SILRN

I worked Med/Surg and LTC as a CNA while going through nursing school. After nursing school I worked on the Med/Surg floor for a few months then got bumped to ER. My hospital was very small in a town of only 3200. ER is ER up to some aspect. All ER RNs need to be able to think of their feet. Be good at starting IVs. Know their drips/infusions...etc. The only downfall to a small ER that I noticed was that our small facility was not able to provide some of the needed care for certain patients and we would be a "hold over" until we could get a transfer to another ER. For instance when we had an AMI come in, we did not have a cath lab, so we would get an EKG and give the ASA, O2 and get them out the door to a facility that could get them in a cath lab. However, I just recently started in the ICU about 5 months ago. During my initial interview my current supervisor told me that the she wanted me to work there was because of my ER background - whether it was a small ER or not. Your experience with being able to think on your toes in a fast paced department is more important that the resources you are allowed. So I say go for it! Good luck

I think it's funny that you say you needed to lose weight to stay in shape for nursing. I've noticed that since i've been working in the ICU it seems that I am now the only name that any of the the female nurses remember when they need a patient lifted/turned/transferred during my shift haha. I believe that I have to stay in shape for the mere fact that I'll look like a weakling when I end up being the one that can't help the 5'2 120lb RN lift her 145kg vented patient up in bed ha. And I saw earlier in this thread that someone suggested P90X. Awesome workout plan. I've worked out religiously since I was in high school 4 - 6 days a week depending on if i'm in a cutting or bulking cycle. I lost my drivers license for a while and was unable to go to the gym so I picked up the P90X dvds to pass the time and i've never sweat so much in my life. Granted, you probably won't really gain much size/strength but you'll melt fat and drop your bf% in no time. Ditto to the plyometrics comment too, awesome core work. Very good for balance

Worked on a Med/Surg unit that, quite often, had dementia patients. I once had to answer a light because a woman had to tell me that there were two little kids running around in her room stealing her candy from her bedside table and would not give it back to her. Another nurse and I, to satisfy her, got on our hands and knees and crawled under her bed to "get her candy back" from those little punk kids. I hate stealers!

I work in an ICU. I alternate weeks. 1st week i'll do 3x12, next week is 4x12, then 3, then 4...etc. When I was first starting 12 hour shifts a few years ago I hated it and was so tired that i felt like I couldn't function by the end of the shift. Now that I have worked 12's for a few years in a row i don't believe I would ever want to go back to 8hour shifts. And, like I saw earlier, a 12 hour shift rarely ends up being 12 hours. I work night shift and clock in at 1845 and it's rare if i'm ever out of the building before 0830. In the past I have worked 3x12 and 3x12 2 weeks in a row and still managed to get overtime due to long reports, Drs not being on time in the morning, having a late admission...etc. Currently ICU RNs are mandated to work 12 hour shifts unless special arrangements are made - but even if I was given the option I think I would stay how I am.

hey everyone, new to the forum. We use diprivan as a mainstay and depending on the difficulty of sedation we will add in fentanyl/versed or something similar. 9/10 pts on sedation are on diprivan and I hate it because it seems to be so much more difficult for weaning trials. Not to mention a majority of our pt's have been CABGs and come back on every presser known to man so you are titrating dobutamine, dopamine, levophed...etc and trying to keep your pressure from going too soft with the diprivan. Most of the hospitals in my area are trying to get away from the diprivan because of the later effects due to it's storage in fat cells.