GhosttRN

I'm lucky enough that I can ride my bike into and out of work. So there is built in exercise, even on 12 hour days. Nursing lends itself really well to grazing, so have lots of easy little snacks. Bags of nuts are awesome. I get it in bulk and use ziplocks. Its all about prep. Honestly the hardest part is staying away from all the crap that people bring in. One day its Doughnuts, the next its a candy barrel. Then its someones birthday and there are cupcakes. Or the DON had a party and brings down the leftovers to the breakroom. Then staying on a workout plan while working is hard. Not impossible. You end up with random 12 shifts throughout the week, and for me week by week its inconsistent. Great for muscle confusion, hard for mental confusion. Edit: My unit is great in that we plan and schedule staff to come in and start lunch relief. Then when lunches are covered the odd 8 hour shifts go home and they take over. So i get a 30 min around 12-1400ish, and then graze throughout the day. I limit to my coffee to a much as I can tolerate before 1200/2400 respectively and then having my water bottle easily accessible is important. Rarely is it too busy that I cant find 5 minuets to pee. (although a foley leg bag has crossed my mind)

I haven't had any stigma except from old patients,"Youre not a doctor?" or the "{while on phone} Hold on, my doctor just came in". Or sometimes i get the questions about why I am not a doctor from people outside of healthcare. If youre considering medical school, look into a PA program as well as that may fit you. Lots of options out there. If I had to do it again, I would have gone PA; still might.

Yup, it happens. Not frequently but often enough.

I used a small clipboard that could fit in my pocket and I wrapped the full sheet around the clipboard. I loved that. Small enough to pocket it, sturdy enough to wright on it. I found a few in the dollar section at target once. "Whitecoat clipboard" is also something similar. A large regular clipboard is just too unwieldy. I also had a friend who used note cards bound by a ring. You'll find something that works for ya. Have fun!

In my old hospital we had just one room where the pts would all call around 1-4 in the am complaining about the kids playing with a ball outside the door and asking us to keep them quiet. Never were any kids but it was an old Peds floor years prior. On a different floor we had a guy die from CA and it seamed he stuck around in his room and the adjoining room. The call bells for those two rooms would always go off and the beds never stayed made-up when they where empty, like someone was always sitting/laying on the made bed. He would also turn on the water faucet. Really freaked out one of our CNAs one night when she was restocking. She refused to go in there at night after that.

Haha! Thats what I'm talking about. Guys! lets all go get one, sterility be darned, thats why they make special gowns. Be sure it fits our arms nice and tight however. Don't want to loose that.

Are you a reservist? If not, how are you going to get time off to go to school? As a reservist you could finish your degree and go "Hey AF, Im a nurse. Will you give me a commission and let be a nurse with you?" Green to Gold style. Or is it blue to green? or whatever it is. Talk to a career NCO, you may be able to get the AF to pay for school and place you in a program where all you do is go to school. The Army has this program, ANCP or something like that.

$20 running shoes from costco. I wear em loose so I can slip them off while I chart to let em breath and just 'cause I hate shoes. I clock around 5-8 miles a shift. I feel fine after my shift with these. I like running shoes the best. My current pair are filas. I change them out every 4-6 months or so and at $20/pair I don't care. I cavi whipe the crap out of them after shift and powder them before I go home. I leave them at work and wear my regular shoes/sandals to and from. Socks make a big difference too. Get a good pair of socks that support your arches and wick moisture and you'll be golden. I did have a pair of Oakley combat boots that I really liked to wear when I worked MedSurg. Still do boots every now and then PRN. Socks and a good fit are the keys to happy feet. I have a lot of friends who wear crocs My worse pair of shoes was my school shoes. I couldn't find anything but these ugly white walkers. They sucked. Were hot and smelly. Never doing walkers again.

If it violates HIPPA there, wouldn't that mean it violates it here? HIPPA deals with the way PII is controlled. Mentioning that you had a family member receive care there, in my opinion does not violate HIPPA. Plus you were not charged with protecting that data. You never worked as a care provider for them. Its just a matter of how much info your family wants tossed around. I can say My mom was treated at "xyz" for "abc" and they did "lmnop" but I was never the care taker it would be me just spreading info about my mom. Not violating HIPPA. Correct me if I'm wrong? I would also agree with Bucky. Not to be rude but it sounds like you may need a HIPPA refresher.

Easy. any scrubs. Here's how. If you're a large, wear a medium. If you're and XL wear L. get the idea?. especially with the pants if you do a lot of squats, ahaha. No undershirt and use one that has a deep v neck.

So when can a HCP prevent a pt from leaving AMA? Any pt can leave when they want otherwise its a violation of civil rights.

