Morning-glory

2 months after my concussion (mild to moderate, no LOC. I was unable to recall my address, photophobia and unable to walk straight) I was still feeling drepressed and sad because I was still having co-ordination problems and disorientation. It was ...

Doctors are usually very hesitant to write DNR orders. I have had huge battles on this issue with the doctors and the Public Guardian and Trustee of the residents. What it comes down to, is that the PG&T will not authorize a DNR ever. The doct...

I might suggest that a set of medical directives or standing orders might be of use. If patient sneezes, do this If pt sneezes, do that. Dry cough, hydrate and monitor Loose stool x1, hold laxatives and reassess in 8 hours. Emisis, 50 mg gravol/dra...

3 orientation shifts and 3 working shifts in a small rural hospital. They were hard work. 8hr shifts turned into 12 just because there were not enough staff to get all the work done on days or evenings. I was charge on my first shift and one of th...

Do you have email for staff? This might be a way to get the info out where people will read it. We have email at work and we get the minutes of all meetings that concern us. It can also be tagged to see how many people opened the email. Might be ...

OK, first and foremost is your own safety. Getting injured by any patient is never a good way to get anything done. If the meds are not working, if he is on any, then you need lots of support. You should never go into a know violent patient's room...

You might also want to explore which gloves aggravate your hands. The regular gloves made my hands all red and itchy within a short period and bleeding by the end of the day, so I switched to the powder and latex free blue ones. They worked. A bar...

Old post on the subject of mouth care and products. https://allnurses.com/hospice-nursing/mouth-care-dying-103044.html

It probably is a remenant of days gone by, but at the same time, people can have it and not know, spreadning it around to those that are more vulnerable, who will develop the disease. My brother wanted to volunteer at a Senior's residence with his w...

Started on Ortho and then followed the long twisted road to psych. Interesting journey. Working different places gives you a better understanding of the overall picture of health care in your area.

It is very difficult to cope when a friend has attempted suicide. Hopefully, she is getting the help that she so desperately needs. You do need to tell her that you care for her and that she is important to you. That said, there is obvously some ...

I had a second year onc resident that didn't know what versed was. He didn't know the doses for scopolamine or morphine were either.

I love psych. It did take about 6 months to get comfortable on the unit, but I have been doing this for 5 years and I am not planning on going back to acute care. I landed this job by accident and I wasn't really sure that that was what I wanted. ...

Why is it that if someone makes a mistake you tell them right away but if they do good, you feel you have to wait? Angelfire, I say tell them that you appreciate all that they have done for you. 6 months into a challenging job is a big deal. Brin...

Our school at the time I was there was into the "Roy Model". I was in nursing school, not taking philosophy. Why did we have to do all of this? It took me a long time to get over being angry that I had to learn this stuff. Even longer to figure o...

I worked LTC as charge nurse with 3 LPNs and 9 CNAs. 100 residents. Day/night 12hr rotations. I was the only RN in the building. I had 7 years experience at the time and I was still not feeling safe. Dealing with staff issues, resident issues an...

What a touching post.

Also, one of the things you could look at it the paradoxical effects of ativan and other psychotropic meds. Ativan can make the elderly more alert and combative. Remeron seems to do a better job at getting them to sleep and lift their mood. Worth t...

A few years ago, I had abdominal laprascopic surgery. A week later I was back at work and was doing a dressing on a huge wound infected with MRSA. When I got home, I realized that one of my wounds had opened up during my shift. I didn't get MRSA. ...

http://www.toronto.ca/health/pdf/dn_feb2006_tb_skin_test.pdf If the reaction on the first skin test is positive, a second skin test should not be administered. More on the site.

Somewhere in year five after graduation I was working nights and it suddenly hit me that I was a good nurse. It had be a busy night on med/surg with admissions and one death. I knew what was going on with all my patients and I was calling the shots...

Sue, I have been down that road too. Not enough staff willing to do the MDS assessments or even chart properly. I finally quit as no one else was helping me get them done. I was the only charge nurse that was there full-time so I was expected to ...

Patient survived this time. There will be other attempts and other patients, but this was a first for me. I've had patients die on me in many ways, not all of them expected, but this was my first hanging. It was awful. Angelfire, I hope you are fe...

Angelfire, First a hug. A few days ago, I saw my first real suicide attempt by hanging. I have seen some other pretty horrific things in my 12 years as a nurse, but never this. I am having trouble shaking it. Patient had had a couple attempts in t...

ChuckE, the first Christmas would have been awful. Except maybe for the angels singing. That would have been cool. To all of you, a big hug and thank you all. Today was a better day and has given me hope that all is not quite as bad as it seemed l...