canoehead BSN, RN

I'm in the lesser use of gloves camp. Handwashing is superior for preventing infection. For pericare though, it expresses a certain professional distance between the carer and client. I wouldnt fault anyone for using gloves every time.

Manual BP cuffs that work.

You getting called is not something YOU did. She needs to talk to the union, let them try to straighten her out.

I've always discussed mandatory OT in the interview process. I'm not willing to do it, unless there's a disaster so bad that management is in in the hospital staying too. If it was asked of me, I'd refuse, and remind them I was clear about what I cou...

Next time..."are you OK?" or "how can I help?" Then just shut up and listen, and say "I have to go, I hope things get better." as you leave. And you CAN just leave if its a stranger. I find it odd that someone so upset made note of his name...

You did just fine. She can piss on her shoes if she's going to be rude.

With inflation I am making less as a thirty year nurse than as a new grad. I definitely have more skills, so I should be paid more IMO. To get equal pay to a new grad they would have to pay me another $11 per hour. I think my skills are worth $10 mor...

Every time I see this thread go by I mutter "piss on them" to myself. What a stupid self important boss.

I'm glad its a false alarm, but you could always say you decided to quit just for them, and show them your gum.

Our policy is to get all ordered IV antibiotics in within an hour. We start more IV sites, or start antibiotics before blood cultures are drawn if necessary.

I need at least 24h of nothing after a stretch of shifts. If I have something going on before then, I can fake it, but I'll have to tack on more recovery time once I've fufilled my obligations. If I try to power through, my brain goes mushy and crank...

It's not their right to abuse the staff. If you get namecalling or swearing I'd say thats your cue to tell him someone will round hourly, and hopefully he'll be in a better mood then. Hourly rounding might be your saving grace for all the little...

I got vaccinated, I'll take the booster when it comes. Given the reliabilty of the government and CDC through COVID I think anyone could be excused for wanting to make their own decisions. The vaccine is still in clinical trials...if I had a history ...

If someone is impaired when they leave our ER we call the police. We don't give medical details, just describe the behavior as they were walking out that made us think they were not safe to drive.

It's the docs call whether safety for surgery has been maximized. Nursing can do a lot, but we cant read the future.

I've been nursing more than thirty years and still feel like I don't know enough. I peaked in my "feel like I'm smart" knowledge at about six years in. I was a living example of the Dunning Kruger effect.

I could not get a lick of sense out of Sheehys manual. It was written up like a series of care plans Polly Gerber Zimmerman wrote Triage Nursing Secrets, and thats a book I could read again and again and still learn from. It's out opf print, but...

FYI I've been a nurse over thirty years and I make some kind of screw up every single shift. Apologize, fix whatever you did, and be gracious when others screw up too. It's life, we're not perfect.

emtpbill, Thats a systems problem, not so much the RN's issue. If someone comes in the trauma room waiting 60 seconds for the whole team to arrive and giving report to everyone at once is more conducive to good care. The doctors should know that...

We have seven screenings to do already. Nursing is not a census bureau. The ER is all about zooming in on that one emergent complaint and moving on, not a full life assessment.

I reduced my hours to 75% because I wasnt recovering to baseline between shifts. My family called me lazy, but my coworkers noticed a big improvement, and so did I. I think we're entitled to a life beyond nursing.

Generally I'm Popeye, "I yam what I yam." and with an eye to not spreading confidential information. Once its in the newspaper though, its fair game. I can have an opinion about a newspaper article without talking about my work life. That said, ...

don't you need 15 minutes under UV to kill germs? And how do you know how much light to use? Give me the scoop!

The problem is that if I work as a CNA I'm held to the standards of my own license. So if I notice and issue with a patient, report to my RN and she doesnt want to act, I'm left in a quandry. If I don't notice an issue, possibly because I don't ...

Put the visitor chair(s) on one side of the bed, and your equipment on the other side as much as possible. It will give you a clear work space, and one less headache. Bring water to the patient at the first opportunity. They will likely ask for ...