LonghornChic replied to JJinTheBay's topic in Critical
I worked in IMC full time 4-5 yrs ago before going back PRN last year. I filled the other years with outpatient nursing (street medicine and school nursing). I got a full time ICU job this year, received 8 weeks of orientation and have been on my own...
LonghornChic replied to AshleyM RN BSN's topic in Nursing
I worked IMC for 2 years then left for a “Street Nursing” position. I left street medicine because finding ran out so I became a middle school nurse for 1 1/2 yrs.
I have never felt so unappreciated and alone (professionally atleast) in my life. D...
At my current HCA hospital, we have an extreme shortage of Registered Respiratory Therapists. To help with that shortage, several nurses have been trained to assist the one RRT with things such as neb treatments, vent checks, suctioning, preparing fo...
Hi all,
I've been an RN going on 5 years. My first 2 years were at the bedside in IMC and the last 2 1/2 were outpatient. I recently returned to the bedside but to a 40 bed ICU unit. I had an 8 week orientation (most was COVID related) and this ...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Critical
Thank you all for your advice and support!!
I’m definitely going to look into more hobbies. I feel so exhausted but I know I need to keep my mind occupied on my days off.
Sadly, this poor patient ended up herniating a few days later and the f...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
I’m in awe of your flight nursing experience!!
I am totally on board with having RN’s help RRT’s with manageable tasks when they are busy but what kind of threw me off is having someone else come assess my patient and then make the determinatio...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Critical
I did want to add that I had asked the MD about possibly changing to another pressor, such as Levo, that might help increase BP as well as HR but he decided that we should try what we had hanging already.
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Public/Community
It’s a relatively new area of public health. There’s very few programs like this and I feel incredibly lucky to be part of it. I’m hoping to be able to assist in expanding it. It’s a little scary stepping into this role knowing that future program fu...
Hi! I’ve been in nursing for a little over two years with a background in critical care. Recently moved into the public health spectrum. I’ve been working with the homeless and mentally ill at temp brick and mortar sites but will be transitioning int...
Hi! I’m not sure where to post this but here it goes. I’ve been in nursing for a little over two years with a background in critical care. Recently moved into the public health spectrum. I’ve been working with the homeless and mentally ill at temp...
Hi all! Sorry but this is a long post. I'm a new nurse (1 yr) who floats between units in our critical care department. I spend about 50-60% of my time on the CC step down unit. A couple of weeks ago I had a situation where I believe my patient's saf...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
Thanks! I felt some pity towards the intensivist at the end because I had a sense that this delay was due to another reason and not the one he told me about. Maybe something had recently happened that caused him to be hesitant in transferring patien...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
Thanks! I felt some pity towards the intensivist at the end because I had a sense that this delay was due to another reason and not the one he told me about. Maybe something had recently happened that caused him to be hesitant in transferring patien...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
Thank you! This was the first time in my career that I've ever had to go through this much stress to get someone transferred. It was definately an eye opener!
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
In this particular step down we can do certain pressors and very limited use of BiPap. This patient became MICU appropriate due to her rapidly declining respiratory status. The MD held off on putting her on Bipap (despite the confirming ABG's) beca...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
I soon as he told me his "reasons" for the delay, I knew I was going to get nowhere with him. I 100% believed that this patient would code during the night, especially with her history of crashing and burning.
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
Thank you! I figured the intensivist had other less obsvious reasons for delaying the transfer. The RRT were not as fruitfull either because the same intesivist also attended and ran the RRT. I now see that calling a RRT (or multiple RRT's) does not ...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
Also forgot to add that I was so concerned about this patient going into respiratory or cardiac arrest that I placed the crash cart in the room and had the pads on her the entire time this situation was going on. I also placed the rapid intuabition k...
LonghornChic replied to blackmamba123's topic in Nursing
In my ICU stepdown unit we sometimes assign RN's to be a "task nurse" when we're short a CNA/PCT. The task nurse basically does all the tech work plus pass meds, start IV's, Foley's, etc. if the patients main nurse is busy and needs a little help. I...
Hi all, I've been at my current critical care job for a little over 8 months. I like what I do and have learned a lot, however, there have been some very recent major family issues (my husband's new medical problems) that require my attention. My cur...
LonghornChic replied to OrganizedChaos's topic in Nursing
If de-escalation doesn't work then I assess their mental status. If they are pretty oriented and know what they are doing then I say "since you know what you are doing then I should inform you that hitting a nurse is considered a felony". I ususally ...
APS seems to think so. My neighbor is 83 years old and moves at a snails pace due to his parkinsons BUT he moves, even if it does take him an hour to get out of bed and into his wheelchair. He can apperantly feed himsekf also even if that means a lo...
I've been on the other side of that fence...the neighbor calling authorities. I have a very long history with my neighbor (his house burned down, he stayed with me while we helped with reconstruction, I am MPOA due to his own family issues, and sooo...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
I think this will be something I will bring up to my manager when I talk with her next week. If their part time hours are doable then I might stick it our with them. I know of a couple of nurses that work 7 am - 3 pm a couple of times a week. Most of...
LonghornChic replied to LonghornChic's topic in Nursing
We are furtunate enough that his employer has allowed us to use medical leave of absence. This should cover us for a bit until he can return to work (he'll be abl to, he just needs some extended recovery time). We also have some emergency savings to ...
