Stargazer

Hi all--does anyone know where I can find an on-line site for vasoactive drug dosing tables? I never use the things, preferring my trusty calculator, but one of my employees has requested a table as a reference. I have just wasted an hour searching ...

Hi, all. Due to some consistent problems with complete and timely documentation--of both assessments and interventions--on our ICU patients, I have designed new ICU flowsheets for our facilities and would like to take the opportunity to set some guid...

When I worked ICU, we had nurse techs who assisted with bed baths, but all nurses bathed their own pts. Since most of the pts were sedated/comatose/immobile, it took 2 people to do a bath, turn the pt and change the sheets. It was a good time to lis...

Well, that'll teach those girls that S-E-X is evil and bad and scary and they should give up any plans they have for using those naughty parts "down there" until they're safely married and even then it should be lights off, door locked, under the cov...

Congrats on the new job, Renee!

~sigh~ Apparently this needs to be stated yet again. I don't care what you do on an official break, whether that is a 15-minute break, a lunch break, or all your breaks for the shift combined into one, as long as this is accepted practice in your uni...

Very true. I once had a pt tell me at 3 AM that she "just didn't feel good." Because she was diabetic, she thought she was having an insulin reaction of some kind. After taking her history, I was about to call the doc when somewhere in the back of my...

Isn't that the truth?

And I'd love to take the test, if you can provide a working direct link.

Yes. :)

You can see this on any episode of Survivor. Of course, with most of the Survivor contestants, it's not that they value philosophy more than food or shelter, it's that they're lazy, dumb, and/or easily distracted by shiny things.

Roxanne, who or what is Unison? I'm afraid I haven't heard of it.

I understand the impulse though. We can return SOME expired supplies for credit, but a lot of items can't be returned and we just eat the cost. It kills me to throw away perfectly good IV solution and ACLS drugs because they're, like, 1 minute expire...

I know that Doctors Without Borders won't take expired medical supplies as donations, so I suspect there are legitimate reasons for the product dating.

I know that our expired endotracheal tubes have to be replaced, even though they're just inactive latex or similar. When I asked our supplier (a trusted colleague for 13 years, not a sleazy company rep) why, she said that they are no longer guarantee...

Exactly, llg. I have enormous respect for her as an epidemiologist and researcher, but I think a lot of people don't know about that part of her work. http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/nitegale.htm

Found this on a quickie Google search: http://www.va.gov/visns/visn02/network/pubs/homeoxygenrespiratorytherapy.pdf I presume the oxygen company has provided written instructions, or can fax some or direct you to their website. They should also have ...

http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r030329.htm

Outpatient vs inpatient is the difference. If someone can be worked up, diagnosed, treated and safely released to home from the ER, they will be. If they need to be admitted for ongoing inpatient care and monitoring, then the question is if they need...

I liked Ratched's post too. It costs me nothing to say "Sorry to have to wake you" before swinging into my schpiel, it gives the doc a moment to collect his/her thoughts, and it starts the conversation off on a pleasant note. I do it as a courtesy,...

Depends on the doc, the situation, how much time I have to mess with it, and my mood. Generally speaking, my choices are: 1. Charm/flatter/bribe him or her into getting what I need for my patient 2. Dig my heels in and make it clear that I will hound...

So sorry, Vegas. More hugs.

leeca, if you are a Jehovah's Witness, I can understand how you might feel hurt or insulted by some of what you've read, but rather than characterizing other poster's comments or questions as "stupid", why not take the opportunity to educate a few th...

I don't think there's much you can do for the nurse in question. It was her responsibility to be informed not only about the med itself but also the reason it was being used for this particular patient. I understand the need to come up with somethi...

Nice to see the follow-up. Keep us posted. :)