plumrn BSN, RN

bossynurse101 has my vote. That is the major difference I have seen in my years of nursing. When I was a new nurse, all I worried about was taking good care of my patients, and in turn, they were so appreciative and there was such a gratifying nurse/...

Just wanted to say how sorry I am for your families experience. I think you are on the right track with your plan. Hope your father gets the care he deserves and answers to all your questions. My Mom was in the ER recently and then admitted due to n...

This is so maddening! They come directly from the doc's office. You would think that you would have all the orders you need either with the pt or being faxed to you shortly, including all home medications that the doc may want them on. Instead, the s...

I was squeezing the blood bag trying to get it to go thru the leukocyte filter a little faster (? I think that's what it was called-it was several years ago), and the filter and the bag separated spraying the room with blood. What a mess! Blood every...

I went to class/clinicals Mon-Thur, and worked 0645-2315 on Fridays and Saturdays. Sunday was my only day off and I used it to do all the papers and studying for school. It worked for me. I was really tired when I got home at midnight on Saturday nig...

Was that the Nurses Book Society? I used to have a subscription to this one years ago. I loved it! I bought so many wonderful books. I then realized how much I was actually spending over time and cancelled, but I had the subscription for years. They ...

I thought if in doubt, & no way to check quickly, you treat it as hypoglycemia? Hypoglycemia comes on fast. Hyperglycemia is slower and you have more time to react and realize what is going on.

If they pay you for your lunch, they can keep you from leaving your unit. Our policy says, employees are strongly encouraged to take their assigned lunchbreaks IF the unit workload allows. Our facility takes out a 30 minute lunch deduction automatic...

To begin with, your pt load is too high. Surgeries with peds mixed in is too high acuity, especially combined with such a high turnover of pts. Your staff turnover will never get better with all that going on. It sounds like a disaster waiting to hap...

There are several companies that sell uniforms out there. Look at the uniforms they wear in hotels, fast-food restaurants, grocery stores, etc. They are usually no-iron & wrinkle free, and some are very sharp. They don't look anything like scrubs...

Sometime back our hospital was going to make nurses start wearing all white again, because patients/visitors couldn't tell us from housekeeping/dietary/pharmacy staff, etc.. We argued that nurses have worn scrubs longer than anyone- that is why ever...

I agree you have a right to ask for a licensed nurse. I think you just went a little far, or overboard in your explanation to her. It seemed a little accusatory?

I thought verbal orders were a no-no with Jcaho now anyway? We are only allowed to take 'Read back telephone orders'; no verbal orders allowed. It it different elsewhere?

Scary to me. A friend of mine had the surgery and he has been in ICU several times with complications from GI bleeding to renal failure. Wonder if the Lap Band procedure has many complications? Anyone know?

I agree with you. LTC nurses do tend to get attitude from some in the healthcare field, and I don't understand it. They have such an overwhelming job with few resources to support them. We have pts that are very hard to care for, but were at the nurs...

That's wonderful! It is not the norm I can tell you. We are pretty close to you with usually start with 5, may be up to 7 before the shift ends. If you stay at 5 it's usually because you discharged 2 and got 2 back. The turnover is what really keeps ...

I love mineral makeup. So quick and easy and looks natural. I have very dry skin and have to moisturize my face every night and a light moisturizer in the morning. Brush on the makeup, mascara and light swipe of lipstick. I wear my hair down, but it ...

Most nurses don't work into their 60's (I don't think??). Some days I think I'll work until retirement age of 67. Other days I don't think I could make it to 57! I think the money will be better the longer I work, but then the freedom to do whatever ...

I got a similar one in the mail, but threw it in the trash. They know nothing about me or my career except that I received a certification- like thousands of others. How prestigious can that be? Sounds like just a money-making idea someone thought up...

I remember doing C&A's (clinitest and acetest) on urine samples Qid, ac and hs. The results told us how much insulin on the sliding scale to give. Amazing to think about now! I remember telling anyone, and everyone that called or asked about a pa...

We usually draw names and do a Secret Santa. It's fun and no one gets their feelings hurt because they didn't receive a present from anyone.

Somehow it is never easy to relate everything you did in a shift, but you know it was CRAZY, and you don't want to face it again. Thru the years I have had bad shifts where I did not want to go back, but usually it always worked out it wasn't as bad ...

How do you test a peg tube for placement? A bolus of air? If so, wouldn't you hear the air even if it wasn't in the stomach? We always check for residual, but I've never checked any other way. Someone teach me something here. I'm embarassed that I di...

Gosh, I remember having the same fear! I always had someone to go to when I had a worry about a pt, and felt like I wasn't going to have to be the 'decision-maker'- the RN would be. After becoming an RN, I was right away given a charge position - Eee...

Doctors office, clinics, management, teaching, school nurse are a few I can think of. However, in some of these you may be cleaning the rare event. The chemo & dialysis nurses occasionally have to assist someone, but not an everyday occurrence. G...