erezebet

I have done some stupid things and I have been in ICU for 3 years now. Once I switched my IV's over to a triple pump and accidently ran my propofol at 100 an hour and my ML at 20 mcg/kg/min. It was like that til my art line showed a pressure drop and I caught the mistake but it could have been worse if I left the room for five minutes right after I switched them. Some of the other nurses noticed my error and gave me funny looks. I felt incompetent but I tried harder and now when I switch to a triple pump, I double check everything----twice! What you did/missed was an honest error that could happen to anyone. Every time you "miss" something it only reinforces your weaknesses and makes those critical thinking areas stronger. Stay with ICU and when you are a seasoned RN, be kind to the newbe's!

I am a nurse practitioner student and there are "gemini" students I go to school with who have a Bachelors in something or another who are getting their masters in nursing in just 2 years.....HOW CAN THAT BE????? I can't understand how this happens. An RN degree yeah, okay I can see that, but I can't see how they can get a masters and be good nurses......actually, they will never be made to deal with the bedside issues because they will be MSN's, and in 2 years they could never function competently as a nurse practitioner...could they?

Ironically enough, i came across a "Spouses of MDs" message board today. The majority of these women were exchanging attorney info related to separations and divorce. If you would like to date a doctor, thats your choice. But first you have to attract one. If you act all obvious about it, you will get the ones who just want to "score" a nurse as badly as you want to "score" a doctor......but men and women's definition of score is very different. To get a doctor to "NOTICE" you, heres what you have to do. 1) don't sit around the nurses station complaining about staffing and ratios, just be happy you have a job. 2) Keep yor patients clean and well groomed. Doctors notice which nurses keep their patients bathed and tidy. 3) Care enough to keep lines in order and labeled. This is especially true in the ICUs where patients have 5 or 6 drips at one time. Doctors notice when we are organized 4) When assisting doctors, do so competently and try to anticipate their needs ahead of time. You are not playing their personal slave. Doctors, especially residents have a tougher time than we do and they have to get through more patients faster. Doctors have alot of respect for nurses that are good at their job. And its the doctor who notices you for those reasons that is the exception.

In our unit, giving nimotop is usually by way of mouth or NG because as you know, mot aneurysm patients are very very lethargic and rarely alert at first. If they can't swallow it and don't have an NG, I squirt the contents of the soft capsule into a syringe and into their mouth. Its very important for neuro pts to get this med as it reduces incidence of venospasm post-op which is a horrible complication of aneurysm clipping/coils

What is to keep an RN who uses illegal drugs from seeking an even greater high by taking them from the pixis. An RN who uses pot should be FIRED, and for good reason. I would not want a "JUNKIE" (and YES....you ARE JUNKIES) caring for me or any of my family.....

Ive heard of a urologist named Richard Tapper

Get out now while you can. I started nrsing school when I was pregnant and It was rough but I graduated from a BSN program. The stress is horrible. Everyday I go to work and hear the same thing over and over. Nurses constantly cut each other up and place blame and make excuses for not finishing what they end up leaving for the next shift........Patients don't get the care they deserve because nurses are buried in paperwork, short-staffed and expected to perform and remember 50 things at one time. Its terrible and no one wants to make it better. Most of the time you are not even treated like a professional. ------------------