Ellie G

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, ev...

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

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 of...

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 peopl...

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.

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. ...

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 ...

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.

Those examples are horrifying to me. Wow

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

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 ...

Archaeology

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 ...

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 ...

I was in health care back in the mandatory dress, white hose, and lace up shoes day. Totally impractical

Talking about infection control with head coverings I just have to say one of my pet peeves is the cloth stethoscope covers that so many people purchase. I often wonder how often and how well those get washed. I can use a wipe on my stethoscope

Looks like I retired just in time. Whew

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

I don't think $100k is worth it. That is two years pay with interest and you already have $28k. I would tell you to work at least part time. You say you know you won't be able to work and go to school too. People do it every day. I worked full time a...

Go where your heart lies and it sounds like that is ICU. I worked ICU for a couple of decades and loved it.

$64k! There are much cheaper degree programs than that. I can't imagine carrying that much debt.

Exactly but I have seen many times that this doesn't happen. I totally agree that you wouldn't hold the antibiotic. That's just common sense and perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I wasn't saying don't guve the antibiotic until you have better acces...

EJ brings with it its own problems. An infiltration can compress vascular structures in the neck. We didn't keep them in med-surg with an EJ because they really need close monitoring. In ICU it was a stop-gap for a central line.

Intravenous nurses society webpage will have that information for you. There are reasons for avoidance of alternative sites and there are some drugs that can cause major problems in one of those sites.

I am a guitarist with calluses on my fingers and for that reason I often can't feel a vein but I guarantee you that I am still going to get the vast majority of veins anyway. I can see even the smallest shade of blue on people. If needed I would use ...