Ellie G

Ellie G's Latest Activity

1. 

   What Is Your Most Gross, Yucky, Disgusting Nursing Horror Story?

   Ellie G replied to yazisizit's topic in Humor

   I was called to a code. The floor nurses were dropping an NG tube. Another nurse was doing CPR The chest compressions caused the NG tube to emit this huge gust of coffee ground emesis that flew all over me. It was in my hair, all over my clothes, everywhere. Yuck.
2. 

   CRNI salary

   Ellie G replied to RN1119's topic in Nursing

   My hospital only paid for med-surg and critical care certifications and it was 75cents per hour
3. 

   religion and interviews

   Ellie G replied to NycRN92's topic in Interview

   As a devout Mormon, I worked my Sabbath (Sunday) for years and I really missed church. Eventually I was able to schedule myself to have Sundays off although I worked night shift on both Friday and Saturday 12 hour nights to be able to have Sundays off. Made for some nodding off at times but I was happy with the change in schedule. Sometimes you have to pay your dues first in order to get the schedule you want. For me it worked better to have the job and then work into my preferred schedule as I had proved myself to be flexible and valuable to the facility.
4. 

   omg I forgot to give report!

   Ellie G replied to kellicutshair's topic in Nursing

   Having to give report to 4 nurses is raising my hackles a bit. Why on earth did the person making assignments for the next shift not make the assignments so it was nurse to nurse on all the patients or two nurses max? Having to give report to 4 people is fragmented and makes report take much longer and therefore it is much easier to make a mistake during report or omit something. As a charge nurse I would have avoided that kind of assignment.
5. 

   nurses not using stethoscopes

   Ellie G replied to akint19's topic in Nursing

   I had a patient attempt to strangle me with mine. She had dementia but it was scary as heck. Still had it around my neck afterwards though. In ICU I felt like I needed it handy.
6. 

   nurses not using stethoscopes

   Ellie G replied to akint19's topic in Nursing

   I find a short assessment helps the patient feel like you are looking out for them. It gives them confidence in your ability to keep them safe. It makes them feel like you know what you're doing. You can also do some teaching while you're doing it. Remember the Miss America contestant and the ladies on The View wondering why she had a "doctor's stethoscope" That was a big brouhaha and all of these indignant nurses insisting that it was an important part of their nursing duties to use that stethoscope. Of course, the assessment will vary according to the patient population and acuity but I would simply never chart anything I hadn't personally assessed and I sure as heck wouldn't want to be missing something 30 seconds with a stethoscope might have caught. I was charge on a floor when a 4 days post op lap chole who came in for N/V threw a PE. It was caught very early by a nurse with a stethoscope who I'm quite sure never expected a respiratory event. The patient seemed anxious but never complained of any respiratory issue. What if that nurse had said "oh she's here for N/V" and focused assessment on only that? Listening to those lungs for all of 30 seconds could quite possibly have saved that woman's life.
7. 

   Refusing to change/toilet pts

   Ellie G replied to ShockMe's topic in Nursing

   Well only one CNA on a floor. Scrolling on your phone is not taking care of business. As for being overwhelmed with being at the bedside, PICC lines was but one of my duties. I was Cross trained for PICC lines. I stayed to help the CNA because being expected to clean a patient that large by yourself is ridiculous. I don't think that means that I'm unusually nice but I do believe in being part of a team. Besides, I was an ICU nurse for years. No techs in the unit. It was all CYOP in there.
8. 

   Refusing to change/toilet pts

   Ellie G replied to ShockMe's topic in Nursing

   Actually she said "call me when you're ready" and then went to sit at the desk. The patient was a large lady that I believe needed two people to do it safely. She was certainly fine with me doing it.
9. 

   nurses not using stethoscopes

   Ellie G replied to akint19's topic in Nursing

   Those examples are horrifying to me. Wow
10. 

    How to respond to "am I dying?"

    Ellie G replied to xmilkncookiesx's topic in Nursing

    Well I'm Scottish so I can say it. Very true statement though
11. 

    How to respond to "am I dying?"

    Ellie G replied to xmilkncookiesx's topic in Nursing

    I would turn the conversation around. Talk with them about what is going on factually and honestly. I wouldn't answer with a yes or no. More something along the lines of here is what is going on right now, this is what we are doing to change the bad things and keep calm. Focus on what you are going while validating the patient's concerns. I had a patient once tell me she was going To die. She said she saw an angel at her bed that morning. She was scheduled to go home that morning. When her family arrived I went in to remove her IV. As she was about to leave the room she complained of being acutely ShOB and was becoming cyanotic She ended up coding having a large saddle embolus and died later that day. That was many years ago and I have never forgotten it
12. 

    If not nursing what other career would you have done?

    Ellie G replied to nurse2bnoob101's topic in Nursing

    Archaeology
13. 

    nurses not using stethoscopes

    Ellie G replied to akint19's topic in Nursing

    It is actually illegal to chart an assessment you have not done. The patient's chart is a legal documentation of the care provided and the assessments made. By charting heart, lung, and bowel sounds you are stating what your assessment revealed. You know what is right and that's what you should do. Heaven help these other nurses if they had to defend their actions in court. I know it goes on because I have had patients ask me why I was listening To their chest. I was a patient for two days and in that time only one nurse actually did a full assessment. You use that stethoscope. Never mind what the others think.
14. 

    Refusing to change/toilet pts

    Ellie G replied to ShockMe's topic in Nursing

    I'm a PICC nurse who did lines on evening and weekends in my facility. I went in to do a PICC and was using the floor RN as my assistant. When we went into the room, I detected the odor of stool, checked and sure enough our patient was dirty. I told the nurse we needed to change her before we got started and then she left the room! She went and got the nurse tech. I was flabbergasted. In the time it took to get the tech in there we could have done it already. I thought it was ridiculous. The patient was pretty out of it and didn't know the difference but I was a bit shocked at the nurse's attitude.
15. 

    Is this reasonable or just over the top?

    Ellie G replied to Lakeshore18's topic in Nursing

    It's over the top. A short bedside report and introduction of the oncoming nurse is fine but that scripting is a bit much. I don't know about everyone else but I'm not willing to stay 30 minutes past my shift for the warm fuzzies
16. 

    Dead or Alive: That is the Question

    Ellie G replied to NurseHeart&Soul's topic in Nursing

    This was a case in my home state. I have a nurse friend who suffered a stroke after a chiropractic visit. Her family was told there was "no flow to her brain" and that she would die. That girl is alive and well today, back at work as a nurse We are not God