patwil73

patwil73

ICU/CCU, Home Health/Hospice, Cath Lab,

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All Content by patwil73

  1. hour long seizure-what was this?

    patwil73 replied to NewNurseAlert's topic in General Nursing

    Encephalopathy should show up on a CAT scan. The brains swelling makes pretty obvious changes to the image. Also if he had encephalopathy valium and ativan should not have fixed the problem as they...

  2. hour long seizure-what was this?

    patwil73 replied to NewNurseAlert's topic in General Nursing

    Could it be an overdose of dopamine antagonists (haldol, reglan, amoxapine) leading to EPS (extrapyramidal symptoms). I usually see it in the face and partial body, but it does take a while after...

  3. Am I Crazy? 38, never thought I'd considering nursing but now I am

    patwil73 replied to Elizabeth K.'s topic in General Nursing

    i have to disagree here. as a nurse you can often apply for position from per diem (5 or 6 shifts a month) to 0.6fte (which is either 4 12 hr shifts in 2 weeks or 6 8hr shifts) to full time (which...

  4. Am I Crazy? 38, never thought I'd considering nursing but now I am

    patwil73 replied to Elizabeth K.'s topic in General Nursing

    1) Nope - I started out in computer programming in college, quickly grew to hate it and moved on to teaching. Graduated with a teaching degree and worked 3+ years before I went back to college for...

  5. Med Surg Staffing Ratios

    patwil73 replied to diane227's topic in Washington Nursing

    At Valley Medical in Renton the staffing is 4 or 5 on days, 5 or 6 on eve, and 6 or 7 on nights. They have 1 pca for up to the first 15 pts, and after that they get another pca every 12 (so 1-15 = 1...

  6. MOVING to Seattle from NOR CA, NEED HELP

    patwil73 replied to LVNfairy's topic in Washington Nursing

    Hello, I'll try to answer as many as I can. 1) Yes, but they are usually LTC or office work. Most hospitals around here are almost all RN. 2) Contact...

  7. Does DNI mean no CPR?

    patwil73 replied to chenoaspirit's topic in General Nursing

    There are, but it really is for the benefit of the patient and for you. Imagine the patient with a bad heart (whatever the reason) who has been told by his cardiologist that if his heart stops or...

  8. how to get started in specialty i.e. OR, ER, ICU, etc

    patwil73 replied to thekid's topic in General Nursing

    I started off in ICU - had about a 6 month residency program with clinical and classwork (but got paid for them which was a kick after school). Specialty units I think really require great preceptors...

  9. Full timers-how many sick days do you use per year?

    patwil73 replied to ajaxgirl's topic in General Nursing

    3 years this July (at this job) and have used 1 day. However, I cashed out 15 hours last year for an end of the year bonus to myself, and this year will be using almost 66 hours (cashed out). I can...

  10. Is this a trick question or am I reading too much into it?

    patwil73 replied to Raefabian4's topic in General Nursing

    If I can add my own overthinking You have 2 answers which are mutually incompatible. Answer C and D can not exist together. So if you came up with this calculation and didn't choose C then by logic...

  11. Can You Refuse A Patient Assignment

    patwil73 replied to gladtobeOB's topic in Patient Safety Issues

    Yes, many are - and hence a "quick talk" can weed out those who truly have a deep mental illness and those who are trying to play the system. If they can't be reasoned with or are unwilling to listen...

  12. Does anyone here have a baby sitter if you work night shift?

    patwil73 replied to BabyLady's topic in General Nursing

    Technically it works out to $350 for 2 weeks since my wife and I work one week on and one week off. It is a bit high for the typical school year since mostly she watches them at night. But during...

  13. Can You Refuse A Patient Assignment

    patwil73 replied to gladtobeOB's topic in Patient Safety Issues

    My first instinct on reading this is that you could certainly try to refuse the assignment but i doubt you would get very far. As a med-Surg nurse you should be able to deal with a patient with a...

  14. Does anyone here have a baby sitter if you work night shift?

    patwil73 replied to BabyLady's topic in General Nursing

    Both my wife and i work nights so a nanny is a must. Our kids are 7 and 5 (almost 8 and 6). We leave for work at 11:15 pm and don't get back until 11:00 am or so. So our nanny must be there while...

  15. 28 year old male thinking about Nursing as a profession

    patwil73 replied to alabamacrimson's topic in Nursing Career

    Fall - Late Sept to early Dec Winter - Jan to March, maybe early April (been a long time) Spring - April to mid June I think each equate to like 10 weeks or so.

  16. 28 year old male thinking about Nursing as a profession

    patwil73 replied to alabamacrimson's topic in Nursing Career

    Shorter than semesters - there are 4 in the year (Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer). Most schools that use them have programs based on attending the first 3 with summer off. So 7 quarters equated to...

  17. 28 year old male thinking about Nursing as a profession

    patwil73 replied to alabamacrimson's topic in Nursing Career

    When i got my ADN in Longview, WA - after the 1st quarter we were certified as PCT's so we could get a job and say we had experience. After the 4th quarter you could sit for your LPN boards and get a...

  18. what would u do?

    patwil73 replied to smartnurse1982's topic in General Nursing

    In our hospital it would be an incident form also - although most probably wouldn't take the 20+ minutes required to fill it out. However, any incident like this (fall, violence, injury, exposure)...

  19. Respiratory therapist Vs Nurses

    patwil73 replied to omgodzilla's topic in General Nursing

    If I had it to do all over again I would still choose nursing - but that is mostly because I am not a big fan of respiratory secretions. As for the rest of your questions: I think nursing has a...

  20. IV piggyback question

    patwil73 replied to carmen7's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Correct - you don't need the piggyback. However, in the end it will come down to personal preference and your hospital policy. I will tend to use piggybacks when I have 2 or more abx to give near the...

  21. drive time

    patwil73 replied to kerouac01's topic in Washington Nursing

    Maybe 30-40 minutes without a lot of traffic. Traffic is usually heavy 6am-9am and then 2:30pm-6pm. Lakewood is just south of Tacoma but the drive through Tacoma can be bad at times - so I would...

  22. IV piggyback question

    patwil73 replied to carmen7's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Cipro can be run as a primary line - it is just easier a lot of times to piggyback it into the main line. You just have to answer a few questions: 1) Is the main NS line being run for a particular...

  23. IV Lopressor...who can administer it?

    patwil73 replied to HurricaneBreeze's topic in General Nursing

    The nurse doesn't have to be ACLS certified (at least at my facility) but either they or someone should know how to read the telemetry when giving the med. At our facility they are supposed to call...

  24. What is the average RN salary for RN in Tacoma

    patwil73 replied to twantland's topic in Washington Nursing

    I have also worked St. Claire's as agency. I enjoyed the med-surg as they used a big team on nights (9 patients, RN, LPN, and PCA). The unit is a long circle with storage and office rooms in the...

  25. Nursing Supervisors

    patwil73 replied to PediRN's topic in Nurse Management

    Restraint use is monitored by the unit and reviewed by the manager of each unit. If we have some issue with them (say a coming review or such) then I will review them. Each night at the start of my...