canesdukegirl BSN, RN

I was taught that Bair Huggers should always be placed ABOVE the safety belt. I put a sheet folded lengthwise under the safety belt (only wide enough so that the belt and the metal buckle is not in direct contact with the patient), apply the belt, th...

OP, are you working in the States? Can you give a little more info about not counting instruments, i.e., is this for every case, for particular cases; does EVERY tech refuse to count instruments, or just one?

Before I went to nursing school, I was a unit secretary for L&D, ante/post partum, and gyn-onc. Once enrolled in nursing school, my experience as a unit secretary was very helpful during clinicals. Fast forward to my L&D rotation. I was exci...

I like the PTO system in general. However, when I have to take PTO for surgical mission trips, it wipes me out for a while. I wish that there was a system that allowed for community time, instead of taking PTO.

I love patient care, and all that in entails. I despise the fact that our hands are tied in so many ways.

What do you mean by "outside"? Do you mean that the indicator is on top of the first tray? With trials, oftentimes the trays are multi-tiered. The scrub has to verify that EVERY indicator in EVERY level of the tray is good.

"No, Bob Marley Wanna Be, I do NOT think that every little thing will be all right. I'm here because my insurance got changed on account of Obamacare. Now, do you want me to Get Up Stand Up, or do you want to Keep on Movin'?"

"She's crashing!" yells the second year anesthesiology resident. His high pitched voice slices through the alarms that pierce the green tiled operating room. His forehead creases, and his eyes are wild as he rapidly glances from his patient to the mo...

CALL. THE. DOC.

I've been a permanent charge nurse for 5 years now. It still makes me laugh when one particular staff member argues with me (every. single. time.) about his evening assignment when he is required to stay on call. He says, "OK, sure. Whatever. You're...

I agree with Been There. Sounds like you might need to adjust your schedule. Do you work 12s? Was the last shift a 12 hour scheduled shift? I'm assuming it's not or it would put you into OT, depending on the days that you worked. It's really hard to...

Pfft! I am lucky if I get to go to the bathroom!

OP, I admire you for your strength and resilience while deployed. My hubby was a medic in the 82nd, and I can understand (only peripherally) what you are describing. He jumped into some pretty heinous territory during his time in the Army. I think i...

The key to success is organization. If you are organized, you spend less time searching for something and more time thinking about what you are doing.

I've not had any trouble with nursing students. Med students, on the other hand... Normally, I love having med students in the OR with me. They are SO EAGER to learn. But sometimes I get ones that aren't so eager. After 15 minutes of holding retrac...

All, I need your brains...in a totally non I-am-a-zombie-and-I-am-starving kind of way! How does your facility assign lunches and breaks? How do you track who has had lunch and who still needs to be relieved for lunch? I work in a large L1 TC, and ha...

If my house was burning, I would save my Danskos first. When I first started in nursing, I wore running shoes. Big mistake. My feet were absolutely throbbing at the end of the day. I changed to Danskos once I saved enough money, and now that's ALL I...

Sandwich hand draping? I can't even imagine that. The entire hand must be draped in a circumferential manner in order to maintain sterility. If the hand and arm are prepped, then a stockinette should be placed over the hand and all the way up to the ...

Oh my goodness! That's a lot of call for the day shift to take. I work in a L1 trauma center, so we staff evenings, nights and 4 teams on the weekends. Our shifts are as follows: 0700-1730 0700-1930 0900-1930 1100-2330 1300-2330 1500-2330 1900-0730 ...

Y'all-please correct me if I am wrong, but I thought that nursing mothers were required by law to be relieved q 4 to pump. When interviewing, the panel looks at the candidate in a "10,000" foot view. They want to know that you will be up and running...

At my facility, a pre-induction time out is performed, and then a pre-incision time out is performed once the drapes are up and the patient is prepped. If you run down the things that are announced during the pre-incision time out, one of the things ...

The beauty of OR nursing is that you focus on ONE patient. Following is a typical day for me (when I am not in charge): 1. Find out what room I am assigned to the next day. a. Look up each pt hx, along with labs b. Review the surgical proced...

First of all, kudos to you for stepping up into a "leadership position", although it can be quite taxing. Naturally, these new grads look up to you and trust your judgement, else they wouldn't get so upset when you aren't immediately available to the...

OP, can you describe further what you mean about "the surgeon reaching through the hole to the elbow" How was the pt draped? Where was the operative site?

Harold, your hand is frozen to the handle of the liquid nitrogen vat again, isn't it?