JonM_RN

$1.50/hr extra on current wage, no reimburstment of test fees, no bonus.

I won't get into what the role of the respiratory therapist is in NJ because the above posts summarize it well. In terms of what you can expect to have in your assignment, you will definitely have two vented patients on a regular basis, whether they be ETT's or trach airways, and possibly a third non-vented patient depending on your unit's acuity and staffing. In NJ there is no mandate like California for nurse-patient ratios, so it is not uncommon to have a 3 patient assignment in the ICU. I would say 2 is the norm, and one to one nursing only for new codes, IABP's, CRRT, or a severely unstable patient.

Well that PM will have to wait, apparently I need to post more topics before I can send a PM.

Thanks for the honest opinion, I'll be PM'ing you.

My apologizes for not being specific. At my facility, the first scenario you described is how we practice, and actually, I work at two different hospitals and they both practice controlled waste disposal this way. When withdrawing medication from the pyxis and the dose is less than what is in the dispensed vial, a witness is required at the time of withdrawal from the pyxis with an amount to be given and an amount to be wasted documented at the time of removal from pyxis. So yes, if someone continues to carry around medication that they just documented as "wasted" then it is unethical. However I was not taking into account other methods, such as the one described at your facility. My mistake for generalizing.

Laura Gasparis, all day, every day, don't even look at another book/DVD. Lots of people have the lecture she does on DVD, I'd borrow it from someone if you can because it is pricey. The book is about $50 I believe and its all practice questions with rationale for the answer choices. I borrowed the DVD from a friend (its 6 disks) and watched it twice, once casually, the second time taking notes. Then I just did practice questions, about 150 each night the week leading up to my exam. The website www.greatnurses.com

How my day starts when I have multiple patients. 1. Get report and do walking rounds. When I'm on walking rounds I do a quick eyeball assessment of the patient and the enviornment - Airway, vent settings, infusions and rate checks, monitor and alarm limits, safety check for siderails and bed alarm, restraints, etc. Once you get good at it, this can literally take a minute or two. 2. After report and putting eyes quickly on each patient, I look up my labs and write down an initial set of vitals on all of my patients. 3. Now I prioritize who I'm going to medicate and assess first, usually starting with the most unstable. If I have two patients, sometimes one is vented, or both are vented. If I have three patients, the third is almost always awaiting a transfer to step down, so they are always seen last by me for medications. 4. After everyone is medicated and assessed, I begin trying to chart as much as I possibly can to get it out of the way. Usually by now physicians are rounding and almost always interrupt you for their own bedside rounds or with questions on how the previous shift went, so that's why I've made sure to already know my labs and any critical values and have an initial set of vitals documented. Also be able to speak to your assessment that you've done, especially if it relates to neurologic changes, and how it compares to the previous findings. From there you just have to be flexible because as you already know things can change quickly in critical care!

The average seems to be a year for someone without critical care experience, sometimes less if you have experience on a monitored unit or a step down unit. Don't feel bad. Continue to participate in as many experiences as you can. Be present at all codes or rapid responses if you're able to. Try to follow the habits of a good, experienced nurse that you trust. If you are the nurse of the patient that is coding and you think there are too many people in your room, tell them to get out! It may seem rude, but once you have your confidence level up learn how to assertively take charge in a code situation. When a code is first called, everyone and their mother usually swarms in - attendings, intensivists, anesthesia, respiratory, residents, nursing, etc. There are ways to professionally tell people that enough help is being provided. When too many people are in the room for a code, that's also how accidents happen. I've seen people trip and fall, and even had one nurse get whacked in the forehard while someone else was removing a head board to use as a CPR board under the patient. She passed out on the floor and we had to send her to the ER.

1. Dialysis effluent is not red bin waste and can safely be disposed of in the sink and/or toilet. Red bin waste typically applies to only grossly bloody items that theoretically if you were to hold in your hand and squeeze and blood drips out, then it can go in the red bin. 2. Propofol is neither a controlled substance nor highly abused. You are thinking of the late Michael Jackson's death. Remember, his cardiologist purchased the drug to administer to him. You cannot get it outside of a hospital, and it is not a narcotic. There is nothing addictive about it, you can't get high off it it. 3. Here's where your preceptor is wrong. The amount of Fentanyl dose ordered should have been drawn up and administered with the remainder properly wasted at the time the medication was first drawn up. Although what your preceptor did is practiced among some nurses, it is not only a bad habit, but unethical. Many nurses do this because they feel bad wasting half or more of a vial of drug, but all that aside your are still carrying around medication in your pocket that you previously documented as a wasted product.

