Kyli

Hi There, I too used to stress out about silly little things I did wrong when I was a student and also as a new grad. Eventually, these feelings get a lot easier to deal with....unfortunately, it takes time and experience to get to that stage. In the meantime, remind yourself that no-body is perfect, and I mean no-body!! Also remind yourself of all the things you did / do well!!...and give yourself a pat on the back when you deserve it. Remember that you are still learning!! A bit of positive reinforcement from your preceptor and other staff wouldn't hurt either .... unfortunately we don't always work with people who give this willingly. So keep your chin up sweetheart, things get better as your confidence builds. Talk with your friends and take time to relax. I wish you all the best with your career. xx

My Mum has an extra bone in her coccyx - shown by x-ray. You can't tell just by looking at her ie:she doesn't have a tail!!

Goats'r'us mentioned this earlier in the thread and summed the show up nicely! "ALL SAINTS" has been a successful show here in Australia for a few years now. It's the most realistic show I've ever seen in regards to the nursing profession or even the whole hospital setting (in the Aussie setting). We've just started getting "Grey's Anatomy" and "House" over here. I find these shows entertaining, but SOOOO UNREALISTIC from the nursing point of view! I thought "Scrubs" wasn't too bad! Kylie

We use SPOT down under too!!

I work in Australia. We use anaesthetists in our unit - whom administer propofol, midazolam and fentanyl. Our outpatients are kept for at least an hour and a half and then discharged home. They have prearranged transport home, as they are not to drive until the next day. The patient is also given a discharge pamphlet when they leave, with all the previously mentioned instructions such as not to drive, no alcohol for 24hrs, not to sign legal documents or make important decisions until the next day etc etc

that's what I was taught too.

Another pat on the back to kmchugh. Well said. I mentioned earlier that under no circumstances do we nurses in our Endo Unit, give propofol. We have anaesthetists administer it, and have all necessary equipment in the room for the possibility of adverse reactions (ie; intubation equipment, paralytic agents and a whole variety of other drugs to deal with BP drops etc).

We absolutely DO NOT give propofol. Nor do the Gastroenterologists. Only the anaesthetists are supposed to according to our policies.

I've been doing endo for 6 yrs now. We use anaesthesia routinely (using anaesthetists, so always 2 Drs in the room now days) - started doing so about 2-3 yrs ago, although some Drs still use Midazolam and Fentanyl. We have recently stopped doing ERCPs at our hospital, due to the Drs not happy with facilites and the high level of complications (not nurse related!!!!)

We often give abdo pressure too. Not always though. Usually just when there is looping etc and also depends on the Dr and each individual patient. The more experienced you are at endo nursing, the easier it gets to determine where to push!! The sigmoid area is most common (because it's the most twisty bit of the colon!!). Sometimes people have terribly tortuous bowels and is does get quite tiring!! I have to say, I'd rather do some pushing than rolling the patient - as some Drs ask us to do!!

I forgot to say that we use 3 machines too.

Hello, I'm new here too! My unit also uses Steris and does 20-30 procedures a day, and yes, our machines are always playing up!! :angryfire We use Olympus scopes too, and can confirm that Olympus believe Steris to be very aggressive on the scopes. Olympus are / have designed a new cleaning machine apparently, that still uses parecetic acid (I think), but doesn't heat to such a high temp as the Steris Machines. However, the equipment comes out as "High Level Disinfection"not "Sterile". You would need to check with Olympus to get more accurate info (I'm on Maternity Leave at the moment, so feel a bit out of touch!!).