HikingEDRN BSN, RN

Emergency Department; Neonatal ICU

Member

  • Content

    195

  • Visitors

    6,858

  • Followers

    0

  • Likes

    2

All Content by HikingEDRN

  1. HikingEDRN

    New Grad/Hate My Job/Life is Miserable!

    HikingEDRN replied to Ruby Vee's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Definitely. I feel like I had two separate first years. One as a new grad in the NICU and one in the ED two years after that. What I love about nursing is how you learn something new every day no...
  2. HikingEDRN

    Some days I feel like a Grimm reaper, most days I feel like a bad-*** super nurse!

    HikingEDRN replied to 87RN's topic in Critical Care

    Those days are great :) Strong work
  3. HikingEDRN

    2 years experience wanting to venture to ER

    HikingEDRN replied to samantha0890's topic in Emergency

    I did NICU for two years before transferring to an adult/peds ED. It was a big learning curve but I managed it and I have never regretted it. My biggest challenge was convincing my co-workers that...
  4. HikingEDRN

    "Floating" IV

    HikingEDRN replied to Marti17's topic in General Nursing

    I find it useful as well. Just be gentle, as Esme noted. Many times, once it's in (past the valve or scar tissue), it flushes beautifully and works
  5. HikingEDRN

    If you could just pick up and leave, where would you go?

    HikingEDRN replied to JNursee's topic in General Nursing

    Boulder, CO or Oregon or northern CA (maybe with an ability to hang out in NYC, Chicago or San Francisco for a few months out of the year). I love to hike (hence my user name) and I love wooded,...
  6. HikingEDRN

    First clinical day as an NP student tomorrow :)

    HikingEDRN posted a topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    First clinical day tomorrow as an NP student (health assessment class). I'll be in a pre-op assessment area. Any advice? I think I have the obvious ones down - be nice, ask questions, don't say...
  7. HikingEDRN

    First clinical day as an NP student tomorrow :)

    HikingEDRN replied to HikingEDRN's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    TammyG, what a letdown. Sorry that happened to you I know preceptors can be difficult to find but five students with one preceptor seems a bit
  8. HikingEDRN

    First clinical day as an NP student tomorrow :)

    HikingEDRN replied to HikingEDRN's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    This clinical was only two days (10 hours each) for the whole semester for my health assessment class. I then have some radiology hours (maybe 9 total) and the GU for male/female hours (6). I start...
  9. HikingEDRN

    First clinical day as an NP student tomorrow :)

    HikingEDRN replied to HikingEDRN's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    Thank you for asking and thank you for all the great advice everyone. It went well. I was there for 10 hours in a very busy, high turn-around preoperative assessment area. My preceptor was cool and...
  10. HikingEDRN

    First clinical day as an NP student tomorrow :)

    HikingEDRN replied to HikingEDRN's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

    Thanks for the advice. I keep thinking that my ED experience is a strength because I meet and assess multiple patients per day. I don't feel that way though. I feel like I'm going to walk in there...
  11. HikingEDRN

    First clinical day as an NP student tomorrow :)

    HikingEDRN replied to HikingEDRN's topic in Student Nurse Practitioner

  12. HikingEDRN

    TPA - How aggressive?

    HikingEDRN replied to HikingEDRN's topic in Emergency

    Thanks for your reply. I've never been in a position of wanting to give it but not having the docs order it, like I said, neuro is pretty aggressive. I think we had a situation where it was given and...
  13. HikingEDRN

    TPA - How aggressive?

    HikingEDRN posted a topic in Emergency

    For those of you who work with stroke patients, how aggressive are your docs with ordering tPA? I had a situation a few weeks ago (without giving too many details) where I was very uncomfortable with...
  14. HikingEDRN

    The beauty of nursing : midweek camping, hiking, boating, skiing, no crowds!

    HikingEDRN replied to Emergent's topic in General Nursing

    Yes, next week we are taking a Monday through Friday vacation and I only have to use 12 hours of PTO and we'll avoid the worst of the crowds
  15. HikingEDRN

    Letting very young children see a dying patient

    HikingEDRN replied to Cuddleswithpuddles's topic in Critical Care

    Speaking from personal experience (and I have posted this on another thread), I am so grateful to the nurses who let my mom bring my age 3-4 year old self to visit my dying father in the hospital...
  16. HikingEDRN

    When is your shift over

    HikingEDRN replied to joe007's topic in Emergency

    I usually concentrate on getting tasks completed on my patients prior to the next shift taking over so the next nurse doesn't have a long list of things to do. As soon as I give report I go straight...
  17. HikingEDRN

    Full Moon Friday the 13th

    HikingEDRN replied to Biffbradford's topic in General Nursing

    I will be there bright and early on Saturday morning. I'm taking consolation in that the full moon in my area is going to officially be very early Friday morning (I guess shortly after midnight) so...
  18. HikingEDRN

    Do power cords for IV pumps bother you?

    HikingEDRN replied to jcalvin's topic in General Nursing

    I just wish the designers of our hospital (building is five years old) had placed the outlets in a place that doesn't require me to bend and twist behind equipment to plug the cords
  19. HikingEDRN

    If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans

    HikingEDRN replied to gvrn13's topic in Emergency

    Unbeknownst to me, I was pregnant with my second when I went to my NICU job as a new grad. Everything was fine :). My manager and coworkers were wonderful about it. I waited until after 12 weeks to...
  20. HikingEDRN

    Hallways

    HikingEDRN replied to emtb2rn's topic in Emergency

    I was in triage one holiday and we were not even full but the acuity was absolutely unbelievable. Nothing super dramatic like codes or STEMIs or strokes but just multiple wickedly sick people - lots...
  21. HikingEDRN

    Critical Alarms, who answers?

    HikingEDRN replied to Emergent's topic in Emergency

    We have assigned rooms so I always keep an ear out and try to poke my head in other rooms if I hear one. Our secretaries get basic training in lethal cardiac rhythms and they know to look for a good...
  22. HikingEDRN

    Hallways

    HikingEDRN replied to emtb2rn's topic in Emergency

    I agree - it depends on how much warning you get. I think we got little to no warning about the head bleed coming in; hence grabbing the patient in the closest room and shoving the stretcher into the...
  23. HikingEDRN

    Hallways

    HikingEDRN replied to emtb2rn's topic in Emergency

    We've pulled stable patients into the hall if they have a room ready upstairs and they are not tele. We also pulled a patient out once who was still waiting for disposition because the new patient...
  24. HikingEDRN

    Demanding family members

    HikingEDRN replied to PerfectlyNumb's topic in Emergency

    Ugh, why did the doctor cave and admit????? The docs who don't are my heroes (and they still have a job, despite the almighty "patient satisfaction"). And they do exist - I work with some of them....
  25. HikingEDRN

    Days or Nights with kids?

    HikingEDRN replied to ChristineN's topic in General Nursing

    I would choose days for the reasons mentioned above. And remember, you'll have to sleep sometime so you won't be completely off the hook for daycare. Look at it this way - in most facilities it is...