RnfromUK

First thing is know the basic rhythms. Learn what is normal (Sinus rhythm) and what is dangerous (VT, VF, etc). I agree with the above and take an ACLS class for those. 2nd thing is ALWAYS check your patient first. If the monitor tech calls you with a rhythm change, check the patient. Are they short of breath, do they have chest pain, are they dizzy or lightheaded? What is the BP/HR and is it normal for them? Sometimes the monitor can show a rhythm that looks terrifying but when you check your patient they are simply moving around in bed or brushing their teeth. If after all these steps you are still unsure, ask a fellow RN or charge. In the case of a CODE....just run into the room ASAP and grab the code cart if not already there. Chances are someone will be doing compressions already but maybe you can grab the ambu bag or load up the latest lab results for the doc. Maybe run and grab equipment when asked or even be the recorder. Also bare in mind that compression are exhausting so be ready to swap with whoever is currently doing them to give them a break and keep the compressions effective! Cardiac nursing is extremely complicated and takes time to learn. I have been a cardiac RN for nearly 4 years and I am still learning. Good luck and dont fear tele!

Doctors preference and it also depends on the hospital too. For active chest pain we will use a Nitro gtt if not controlled by other means. Also, Heparin gtt is common too especially with suspected MI's.

I have never waited more than 15 minutes to be seen.... but I have breathing issues and when I go to ER it's appropriate. When I worked in ER in England though, we were the only level 1 trauma hospital for miles. One shift, we had ambulances parked outside and in the street because the hospital was full.... no beds, and our ER was over flowing from a 12 car MVA on the freeway. Many people were waiting over a day for beds on the hosp floor, even with the discharge nurses working overtime and transferring pt's out to let the MVA ones in!

I have also seen this. My dream is to become WOC. I am taking a basic online course for the basics but it will not give me the certification, only the basics with 2 workshop days. I am a RN hoping to get my BSN soon.. if anyone knows of a good course to go on on Washington state please let us know!

I am also in a RN job that is not what I wanted and I generally do not enjoy. BUT.... everyday I say to myself "At least I have a nursing Job". We will all eventually get our dream job (Wound care for me but currently in cardiology clinic) but it can take a while getting there. So many new grads are unable to find work for as much as a year after graduating. I say try to find a silver lining in this and try to see how you can link the med-surg floor to what you want to do. This can make it more bareable. Good Luck with finding a job with Womens Health!

I work with an Electrophysiologist and we see afib at a wide range of speeds from over 200 (Yikes!) to as low as 40's (I think 44 was the slowest I have seen). As long as they are asymptomatic then you dont want to mess around with trying to convert them. As was said, slow Afib is better than nothing at all and Afib below 100 bpm is considered controlled. :)

I had a fever lasting a week with temp spiking to 102/103. Just felt really hot and my body ached. No other symptoms. All blood work negative. Strange.

PO metoprolol working in 20 minutes? Possible depending on a few things including if the patient had an empty stomach, if they were on anything else that might increase the absorbtion rate or effect of the drug. Why were they on lasix? No edema or CHF was noted in your post so I dont know why that was given. Perhapes it was the combination of Lasix and Metoprolol which caused the BP drop. Regardless of this, it sounded like you did ask the DR about giving PO Metoprolol and, aslong as this was documented, you acted correctly.

My first ever code was as a 3rd year nursing student on a cardiac ward and it was horrific. The patient had bad osophageal varices and they all ruptured at once. I was first on the scene and immediately started CPR while screaming for help. The patient didn't make it and I was covered in the blood of a dead man. I was immediately taken aside and asked if I wanted to talk to a Nurse counsellor about this ordeal which I am glad to say i accepted. As was stated above, this helped me accept that I had done everything I could for the patient and helped me get over the sights that I saw that day. Talking about these events is always the best way to cope with them but it still took me a week to not see that scene in my dream. But I am still a Cardiac nurse :)

This was not my mistake but it just goes to show never fully trust a brand new doctor....... While working as a nursing student in the UK, I had a patient who developed an UTI. When asked if she was allergic to any medications, she said "there was this one antibiotic but I cannot remember the name". The patient then tried to call her daughter to find out. Meanwhile, I was working with a new resident who wrote up an order for Tetracycline. I decided to wait untill the patient had found out which antibiotic was bad for her before I gave it (My instructor agreed with me). The resident was yelling at me to give the med and I stood my gorund saying not untill I have a complete allergy list. Turned out patient was HIGHLY allergic to tetracycline, as in they believed the reaction was anaphylaxis. I told the resident and was shocked when he said "Oh just give it anyway and see what happens". Needless to say I did not give it and reported him to my supervisor.

I mainly used Kaplan to study as I was having trouble with understanding HOW to take the NCLEX. My nursing knowledge was fine, but Kaplan showed me how the NCLEX views certain issues which maybe viewed differently in real life.

It's Official. I passed! Saw my name on DOH website with ACTIVE enxt to my license! Now time to celebrate!

Yes Kaplan is definatly worth every cent. I just wish I had done it sooner. SATA are "Select all that Apply", Put in order is putting the steps of a nursing procedure in order (giving eye drops for example). "Which patient first" is generall external disasters or phone calls in a clinic or you just recieved handover, which do you see first. I would recommend Kaplan 100%.

My kaplan scores all were not impressive because I was tired for 90% of them due to doing them after work. Highest was 65% lowest was 49%