erniefu BSN, RN

erniefu has 10 years experience as a BSN, RN.

Latest Activity

1. Breathless, Coughing and Run-down: What's Going On? | Case Study

   erniefu replied to SafetyNurse1968's topic in General Nursing

   Rainbow special for labs. So many differentials with this one. Blood cultures x2 Blue (INR/PTT, D-dimer) Yellow (viral and bacterial serology say HIV, STD) to query sepsis. Green (Lytes, Urea, Creatinine Troponin, CK) Lavende...

2. Suicidal Ideation and Muscle Twitches | Case Study

   erniefu replied to SafetyNurse1968's topic in General Nursing

   I would ask the MD for a vitamin B and at thyroid panel, as well as an MRI, EEG, EMG if bloodwork is normal.

3. Hospice Patient’s Family Refusing Hospice Cares

   erniefu replied to SilverBells's topic in General Nursing

   I see these kind of people all the time when I worked in a stroke unit. These families are usually not nice people and pardon the term, Karens in real life. Even if they consented to hospice care they will still demand you feed them, check their bloo...

4. Nurses are Pushed to the Brink

   erniefu replied to Nurse Beth's topic in COVID

   Nothing is going to change as long as board of directors collect their dividends and not be personally liable for the deaths. Boards of directors are more interested in " We are Heroes" billboards than providing proper PPE at hospitals. They spend mi...

5. How much experience does your manager/assistant manager have?

   erniefu replied to DownstreamOcclusion's topic in General Nursing

   I think that having experience with the patient population is important in managing the unit. A manager should have knowledge about the kind of patients coming to the unit, when to use authority to push patients out or keep patients and to manage exp...

6. Does it annoy you when you see employees with little to no direct patient care wearing much needed PPE

   erniefu replied to DesiDani's topic in COVID

   Yes. If people did proper social distancing and stayed home you are less likely to contract COVID-19. Have hand sanitizer ready and use it after you go touching things in public places. People hoarding masks and tossing them after their 30 min grocer...

7. Lazy patient

   erniefu replied to Katie622's topic in General Nursing

   A lazy patient needs to be reminded that if they can't wipe their own *** then they can do it in a nursing home or a group home. If you can't show you can wipe your own *** inpatient or rehab, then why should the doctor feel safe about discharging th...

8. Just Say “NO” to Nurse Staffing Laws

   erniefu replied to SafetyNurse1968's topic in General Nursing

   The ANA approach is the acuity based staffing model. Guess what? Hospital employers will game the numbers and won't reassess the model once they get the numbers they want to show to the public. Show me one time where hospitals are doing seasonal or y...

9. PICC line dressing changes difficulty

   erniefu replied to Gyh's topic in General Nursing

   Anything more than 4-5 cm out and you need to x-ray. The danger with it being that far out is that it can coil, rendering the PICC useless (its out of position) and can cause emboli. A PICC pulled out can be fixed by a PICC nurse with over the wire p...

10. Just Say “NO” to Nurse Staffing Laws

    erniefu replied to SafetyNurse1968's topic in General Nursing

    Healthcare administration has no risk if a nurse is overworked with 10:1 ratios and a severe adverse event happens. In that situation the hospital is fined, the nurse is fired and suspended by the board of nursing. The nurse bears the brunt of the pu...

11. PTO not in the budget for remainder of year

    erniefu replied to galaxygirl17's topic in General Nursing

    Companies usually budget for PTO so it wouldn't be a liability for vacation owing. That your manager denies your earned PTO means there are cash flow issues. This is just the beginning of more cuts and you should be prepared for the worst.

12. Do you think nurses aren’t taught enough about general emergencies/basic info about emergency medicine?

    erniefu replied to stacylethani's topic in General Nursing

    I think the most important emergency care you need is to not delay calling 911. Too many times families drive a stroke patient to ER when it was in the best interest to call 911 so an ambulance can take them to a stroke centre.

13. F.A.S.T. – Does not represent the time it takes to explain my role

    erniefu replied to Rn112389's topic in Neurological

    Very informative. In Canada in my academic hospital we have a dedicated stroke unit with a stepdown nurse from the hyperacute stroke unit that gives tPa (if indicated) and accompanies the patient to thrombectomy, freeing up the ER nurse for the next ...

14. Safe Staffing Levels for In-hospital Nursing Units

    erniefu replied to NURS5870's topic in Activism

    Until management gets hauled to a board of nursing/medicine disciplinary panel and faces charges of negligence and professional misconduct for chronic unsafe staffing ratios, staffing ratios will be treated as an afterthought by management. They get ...

15. Comprehensive Stroke Units: What is your staffing matrix?

    erniefu replied to Rin287's topic in Neurological

    In Canada, a comprehensive stroke centre would be doing stuff like giving tPa, thrombectomies/embolectomies, along with providing stroke care for those outside the window. Patients that are given tPa/thrombectomies are admitted to a hyperacute stroke...