andi.w

andi.w

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All Content by andi.w

  1. Stuff my patients say...

    andi.w replied to sdegracia's topic in Nursing Humor

    A patient recently told me that she was scheduled for a stress test and an autopsy the following

  2. Vent settings

    andi.w posted a topic in MICU, SICU

    Hello, all. I've been looking for a good resource that explains the different vent modes/settings. Does anyone have any favorites?

  3. medical error injection

    andi.w replied to jennifer009's topic in Patient Safety Issues

    I think that a lot of RNs have or will make a med error at some point, whether big or small. I've made med errors before; it feels TERRIBLE. And as terrible as it feels, at the same time, it feels so...

  4. Vent settings

    andi.w replied to andi.w's topic in MICU, SICU

    Good resources! Thank you all! One thing that I think I may be confused about is CMV vs. SIMV. It's my understanding that in CMV, the ventilator gives a fixed number of breaths with a fixed Vt and...

  5. Violent Physician

    andi.w replied to blondesareeasy's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Unfortunately, this sounds familiar to me. I have worked with a couple of physicians that have been ordered anger management classes for their behavior. In my experience, it didn't make a difference....

  6. Lexiscan vs. stress echo

    andi.w replied to queenjulie's topic in Cardiac

  7. Cardiac Handbook

    andi.w replied to NeuroRN123's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Try this: http://fastfactsforcriticalcare.com/ I bought this mini binder as a new grad and still use it as a reference. It's not only cardiac, but has several sections for neuro, drugs, respiratory,...

  8. Shift change and visitation in ICU/stepdown

    andi.w replied to opossum's topic in MICU, SICU

    I'm so jealous of those of you with visitation restrictions! The other two ICUs in my hospital do not allow visitors between 6a-8a and 6p-8p. I work cardiovascular surgical ICU, and we have NO...

  9. crescent shaped incision for open heart surgery?

    andi.w replied to Brucenet2000's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    I work in open heart recovery, and I have not heard of a crescent shaped midsternal incision. I do not work in a large hospital, but I have seen a few patients come through with a MVR via a...

  10. Trust?

    andi.w replied to Classymommy's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    I felt this way when I first started too. It seemed like the more critical patients always went to the nurses who had been there longer. Eventually when I had gained some seniority and started taking...

  11. amiodarone/a-fib

    andi.w replied to kgirl22's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Tricky. Is the BP low because of the afib or does the pt normally run low? I think it would definitely depend on how brave the doc was feeling. You could try giving a slow bolus of amio and then...

  12. Staying organized on Tele

    andi.w replied to CyclingMurse's topic in Cardiac

    I also started as a new grad on a tele unit. It took me several months to find a routine that made me most proficient. One thing that I did at first was make a Sort of "check sheet/graph." I...

  13. priorities and time management

    andi.w replied to amzyRN's topic in Cardiac

    It's good that you have a mental plan for how to begin. I work both CVICU and tele, and my "routine" is different for each. Everyone has a routine that works best for them. It took me a while to...

  14. EKG courses

    andi.w replied to tkanca's topic in Cardiac

    Skillstat.com is another good site for practicing ECG rhythms. It also has ACLS practice and other helpful

  15. Responding to the ER for STEMIs

    andi.w replied to MesaRN's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    If EMS picks up a STEMI or if a STEMI walks into the ER, we activate an AMI page, and a page is sent out to the interventional cardiologist, Cath lab team, and the CVICU unit. A nurse from CVICU does...

  16. Hypothermic protocol patient

    andi.w posted a topic in Neuro Intensive Care, ICU

    We recently had a cardiac arrest patient that we placed in a hypothermic coma. After the 24hrs of cooling the patient, they began passively rewarming. The patient was very slow to rewarm, and after...

  17. IABP augmentation

    andi.w posted a topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    I'm having a hard time understanding exactly what the augmentation is. i have taken a couple of balloon pump classes and researched online, but I'm still having a difficult time understanding. Can...

  18. New to CVSICU...cardiac gtts

    andi.w replied to Stormy8's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Separating compatible drugs is a wonderful suggestion, and I always try to do this. You never know when you may need to run your IVF in quickly, and you don't want to risk bolusing several drips in...

  19. Hypothermic protocol patient

    andi.w replied to andi.w's topic in Neuro Intensive Care, ICU

    We regularly use an endovascular cooling catheter, but it was in use on another patient at the time. We used cooling blankets instead, which do not have the ability to rewarm. Apparently rewarming by...

  20. Hypothermic protocol patient

    andi.w posted a topic in MICU, SICU

    We recently had a cardiac arrest patient that we placed in a hypothermic coma. After the 24hrs of cooling the patient, they began passively rewarming. The patient was very slow to rewarm, and after...

  21. Hypothermic protocol patient

    andi.w posted a topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    We recently had a cardiac arrest patient that we placed in a hypothermic coma. After the 24hrs of cooling the patient, they began passively rewarming. The patient was very slow to rewarm, and after...

  22. IABP augmentation

    andi.w replied to andi.w's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Thank you :) I was reading into it way too

  23. Post Op AFib

    andi.w replied to JLAJHART's topic in Cardiac

    We use IV amio after the pt goes into afib. We start a beta blocker POD 1 if the pt can tolerate it. Otherwise, we are not currently doing anything

  24. Pacemakers

    andi.w replied to cvnurse1's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    On my unit we have always just completely paused the pacer, and it always makes me so nervous! I agree that it should be turned down gradually. I feel like it's a nursing judgement call, and if the...

  25. CPR question

    andi.w replied to Sand_Dollar's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    I work in open heart recovery. We had a post-op valve code one evening and the surgeon advised us to do compressions at a rate that kept the patient's systolic BP in the 70s per the arterial line....