pockunit ADN, RN

I would assume that a catheter was taken out and used if one was ordered and charted. If a pt got a neb, it seems to follow that neb treatment should be charged. That seems easy enough to figure out and charge for. My beef is that we end up double c...

I can have anywhere from 1 to 12+, depending on acuity and how fast rooms turn over. I worked a double yesterday and had 3 rooms but that probably only turned into 10 or so pts because of bed space and holding pending discharge or admission (one was ...

I am almost aggressively upbeat and I have found that it wins people over in spite of themselves. It can be exhausting on some days, but it's generally worth it in the long run.

I worked a year in community health out of school, then started as a med-surg float at a small hospital, moved to a bigger hospital (same organization) as MS float, then took a turn with Mother-Child. All of it has been helpful in the ER, from educat...

I got my position because I had Peds/Maternal experience, which I had gotten *because* I wanted to move to ED and figured it would be good to be not scared of kids/pregnant ladies. Med-surg is a fine, fine base, but anything extra you can add on is o...

MILK & MOLASSES, BABY. Pink elephant if we're feeling frisky.

Windows.

I assume your friend has never been a patient in the ER or they probably wouldn't have this crappy attitude. If they have, they might have rolled up with one of our bread and butter complaints, like "flu sx X 3 days" and gotten minimal interventions ...

WELL. The other day I cardioverted someone, got someone prepped for Ortho surgery after a nasty fracture, treated a pt for presumptive STDs, prepped for an eye exam for someone with a probable corneal abrasion (confirmed), Sent IDK how many people ho...

We are generally 1:4 from 0300- 0900 1:3 on days and afternoons. NOCs are 1:3 until 0300 unless we're short. Floats take ECG, hall pts, and if we have a trauma they generally take that pt. So it can be UG.LY for a float if there are pts in ECG and th...

NYT published a story about an ER going mostly narc-free. It was pretty interesting. I'd like it if we gave it a try, but I don't think management would go for it.

Our pharmacists draw up meds for RSI and other stat situations. It's part of our process. I won't just take a random syringe from another nurse if I didn't see them draw it up, but refusing to take a drawn syringe in a code is going to go badly.

Volunteer to be the recorder in codes and sketchy situations. You will learn what the standard procedures are, what drugs are used, see people doing compressions and intubations, and get a good idea of how codes are run.

No, she knows. But you coming in asking for a definition without providing what you THINK it is is kind of a hallmark "do my homework for me" ploy. Also, google is a thing.

Do you choose to drive? Do you ever consume raw milk cheese? Do you eat raw cookie dough? All examples of activities that are acknowledged to be potentially dangerous but people still decide to engage in because they are terrible at judging risk. Als...

I go by the $100 test. Would you bend over to pick up a hundred bucks? If so, probably not influenza.

That's some pretty incredible biofeedback control you've got there.

So I guess my question, especially for the new grads, is: why on earth would you expect NOT to feel out of your depth and be drowning? This is all new to you. You just graduated and this is your first nursing job. You haven't even had stable med-surg...

Yep. Do the things, and speed will come. Just know that as soon as you feel like you have a handle on the things you see regularly, something that totally rocks your boat is going to come into one of your rooms.

I tend to do heart/lungs/belly on everyone just to CMA. Then I'll do a focused assessment based on their chief complaint. So chest pain clearly gets heart/lungs, but I'll also ask about musculoskeletal in case it's a strain. Rash? I think ticks along...

Transport teams for non-critical pts. Anyone monitored or going to a unit gets RN transport. Behavioral gets transport team or aide and security.

"I'll be back to check on you in 15 hospital minutes."

We are supposed to ask for the pt's shift goal (shower, take a walk, etc), but the care plan itself is still based on nursing assessments and ADPIE. Most people don't ask about the shift goal or just chose an obvious one like pain control for post-op...

How did your test go, do you think?

Can you not apply on a different floor in your facility? Nothing wrong with being honest and saying you were over your head and want to go back to what you were doing before.