ERnursie172

when i was a new nurse in the er i was very uncomfortable with the concept of "family presence" during codes. mainly this was due to my own insecurities and fears of looking like i didn't know what i was doing or even worse not knowing what i was doing!! now that i have been an er nurse for many years, i feel that having family presence (in certain situations) actually helps. this is especially true during pediatric codes, research has proven this and the emergency nurses assoc. supports this concept also. family say that being able to actually see this experience helped them with the grieving process. they also say that it shows them that everything was being done and that people were working very hard to help their loved one. i once had a 2mo old that was brought in via rescue found not breathing and with no pulse, he arrived intubated, cpr in progress, asystole on the monitor. basically, we all knew this baby was already dead but we maintained resucitative measures until the mom arrived. at that point the focus turned towards the mother. she was prepared first and an rn assigned to just her, to be right by her side. she was taken to her sons side, she held his hand crying and we told her that there was nothing more we could do. she screamed, cried told him she loved him and said goodbye. we let her stay with him after for as long as she wanted. a few weeks later during a social worker follow-up with the mother she said that having that experience and being able to touch him and say goodbye helped her through this difficult time. i suggest that you check out some articles on this subject and look into what your hospitals policy is on "family presence during resucitation". i hope this helps, let me know if i can assist ya any further... good luck!!!

i'll give it my best dixielee emr= electronical medical record it is a complete emergency department tracking system being installed in thousands of emergency departments throughout the country. starting with triage thru disposition everything is done via the computer, no more paper. all nursing and physician documentation is provided in "real time". also does discharge instructions, rx's and drops the ed bill at completion of the chart. they interface with your hospitals present lab, x-ray software allowing the ed instant order entry. the present day "grease board" is no longer used, instead a mega size plasma screen tracking board which can be customized to your ed's needs. if you continue as a travel er nurse within the us you are bound to come across it very soon, i'm almost certain of it. thanks.....:)

we are currently looking at different vendors for emr in our emergency department. if your ed is using emr i would love to hear your comments, pitfalls and all please!!! we will be doing a site visit at houston medical center in georgia to check out ibex next week. thanks for your input....:)

Hi....I am born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and can tell you that despite your hourly wage (which will be more) your cost of living and other expenses will be very, very high!!!! You said you are looking just North of SF, Marin?? In the SF Bay Area most hospitals pay a higher hourly rate for Per-Diem nurses, which can range from $45-65/hr. depending upon facility and your experience level. Although, California's hourly rate is higher than most in the nation our cost of living is WAY high!!!!! You might want to really look into it before you leap into CA...... It's not what it's cracked up to be!!! Good Luck......

Hi....I am born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and can tell you that despite your hourly wage (which will be more) your cost of living and other expenses will be very, very high!!!! You said you are looking just North of SF, Marin?? In the SF Bay Area most hospitals pay a higher hourly rate for Per-Diem nurses, which can range from $45-65/hr. depending upon facility and your experience level. Although, California's hourly rate is higher than most in the nation our cost of living is WAY high!!!!! You might want to really look into it before you leap into CA...... It's not what it's cracked up to be!!! Good Luck......

hi.... i'm not familiar with tn nursing laws but in ca the board of nursing states that no lpn or lvn can push any iv meds. they can start iv's and hang normal saline but under no circumstances can they ever push meds. if that happened in ca. i would guess that not only would the lvn/lpn be held accountable but the rn in which she/he was working under too!!!! good luck....

hi.... i'm not familiar with tn nursing laws but in ca the board of nursing states that no lpn or lvn can push any iv meds. they can start iv's and hang normal saline but under no circumstances can they ever push meds. if that happened in ca. i would guess that not only would the lvn/lpn be held accountable but the rn in which she/he was working under too!!!! good luck....