JenERally

Out-of-pocket, I spent over $200 between a hotel room and an overnight sitter to guarantee my on-time arrival to work and specifically a "mandatory" staff meeting during a snow storm last week. Only after arriving to work did I learn that "mandatory"...

Tech staff on my unit bully nurses and administrative staff who call them to task and ask them to do their jobs (as opposed to sitting behind a closed curtain with feet up while the unit's crazy busy and everyone else is working). Refusing to perform...

Moderate sedation is moderate sedation whenever medication is given to decrease a patient's LOC. It isn't so much the specific medication as it's more the indication for giving the medication. The I've given Benadryl as an adjunct to versed and fenta...

You guys rock! Thanks for the replies. I'll be paid for one hour as if the meeting had taken place as originally planned, but a minute more than that would've required an act from God, regardless of the "inconvenience". This unit is notorious for pi...

Due-ah-dee-num

I would rather take A&P, microbiology, advanced patho, ANYTHING, while having my fingernails and toenails ripped off if that meant that I never had to take a chemistry class ever again! 18 years after barely scraping by with a B in high school ch...

Wow, reading the horror stories on this thread makes me really grateful for my employer-sponsored health insurance! $120 biweekly for myself and daughter. In network, no deductible, $10 PCP copay, $20 specialist, 5/10/20 prescriptions. Thousands of d...

Pregnancy-related illnesses such as severe morning sickness, sciatica, gestational diabetes, PIH, etc are better protected in the US than they were five years ago now that the PDA is federal law. I agree that pregnancy alone isn't a disability; the h...

This belongs on a tshirt! So true!

A perfect example of how all of this is alive and well (unfortunately) would be getting publicly scolded by a coworker for not inputting unit's monthly hand washing PI data due to a patient who decided to go all septic on my ass and tried super hard ...

I've found that a pt's request for a finger stick can be the most telling "sign" of hypoglycemia especially in pts who are already beta blocked.

Sputum is my kryptonite.

And NEVER drop the "Q" word!

Does your facility require employees on FMLA leave to make up missed time or only those on non-FMLA absences? Hopefully not because that's a huge FMLA no-no. It's so pathetic that educated, intelligent, unselfish adults can be treated so poorly for g...

My hospital instituted the use of an extra badge with our first name, first letter of last name if first name is common, and title that rests on top "real" badge with full name. This was instituted after a nurse was stalked and assaulted by a former ...

Candida La-a "la-dash-uh" Tiajuana

I agree with the PP about the unlikelihood of a BON taking a complaint regarding a nurse's rudeness seriously. But I think applying the principles of therapeutic communication that most nurses got shoved down their throats during nursing school may b...

Amen! I reported a physician who chose to scold me in front of coworkers for performing an EKG on a pt who had just arrived via EMS because now he had "to handle it." Apparently an EKG wasn't indicated given that EMS initially indicated that pt only ...

You'll get a DUI if you fail the field sobriety tests that the officer administers, not for simply having Vicodin in your system.

*interval*

I wonder if he was referring to the black box warning that zofran carries in higher doses to cause SADS (Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome) by prolonging the QT internal.

Wow.... Speaking as a single parent to a child in preK and as a parent who has also buried a child following "just a GI bug", my duty as mom will ALWAYS trump my duties as a nurse. Does that make me any less of a nurse? I don't think so. Don't agree?...

Your honesty is commendable, but I absolutely agree with other posters that your HCV status is none of your employer's business. It absolutely doesn't affect your ability to perform your job and volunteering info may just be opening up a can of worms...

Personally, I think the GI techs on my unit provide more technical assistance than pt care. They're extremely well versed in equipment knowledge and troubleshooting, but as far as many nursing functions, not so much.

My unit actually started doing this recently. A few "expert" people with the most experience put a competency outline together, and everyone has to be observed by one of the observers placing 3 successful IVs using the competency skill set. Once you ...