RainMom

PACU, pre/postoperative, ortho

Member

  • Content

    1,117

  • Visitors

    26,851

  • Followers

    0

  • Likes

    104

All Content by RainMom

  1. RainMom

    Certifications

    RainMom posted a topic in Travel

    Considering traveling in the future (maybe a few yrs down the road). I've been a PACU nurse for almost 10 yrs now. How important or helpful is it to have specialty based certifications, ie CPAN/CAPA,...
  2. RainMom

    Certifications

    RainMom replied to RainMom's topic in Travel

    Thanks again Ned. You always have such great info & advice. I appreciate
  3. RainMom

    Certifications

    RainMom replied to RainMom's topic in Travel

    Thank you, good to know. I wasn't sure how much weight such things were given when applying for travel
  4. RainMom

    Is my Phase II properly staffed?

    RainMom replied to justhere99's topic in PACU

    Surely they don't expect that every single phase II pt is ready to discharge by 45 minutes? That seems very unrealistic unless all the pts are simple things like cataracts or endoscopies which can...
  5. RainMom

    Medsurg to outpatient PACU?

    RainMom replied to MO24's topic in PACU

    True re: MAC but it will truly depend on the facility. Our local free standing surgical center does outpt TKR & my understanding is there is a push for doing more of these types of procedures as...
  6. RainMom

    Medsurg to outpatient PACU?

    RainMom replied to MO24's topic in PACU

    Absolutely! Recovering an outpatient is no different than recovering an inpatient when it comes to anesthesia. You may not be seeing more critical patients but your initial priority will always be...
  7. RainMom

    ASPAN orientation program, new preceptor

    RainMom posted a topic in PACU

    Wondering if anyone uses the ASPAN orientation program for training new PACU nurses? We don't really have a very structured orientation program for new hires. We will be filling 2 positions soon...
  8. RainMom

    IV skills; The IV Guy course review

    RainMom replied to BarefootNurse3's topic in General Nursing

    Do not stress over IV skills. Personally I would not sign up for any IV courses; you have the know how, you just need the repetition. You will have soooooo much practice in ER that before you know it,...
  9. RainMom

    LPN to RN

    RainMom replied to Nurse Marg's topic in LPN, LVN Corner

    It's likely dependent on the school or program. Best bet would be to contact the advisor for the program to find out if your earlier classes & credits would be accepted or if you will have to...
  10. RainMom

    ECG reading help?

    RainMom replied to Gymah's topic in Online Distance Learning

    https://www.skillstat.com Decent source for reviewing
  11. RainMom

    I Got My Very First Nursing Job!

    RainMom replied to hyena's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Yay, Congrats!! No specific advice, just go in ready to learn. Maybe keep a small pocket notebook to keep quick notes in...passwords, codes for door entry, etc. Good
  12. RainMom

    Taking coreqs prior to nursing program

    RainMom replied to meowmix440's topic in Pre-Nursing Students

    Have you spoken with the advisor for the nursing program? The ADN program I went to took that into account when accepting applicants. All but one student in my class had most, if not all, of the...
  13. RainMom

    Excessive waste of narcotics

    RainMom posted a topic in PACU

    So my PACU just changed to electronic orders & scanning meds. Not a big deal for the most part except for the fact that we are now only allowed to give one dose from a vial of fentanyl or...
  14. RainMom

    Excessive waste of narcotics

    RainMom replied to RainMom's topic in PACU

    Update: So, it took some time but they came up with a "safe labeling system" that we now use for narcotics (started around a yr or so ago). After pulling from pyxis, we then go to a labeling...
  15. RainMom

    NICU —> pre op/pacu

    RainMom replied to saltymermaid's topic in PACU

    By now, hopefully you have settled into the PACU routine. While it can have some slow days where you twiddle your thumbs waiting for a pt to come out, I don't find it monotonous at all. Babies stress...
  16. RainMom

    Pre-Op in PACU

    RainMom replied to Sassafras's topic in PACU

    Our pre-op/same day surgery dept preps all OR pts including ICU. With add-on cases, PACU sometimes will prep a pt if SDS is short staffed & our staffing allows. If a pt is truly critical, they...
  17. RainMom

    Cross trained PACU nurses

    RainMom replied to Kathy McGuire's topic in PACU

    Our PACU nurses also do pre/post-op; we also have one who cross trained to the pain clinic & another one to cath lab. The other nurses in pre/post are also cross trained to preadmissions
  18. RainMom

    Recoveries at night

    RainMom replied to Gi rn acm's topic in PACU

    Where I am, the PACU nurse continues care of an outpatient thru phase II as well & does the discharge for after hours. Our phase II nurses do not take
  19. RainMom

    Question for my perioperative peeps

    RainMom replied to MakeItRain's topic in General Nursing

    Small rural hospital, 10 room OR but mostly only using 3-6 rooms at any given time. We lost some surgeons over the past year (& before that really) & still trying to recover. Average day has...
  20. RainMom

    What does a regional anesthesia nurse do?

    RainMom replied to Spinnurse's topic in Operating Room

    If this a block nurse position, I'm surprised it wouldn't require ACLS considering the potential for codes r/t LAST reactions. Our pre-op dept had one several yrs ago that did not end well
  21. RainMom

    Death in the OR

    RainMom replied to RNdreams7's topic in Operating Room

    I'm in a small hospital (120ish beds) & I think in the past 6 yrs I've worked PACU, we've had about 3 codes in OR. We don't do trauma/cardiac procedures so shipping those pts out keeps our #s...
  22. RainMom

    Got The Vaccine! Share Your Experience

    RainMom replied to Nurse SMS's topic in Disaster Preparation

    Got my 2nd vaccine on 1/7. Mildly sore arm but nothing significant. I did have very mild tingling for a few seconds after the 1st dose; thought I was probably just freaking myself out until I read...
  23. RainMom

    Now that I've gotten it....

    RainMom replied to CalicoKitty's topic in Disaster Preparation

    I've read that the vaccine elicits an immune response 400x that of a natural response from infection & that it is expected to last around a
  24. RainMom

    Now that I've gotten it....

    RainMom replied to CalicoKitty's topic in Disaster Preparation

    This is one of the big reasons I pulled thr trigger & took the vaccine. I'm reading more & more studies about long term effects from mild & asymptomatic cases. 4 different studies show...
  25. RainMom

    Got The Vaccine! Share Your Experience

    RainMom replied to Nurse SMS's topic in Disaster Preparation

    Got mine today! I was quite skeptical about it initially. I'm in a rural area & really didn't think I would have access to it until a much later date. However, my county is one of the top 10...