flo136 replied to MyTachyUsername's topic in Critical Care
I have friends that hurt their back and were tired of the hard physical labour of adult ICU, and they went in neonatal ICU or paediatric ICU. Also a step 'back' in intensity is Recovery (post...
flo136 replied to JustAnotherNursemaybe's topic in Critical Care
I started in ICU, did the specialist ICU course after 6 months and 1 year's worth of consolidation afterwards. Crazy times! But after about 8-9 month mark, after getting the course under my belt, it...
I did something similar years ago learning CRRT but forgot to document the fluid off amounts. I felt like rubbish because they thought I was a 'good' ICU nurse. However, the nurse in charge told me...
flo136 replied to AlmostThere19's topic in Critical Care
Certainly there are patients and families that can be 'challenging' with their requests but ICU is still an amazing speciality to work in. Every shift can be so different and exciting professionally....
We've all had shifts like that. I find as much as I dread returning to work, it really helps to find out what happened to the patient. And talk to a trusted friendly colleague, someone whose opinion...
I wish I had learnt more about managing agitated and confused patients. I always felt so useless managing them, so ineffective. Making time to sit down and talk with a patient and their family. I...
I'll be honest- the doctors on night duty lack much experience, let alone the guts to make big decisions. We often feel like we are just babysitting the patients until someone in charge with a clue...
I love it when the visitors sit by the bedside for hours glued to their mobile phone. Or watch the whole unit work, not interested in their loved one in bed. Visitors- they drive you nuts! I've got my...
I don't regret it. There is so much variety, every day is different, and what we do is so important. But I am finding it harder, 20 years down the track. I love doing critical care but I find today's...
I worked in an Australian city public ICU that had a burns speciality for 3 years. A few random thoughts that entered my head when I read your note: The rooms are really hot, which is hard to work...
flo136 replied to melissacarey's topic in Critical Care
I agree with all the comments of life-threatening situations: fast-paced, exciting, etc. But also I like the nurse:patient ratio and also the support available when things go wrong. I have equipment,...
Give it a good six months. I felt like I made so many errors when I started. The patient deteriorated, and it was all my fault? Of course not, but I could not see why. I was so tired and stressed, the...
flo136 replied to Good Morning, Gil's topic in MICU, SICU
I agree with the other posts about experience guiding inotrope titration. But also, with disease processes such as sepsis,or multi-organ failure, you will get a feel for how far to go up or down....
Help each other out, without asking. Little things like turning pts, suction- all the two-hourly things we do. It's just done in time for breaks. And done well. Using each other rather than the...
flo136 replied to sassyrn333's topic in MICU, SICU
I'd say 3-5 years. I start to get really low about hospital politics and procedures after 6 months (the 'they-do-it-better-elsewhere' thing); but by 5 years I am really taking a sick day every month...
I guess it depends if you believe in God! I agree we do prolong things now in ICU. And I do feel sad for those patients when you, and they, know the inevitable is coming. The hopelessness of it. But I...
We use Swans here all the time in Adelaide, Australia. The docs use them mainly for number-crunching. Seeing the trend in the numbers: SVRI not so much. More CI/CO. I don't think they are good. I...
Here in my Australian public hospital, we do 4 CABG per day, 5 days a week. They do well. Some bleed and go back to theatre, but after that they're OK. Some come back on aortic balloon pumps, but...
Because I make a difference in someone's life, and it is a big difference. You can be there at the last breath, or when everything is being done to save a life such as cracking open a chest. It is an...
In Australia, dialysis aptients are 1:1. We use citrate rarely. We use the suction tubing hooked up to the effluent bags and drain them into a outlet in the wall, and reuse them too. 3 litre...
I still would have held the meds. Does the Dr want the patient to go into arrest by the morning? If your colleagues agree, and we are educated people, then I don't get the big deal. Re:badness: we use...