lennon33x

As nurses, we will all make an error. But there are two major fallacies here... 1) You are justifying your med error. Never. Ever. Rationalize a med error. The only person who loses is the patient. 2) You are skirting your responsibility. If you gave the med, you have that third med check that you do at the bedside, which is to verify the med against the MAR. 6 Rights of Patient Med Admin and three Med checks (first against the order, then when you pull it, and then when you give it). Yes, you learned a big mistake here, and yes there is probably a flaw in the system. But don't let these bigger ideals alleviate the responsibility you have to your patient.

FYI, I'm in a Surgical/Trauma ICU. Here's my take: 1. I wanted to care for patients. End of story. Improving people's lives at whatever cost, the challenging environment of the ICU and building relationships is at my core. 2. No reservations whatsoever. Most recent studies show that men are being more accepted into the field as they are found to be a great asset to the units. This is because there is a different perspective, and men can add great benefits (both in strength and wisdom). 3. If your nursing education is tailored to a female demographic, then switch colleges. This is archaic. The absurdity of the study about men touching women is equally absurd if the roles were switched. A) you would be surprised at the amount of women who do not know how to properly clean themselves, and B) it would be more imperative that nursing educators insure that all students know how to properly care for patients. 4. No discrimination here. I've actually been embraced as a male. 5. Only with bariatric patients do they ask me to help turn, compressions, etc. I usually don't focus on the feministic/misogynistic mentalities, and focus on the patient. 6. This is actually a good point. It's my license. They teach you in nursing school about dignity and privacy, but because some patients may not be aware, etc., I don't ever put myself in a position to ever be scrutinized in that way. If I'm giving a patient a bath, foley, etc., I make sure that either another female is there to assist (foley), or the door is open in a way that other nurses can help me if need be. 7. The gender stereotyping of nurses has diminished in quite some time. If you feel that your gender is a hindrance to your success as a nurse, you need to re-evaluate your plans. Your focus should be about providing safe, effective, efficient and evidence-based care to patients in an effort to promote wellness and healing. If your gender is getting in the way of that, then you should change your mindset.

You had a lot of trauma and changes that are associated with your nursing. During nursing school you had somethings happen that don't necessarily happen to other people, and make you overly cautious and hesitant. I would definitely take some time for a counselor in addressing maybe some root causes and maybe ways to learn and grow from experience. It doesn't necessarily sound like it's not your calling, but it sounds like, in some capacity, you're hesitant or reluctant to really jump in with both feet. There are a lot of nurses have been in your position, so don't just think that it's you. It just takes some time to figure out what works, what doesn't, and how you can build upon yourself with whatever limitations you have.

The Hurst Review hands down.

IMO, I think you may have the wrong approach. Instead of "did I do something wrong?" maybe ask, "How could I have made this better?" We have a tendency to maybe point fingers during stressful times instead of reflecting. This is how I maybe would have approached it: "Hey, I know you're going to lunch at 12. Room 105 needs to be back in her bed before then. In a minute, if I came and helped you, would you mind changing her linens?" Offering to assist usually helps the UAP know that you're willing to help. UAPs can build resentment easily because they're asked to do the grungework. Don't let your regularly nursing duties cause oversight in delegating with respect. Delegating a task doesn't mean bossing someone around.

So I just landed a pretty awesome job. I'll be working in the SICU at the now biggest hospital in the country. We are required to purchase our own scrubs. I've been a fan of the Landau brand forever, mainly because they are really comfortable. But for guys in the ICU (or any unit for that matter), which scrub top did you go with and why. I'm looking for versatility, comfortability and form fitting (to a degree). I hate the box, giant scrub tops that I could be blown away with. When my father in law had his STEMI/CABG, one of the male nurses had a top that had pockets on the sleeve. I dug that. Thanks

So I was reviewing IV solutions and I had a question about what Dextrose does to them. Normosol-R/NS/LRS are all isotonic solutions. I also read that any solution with 5% dextrose is hypertonic. So is it the dextrose, regardless of the strength of the saline, the factor that changes an isotonic/hypotonic solution to a hypertonic solution? Thanks!