Roy Fokker BSN, RN

Heh! I'm the exact opposite - I went from ED/Trauma to Outpatient Infusion! 🙂 FIRST - try and relax! You're going to be no help to your patient if you're a nervous wreck (and this includes during actual emergencies!) Understand and accept the fac...

The Nursing Catch-22: If you're running around horribly busy, you're unorganized and need to prioritize, but if you're not running around horribly busy, you're lazy and need to find more work to do. Remember folks - Murphy was an optimist! ...

JayHanig: "I don't understand what your reticence was about telling her you had major GI symptoms. " Its the principle of the thing - why have sick days if you can't use them? I also don't think it would've mattered - I worked there for 2 years and...

As opposed to my old job: when I called out sick, sitting on my toilet because I couldn't get OFF of it (nasty GI bug - doing good both ends) - I was berated for calling out "on a weekend", demands asked as to "why/what reason" I was calling out for ...

Karen!!! How ARE you?? ? ?

1. THINK FIRST. ACT SECOND!! I can't stress this enough! Never forget - it is not about you, it is about the patient! 2. If you are in doubt about ANYTHING - meds, procedure, patient condition, whatever - ask another nurse or talk to the Doc! If you...

Charger? My gaming computer decided to die on me. Right before Christmas... Best of luck to us finding our electronic needs! ?

Possum Mom!!! ? Each time I drive up to see my cousins, I pass by Opossum Lane. And each time I see it, I'm reminded of you! And each time I'm reminded of you, I forget to stop and take a picture! ☹️ Hope you're doing well!!

Any "downtime" outside of work is "ok time" in this ER nurse's book!! How are you doing Ms. "traumaRUs"? Still in the B/N area? It has been a while...

That sounds absolutely lovely Ruby Vee! Glad you had a great time! ?

Are we allowed to post pictures? HIPAA compliant ofcourse?

Patient brought in by BLS. 0830 am. Sunday. Beautiful weather outside. Chief complaint? Vaginal discharge. Times 10 days. Before triaging patient to the waiting room, made the mistake of asking "why" she waited 10 days to be seen.... "Well, I would'v...

BINGO! Managers get a "bonus" for staying under budget. I know this because my best friend was a department director for years. (funny, all the hospitals I've worked for are non-profits. Somehow, the STAFF never got bonuses. You know, the same staff ...

I do this ALL the time. Admin wants "informed" patients, well that is exactly what they're going to get!

It used to annoy me as a new ED nurse (And I transitioned from Med-Surg to the ED!!!) Now it doesn't bother me as much. I say "Sorry, I don't know" and leave it at that. I do get annoyed when a NURSE or Radiology Tech etc. would call me (about an ADM...

I got burned over a verbal order for 2 mg Morphine IVP on a stable patient. Since I was dealing with a new arrival, I asked a colleague to administer the 2mg Morphine. Nurse gives the meds and goes to sign it off in the chart. Doc, who was standing t...

Did not known that! Awesome!

You have ratios in the ER??!!! My old ER - I've had 12 hour shifts where I've had 2 patients on ventilators, a non-STEMI on a Nitro drip and 2 Tele patients and that was considered a "normal assignment." My current ER gig is pretty good - we are a le...

DO let management know early (and co-workers when you feel ready) - just so we don't slot a patient with a communicable disease or someone with potential for violence in your area. But no, pregnancy is NOT a "can't work in the ED" type of case. LOL,...

You had a CVC - whats there to worry about? LOL

Technically, per management, we're not supposed to have ANY notes in Triage. Narrative documentation is to be done by the Primary Nurse. And even there, they discourage us from being "too wordy" - rationale being that the more info you have on the ch...

I generally don't add anything to 1 litre bags - if any drug needs that kind of volume dilution, pharmacy needs to do it because I don't have the expertise. We don't stock IV/IM Phenergan in our Pyxis anymore (haven't had stock in years. We DO stock ...

Dude(tte), it took me a good, solid 2 some years before I could go into work and not worry about killing someone on my shift! Not feeling like a rockstar - just merely relaxing enough to the point where I was reasonably sure I wasn't going to kill an...

We do something similar as well. ESI 1 and 2 get slotted for the Main ED. ESI 3 is split between vertical (ambulatory/no-co morbidities/low risk) and horizontal (non-ambulatory/high risk/possible admit etc.) Vertical ESI 3 goes to a re-worked "fast t...

Have your clients with sickle cell disease had over 400 visits for this year alone (come July) for sickle cell pain? Especially when they have resources available to them to help manage their sickle cell pain? When some of the doctors/nurses you work...