HiHoCherry-O

I wont answer all of your questions. . .but a little advice: I would inquire as to what meds you will be expected to administer. Depending on the endoscopy center, you may be the only one administering medications. Know what they are, time it takes t...

Did either patient have a recent history of taking Viagra or Cialis?

To the OP: You may want to shop around for some EMRs. What kind of program are you using for your med documentation? Is it a software program that allows for other applications to be added such as the ones you listed? The hospital I work for uses Ep...

I participated in a study several years ago that measured the rate of fluid administration between a 14 gauge and a 16 gauge. The conclusion was that there was not much difference in how quickly fluid was delivered. So. . . basically what I'm getting...

The ED I worked in a few years ago had pain contracts for certain patients who frequently came to the ED requesting narcotics. We were able to track how frequently they came, what resources were provided to them for follow up and what they received (...

It was a mistake. You could ask your CN or NM if there is a way to remove the charge to the patient since it was ordered by mistake.

Anything pertinent come out of the tox screen? Otherwise. . .lesson learned.

Some of the responses I like to use are: For those who tend to monopolize your time: "I need to check on my other patients, their needs are just as important as yours. I will return to check on you in xx minutes/time." "Help me help you." For the chr...

LMAO!! Glad to see I'm not the only one irritated by the use of this word!!

Now children. . .

I would have carried out the order. How long of a time frame was it from the time the order was written to the time it was canceled? An ABG can tell you many things. This patient had multiple problems going on, all of which can affect ABGs (high gluc...

Thank you so much for sharing this!! This is what I love the most when I am at the bedside; listening to life stories, places people have been, things people have done, wisdom and advice that they want to share. I love it!!

You mention that "typical RN training is 8 weeks." To me this means that on average most nurses are relatively competent by 8 weeks, some sooner, some later. The next comment is that she is not even close to being competent. In what sense? Practicin...

The ambulatory surgery center off of University (between Lomas and Menaul) has CRNAs. When I was in school at UNM, I did an OR rotation there. Spent most of my time with the CRNAs vs the OR nurses. They were very pleasant and provided lots of informa...

Same here as mentioned by the other posters. We document the rhythm in Epic i.e. NSR, ST etc. We also have space below that to chart the measurments. The tele tech prints out a strip on each patient, pastes it to a tele page and puts it in the hard c...

Having been a FF/Paramedic and now an RN I say it depends on what REALLY interests you most. I loved the FD and being a medic. I LOVED the people I worked with. Some of the cons are limited upward mobility in that field as well as mobility nationwide...

For most of our intubated patients we do a daily "sedation vacation." The RT's do a SBT (spontaneous breathing trial) every morning during which all sedation is turned off (or substantially lightened). We monitor how well the patient responds and the...

I suspect it has to do with what values the lab looks at as "critical" hospital wide versus what is critical for ICU. I know in my ICU the surgeons like to keep the electrolytes a bit on the cushier side (esp. mag, K, and Ca). The patient population ...

Hey!! There's only room for one of those and its gonna be ME!!! But on a side note. . . Pharm Tech -> EMT -> ER Tech -> FF/Paramedic -> RN -> Med/tele -> ED -> CVICU -> ???

TDCHIM and GRACERN47 have provided some great information. Another website you can check out is http://www.aapc.com/. Many community colleges also offer coding courses and with your LPN background may be able to opt out of some of the courses i.e. m...

Triage tags. Suction. Stuff to make simple splints. Ice packs. These are very basic suggestions. Additional supplies if able and have personnel would be IV's and fluid. Need more info as to your department; pre-hospital? ED?

Ruby, I really enjoyed reading your article. Thank you for posting.

One of the sweetest things I saw in the ED came from one of my nurse co-workers. He had a patient who was admitted to the hospital but had been waiting for a hospital room for a looong time. The patients wife had stayed with him the whole time. It ha...

I would also include knowing some labs: Cardiac markers: what are they and what do they indicate? Why do they have to measured over a period of time? CBC: What are some things that may be going on with my patient i.e. Hgb/Hct? Chemistries: Why is a h...

As thestrella mentioned, the fistula could be damaged. Fistulas are created surgically. If it is damaged, the patient would need to have a permacath placed (which may be difficult due to the likelyhood of scarring from prior permcaths). Once the fis...