HollyHobby

So many TV shows and movies take place, at least in part, in a medical setting. When you're a nurse, you automatically notice the severe errors in the scenery, which ruins the show. Or maybe it's just me. I was watching the very first episode of ER (...

I cannot think of a time when I saw a patient referred to hospice too soon. I cannot count the times when I've seen patients referred to hospice too late. As an ICU nurse, I define my career as "torturing people to death". This is what I do: I tortur...

I went back to college when my youngest (of 3) was 2 months old. It was hard, but I really did appreciate school more and try harder than when I was fresh out of high school. All that being said, I strongly- STRONGLY- suggest you finish your degree a...

I think it is a totally wonderful thing for a male nurse to be a school nurse. One must be careful to avoid the appearance of misconduct, but this applies to everyone, everywhere. It's a great thing for kids to see that gender roles are not black an...

We do a head-to-toe assesment every four hours. If the patient goes to CT or surgery or some other procedure, there is an additional assessment when he gets back, even if his primary nurse is with him during that whole time. Doing an initial assessm...

Safe staffing levels. Without this, nothing else matters. Then, make staffing good enough that nurses (and aides) can actually pee and take those legally mandated things called "breaks". After that, everything else is gravy. :) Without adequate staff...

I think that on pretty much any unit, there will be at least one nurse who is a report beast. A dear friend of mine is like this: she's a bit OCD and demands a rigorous, lengthy, detailed report. Heaven help the new grad who doesn't anticipate her qu...

I feel for you, OP. My first job was nightmarish and I usually cried before work. Due to limited options, I worked there for a total of 7 years. I thought my experience there was the norm. Eventually, I moved cross-country and now work at a place I l...

ICU. I get to do a lot of patient/family teaching. When my patient is too gorked to be taught, there is family who benefit greatly from teaching. I really enjoy my interactions with them. I tend to see my patients as integral with their family/suppor...

When a nurse (or anyone else, really) is confronted with an error she's made, the natural reaction for many is to become defensive, or to try to blame someone else, or to minimize the error. It takes some courage to accept the situation and own up to...

Count me as another boring person. There's nothing wrong with that! However, your husband is giving you a huge red flag. It sounds like he has expectations that are not being met, and from there it is a short road to the D word. Communication is key....

*Since the doc is a woman, please read my male pronouns as female ones. :)

I can totally relate to your experience. Fortunately, I now work at a place where the doctors are almost never abusive. Once in a while, a particular doc will be a jerk, but there is no screaming, throwing things, or physical assault. At my first hos...

I cannot imagine why the surgeon would be angry at you for not calling about the BP. First, the BP was fine on your shift. Did he really expect you to call normal BPs to him? At night? Second, since the surgeon wrote the labetolol order, he was obvio...

You might want to check your hospital's holiday pay policy, too. I've worked in 3 hospitals, in 2 different states, and I've never received extra pay for working holidays.

I work at a hospital where we have a wound care RN, phlebotomists, but no IV team. We used to not have phlebotomists and we drew all our own labs. I strongly support having a wound nurse. This is almost a separate field, where specialized knowledge ...

I work at in an ICU (nights) in a small hospital. We started using hospitalists several months ago, and it's been overwhelmingly positive. Our hospitalists are very approachable; they are never grumpy when you call them at all hours or when you have...

I also need to say that when I have (adult) JW patients who need blood, I do not argue with them. I do not in any way try to convince them to accept a transfusion they don't want, even when the result is my patient's death. That is their right, and I...

I completely agree with you, Cat_LPN. Picture a few different scenarios: Could a Muslim nurse refuse to serve her patient a dinner tray that had a pork chop or Jell-O on it? Could a Jewish nurse refuse to serve her patient a ham and cheese sandwich? ...

The only reason a nurse should ever touch an HD catheter is if she is 1) a dialysis nurse, or 2) in the process of giving CVVHD in the ICU. Or, possibly, 3) if the patient is actively coding, there is no other way to get access before he dies, and he...

I've never had to take a pre-employment medication test. For one thing, by passing the state boards, you've already proven you know all the basic and general stuff, along with the basic math skills needed to calculate dosages and such. For another t...

Keep in mind, Shelby, that this is a place (amongst other things) for nurses to vent their frustrations. Here, you'll learn all the worst things about being a nurse. The good stuff is here, too, but in lesser quantity. Maybe the reason for this is be...

One suggestion that hasn't been mentioned yet is this: if the OP waits a while, the JW position will change. It may be years from now, but there's a very good chance the prohibition against starting a blood transfusion will change. Just look at the h...

First, I'll repeat what others have said: listening is important. Even if you don't say just the "right" words, the effort you've put forth is appreciated. Second, when a patient has serious issues with depression or anxiety, talking/listening isn't ...

RevolutioN2013, (((((hugs))))). Let me share my own story with you. I had been an ICU RN for ten years. I'd dealt with death and dying on pretty much a daily basis. One morning, I got the call that my mom had died at home. She'd been under hospice ca...