littlegreenfrog

um. . .I REALLY want to hear this story!! lol

In Florida, we are still in "season" and are super packed, but soon the snowbirds will go home and we will have a nice slow summer. Can't wait. Flex me, please!

I am an INFP and work in Acute Rehab - slower paced, more time with patients.

I had a pt with a colostomy this weekend and when I changed the bag on Saturday the stoma was pink and normal looking. Sunday at the end of my shift I checked her bag to see if it needed emptying before my shift ended, and there was about 5 in of intenstine in the bag! I was so surprised - had no idea what to do (have never seen a prolapsed stoma) so I didn't touch it (no stool in bag) and told the night nurse what I had seen. She wasn't concerned and said "it will probably go back in" (?!?!?) so. . .if this happens to me again, what should I do? Her stoma was at least a month old. Does the MD need to be informed? What interventions should I do? Thank you.

We had our annual reviews a few weeks ago (a total joke with no real feedback), and our supervisor told us that they are not sure how much of a raise people are getting (yearly increase raise) and they are not sure when they are happening! Now, I am not expecting much of a yearly increase, but really? They don't know how much or even when? It is half-way through March and no sign of our January raise. It's just so. . .sad/frustrating/demeaning somehow.

thanks, ladies! Yes - carried baby to 39 weeks and he is now a fat, healthy 8 month old :) And yes, I returned to the same job.

The patients pay absolutely no attention to the color of scrubs. . .but I find it helps ME a lot figure out quickly who I am dealing with. I like it because people float around and I know who is a CNA, RN, PT, pharm tech, RT, etc. I don't mind wearing navy - I'm just glad it's a nice, DARK color. if I had to wear all white I would be ******. Also, it has saved me a lot of $$ because I used to shop for new cute scrubs all of the time, now I have 4 sets of navy scrubs and that is it.

I am working on my resume to start applying to new jobs. Last year I took a total of 6 mos unpaid medical/maternity leave from work (3 months of bedrest, then 3 months maternity leave after he was born). Do I have to list that?? I mean, it is 6 mos I wasn't working, but I don't really want to call to attention the fact that I have a baby (since legally I don't have to tell them) and if I just put "medical leave" they will wonder what the h e l l disease I have that made me take 6 months off. What do I legally have to list? Thank you!

where I work (hospital) people are on their phones all of the time - i have seen people take calls while in pt's rooms and you will see them on the phone walking down the hall. I'm talking personal calls on personal cell phones. no one seems to care.

Thank you - never thought about the vacu-thing collapsing the vein, will not use it anymore.

Thank you. Yes, I should have called the pharmacist about it (to have them add those instructions to the EMAR) then ordered a dietician consult to adjust TF as needed. I will do this next time. I can't believe I have never heard of that before, but I guess I just never had a pt on dilantin and continuous TF before. I hate it when my errors cause distress to a patient.

One more question: When you give dilantin via a PEG with a patient who is getting continuous TF, do you stop the TF for an hour before/hour after giving the medication? I had a patient in this situation, and I gave the 1500 dose of Dilantin without holding TF before/after and the patient vomited about 45 min later. When I told the charge nurse, she said that I should have held the TF before/after. I have never heard that before. When I asked the other nurses, some said to hold it and some said they had never heard that before and one said to hold TF for TWO hrs before and after. This lady was getting Dilantin q8hrs and was only getting 45cc/hr TF - if I held it for one hr before/after that would be 6 hrs she would be off the TF and 260cc of TF she would not be getting. Anyway, I of course was super busy and never got an answer and never had that patient again. I felt very badly if I had indeed made her vomit. Please, what do you do when you have this situation? Thank you, I am a relatively new nurse who works in chaos.

Ok, I know this is a simple thing, but how do you draw blood from a PICC? This is how I do it: Flush PICC with 10cc saline then pull back 10cc blood (to waste) Hook up that vacuum-thing and put the blood into the tubes Flush with 10cc and change the end piece (cap thing) of the PICC Am I doing something wrong? (I left out obvious parts like wash hands, glove, check armband, swab with alcohol, etc) Also, if a pt is getting a heparin drip, can you draw from the PICC or do you always do a peripheral blood draw for Ptt? If you do draw from PICC, how long do you stop the drip for before? Thank you - when I ask my fellow nurses I get a million different answers and I can find no place where hospital protocol is written (I work at a s h i t hole of a disorganized place)

I SIGNED A CONTRACT IN THIS HELLHOLE AND AM LEAVING THE 2ND IT RUNS OUT. Yes, it is why they given signing bonuses/make you signs a contract. They know no one in their right mind would stay. They don't give a s h i t about the nurses, give ridiculous assignment, no support, no supplies, everything is so slow and disorganized - a STAT CT scan took over 5 hours before they came up, a medication I requested at 1000 (supposed to be given at 0900) didn't get to me until 1700, etc etc etc. I wouldn't let my dog be a patient there. . and I don't really like my dog that much. If you have no soul, have a huge attitude, don't mind giving ****** care, can handle horrible, obnoxious patients/families, then maybe you can survive there. Also, I don't know about the critical care units or ER so I can't speak to them. UGH.

what about the hospitals where you did your clinicals - do you have any connections there? Clinicals is the BEST TIME to network and meet people and try to get a job. I got my first job out of school on a floor I did clinicals on - I worked my ass off, introduced myself to the supervisor and all of the nurses, made the nurses/CNAs my friends on Facebook and told them I WANT TO WORK HERE WHEN I GRADUATE pretty much every shift. I showed them that I could work hard and was open to learning. I got that job. So, if you are in school, NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK. It is truly not what you know, but WHO you know. Good luck people!