HJBeans

That's nothing. You should here oce of our cario vascular surgeons. You can't be serious all of the time. You'll go nuts.

Probably buisness/finance.

You have mail

I'll tell you what though, it won't happen again. I made sure of that. Luckily, I survived. But I am used to 2 patients, 7! I ended up with a huge blister on my foot since there I had one patinet in room 602, one in 610, one in 621 etc...

In the CVICU, that's what we do. The other day I got floated to tele. All of the other nurses had 3 patients primary care. I had SEVEN. No Aide, just me. And three were total care. It wasn't until 1/2 way through the shift I realized how bad I was jerked over.

I do, but only because I am a traveler. Other hospitals I work at did not pay me more to work in ICU (when I was on staff)

I usually introduce my self and say "what do you like to be called?" On another note, a nurse went in to mt father's room and said "Mr ####### it's time to take your medication" He said "Please don't call me Mr. #######. That's my father's name and I don't like to be addressed like that" And it's true. He hates it. Growing up all my friends called him by his first name. Everyone does. If someone called me Miss so and so or Ma'am I'd be offended. I hate it. I am 32 years old. I have a first name. That is what I want to be called. My parents didn't give it to me for nothing. A little side humor. I had a patient (90) who thought she was 21. She got married when she was 30, so if you called her by her married name she had no idea who you were talking to.

Well, it has affected me by causing me to miss over 1 month of work 2 different times for a slipped disk (L3 to L4). This could probably happen with any patient though. But the only 2 times I have been hurt was caring for an obese patient.

Believe me. I ask myself this same question 100 times a day.

That's good to know. Honestly, I didn't know they could be certified. The last hospital I worked at (Cleveland Clinic Weston) didn't use LPN's in that hospital and that's where I took my latest recert. In my initial ACLS class I don't recall whether there were LPN's or not.

I think once you actually experience the code, it is a different story. You can study, know all of the stuff, but it's during the real codes you learn. The thing about ACLS as opposed to BLS (to the original poster) is in ACLS you learn what drug to push (Atropine &/or Epi, Lidocaine etc...) There is NO WAY a student should be certified to push any of these drugs unsupervised. You need to know what to push. You follow protocol. There are no orders. You just have to know. Also, it involves looking at the monitor and YOU deciding "does he/she need to be defibrilated or not?" The machine does not tell you "shock advised" Then you control how many joules you are going to shock them with.

Thnaks everyone :) I am going to take the month of August of. perhaps I can pull myself out of this funk.

The last two hospital I worked at laid off all of their NP's. "Budget" crap

I agree. I hope a nurse knows what she is certified in. ACLS is serious stuff.

I need help. I have been a nurse now for 9 years (I am 32) I have worked in every field and currently in adult ICU. I started buring out about 4 years ago and became a traveler. I am at the point of total burnout now. I cry at least once a week. I cannot believe how understaffed hospitals are. I am afraid I am going to have a nervous breakdown. I have a BSN if that helps any. My only experiece is in bed side nursing. I just need a different setting or some sort of hope.....