flo136

flo136

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All Content by flo136

  1. Where to go after the ICU?

    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...

  2. When does it stop being scary?

    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...

  3. CRRT: My Mistake

    flo136 replied to BC1441's topic in Critical Care

    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...

  4. "Patient Satisfaction" in the ICU

    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....

  5. Bouncing back after a bad shift

    flo136 replied to mph53953's topic in Critical Care

    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...

  6. I want to quit during SICU orientation

    flo136 replied to lynnburg's topic in MICU, SICU

    What

  7. Things you wish nursing school would have taught you?

    flo136 replied to Clover19's topic in General Nursing

    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...

  8. Night shift mentality: keep them alive until day team comes on

    flo136 replied to stacylethani's topic in General Nursing

    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...

  9. Open visitation in the ICU

    flo136 replied to Mini2544's topic in Critical Care

    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...

  10. does anyone regret this career?

    flo136 replied to cantdoit's topic in General Nursing

    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...

  11. Burn ICU Question

    flo136 replied to NeuroNP's topic in Critical Care

    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...

  12. Why go into trauma/critical care nursing?

    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,...

  13. It will get better...right?

    flo136 replied to Lovelymo79's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    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...

  14. Titrating multiple drips

    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....

  15. What have your co-workers done to make a shift go more smoothly?

    flo136 replied to xtxrn's topic in General Nursing

    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...

  16. What does "Ao" stand for?

    flo136 replied to simboka's topic in MICU, SICU

    I'd say also

  17. Burnout rate-experienced nurses reply

    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...

  18. You are doing gods work... semi rant, wondering what its like for the rest of you

    flo136 replied to Sirapples's topic in MICU, SICU

    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...

  19. Swan-Ganz Use

    flo136 replied to TexRN08's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    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...

  20. My moms CABG

    flo136 replied to butterflie28's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    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...

  21. vomiting, yuck

    flo136 replied to brownbook's topic in General Nursing

    I end up retching with them! Thank goodness I work in ICU where they are all

  22. What would you do? ...stop TPN or not

    flo136 replied to IheartICUnursing's topic in MICU, SICU

    I think you did the right thing. It was a peri-arrest situation so your priorities are Airway, Breathing, Circulation. ABC...not TPN. That can

  23. Why are you and ICU nurse?

    flo136 replied to Ochin09's topic in MICU, SICU

    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...

  24. Can't believe they do CRRT this way...

    flo136 replied to jbp0529's topic in MICU, SICU

    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...

  25. What would you have done??

    flo136 replied to Sun0408's topic in MICU, SICU

    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...