EDrunnerRN

Ok...a few days ago an ICU nurse, at my facility, stated that stable intubated patients on the Unit use bedside comodes. My first thought was you are joking, right?! No, she was serious! I don't pretend to be an ICU nurse or know the aspects of care ...

I work in a cynical ER...really who doesn't?! Last shift being cynical caught up w/ us. I often hear from my co-workers that I am "so naive," regarding the drug seeker patient. I have always interpreted this statement as an insult or perhaps indicati...

Valium and NS have a different pH, hence the crystalization. Valium should be given undiluted. In fact, I have slight OCD and even put a tiny air bubble in the saline lock before and after I administer Valium so the saline will have no chance of mixi...

I was expecting a horrific nursing story with a title like this. Is that as bad as it gets for you? Sounds like your a pretty good nurse. Have confidence in yourself, you are a nurse, you obviously know something! Next time you are in one of these si...

Ohh please tell me you are joking?! Sadly, I could see my ER forcing one more juggling act on the ER staff nurse. The ONLY time I note skin assessment is if there is reason. For instance, my patient comes in with altered mental status I will note the...

Babies/Children are ALWAYS the worst! As for advice, be aware of your religous/spiritual aspect. When I have a patient die I say a prayer for the family/friends and find comfort in comforting the family. I also run and many, many of my long runs occu...

Off the top of my head I would say I give Zofran, Phenergan, Albuterol, Solumedrol, Prednisone, Decadron, Benadryl, Pepcid, ASA, Tylenol, Motrin, Toradol, Morphine, Fentanyl, Lopressor, Metoprolol, Integrilin, Nitro, Adenosine, Cardizem, Dopamine, Le...

I dont know all the details but if a Nitro drip is involved I use a bedpan. One of our hats is to keep the patient safe. Any cardiac complaint gets a bedside comode and if drips are involved or the patient continues to c/o CP stick to the bed pan. Yo...

It's true we, nurses, are not perfect...gasp! I keep a note pad on my night stand because it seems that around 2 am I wake up and remember that I forgot to chart something. Personally, I have noticed that these instances happen more when we are "slam...

I know a D.O. who did this. It is my understanding that DO programs are more likely to take people from the medical field than an MD program. But heck, I also know anesthesiologist who went from GED to RN to MD. You have a dream go for it, it doesn't...

How do the different hospitals out there charge for IV fluids and IV tubing??? We currently use a pharmacy charge sheet, where we place pharmacy stickers, that are located on each package of the fluid/tubing. This is not working well and lots of lost...

As a brand new nurse, I remember thinking no one told me in nursing school how HARD being a nurse is. When I say HARD, I mean HARD. There are days when you get off work and feel as if you literally cannot walk. You are exhausted mentally, physically,...

It is also required where I work to swipe the top of each bottle with an alcohol pad. I ALWAYS do this step because I have received many phone calls from lab with "out of range" blood cultures, which includes one abnormal blood culture, most likely c...

I ALWAYS, ALWAYS dilute with Lido. When administering this medication I do a slow push allowing the lido to numb the area, as that is the intention of the Lido. I also make sure the medication is well mixed by rolling it several times between hands. ...

This post is just a reminder to keep our fellow nurses in Japan in your thoughts and prayers. I am sure they are being overworked, feeling overwhelmed, as well as dealing with their own emotional battles at this time. Today's epic catastrophe brough...

In the ER where I work we have both MD's and DO's. I LOVE our DO's. Unlike many of the MD's they are not so quick to prescribe a "cure all medication." In fact, one of our DO's gets a lot of grief from patient's because she refuses to prescribe antib...

In the ER today I had a 20 y/o "chest pain." Of course the pt received the full cardiac workup as well as a CT of the chest. Prior to taking my pt to CT the MD asked me what size IV I put in the patient and I replied 20 G. In my opinion, I felt this ...

Never worked the PCA pumps as I am an ER nurse but how much could you have really gave him just by adding a little pressure 2 mg? Its an IV medication so you would have seen pretty immediate changes in VS if you really gave him a big bolus. Now ya go...

In the ER I work at we receive many of these phone calls. Normally they ask if so and so is in the ER and as long as they have not blocked their information we can say "yes" or "no." If more information is requested I normally have the family come to...

In cardaic arrest situation's I know that Atropine is fast push/slam. However, last week I had a pt who was brady and the cardiologist, who likes to push his own medications, slammed 1 mg of Atropine in the patient which resulted in a pt who was tach...

Maybe I shouldn't have used the word "slammed" because the amp does not allow you to slam it in. My point is...after the incident I talked to some seasoned nurses about how fast the Doc pushed the Atropine and I stated, I never push it that fast in n...

Wear a pants suit and get some flats from Walmart..$10.00. Ace wrap before the interview and there ya go. No tennis shoes, very unprofessional, you dont want to do anything to put yourself in the negative light. Good luck!

Follow your ABC's. I would also want more info...was she hit by a car? If so, does she remember the entire event? Did anyone witness the event? How fast was the vehicle going? Where are the injuries? Did she hit her head and if so is she on blood thi...

The MD did inform the pt and family that a larger IV would need to be placed. After he wrote an order for the IV to be dc'd and a larger one placed he said, "Make sure you take it out, I don't want them to try to use it." My statement, to this doc wa...

As a new RN, with one year of experience in the ER, I am contemplatiing on the "right" time to return to school and pursue my education goal of Nurse Practitioner. With a little over a year under my belt in a busy ER, I feel I have learned a plethora...