LNRN11

Out of curiosity, do any other hospitals make Neo/Levo combination drips rather than having two separate? Some of our docs are big on that at my facility, but I feel like it makes it confusing for titrating. I know our max on Levo is 20 mcg and our N...

Yeah, I'm not a fan. Our cardiologists in particular seem to like it. When I see it running, I'm just like, "Greaaaattt…"

You will certainly still have some say so as far as the ventilator is concerned. Most RTs are good about collaborating, like previous posters have stated. I work in CV surgery and all of our open hearts come out vented. We wean them down with the RT,...

I would most certainly have been alarmed in that situation. 2 1/2 hours?! I get that the house sup probably had a multitude of things going on, but yikes! Hospitals have got to quit sending pharmacists home at certain hours. I've heard of this, but i...

I think it depends on your location, because I ran into the exact opposite problem. When I was a new grad, no ICU in my area wanted me. I know there's a lot of places that like new grads because they can essentially mold them; but, there are also tho...

Cath lab definitely has transfer friendly devices, but they also pull sheaths all day in recovery. It is very hard on the shoulders and hands holding manual pressure like that. I work in CVICU and just holding pressure for like 20 mins on one patient...

If you get a chance to lay hands on one, I guarantee it will start to make more sense. I work in a CVICU and every single one of our open hearts comes back with one. They have not, by any means, gone out of favor with our surgeons and they will activ...

^^^ Exactly what they said. It can take people quite awhile before they wake up from Versed, especially if they already have renal or hepatic issues. Diprivan is very quick! I've had patients where you shut it off and it seems like they are awake alm...

I feel for ya. I definitely remember being there not too long ago. Med-Surg is rough. I really commend those nurses that stick with it for years or even their whole careers. I did M/S for about ten months and then transferred to ICU. Although the pat...

I did! It's totally doable! :) I worked M/S for about ten months. I was on orientation with a preceptor for two months when I transferred to CV. It was actually the perfect amount of time, too. I was a little worried it wouldn't be long enough, but t...

We don't have a formalized program either. If you're a new grad on my unit, they stick you with a preceptor for three months. If you come with some prior nursing experience, you're with a preceptor for about two months. One of our CT surgeons who is ...

Speaking as a relatively new nurse (two years in), I have to agree w/ the two previous users. Sometimes, even a sparkling resume won't get you an ICU position right out of school. I remember getting so bummed when I would apply and they would deny my...

I hear you! I work CVICU and get floated pretty frequently to SICU, MICU, and ER. It's so irritating because we purposely sign up for OT days on my unit so we aren't understaffed. The other units don't do that, so we end up floating to staff theirs. ...

Ktlitz, the CVICU I work on has been. Our entire unit closed the week of the 4th. It's starting to pick back up, though.

Just curious, do very many facilities wedge anymore? I know this topic has been posted before, but it looks like the threads are several years old. We don't personally wedge at my hospital, but I'm curious as to whether it is still commonplace elsewh...

We had a younger gentleman on our unit who was incredibly rude to the nursing staff and pretty much anyone he encountered. One of our female surgeons was on call that weekend and rounding for her colleagues patients, which included this particular pa...

Completely agree w/ you, StayLost! We rarely use them because of the discrepancies. I had one a few months ago and my CT surgeon had me hook up a CO/CI injectate syringe and shoot an index. It was way off.

Sounds very similar to the facility where I work. That's part of the reason why I'm on night shift. I have a year of CV experience under my belt, and I know I couldn't handle the pace of day shift yet.

I work CVICU and we are expected to float just about everywhere; SICU, MICU, ED, Med-Surg, you name it. On occasion, we will get nurses floated to us, but we only give them patients they are used to handling (i.e. MICU nurse will get the vented respi...

I work CVICU and our visiting hours were actually implemented by our CT surgeons. They are 9-11AM, 2-6 PM, and then 8-10 PM. Doors are locked otherwise. Nurses do have some discretion and we always let family members back for a few minutes whenever p...

Sounds like you and I are a lot alike! Come May, I will have been on my CVICU for a year. That's great that you had some step-down experience under your belt. Your anxiety will improve over time when you get more accustomed to what your surgeons expe...

Being a new nurse is always a struggle, especially when you feel like the job you accepted is not a good fit. I was incredibly stressed out when I initially started. I worked on a busy med-surg floor that included ortho and oncology as well. It was a...

I work CVICU and we are tripled on occasion. If we are, one or two of the patients will have orders to be transferred to the cardiac floor and are just waiting on an available bed (i.e. POD #2 or #3 CABG w/ Swan and chest tubes out).

I work CVICU and the most we ever have are three. If we are tripled, they are usually patients with transfer orders waiting on a bed. Our open-hearts are one on ones until extubated and balloon pumps and impellas are 1:1s as well.