Hello all of my Floridian collegues! I'm a RN in NJ that has been considering moving to Florida for some time. I'm born and raised in NJ, but have frequently visited Florida throughout my lifetime, and no not just to Disneyworld . I have many family members that have left the NJ/NY area for Florida and am considering making the move myself for my family of 5. I'm leaning towards central Florida but I'm still very flexible at this time; not looking to move immediately but within the next two years. A little about my experience in the profession: 2 years IMCU/Step down (first nursing job) 1 year of Cardiac Cath Lab 3 years of critical care nursing in a combined medical, surgical, cardiac ICU with a focus on complex SICU patients (my current full time job) 1 year of PACU (my other current job, working per diem) My credentials include BSN, CCRN with ACLS and PALS. Also have experience and training for providing CRRT (continuous renal replacement therapy). My questions are the following: 1. What is a ballpark figure for an hourly rate I can expect working full time in a critical care unit taking into account my work experience? I do realize that on average nursing jobs in Florida pay less than NJ, but in NJ I probably fall somewhere on the lower end of what is considered "average" since I work in western/central NJ. 2. Would hooking up with a staffing agency for the first 6 months to a year be an easier transition or should I just look for full time regular employment beforehand? 3. Does anyone have any thoughts or input on the Lake Nona area? The last time I was in Orlando visiting family was this past December of 2012, and it seemed to be pretty hyped up by my relatives as being an up and coming place to live. Any and all input/feedback is greatly appreciated, and if there's something that I should be considering that wasn't mentioned, please feel free to bring it up!

Statistics is more science than raw math. If you have a good handle on basic algebra, you'll be fine. Statistics professors know that healthcare professionals have to take their course only for the sake of their degree so they usually have some compassion for that...usually .

Sounds pretty typical of the medical assistants I know, both in and out of work. Best advice would be to try and explain to her how her comments make you feel both as a mom and a professional RN, but that depends on how comfortable you are addressing her comments directly. Otherwise, learn how to roll with the punches and blow it off, lol. However, that was pretty rude and inappropriate of her to call your daughter's pediatrician, I mean that isn't even her grandaughter (I'm assuming here since you said boyfriend's mother), and for goodness sake you're a RN; seems to be a lack of respect for the profession and you.

Seems common to me, although with post-op open heart patients, I think it's a bit much. Where I work on my step down unit, we have post-op cath's (cardiac caths, carotids, peripherals, etc. with angio and stents), post-op pacemakers, ICU step down, drip patients (cardizem, dopamine/dobutamine, lido, amio, etc.), and neuro/cva patients. The only thing we don't have is open heart because our hospital doesn't have a cardio-thoracic OR. On day shift we go up to 5:1 (although realistically its more like 3/4:1) and on night shift we can do 6:1. We're a 29 bed unit, and we also get patient's from the med-surg units that flip into AFIB or SVT and need to go on drips. Also, we have some staffing guidelines like no more than 2 drips in an assignment, if a nurse has a vented patient they have no more than 3 patients including the vent, and no more than 2 fresh post op cath's per nurse.

We have a Men in Nursing calender in NJ. It's great, seems to get a lot of positive feedback. For those that think it's degrading, pretty much all the shots are of men in their work enviornment or with their families, no bare chested shots of guys on a beach or anything like that. The calender shows each nurse's educational background, where they work and what their specialty is, and how they became interested in the profession. They have everything from new grads all the way up to nearly retirement age nurse's.

I'm currently working as a cardiac nurse (telemetry/IMCU 2 years) with 6 months of cath lab experience looking to network myself into Capital Health for future employment opportunities. Since I don't know anyone personally who is employed there, I'm looking to find out who the nurse supervisor/director is for the Cardiac Cath Lab and/or Vascular lab at Capital Health. Besides a name and contact information, if any current Capital Health employees can help answer the following questions, I'd be very appreciative. 1. Does the cardiac cath lab and vascular lab share nursing staff? At the hospital I currently work at, the cath lab team services cardiac cath's, peripheral cath's with angio and stenting, carotid angio with stenting, and primary angioplasty for AMI's. We also do pacemaker's and generator changes as well as pericardialcentisis, all in one lab. 2. Is the current cardiac cath (located on the Mercer campus) going to be relocated to the new Hopewell Campus? 3. When is the new Hopewell campus opening (this year?) and when will jobs begin to be posted, or is the majority of the staff going to be relocated from the Mercer campus? Any and all help regarding these questions is greatly appreciated!