patwil73

patwil73

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

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All Content by patwil73

  1. Vasopressors- Critical Care RN's please help!

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

    So far so good - MAP is still above 60 - so fluids should have been a good choice. The new onset paralysis may have been caused by decreased blood flow to the area previously affected by the CVA...

  2. Low pressure at night

    patwil73 replied to AMarie85's topic in General Nursing

    You are right! Little information makes it very difficult. You say no PCA, however was she getting routine narcotics with prn's? Did she get a sleeping pill? The arousal difficulty is worrisome to...

  3. hanging cartizem

    patwil73 replied to Kristine6767's topic in General Nursing

    The only problem I can see with running a gravity infusion of NS into cardizem, versus the cardizem running into the NS - is if someone accidently hits the roller clamp (such as your patient) then you...

  4. HIPAA violations

    patwil73 replied to Dakota28's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Allow me to differ a bit here. You need to have the emotional support of family and friends to lean on in hard times. In order for them to provide that support they need to understand what you are...

  5. Help!!!

    patwil73 replied to snm25's topic in General Nursing

    Not from Ohio, but where I am from most nurses in Dr. offices tend to be LPN's which usually have a lower rate of pay (say 15/hr vs 25/hr). I once applied for a position in a Dr. office and they...

  6. Med/Surg to ICU?

    patwil73 replied to sammy75's topic in General Nursing

    Do they have a residency program? I would be hesitant about switching to ICU with only 1 year experience unless they had a residency program (preferably around 3 months) which would help increase...

  7. Trying to tweak my work schedule

    patwil73 replied to KELLYGIRL's topic in General Nursing

    8 hr days are tough. Working 72 hrs means yu have 5 days off every 2 weeks. So you can get either 2 or 3 days off at a time, or work 9 days straight and get 5 days off. Tue-Sun (6 days) Mon-Tue off...

  8. What would you have done?(longish)

    patwil73 replied to locolorenzo22's topic in General Nursing

    As a supervisor this is what I would have done: 1) Apologize for the inconvenience of having to share a room during this trying time. Unfortunately we don't have anything open to move to, but I...

  9. Is there ANY department in nursing that I can avoid cleaning up poo?

    patwil73 replied to Future-nurse's topic in General Nursing

    You might try NICU (Neo-natal Intensive Care). Most people who don't like poop, seem not to mind it when it is a baby - and they almost always are not smearing it on the wall. Although as many have...

  10. When nurses visit loved ones who are hospitalized...

    patwil73 replied to RNcDreams's topic in General Nursing

    From the other side - I have been visiting my ex-wife who is currently hospitalized in ICU. I currently work as a Clinical Administrative Resource (basically night supervisor, but with obligations on...

  11. Anyone working at NWMC, Valley Med, or Tacoma General?

    patwil73 replied to wsong3's topic in Washington Nursing

    Are you talking about NorthWestern in north Seattle? I worked one contract there. People were pretty nice in ICU. However, the orientation was about 30 minutes - this is the computer, this is where...

  12. Anyone working at NWMC, Valley Med, or Tacoma General?

    patwil73 replied to wsong3's topic in Washington Nursing

    Yep, I work at Valley Medical Center. I truly enjoy working here. Staffing ratio's for nurses on regular floors are 4 pt on days, 5 on eve, and 6 on nights. Each PCA will take up to 12 pts. We...

  13. St. Joes or St. Francis

    patwil73 replied to sandjcomp's topic in Washington Nursing

    I enjoyed working in St Francis's ICU. I found the people there to be very helpful and kind to agency folk. St. Joe's was a little more stand-offish. They weren't mean or demeaning or anything, it...

  14. Tacoma Washington

    patwil73 replied to bnjmom's topic in General Nursing

    I happen to live in Tacoma. I've enjoyed the last 5 years I have lived here. As a previous poster mentioned, you have hiking, camping, skiing, diving, theme parks, theater, dance clubs, etc all...

  15. Considering Home Care Nursing

    patwil73 replied to Nurse_Newbie's topic in Home Health

    I used to do home care. I liked it a lot. The diversity of patients was very exciting, you had a lot of time for teaching, and if you were ever near an accident you tended to have everything you...

  16. Helping for easier IV access.

    patwil73 replied to lpnstudentin2010's topic in General Nursing

    If your doctor schedules a test that you know requires an IV you might ask for a prescription for say valium 5mg po (or other antianxiety med). I know they prescribe them for a lot of outpt...

  17. Having problems with supervisor not listening.

    patwil73 replied to BearyPrivate's topic in General Nursing

    Does your facility have any protocols established on what is expected when coming to work. I know ours says that if you have alcohol on your breath I can send you home. Otherwise if the supervisor...

  18. Scheduling....who gets preference

    patwil73 replied to CoffeeRTC's topic in General Nursing

    Each facility probably has its own ways of handling shift assignments - i know at mine it is not based on FT vs PT but rather seniority for the purpose of bidding into an assignment and then it...

  19. T-shirt slogan for Intensive Care

    patwil73 replied to javajunkie's topic in General Nursing

    Have picture of a nurse holding paddles to a patient's chest. You say goodbye, I say hello.

  20. Med Surg Staffing Standards - Are there any?

    patwil73 replied to Ginger35's topic in Nurse Management

    My hospital has recently adopted a new staffing matrix (change from an acuity based system) that = 1RN to 4 pts on days, 1RN to 5 pts on eve, and 1 RN to 6pts on nights. They should always have an...

  21. Praying with your patient

    patwil73 replied to MShell's topic in General Nursing

    Many people have stated the essential components of praying with patients - namely that it is what the patient or family needs that is important. If they need a hand to hold as they die, a person to...

  22. need a piece of advice about case presentation

    patwil73 replied to clyx_27's topic in General Nursing

    This is somewhat vague. Are you asking for advice on how to give a presentation or for information on the subject of the presentation. If #1 - make sure you have the facts of your presentation down....

  23. Tired of being asked to work extra...

    patwil73 replied to KarmaComesAround's topic in General Nursing

    One of the few things I dislike about my job is having to call people and ask if they are willing to come in. I do it because 1) it is part of my job description and 2) I can not leave staff unsafe...

  24. advise for shadow day

    patwil73 replied to ergito2's topic in Nursing Career

    Every manager is different on what they will ask. Most seem to want to know why you chose this particular specialty, what other specialties you are interested in, what makes you qualified for this...

  25. advise for shadow day

    patwil73 replied to ergito2's topic in Nursing Career

    I am assuming you are a nurse who just passed boards, yes? If so and you are thinking of hiring on there then come in business casual but bring along a set of scrubs to wear also (they might give you...