0.adamantite

What kinds of nightmares or dreams do you have as a nurse / pca / healthcare worker? As a PCA - I used to work at a nursing home with the same group of residents. I would dream about doing a toileting round on them, taking each one to the bathroom in...

I love hearing gross stories like this. I had a patient with an ileus. When I went in the room the patient vomited and filled a few of those large basins with fecal smelling, brown liquid vomit. As they were hurling, I was dry heaving. Thankfully I h...

Hello all, I am a long time lurker and am joining because I am at wit's end. I have the magical year of experience in acute care after graduation, but I am not happy where I am at. I don't think acute care is a good fit for me. I am stressed, overwhe...

I had no idea about this program. We will be done paying my student loans in a few months. I work at one of only a handful (less than 5 total) of facilities that provide mental health services in my state and I work in a urban hospital that serves a ...

LOL. Sadly they are the hospital supplied graham crackers. The 2 crackers in the blue packet everyone is talking about. I hadn't considered the peanut butter, but I might now .... Shame on me

Yes, please take away some of my responsibility. I want to be able to take a meal break and not cram 4 graham crackers in at the nurse's station so I don't faint.

Does the death penalty count as euthanasia? Do RN's participate in that process?

The subclavian line has a larger amount of heparin instilled into it (I think at my facility it is 5,000 units). This must be drawn out before use or else the patient gets a bolus of heparin. We are not allowed to touch the subclavian and I wouldn't ...

I am not an American but from a European culture. I have cared for all kinds of patients and I have no problem with doing this. I have a question I have noticed about a trend I have noticed in some black American patients, but not in other patients I...

Sorry if I offended someone. I was making an observation based on some things I saw in my nursing practice and was trying to be non-judgmental and understand if there was a reason for this behavior. I see now that this is not a cultural behavior. I w...

"You need to speak respectfully to me." Has worked surprisingly well for me. The has startled a few patients in the their tracks and then they try to back pedal. I had one lady say, "I guess you're right about that." Then if they comply I do my best ...

Okay, so on the topic of hospital shootings. We just had training on this. They told us that hospital shootings are usually targeted at one individual. Such as a patient / family member angry at a specific doctor for something that happened. Patients...

Yes, this is the behavior I am describing. I hope it's not my approach that is eliciting this response. I speak respectfully and always use "sir" or "ma'am." It is with the younger crowd. Now that you mention it, I can think of other cultures that I ...

If you are someone that says "I wouldn't want you as my nurse," I don't want you as my patient. You sound difficult to work with. It will be a relief to dump you onto another nurse ... muhahaha. No longer my problem!

The floor was chaotic and I was running around myself busy with a patient who had just vomited a large amount of blood and a critical hemoglobin came back (I think 5.3 or 4.7, can't remember). I was rushing to grab some supplies when I saw a patient ...

Staffing to acuity. So higher acuity = more nurses.

I have made med errors before that have no affected the patient in any way, thankfully. I have had 1 patient who transferred from a different area where there was a major med error that happened with them, but I can't go into details. It was due to t...

I call out for fevers greater than 100.5 and vomiting / diarrhea. Not a cold. If I am coughing a lot I will wear a mask at work.

Yes, I will tell the family that the patient is confused and agitated, but in a polite / discreet way. I will explain that we are doing the best we can for the patient.

For AAOx3 patients - I ask the patient why they are refusing and try to rectify the problem, reassure them, or provide education. For example if they are afraid to move due to pain I will set up a plan with them to administer pain medication prior t...

Same story here. Short staffed constantly, beds overflowing with patients. Very ill patients, too. We can barely keep up, some nights most area hospitals are full and we are sending patients to the next city!

AMEN to this post! This happens at least several times a week. Me: (Puts in 1900 labs) 1900 comes, and the phlebotomist is blowing up my phone. Phlebotomist: Do you need those labs done on room 8 at 1900? Me: Yes. (in my head: OMG, why did you have t...

Today I had a mini meltdown at work. I had a patient who was quiet ill and the earlier in the day, the family had requested a specialist consult. The nurse previous to me had checked with the hospitalist, who denied the family's request. The family h...

Nurse here with future husband in law enforcement.

Thanks for the support, everyone. I am saving up for something specific and am almost done, so the OT should end in a few weeks. The patient was admitted with a GI complaint and had been having complications (multiple abcesses), and had an extended l...