Trauma-tizedRN

I agree with you totally. What hospital do you work at in Spokane? I have a RN cousin that works in Spokane too.

So true....we used to do deep suctioning...this theory has changed back and forth several times...while you did get alot more gunk out...I do believe it caused more gunk in the long run due to irritation and insult.

I say lock her away!!! LOL Makes nurses look bad...always a few nuts in every crowd...

my feeling on this ongoing thread is that the original point has been derailed....it has been misinterpretated to an erroneous misconcept that by being called "angel" or "honey dear", for that matter is the point....which it is not. it is about the everlasting concept that nurses are angels of god called to the position. i would never jump to the conclusion that if a patient called me angel that it was in reference to this myth....many people just use the word as a term of endearment. but i do stand by my statement that the old 'angel of god myth' is alive and well in a large majority of the minds of the general population as to what a nurse is. i lost interest in the thread when the topic of conversation became built around 'terms of endearment'...and not the larger concept originally intended to discuss.

We could do it...it would be better for American nurses. Our own healthcare insurance, 401K, malpractice, the works....

RUN for your life! Sounds like a more dysfunctional work culture than USUAL...while you will find the same BS in most hospital environments to some degree...this sounds way over the edge...MY 2 cents..

I worked an extended travel assignment where the nursing staff were at least 50% filipina. While I hate racism...it often annoyed me that we would be in the breakroom for a quick lunch and they spoke Tagalog instead of English...I felt left out. I don't mind them speaking in their native language a bit at work...but there is an appropriate time and place...not to the exclusion of co-workers.

We use a city wide Insulin gtt sliding scale protocol. If it isn't working for the patient, the doc increases from the standard scale to the aggressive sliding scale protocol, or decreases it if that may be the case. Still a hit and miss in my opinion...many don't fit into the box and you are having to call for adjustments anyway beyond the protocol. It is silly to have a patient's BG uncontrolled while on an insulin gtt. Of course there are some patients you can just not get controlled, but I think this protocol is still too wimpy....

I have a plan of action that I always use when I get a physician irrationally ranting and raving over nothing... I cut them off and say, "Look, I have to get back to my patients, the Manager's office is over there"...pointing. And walk off. Love to send these raving idiots to her...she is such a piece of work herself... Double whammy! :chuckle

American nurses should form registries city by city. Force the hospitals to staff from the registry...at OUR RATES and CONDITIONS. All violations to our conditions will result in the hospital having to pay more to use the registry. No more BS, poor treatment, politics. Nurses should collectively force a ban on importing nurses and create this registry pool. (Sci-fi...I know...but we can dream, right?):chuckle The hospitals would be having to perform to keep the registry fees affordable to them (ie: meeting conditions)

The smell of pseudomonas and copious soupy gloppy sputum flying out of a trach....(graphic enough for ya??):stone yukkers Especially when you are suctioning the trach and stimulate a huge cough and you feel the trach spray your mask or hair. Sooooo grooooosssss

I am sorry to hear that your mom is going through this. How awful for her and your family. I have had patients similar to her scenario, some survive and have quality of life and some do not. So I understand your dilemma. Without knowing all of the details, it would be fair to say that none of us here could predict any type of outcome, but I will say that it does sound promising that she is able to nod and seems to understand, is able to tolerate intermittent CPAP. Bottom line is that it IS an ICU and critical patients, such as your mom, CAN actually survive with measurable quality of life. If critical patients didn't ever survive with quality of life there would be no need for ICU's, right? Your mom does sound like the 50/50 scenario you mentioned. Alot of our patients fall into that category. You just don't know sometimes so you do everything and see if they fly. Some do, some don't. It is when they decline and all that you do doesn't seem to improve the situation that becomes the real dilemma. It is hard to watch someone futily lingering, when you know that survival and quality of life is at a minimum. I agree that in your moms case, i'd too want a rhythm converted and meds if needed if not an arrest situation. Not advice, just where i think i'd be if that was my mom at the 50/50 stage and I in that boat. I don't agree when docs let families choose to do partial codes such as shock only or meds only in full arrest situations, which happens often. Why bother if you can't do CPR to circulate the drugs or intubate? Kinda crazy and very sad to be poking and prodding without reason to the last minute of life. This is no way to leave the planet. I hope everything turns upward for your mom.

Not so sure about the CNS suggestion. I have worked Trauma/ICU/CCU for many years at many places and have very rarely seen a clinical nurse specialist doing any hands on...as a matter of fact, rarely even seen on the unit....unless they are inservicing new equiptment or products....always seemed a waste of a degree to me.....imagine that. LOL

I agree:)

If hospitals employed nurse retention measures there would be much less need for registry nurses. But they don't seem to care, which is so stupid. They pay double for the registry nurse (which by the way, is making agencies richer, not registry nurses...a few bucks an hour more is correct) instead of increasing nurse satisfaction. Duh, buy a vowel here. Let's not bash registry nurses...