MarkHammerschmidt

MarkHammerschmidt

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All Content by MarkHammerschmidt

  1. how long for DVT to dissolve?

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to MargRN's topic in MICU, SICU

    "Anticoagulation, by preventing clot propagation, allows endogenous fibrinolytic activity to dissolve existing thromboemboli. The rate at which this process occurs is variable. Although complete clot...

  2. Need a good ICU book

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to erinnRN's topic in General Nursing

    May I humbly recommend my series of free articles at http://www.icufaqs.org

  3. Need a good ICU book

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to erinnRN's topic in MICU, SICU

    May I humbly recommend my series of free articles at http://www.icufaqs.org

  4. Just a quick question concerning hypercalcemia and A-Fib!

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to nursepenny's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    My experience is that arrhythmias are usually caused by something that's causing a given chamber to stretch. In patients with chronically high pulmonary pressures, like smokers, the right side of the...

  5. Vasopressin for Septic Shock

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to pinkfloydfreak's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Yup - we use it all the time. Apparently the feeling is that it's the best first-line pressor agent for sepsis. It's not at all clear to me how it works, as it doesn't seem to be an adrenergic pressor...

  6. "Chest Tubes" has been updated on the MICU faqs website...

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in General Nursing

    Hi all. Our article on "Chest Tubes" has been updated and nicely revised at http://www.icufaqs.org - let us know what you think, send in relevant comments, experiences, corrections?

  7. Maximum time on BiPap

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to bluesky's topic in MICU, SICU

    I don't like bipap much. It's only meant to get a patient through a brief period of acute treatment, trying to avoid intubation, as in acute CHF. The masks can erode the skin of the face, the patients...

  8. "Reading EKGs" has been updated at the MICU faqs website...

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Hi all. "Reading EKGs" has been overhauled, re-written, made pretty, all sorts of nice improvements added, at http://www.icufaqs.org... posted today, let us know what you think?

  9. Chest Tubes

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to DustinRN's topic in MICU, SICU

    Hi Dustin: may I humbly suggest my own article, at http://www.icufaqs.org - click on the relevant topic

  10. had a bad 12 hours

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to CCU NRS's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    But wasn't that patient lucky that they had you there, trying so

  11. friends dad/CABG c/o pain

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to nurseunderwater's topic in MICU, SICU

    Yup - Gwenith makes the correct point in saying that if your friend's dad can't cough, then he'll really run the risk of postop pneumonia. A fentanyl patch might not be a bad idea, but I like the old...

  12. Should I leave the ICU?

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to ladydi94956's topic in MICU, SICU

    Hi Diana - as a certified old, grey, battle-ax ICU nurse, let me throw in my two cents. A while back a coworker of mine made a med error: she miscalculated the drip rate of an infusion. The patient...

  13. need help explaining preload and afterload

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to cornxp's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Here's how I understand it: Each ventricle of the heart has a preload and an afterload. The preload is the volume coming in that the ventricle has to work with. The afterload is the resistance that...

  14. "Reading EKGs" has been updated on the MICU faqs website...

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in MICU, SICU

    Hi all. "Reading EKGs" has been overhauled, re-written, made pretty, all sorts of nice improvements added, at http://www.icufaqs.org - posted today, let us know what you think.

  15. Fick equation

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to versatile_kat's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Kat - see if this link works - enter the numbers and hit the buttons...

  16. First article update: "Vents and ABGs" is up at www.icufaqs.org...still, always free.

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in MICU, SICU

    Hello all. The first in a series of article updates is up at http://www.icufaqs.org - "Vents and ABGs" has been revised to include some material on non-invasive ventilation: mask CPAP, bipap, I-pap,...

  17. 44 Years and still Going Strong

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to yoga crna's topic in Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, CRNA

    Holy smokes - and I thought I was gettin' on: RN since '79, ICU since '83, turning 50. Got to start doing that yoga thing, obviously! Seriously - should I go over to the local Bikram? Hot in there,...

  18. Fick equation

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to versatile_kat's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Sometimes we don't believe our thermodilution numbers - maybe the patient has wide-open TR. What we do is to draw simultaneous specs from a radial art-line and the distal port of the PA, sending them...

  19. Worried about my mom...any advice

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to Love4Me's topic in General Nursing

    Hey Trauma: once in a while refractory htn is caused by renal artery stenosis, although usually it's in patients who are vasculopaths in other places too, eg CAD, carotids, etc. Worth asking about....

  20. ICU websites

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to gwenith's topic in MICU, SICU

    Gwenith - thanks for the compliment, but no more kickbacks, bribes, or anything else, at least this month - I've gone through the $20

  21. First article update: "Vents and ABGs" is up at www.icufaqs.org...still, always free.

    MarkHammerschmidt posted a topic in MICU, SICU

    Hello all. The first in a series of article updates is up at http://www.icufaqs.org - "Vents and ABGs" has been revised to include some material on non-invasive ventilation: mask CPAP, bipap, I-pap,...

  22. What do we need to know?

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to Be_Bodhi_Pure's topic in CCU, Coronary, Cardiac

    Eyes open, mouth closed, appropriate questions, few opinions. Chop wood, carry water, empty bedpans - how

  23. Oh boy should I do this?

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to koan's topic in General Nursing

    Listen - the opportunities are really terrific right now, the money's getting better, and it's ethically clean - not so easy to find, these days. And so hey - serious question here, actually: what's...

  24. Which port is used in a triple lumen central line?

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to Dawson's topic in General Nursing

    First concept is that with regards to the position of the ports, the normal idea of distal and proximal is reversed. Like, normally, the fingers are distal to the elbow, right? Further away from the...

  25. Amiodorone Toxicity

    MarkHammerschmidt replied to donnuchi's topic in MICU, SICU

    Yeah, we've seen it too. Something like 5% of folks rx'd with Amio develop this, and I think it doesn't go away. Roids, abx maybe, not sure.