AlabamaBelle

Some centers have the nice chairs with heat and vibration. I was in a Peds unit and even the 5 year olds hit those two buttons first!

I have worked for DaVita in Acutes. If you really like working on your own, it's great. It's also very feast/famine. You may to 5 hours one day and the next 20-24. And there's call. This part is very MD dependent. Personally, I am grateful for my exp...

I'm more appalled at the pettiness of the nurse who reported Jonathan. This is a petty, vindictive individual. Everyone who works around this person should be wary. I don't do selfies and I don't list who I work for.

UGH! Ostomies. I will do any other task for any coworker if they will take care of my ostomy patient. I gag at the thought. Just no.

I've been doing dialysis for 4 years, part pediatric and part adult. Some days you got it and some days you don't. My 2 missed accesses were with the same doctor who does not like me. I actually call for changes in patient condition (patient bleeding...

First, I want to say I am not asking for advice. I am an experienced Peds ICU RN, Peds Dialysis RN and Acute HD/CRRT RN. I only ask for some things to expect...not a fan of surprises. My husband was just diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and aort...

I make appointments very quickly after schedules are posted. I don't explain who the appointment is with, not their business. If the scheduler forgot to put me on, oh, well! I have had to learn the hard way to not let people push me around. Being ni...

Dear youngling... Accept now that you WILL get yelled at or the MD will be extremely annoyed with you in the field of nursing. Grow a thicker skin. The Charge or Preceptor is just a cog in the wheel. You will chart that you notified your charge nurse...

Always, always, follow your gut. Don't listen to a charge nurse or anybody else. I'll take the chewing, which I had recently. The NP and MD (who has standing orders that we call the NP, not him) complained about my call, but my glutes were covered, j...

We are 2:1 in our dialysis unit. We have no techs. If we have an unknown Hep B status, that patient has his/her own nurse. Hep B, does of course, complicate staffing. We also do portables 1:1 in our ICUs. We often have more than one patient in a part...

parolang, if I were in a clinic, I would love to work with you! I work in acutes. Our program doesn't routinely have a PCT, just occasionally. We feel pampered when she is there. We have a four bed space in our unit, with 2 patients per RN, Hepatiti...

I've always been known as "The Pen Queen." My collection is embarrassingly large. I have found some pens that are very distinct and I will retrieve my pen from your hand. I have pens that I don't care if you take. I have sharpies in different colors....

He certainly was! His parents were Southern, as well. They didn't have a much in the way of formal education, but they could read, write, and reason. They passed that on down.

I'm just wondering how many people had to look up Edgar Cayce. We're giving away ages! Somethings you just can't engage me in during work hours. I leave religion and politics at the front door and any "hot button" topics of the moment. I'm good at pl...

Our school started preparing us at the end of our next to last semester. We were ready with all documentation at the beginning of the final semester. They even brought a company to do fingerprints. We were given a list of places if we couldn't make t...

We have a few "frequent flyers," but for some of them it's a function of ESRD and the co-morbidities. I do know of a large acutes program that acts as the chronic for several patients. They have been dismissed from their respective clinics. For the...

The break room or the med room would be the most appropriate place to vent if you are going to use profanity. I worked with one nurse who had to be repeatedly counseled for her inappropriate language (f-bombs were her favorite), but other expressions...

I work in the Acute setting and recently had a PD patient who had several other problems. His wife was at bedside and he was sleeping. She revealed that she felt like she had not been educated well enough prior to the placement of the catheter. She s...

So, I have returned to Acute Dialysis after very heavy recruitment. I love it and got great hours...now for my problem. Had a really unpleasant conversation with one of our nephrologists in regard to a specific patient. His basic complaint was that w...

I'm not sure about those areas. I hold an Associate's degree. Many hospitals offer tuition reimbursement if you want to pursue the BSN. Many people go this route, as it does make some good economic sense. I'm in the South and ADNs don't seem to have ...

It takes repetition to learn to string the machine. One day, you'll see you've done it without thinking about it. No way you'll get in the very short time frame you mentioned. I'd also suggest you read the machine's manual. We have Fresenius 2008K an...

The patient's MAP was 50, propped up by a SBP of 118/11. Wide pulse pressure, much? Patient was on pressors. She was sick and her heart was a wreck. Patient passed after about a week and a half of daily dialysis. BellaGeorge, what is interesting is ...

Nothing I have seen or been around in nursing has taken my appetite (unfortunately). Ostomies may make me ill, but I can still eat.

My babies/children were grown when I became an RN. I'm also an non-smoker. I have covered for nurses that needed to pump. More often than not, I got left with some sort of "mess" to clean up or found the patient needed interventions. Getting same nur...

Like Chisca said, renal patients are truly surprised when you remind them that when ice melts, it's water! Who knew?