phaith

The physician's on my travel unit are wanting to sedate non-neuromuscular blockade patients to the point of -5. My patients have a peak pressure on the vent of 27-30, riding the vent comfortably on -3. I don't understand why such deep sedation is being asked of these patients if they are tolerating treatment. Won't excessive sedation hurt the patient overall? Then, when they try to wean sedation, people are freaking out.

New grads simply don't have the insight to plan for what will happen next in an environment where patients are sick enough and nurse ratios are high enough that care MUST be proactive or things quickly slip out of control. 4 med-surg patients the first year should be the absolute brick wall ratio for new grads, and 2 PCU. After the first year or 18 months, nurses tend to understand the connections of things a bit more. The workplace is simply too busy to rely on an expertise-novice ratio structure anymore.