BlueChocolateCat

Hi all! I was accepted to CRNA school and I start summer 2017, just a few short months away. I want to get a head start on understanding some of these anesthesia meds at an in-depth level. My drug resource books from my undergraduate are very much la...

Just like you prime an IV infusion, you prime the transducer set up to ensure no air bubbles and clamp the line while it is being disconnected and changed. But I'm going to tell you right now, the NCLEX will not even have the word "transducer" or an...

I'll be starting right after I turn 25 and finishing at 27. I will have over 2.5 years of ICU experience as a BSN RN when I start.

We do not have a solid policy. It really comes down to nursing discresion (unless the docs insist) In our unit, we are able to give small neo pushes during moments of severe hypotension (MAPS

In my cardiac surg ICU we prefer levo as a first line. If the patient isn't responding to levo (generally requiring doses over 10 mcg/min) we will add vaso. Amoung our ICU, there is some speculation that high doses of vaso may be linked to bowel isch...

I'm sorry if this doesnt pretain to your monitors, but on our monitors we are able to turn "pacemaker monitoring" on and off. Maybe certain monitors have this turned to OFF as a default?

I'm one of those nurses. I started off in a very high acuity CVICU as a new grad. I have worked here for just over a year and I'm still going strong. I know that I am improving as an RN every day. I have a lot of nurses around me that have worked her...

Considering that lowering the patient's head of bed during an episodeo of hypotension is considered a solid NURSING intervention, that sounds very strange to me. Generally, ICU nurses are allowed a slight increase in autonomy for obvious reasons. I...

From reading this story, I don't think you did anything wrong at all. It sounds like you did everything right, and I probably would have given him the xanax as well. It was three and a half hours after a pain pill that he was tolerating well. Out of...

I read OPs first post and no others. My impression of the situation is that you are working with a very burned out-short fused preceptor. I don't think the situation with the wound-vac was your fault at all. For her to lose her cool so severely righ...

At my facility this would be grounds for immediate termination. Completely unacceptable.

Hi all, I'm just looking for some "pats on the back" and to hear about similar experiences, because I know this not the first time this has happened to a nurse and I'm sure I will experience this again. I am a new grad in a very intense cardiac surge...

I'm ready for the day that someone gets their chest re-opened at the bedside and we do direct cardiac massage. I think the best one was the patient who was doped up on PCP or some crazy stimulant and was able to pick up a total care bed and actually...

Move to Ohio. I think the vast majority of my classmates are employed as RNs. I graduated in May 2014, passed my boards end of July 2014, and my first day of orientation was in the end of October 2014. I had two job offers. If you have experience, th...

Nursing is not the answer.

I care for surgical patients and sometimes my patient's have scheduled opiates like tramadol or oxycodone. If I find that my 88 year old patient is simply too lethargic to get this dose, I'm going to hold the dose and document my RN assessment. I'm n...

And is your current position your first nursing position? If I were you, it sounds like you have very little information. I would contact the person that gave you the verbal job offer and ask to have a fact to face meeting in order to clarify some qu...

As a nurse, you are going to find yourself in similar situations in the future. You're going to have to figure out how to move on with your day (AND continue to actually care for your patient, because as nurse, it will be your legal responsibility to...

Like many others, I wonder why this patient was on IHD, and not CRRT? Sounds like that may have been the first mistake? Also, what WAS his K? Did they start the IHD emergently for severe hyperkalemia or something?

May I inquire about how long you have been in your current nursing position? The reason I ask is because it is my understanding that especially for your first professional position, you want to maintain that position for at least a year. Otherwise, y...

While I did not read all of the comments and conversation, I want to give my input as I am in a very similar situation as you, OP. I am a new grad in a very intense, very fast paced CVICU. I'm about six months into my employment. Things have been goi...

Yes, the family member did ask how long I have been a nurse. I always struggle with this question. I usually respond by saying I've been working in the ICU setting for three years (including my time as a CNA). She probed. I told her I've been an RN f...

It is entirely possible; however, another staff member actually blatantly asked her if she had professional medical knowledge. She stated that she did not and she worked within corporate America and explained her position. While it is entirely possib...

I have to say right off from the beginning that I am rather confused by your thread here. You are saying that you are currently interested in pursuing a nursing career but are concerned that all you will be doing is "poop cleaning and urine collectio...

Also, I do think it is possible that at some points I may have let my thoughts about her show through a little bit. I want to point out that in my particular ICU, the nurse remains at the bedside for constant observation. My desk is right at the beds...