EndoRN

I went into GI when I had small children. I needed to switch from afternoons to days. 6 years in I moved from a hospital to outpatient setting (no more weekends, holidays, evenings or taking call !!). I've now been in GI for 12 years & still love...

I've been lurking around this site for a couple years. This GI section is really sloooooow...... Where are you guys? Tell me about yourselves! Please! I'm so bored right now. Me, I've been doing GI about 4 yrs. now. Prior to that I was a med/surg n...

Just wondering.....do you guys have any complaints about Olympus' service? We have the worst time w/them at our lab!They sell the stuff, then it's pulling teeth to get them to service the equipment. Our DSD washer has been down on one side for two we...

I'm not sure what IL law is re: LPN's giving conscious sedation. I know in our GI lab they do not. In regards to the first post, SGNA states if the nurse is doing the sedating (vs. a CRNA) then that should be their ONLY responsibility in the room, to...

Our docs use the Miralax prep. You mix it w/32 oz gatorade and 32 oz H20. Speaking w/pts that have done different preps in the past (Fleets, Go-Lytely) they say this one is much more tolerable.

It does sound like a micro perforation to me. I mean, if she had absolutely NO pain prior. Was that abcess in her colon? It seems doubtful to me that she developed diverticulitis from the scope if she didn't have it prior. Unless they missed an infla...

We use the Miralax prep and it is the same for bariatric pts as regular pts. Patients are instructed to drink the prep as directed. When it is coming out perfectly clear they can stop, tho. Basically at that point it's just the prep coming out the o...

I don't know.....I've heard Fellows ask some strange questions re:coloscopies. I've also heard other nurses criticising them behind their backs and saying how they could do the scope in half the time, etc. I've also seen these fellows graduate, conti...

Keep your colon healthy with fiber supplementation and a high fiber diet (whole grains, high fiber cereal and some fruits/veggies such as raisins, strawberries, broccoli. Most are actually very low in fiber, tho). They used to advise against a high r...

I've read those before. They're funny!!

Call is rough when you have kids. That's why I have to work per dieum right now. I have 4 (kids). At the hospital where I work you get called in A LOT! Lots of times when we come in in the AM, the call nurse is up in ICU and has been there since wee ...

So........did you get the job? How's it going??? Amy :)

I don't have any experience w/Interferon. But I did want to say I hope your husband is doing well !! Amy :)

Oh no....... How sad. I'm so sorry for your friend. The way you described not keeping anything down makes me wonder if she could have had an ileus.....or a bowel obstruction... guess we'll never know. What a waste. I hate hearing stories like that....

for the pre-endo check I just use clean tap water, checking both the a/w and suction channels to make sure they are working properly. we use DSD scope washers for processing. And yes, they do an air & alcohol purge to ensure proper drying. I also...

No. If we are doing someone unsedated or using IVCS then we have them gargle w/4% lidocaine. Otherwise we don't use anything. We have anesthesia sedation and they are so deep there's never any gagging. They also can eat as soon as they wake up. Then ...

Still debating rectal tubes? Sigh...guess I don't know the "theory" behind them. All I know is the patients seem to have an easier time getting rid of the residual air. Patients can relieve themselves of the air a lot quieter (our recov. area is jam ...

I'd just as soon avoid it as long as possible. Yes, we can get adverse effects from normal IVCS, but those agents can be reversed. There is no reversal agent for propofol other than "tincture of time". I am ACLS certified and have been in more codes...

We don't clean it either, if it's going to be reinserted into the same patient. We rarely reinsert it, though. Once in a great while after a dilatation. The MD passes it to me, I hold it, he does the dil, I pass it back, he reinserts, etc. Amy :)

It sounds like you need more staff! We have the same pace, BUT we have a tech who processes our scopes for us. That's a HUGE timesaver! Sigh...needing staff and getting it is two different things, though. If they don't want to hire another nurse, m...

Sure. IF they hire new grads. Most specialty areas don't. The problem w/specialty areas is that you're doing one area and you don't get a lot of experience in the big picture. But you need to KNOW and be comfortable w/the big picture because it can...

Jbahoffman, 2 of our MD's requested we stop using it. Evidently (I've not ever seen this happen) they had some cases of desaturation. I think it was called methiglobinemia (LOL. something like that...the O2 gets displaced from the cells.) Amy :)

Guess we'll never know....... ? Hope the kiddos are doing OK !! I'm w/you Ullee....no one on here is trying to be a doctor. Just offering the advice that was requested. Of course a mom would take her child to the doctor if needed. Amy ?

We use pressure quite often. I usually have a hand resting on the belly. I take note of wherever the looping seems to be taking place. After the doctor reduces the loop, I put pressure on where it was. Pressure can be key in some cases. Others....it ...

LOL. I guess I never thought of those little rectal tubes as "extreme". With propofol they wake up pretty quickly so I guess I would say the tube's in about 10 min. Give or take. The recovery room nurse takes it out. Though they've been known to forg...