mandaaRN

Someone please help me understand the difference between ultram and narcotic pain relievers. How would I explain to the patient what this medication is? Thank you in advance!! :)

What do you do when you suspect a patient is aspirating? Do you turn them on their left side and NT suction?

What if they're both PO?

Thanks 0402! It's been buggin the hell out of me and being a nurse for just a year, I'm still asking so many questions! I always want to do the RIGHT way lol :)

Question! Is it okay to give Ativan IV with dilaudid PO at the same time? Same goes for any narcotic and Ativan together? I ask nurses at work but never get a straight answer as they are always busy themselves. What about narcs and sleeping pills? Do you wait an hour in between? It's been bothering me which meds are and are not okay to give with each other. If any of you could help me and ease my mind a little more, I would appreciate it so much!! :)

How would I run a K-rider with NSS for the purpose of burning sensation? I have ran the K-rider @ 50mL/hr with NSS piggybacked @ 50mL/hr as well on concurrent mode. Is this correct or is there another technique to run this? Was i supposed to run one slower than the other?

Do you still flush with 5cc before and after

Okay so is gingerale okay with cardiac diet

So for our patients who are on heart healthy, carb controlled and renal diets, we have gingerale, cola, and juices plus pudding and jellos in our fridge. What is okay to give to patients on these diets? Is gingerale suitable for diabetic, cardiac and renal diets?

My concern was for if the doc needed to be notified and change the order or if its the nurses discretion?

GRAY AREA! Can the nurse slow down the IV rate fore potassium or magnesium if the patient is complaining of burning or do we need to call the doctor to adjust the rate?

Changing the rate needs an order or is that at the nurses discretion?

Or document it? Although I didn't. But for future reference, god for bid it happened again

So last night when I was giving my patient her meds in the med cup of course, she dropped them on the floor. It was her synthroid and oxycodone. I told her I would get new pills for her but she insisted on taking them and even got down on her hands and knees to find the two pills. She ended up taking the dropped ones even after I said a few times il throw these ones away and get new ones. Now I'm just beating myself up over it for the fact that I don't know if I should have filled out an incident report or not. I asked another nurse I worked with and she told me not to worry about it, it's okay. Technically, it was all the patient but why am I beating myself up over a dropped and taken pill? Any suggestions on when this happens to you?! (If ever) :/

Wouldn't you want to worry about the peak of the PO occurring at the time of IV onset?