TKOLRN BSN, RN

I started nursing school in 1984. I can still remember the name of my first patient, his diagnosis, even the room number he was in. I could pick him out of a lineup of people to this day. By the same token, I too can remember my first death with th...

I would be a commercial pilot. Hell no, I would not be prepared for it, but then again, I was hardly prepared for a nursing career when I graduated 16 years ago, and that worked out great!!

When an issue like this pops up, I stop. I picture myself seated in a court room. The prosecuting attorney says to the expert witness, herself a nurse, "What would a prudent nurse have done in this instance"...I base my actions on the answer to tha...

Perhaps they can be declared Chronologically Challenged and receive special government funding for clocks, watches, chauffeurs and someone to call them and let them know when they should leave for work. Hell, we cater to everyone else that doesn't w...

Well, the patients are safe at our facility. They don't have to cash out before, during or after. The employees however, that is another story. Apparently our ER averages 44 employee visits per day...As of 1-1-02, employees with non work related vi...

My wife is constantly rippin' on me because I live 10 minutes from work but leave 35 minutes before my shift. In 15 years of full-time work, I have been late 3 times!!I work with a lady who was late three time LAST WEEK!!!! It drives me crazy when pe...

I worked with a nurse at my old job who was ALWAYS late relieving me. One particularly bad night she was scheduled 11p-7a. At 11:15 she sauntered by the trauma room where I was lavaging an OD. She stood in the doorway and laughed, not yet knowing ...

Our facility recently started this change too...The secretaries wore navy, nurses burgundy..In order to make if easier for the patients to know who's who,the nurses have a choice of 1)all navy, 2)navy bottoms, white top, 3)white bottoms, navy top or ...

I love what I do, however I don't always love where I do it...After 15 years, 13 1/2 of which I have been an ER nurse, I can still say I like nursing..It's all in how you cope with it. Ted

For all intents and purposes, I agree with Enright..I have worked both sides of the fence...My biggest complaint with being unionized is that the slackers are there to stay!!! That may be the price to pay for security, steady raises and decent worki...

Other than a 2L bolus of fluids, I have not heard of anything!! Good luck...I am anxious to hear if there is something.. Ted

Hi Keaston, Much like previous writers, we use a combination of Reglan, Compazine, Toradol and Narcotics. We periodically use imitrex but that is rare, for whatever reason. There is a treatment that one of our contingent Physicians uses...He works a...

There is no incentive in our unit (ER) for extra shifts..If nobody picks it up, they let us work short. I understand the floors do get an incentive though(??!!)..Considering almost 80% of the business here starts in the ER, it does not seem to be a ...

Bonus??? Are you kidding??? In the last 14 years of nursing, I have yet to receive a bonus of any kind. We get a small gift from our employer, but that's it. Actually, they charged us for our Thanksgiving dinner too!!! The kicker was that they char...

One of our staff has raised the issue that every patient in the ER should have IV access (ie. Hep. Lock) if they are going to have labs drawn. I am against this idea for many reasons. Any thoughts/ideas re. what your dept. currently does. We also ha...

I think they all come and work with me...I'll email you an application!! Good luck.

Our facility is also starting to "encourage" the use of scripting...My personal belief is that is reinforces the assembly line mentality that most patients currently associate with the state of today's health care. I like to refer to it in the ER as...

Hi Mi, Good point..I just had this discussion with one of our newer nurses the other day. I work in a very busy ER that, like most others, could use more staff. He wanted to know why I wasn't helping a patient get his pants on, as a family member s...

Please clarify your question...I am a male nurse but I am not really sure what you are after.. Thanks

There are too many ways to feel bad about nursing and nurses any more...I suggest we each post a story that pats ourselves on the back. I got my little "burnout preventer" tonight at the start of my shift. Last week I was caring for a patient with ...

Hello, I work in an ER that sees close to 50,000/year. Our six bed trauma room is staffed with 2RN's most of the day.. Our acute care is comprised of two 10-bed teams..There are 2 RN's and a tech per team until 3am, when the staffing drops to one RN...

I am an RN in Michigan with 14 years experience..2 in neuro, 12 in ER...My full time job in a 48-50000 ER pays me a base rate of 25.44/hr with a 2.50 night diff. My contingent job in ER pays 26.77 with 1.25 night diff.

Hey Guru, I work for a corporation that owns two hospitals in this state...The larger of the two has first names only on the badges, ours has first and last. When I obscured my last name in the interest of safety, I was told that was a violation of ...

Hi Hayden, Interesting you should bring this up...I just had this discussion with my managers boss the other day...I work in a 45-50k per year er...We have a total of 26 rooms..20 acute care, 6 trauma...The acute beds are 2rns/10rooms 20hrs. per day....

Emma, Time, practice and patience will do it. My two biggest suggestions: 1) Try everyone, no matter how difficult...2)The tourniquet does NOT need to be stretched its entire length before application..You are trying to compress superficial veins......