gemmi999

Worst change of shift report I got was a patient in the ER, on a bipap, with only IV access an EJ that has the bipap straps rubbing against it every time the patient moved. The IV looked horribly unstable, the patient's VS were in the toliet, and th...

I work ED. I was float RN, doing a foley catheter on a septic patient. I have never seen this patient before, she was in her 80s and a bit demented. She was in bed two in a two bed room. I go in, gown up, and start inserting catheter per procedure. ...

To be frank, I deal with patient's only for a short amount of time (ER nurse). If someone is verbally abusive/screaming/yelling/acting inappropriate we will place them in a room, on the monitor, and shut the door partially. We deliver care and foll...

I've heard of people doing this for jobs in Nor Cal, where the salary is typically in the 70s+ per hour. San Diego, in my experience, doesn't get that high. Totally up to you, though! I think a lot of it would depend on how expensive it is to fly ba...

What are of nursing did you work in? Why do you need a new job? Do you have solid references from your past jobs? In my experience people who are having trouble getting jobs after having a solid few years of experience tend to be the ones that don't...

Depending on the complaint and stability of the pt, I make sure to get the urine before they're even settled in the bed. A lot of times for females I just say that i can't give pain medications without knowing for sure if they're pregnant and low and...

One of our ER docs is fond of saying, re: complaining/loud/moaning/screaming pts: "Nothing that propofol won't cure"

Make sure you document exactly what happened. Then save it/put it somewhere that you won't lose it. Any further communications--document away and save them. Show all documentation to a lawyer.

When my brain can't turn off, I listen to podcasts. Specifically, I find podcasts that are interesting to me but perhaps a bit too boring to really hold my attention. Right now I've been listening to a movie review podcast that takes 2-3 hours to rev...

My favorite instructor actually recorded her lectures herself and uploaded them to the blackboard website. No one else was allowed to record but that way there was a recording if the student needed it. She also didn't use power point and hand wrote...

I second what a lot of nurses on here have said--nothing tops a manual pulse check when initiating CPR. After that we'll get a doppler to do femoral checks during CPR within the ten second window. A second use for doppler is our ERMD will typically ...

I think what I like so far about nursing is my abilities. I remember being a new grad only a few years ago and being terrified of having an *actually sick* pt. in my ER bed. I was competent in that I knew what to look for and who to go to for help, ...

One thing that I have to constantly remind pt's of is the length of time it takes a medication to work. I will give Motrin 600 - 800 for muscle pain/ortho injuries and the pt will say 20 minutes later: "It didn't work, I want something stronger". P...

I don't think you should dispense the OTC medication, but do you have education sheets that talk about how much to give their child based on weight? That way when the parent picks up the child, you can give them a sheet with the proper amount of tyl...

I've been there! I'm not an ICU nurse, I do ER. But recently with this weather/flu season we've had a *lot* of ICU holds. I had a patient I got from night shift who was in DKA, but night shift didn't start the insulin drip until about 8 hours after...

Because so many diabetics can have "normal" high BGs in the 300s and 400s, a lot of various medical personal don't think of it as high or a medical emergency. I had a patient (ED nurse here) who had been feeling sick for 2 weeks. Went to urgent car...

Hypotension could be a lot of things. If the pressure is 89/65, that's very different from a pressure of 40/20, etc. Are they on a medication that can cause the hypotension--for example, Levaquin? In that case I would slow down the rate of the antib...

I'm a ED nurse that started in the ED as a new grad. I couldn't imagine doing anything else. It's tough but possible, especially if you have a good team!

Biggest thing for ER is TEAMWORK. If you're caught up, help others. If other's ask for help, take the time to do it unless you have a critical situation. If a Code Blue in the ER is called, go even if you think they might have enough people. You c...

I work in the ER, and unfortunately death is something I see more often then I'd like. While there are times when it is unexpected, somebody young, or a disease process that moved much quicker then expected, a lot of times I feel the family and the ...

Maybe I have been spoiled! I put in all ordered IVs/do blood drawns/repeat levels on my pt's when they're assigned, but on the 50+ people the waiting room who the MD saw but there is no nurse, I've typically never had to draw blood. Lab/CT/Xray etc g...

Maybe I've been spoiled, but I've worked in 3 separate ERs at this point and until now have always had Phlebotomy *generally* available (except for emergencies, etc). I'm in a new ER and tonight, on one of the busiest nights of the year with the fl...

This is so timely! I just started a new job about 3 weeks ago, while staying per diem at my old job. I was debating if I should leave the new job and go back to the old job because I'm not liking the new job as much. It isn't worth the extra stress o...

I went to nursing school in San Diego, which is *completely* saturated with new grads. I did apply to a couple new grad positions in SD but I also didn't want to wait until their hiring season--nearly 4 months after I graduated! I looked into small ...

I'm reviving this thread because I've been an ER nurse for 3 years, done triage numerous times. Normally quick and on it with regards to triage but today was a *horrible* day and I need to vent. We were short staffed, I was *always* behind in triage...