a frequent flyer in my ICU who has an ileostomy AND a colostomy AND she still has several loose stools from her rectum each day. If she had a decubitus, she'd need a rectal tube too. She can't...

  17. Odd rituals at work

    HollyHobby replied to abbaking's topic in General Nursing

    I'm not anal retentive by nature, but I do have my rituals. From my observations over the years, I believe that every nurse has his/her own thing. In my case, I always arrive at work ten minutes...

  18. Our new boss writing everyone up!

    HollyHobby replied to SoundofMusic's topic in General Nursing

    Punctuality/tardiness is a personality trait that is ingrained on us early in life. Yes, it's possible to change these behavior patterns, but it takes a LOT of work. It's almost as difficult (I'm just...

  19. insulin drip protocol for mixing/priming: how do you mix it?

    HollyHobby replied to TraumaJunkieRN's topic in Patient Medications

    Thank you, new grad, for calling this very important issue to this veteran nurse's attention. I love new grads. If there is ever a day when I declare I cannot learn from you, please shoot

  20. insulin drip protocol for mixing/priming: how do you mix it?

    HollyHobby replied to TraumaJunkieRN's topic in Patient Medications

    I'm a "veteran" ICU nurse who has run/started/changed the tubing on more insulin drips than I can count. I've never even heard that insulin drips are affected by priming or not priming the tubing. I...

  21. People think you are rich because you are a nurse

    HollyHobby replied to chenoaspirit's topic in General Nursing

    This isn't just a nursing thing. It's a boundaries thing, and a who-your-"friends"-are-thing. Unfortunately, there are many, many people out there who will push and push to get whatever they can....

  22. TV shows and movies that are ruined, because you know better

    HollyHobby replied to HollyHobby's topic in Nursing Humor

    Even on "real" medical shows, like Trauma: life in the ER, I get p***** off. I'm an ICU nurse. In these shows, the patient spends a bit of time in the ER and then CT and then surgery, then the next...

  23. Charting Bloopers

    HollyHobby replied to AHarri66's topic in Nursing Humor

    I work with a nurse who collects hilarious charting bloopers. When I find one, I put a copy of it in her mailbox (with the patient's name and other ID info blacked out) for her. She does the same for...

  24. difference between a Graduate Nurse and an experienced Nurse...

    HollyHobby replied to Michelle.'s topic in Nursing Humor

    From my own personal experience: As a graduate nurse, I saw my patient have a run of V tach. I almost wet my pants as I ran for help and probably had a little V tach myself. As an experienced nurse,...

  25. Things Patients Have Taught Me NOT To Do

    HollyHobby replied to Trixxy's topic in Nursing Humor

    Ahhhhhh, good old CHF. If you have CHF and an EF of like 10%, DO NOT eat an entire jar of pickles, then wait 3 days while you become horribly sick and short of breath and edematous and dying, then...