brainkandy87 replied to BigDiesel's topic in Emergency
My nursing career has been far too short to top any of the crazy stuff here, but so far, this is my most interesting pt: Forty-two year old female comes in with CP radiating to her back 8/10, with no...
brainkandy87 replied to maddybears's topic in Emergency
One of the big things that helps wait times in our ER is float nurses. We generally have 1-2 at any given time. I've heard strong opinions for and against these, as some nurses absolutely do not want...
brainkandy87 replied to shannonFNP's topic in Emergency
In the ER I work in, each nurse has four assigned rooms and there's usually 1-2 float nurses (20 bed ER). If anyone comes in with CP, they are taken straight back without being triaged like everyone...
So there's a TNCC new provider class in March I was wanting to get in on at my hospital, but I was told that I had to wait until I'd been in the ED a year before I could take it. I knew CEN needed a...
brainkandy87 replied to brainkandy87's topic in Emergency
Yeah, I agree fully, there's always something to learn. I'm just a huge nerd and like being a proactive learner. If I'm not getting new education I get bored. God, that makes me sound like a huge...
Don't blindly give medications just because they're scheduled. When I worked a tele floor, I don't know how many times I had a pt hypotensive or bradycardic because the day nurse had given a beta...
brainkandy87 replied to esunada's topic in Emergency
I just worked twelve hours and am far too tired to get into a health care debate, but I will restate what I originally said: we wouldn't have as many people coming to the ER for silly reasons. I am in...
brainkandy87 replied to RNDude100's topic in Cardiac
It just comes with time and experience. However, always be confident in yourself and what you're doing, even if your skills aren't quite developed yet. Those will come eventually. However, being the...
brainkandy87 replied to fsh1986's topic in Cardiac
Cardiac was my absolute worst subject in nursing school (ok, second worst.. my hatred for OB spilled over into my grades) and so when I got my first job on a step down/tele floor, I was kind of...
Ah, good point I guess. I'd still just be so hesitant to return a 20 ml syringe of blood into a pt, even if they were heparinized. I mean, at most I'm wasting 120 ml a day, but in reality you don't...
Maybe my brain isn't working from working all day and night, but I'm not understanding the rationale behind returning the waste when drawing from a central line. To me, the risk far outweighs any...
brainkandy87 replied to Wantoknow-rn's topic in Emergency
Yep. I'm always straight up with them. I don't care what anyone does, I'm here to take care of them. Managing their life choices is not my job and I let them know that. I nearly always get them to...
brainkandy87 replied to KalipsoRed21's topic in Emergency
Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. This involves knowing what the pt needs and will need (what's the presenting problem? abd pain? chest pain? know your basic set of things that need to be done),...
brainkandy87 replied to esunada's topic in Emergency
Meh, I'm a liberal and a universal health care proponent. I don't mind people "abusing" the ER at all. I think humanity has evolved to the point where health care is no longer a privilege, but a basic...
brainkandy87 replied to brainkandy87's topic in Emergency
Well, I've gotten out of my slump and am batting a thousand this week. I even hit an IV drug user with total venous sclerosis and a dehydrated paraplegic that a CRNI couldn't hit. I'm holding up a...
So I just had to let off some frustration/depression, even though I know these days come every once in a while, but still.. hitting .000 for the day in ER is roooooough. I couldn't get a cath to...
brainkandy87 replied to sapphire18's topic in Emergency
I don't think I could ever be bored in the ER. At the very least, I'll never be as bored as I was on the floor. There's always interesting stuff, even with the primary/urgent care stuff. I'll give you...
brainkandy87 replied to jdion's topic in Emergency
I was dx as a non-DM hypoglycemic when I was a kid and I was worried about it when I started clinicals in nsg school. The last thing you want is a hypo fit and not even be able to create a sentence...
brainkandy87 replied to johny1's topic in Men in Nursing
Yeah, I've found being a nurse helps when it comes to women. Especially with the RT's at my hospital. Cough. None of the gf's I had during nursing school found it interesting at all though. In fact, I...