SwansonRN

SwansonRN

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All Content by SwansonRN

  1. Are You Nurse Jackie or Nurse Zoey?

    I adore this show. My mom always calls me nurse Zoey, but I like to think of myself as later years Zoey when she's charge nurse!
  2. How does it feel to have a Foley insertion?

    Jeez, I catheterize wide awake/non medicated people daily and we don't use urojects at my institution. Feeling pretty evil! It's a rarity that patients complain about it in my experience.
  3. News Flash Everybody Farts!

    Nope that's the greatest beauty of ICU nursing I was in charge one day and a coworker called me because her patient was scheduled to get electively intubated but she was "dropping a deuce" and would be a while. Best phone call ever! Life's faaaaa...
  4. Highest temp

    ICU nurse here, sorry! I forget the exact number in Celsius, but it was in the 109 range. I was getting temps around 104 orally/axillary so a charge nurse suggested putting in a rectal probe to monitor continuously (this was amongst hanging pressor...
  5. I've certainly seen this myself and have somewhat fallen for it in the past. I also know some doctor-nurse relationships that are healthy. It's good to be cautious, but I don't believe that it's fair to say doctors in general see nurses as disposab...
  6. I've never been married, but my current serious boyfriend is a doctor I met at work. It's certainly possible to find romance in the hospital setting, but it's risky business. I've had it succeed (current beau) and I've had it blow up in my face. J...
  7. How was your first code blue? What role did you have?

    I honestly don't remember the circumstances of the patient. I remember some details, but I was so green I don't think I understood the big picture (new grad in ICU orientation). I remember my preceptor was ready to go to lunch and I was just finish...
  8. Nurses thrown under the bus

    Look up the policy and procedure next time you have a patient with something you're not familiar with! I would be upset if this were my family as well. Over a week and no change/no assessment under the dressing? Yikes. Nursing is certainly respon...
  9. Well, it does feel kind of weird to call out someone of your own (soon to be) kind, but you're a mom and you did what you had to in a reasonable way. Nurses get busy, occasionally take shortcuts and even get sloppy, they're not perfect. Just use it...
  10. 12 hr shift makeup routine

    Preach, girlfriend! I personally only wear face makeup (other than blush) on special occasions. I believe this is due to struggling with acne growing up. I also can't stand matte foundations, however I always recommend l'oreal infallible for those ...
  11. How often did YOU see the school nurse?

    I guess I went a lot compared to everyone else it seems! Lost teeth, nose bleeds, ticks from recess, cuts...I want to say I went maybe once a month in elementary school. Once in middle school for starting my period and a few times in high school fo...
  12. I don't have a strong opinion either way because I tend to just clean it up myself without a second thought. However, I can say that it's a bit degrading and it has nothing to do with title or education. Me on my hands and knees with a towel or was...
  13. Hitler, an ICU charge nurse, receiving morning report

    I love it!!
  14. Sharpie on Tegaderm

    Actually, really fun fact! There was a study that compared sharpies and sterile surgical makers. Both were colonized with 4 types of bacteria after use, however, the sharpie after being capped for 24 hour was no longer found to be contaminated wher...
  15. Did you marry a doctor?

    I've dated a few doctors. I met them at work, including my current boyfriend. I'm not saying I condone it, but there's a lot of...fraternizing where I work. Not every place is like the TV shows, mine just happens to be.
  16. Why is everyone hating on ED?

    From an ICU nurse perspective: They're just ticked off they're getting a busy patient
  17. Fall risk assessment and transgender pts?

    Hmmm very interesting question. The fall risk score we use does incorporate male/female. All of the trans patients I have had are MTF pre genital reassignment and I believe I charted that section as female. I don't have any evidence to back that u...
  18. What advice would you give your 19 year old self?

    Dump the dude!!!!!!!!! That's about it, I'm happy with the way my schooling/early career took place
  19. So...What Kind of Nursing Task Do You LIKE?

    Getting someone out of bed to the chair for the first time since they got admitted to the ICU. Also, drawing blood cultures.
  20. New grads in specialties without the basics

    This hasn't been my experience. Former new grads are some of the strongest nurses in the ICU where I work. This may be a failing in your new grad program.
  21. Lucky he was constipated, or he'd be dead

    My dad went to the ED for back pain after falling down the stairs. He got scanned and they found a couple of broken ribs and a very enlarged prostate. Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with prostate CA a few weeks later. I'm glad it was noticed (Lor...
  22. You should know better

    No dentist...they never have anything nice to say Soda (never diet!) Putting salt on already salty things Going 16 hours without peeing Tanning beds I basically seem like I'm going to keel over tomorrow...
  23. If you work nights, what are your days off like?

    Rotator here! I used to stick to the schedule when I was younger and working nights more frequently. I would stay up until 6am just watching Netflix or on the computer and sleep all day. I very quickly became depressed. Now I work far fewer night...
  24. MI Question

    I don't love this question either, but I suppose if it reads that the MI is already suspected then the assessment has occurred and you now need to treat (which would start with contacting the MD for orders).
  25. Patients family in the medical field

    I have two strategies. 1) flattery and questions. People like to talk about themselves. "Oh you work LTC? How do you like it? What are your ratios like? That must be challenging." Butters them up a little bit and then they play nice. 2) Igno...