Fully agree here and is my current practice. A bartender can give out ETOH but he isn't required to make sure the guy has a ride. Its the drinkers responsibility to not drive EVERYONE knows that. Now its our job to make sure the PT KNOWs that after this medication, if he is caught driving it is a DUI. "I educate. I medicate. I document. I discharge when appropriate" I like this

Agree with everyone. -Find unresponsive pt. -you were unable to arouse them -pulse check - nothing? -begin BLS/ACLS stop when told to by Doc or when everyone is saying "He's DNR!!!" lol. Nobody should get mad at you for starting CPR on an unresponsive pt. Sounds if pt DNR, maybe your institution needs to come up with a labeling method to inform everyone. (sign, bracelet, whatever) I have coded DNR PTs in the past because "check code status" is not part of the algorithm. that's something that will be determined but should be known by all ahead of time. Lessons learned sometimes come down hard. But learning happens everyday. Don't miss the opportunity

My institution provides Lexicomp for free and I really like that one. -10 second EM is a quick reference for many things ED. Doc focused but I still like it and use it. -I have a dedicated conversion calculator. Many of them out there and nice when you need it. -Medicode for a quick reference ACLS algorithms -Epocrates - And a game called Resuscitation. fun one that puts you in the docs shoes.

+1 planning and commo

I may be brash and I haven't read all the comment. But why would you work in an environment where you cannot question a doctor? Sounds toxic. I would quit. TeamSTEPPS anyone? Same team same fight.

I think it is awesome that you want to serve and this is a great time in the military. (it always is :)) My advice is to not lock yourself on the idea of a service. See what they all have to offer. They all have very similar benefits as far as being a vet. goes. Training in the service is great as well. If you want to get in the Military now after HS the best thing to do is go ROTC with a focus on Nursing. And this is where shopping the service choice will benefit you. Who will pay for your school, ie scholarship, full ride or partial. Budget is tight and they don't guarantee active duty anymore, its competitive now. Which school will give you the best benefits too. Not all schools are created equal whether its the RN program the ROTC program or the extra benefits they give to ROTC students. My advice is to pick the schools you want to go to then find out who their ROTC recruiter is. Call them and see what they can do for you. They will be able to tell you the benefits, the likelihood you will be able to get a scholarship if into the school at all. You need to be accepted into the school before you can go ROTC. They will only entertain the idea of you as a possible recruit if you show self motivation and drive. If you can, go to their office and sit with them, they like that. When you finish the 4 year program you will commission as an 0-1 in whatever service you sign up with as an RN for at least a 4 year obligation. (If i were to do it again I would probably go Air Force). I can give you more specifics on the Army if you'd like. If you want to enlist, the Army has a great LPN program and options later to go RN (tough and really good programs). But I still suggest you go for your RN via ROTC as the pay is way better and the life is easier as an Officer. Military life in general is not for everyone. There is a commitment to an external idea verse the self and some people have a hard time with it. ROTC gives you a taste and you can decide if its for you. You need to be willing to get into good physical fitness. If you're fat and you go to a recruiter you automatically fall down low on their priority. Not to say its not possible to get into shape and still be able to get in. There is a standard and you must meet it. If you decide its for you, the physical part is easy and will come with hard work. Please ask questions. Military commitment is just that. A commitment. Not an easy choice, but the gains and benefits you receive as a person and worth it if its for you.

I've worked NS for about 60% of my career and it is tough for my wife and I being on different timelines. You spend more time together consistently though. You get to see each other every day, I got to eat dinner with my family before leaving for work and I get breakfast with them when I get off. (working mainly 19-0700). But I'm always sleeping during the day. Some people can switch back and forth pretty easy, I cannot and must stay either on days or nights. When I'm working days however, I get less consistent time with my family. I'm gone before she wakes and I'm home after the kids are in bed. Although with my days off I get to spend it with them without depriving myself of sleep. All in all, not sleeping together is the worse part. Especially on your nights off when you don't want to mess with your rhythm. I prefer DS.

Sorry for the duplicate post, still figuring out this site. I would love to talk to CT, but we don't have one. We don't even have Xray. Very remote trauma medicine. Back home the stuff we use is power rated to include the IV pigtail extensions and I use them in my traumas.

The link you provided just sends me to the general anesthesiology website. Funny though, that's how the question came about, I work with and CRNA and she doesn't like to use them. Whats the jist of what your link states?

That's what I was thinking. I did my own trials with our Belmont and found that the caps we use restrict the flow to about 300ml/min versus no caps and being about to flow around 650ml/min. using a 14g 1.25" cath. Looks like I need to see if I can get us some better caps. What are you guys using?

Hi, I have spent the last few hours trying to find information on how much, if at all, infusion caps restrict the flow of a rapid infuser like the Belmont in a PIV. I have found very little information ranging from they are very restrictive to not at all, device dependent. I am curious if the caps should not be used in a massive transfusion scenario or any that would require large amounts of fluid/blood quickly in the trauma room and likely on their way to the OR. In my current practice I use these caps with all my patients, and have used them inline with the Belmont, primarily for ease of disconnecting the lines without spilling blood everywhere. I am not at my primary work place now and am working overseas for the time being and the question came up. I had never questioned it before, it had never been a problem. If this is not the best practice, what is? What do you do? Do you have articles to support? Thank you for your intrest.