NicuGal MSN, RN

NICU, PICU, PACU

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All Content by NicuGal

  1. NicuGal

    How much do specialty doctors charge if the patient has NO insurance?

    NicuGal replied to onlyj's topic in General Nursing

    Rob is right, they do have a scale based on income. I know that just for me to see a general surgeon this winter, it would have been $280 just for the
  2. NicuGal

    Grunting baby...

    NicuGal replied to winter_green's topic in Ob/Gyn

    Where I work, a grunting baby that lasts past 2 hours buys a work up and CXR. I don't neccesarily agree about just getting an xray before the cultures, but unless the kid's glucose was off, it...
  3. NicuGal

    New Residents, Eeek!

    NicuGal replied to ChristineN's topic in General Nursing

    July...not exactly Christmas in July, that is for sure lol Sure, there is a learning curve and they are uncomfortable, in NICU,they get thrown to the wolves for the most part. But....when I am...
  4. NicuGal

    Infant rectal exam

    NicuGal replied to grace202004's topic in Pediatric

    They are looking for something lower down, esp if she is having vomiting and abd distention, etc. There are a few things that kind of mimic reflux, which we are quick to diagnosis. I'd probably let...
  5. NicuGal

    Too lazy to adjust your alarms? or Don't know how?

    NicuGal replied to suanna's topic in General Nursing

    Each area of our hospital has limits written into the guidelines. We always have alarms going off in our unit because of how our limits are to be set, and woe to the person that adjusts them out of...
  6. NicuGal

    Research for NICU Tourniquet

    NicuGal replied to alex.IPI's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    Have to agree. Like I said, we have looked at products like this and we always agree to go the cheaper route. We wrap tourniquets around arms, legs and heads, penroses and rubber bands are super for...
  7. NicuGal

    No job for new grad RN in Cleveland area

    NicuGal replied to eclipse2975's topic in Ohio Nursing

    Good Luck to you. I would also ask about your credits transferring to colleges, many times credits from tech schools don't transfer over and you have to start from
  8. NicuGal

    Anyone an ELEMENTARY TEACHER turned NURSE?

    NicuGal replied to Cloudydayz's topic in Nursing Career

    Let's see....you still get to be mean, stern and discipline people....gotta set the limits even with adults, who are worse than kids sometimes. You still have to be on and put on a show everyday for...
  9. NicuGal

    Smart pumps = Stupid pumps?

    NicuGal replied to IvoryLena's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    The Baxter ones do have a syringe module that you can use with them. It snaps onto the side of it like the pump for regular fluids. They also havee PCA pumps. You can put 4 modules to one
  10. NicuGal

    No job for new grad RN in Cleveland area

    NicuGal replied to eclipse2975's topic in Ohio Nursing

    I've never heard of this place you graduated from, that might be the problem. Many of the big hospitals in Cleveland are looking for BSN prepared nurses. Unfortunately, we have not hired any from...
  11. NicuGal

    Research for NICU Tourniquet

    NicuGal replied to alex.IPI's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    We use skinny penroses, as does the PICU and floors. We have seen tourniquets meant for preemies, but they would become special purchase and costly, so we go with what we can get for par
  12. NicuGal

    Noncompliant parents. Do I have any rights to protect my license?

    NicuGal replied to RNC-NIC's topic in General Nursing

    We deal with this kind of stuff all the time, but we are not nice when it comes to parents like this....niceness only gets you so far. 1. If they are leaving the floor without a dr. order to allow...
  13. NicuGal

    Do hospitals incur a net gain or a net loss from the training of a new graduate RN?

    NicuGal replied to WDM08002's topic in First Year After Licensure

    Originally Posted by NicuGal In our unit, we are paying 2 people to do 1 person's job. When we precept, we don't take a separate assignment, it is one assignment with 2 people. We don't use them as...
  14. NicuGal

    Do hospitals incur a net gain or a net loss from the training of a new graduate RN?

    NicuGal replied to WDM08002's topic in First Year After Licensure

    In our unit, we are paying 2 people to do 1 person's job. When we precept, we don't take a separate assignment, it is one assignment with 2 people. We don't use them as "extra hands", that is for...
  15. NicuGal

    Type of Feeding Tubes used

    NicuGal replied to menemsha's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    We use the 30 day silastics, but it is pretty rare that they stay in that long. We have not had an increase in NEC. We do flush thru feeds with air or a small amt of sterile water, depending on the...
  16. NicuGal

    NPO/clear liquid status during labor - evidenced-based?

    NicuGal replied to ischialspines's topic in Ob/Gyn

    Ours says clear liquids or NPO. We just had a kid in our unit that the mom lied and told them she hadn't eaten...she ended up crashed because the kid was stuck and when they went to intubate her she...
  17. NicuGal

    Fluid Changing practices

    NicuGal replied to NANSNURSE's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    When you weight the time consuming tasks of making sure things are done correctly or according to your protocol vs the added length of time to a hospital stay and the possiblility of your hospital not...
  18. NicuGal

    Securing ET Tube

    NicuGal replied to MedEngineer's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    I agree with the above comment on the neobar...some of those bigger kids can also get their hands out of a wrap and grab on with two hands! We are gong to be trialing a few other ones I think. I...
  19. NicuGal

    Breastfeeding/Pumping

    NicuGal replied to diosa78's topic in General Nursing

    Maybe you will be the one to change that mentality! We have had kids in our unit whose moms were ER nurses and they would change their shirts and come up and nurse their babies on their breaks and...
  20. NicuGal

    C-section vs. letting Mom go naturally

    NicuGal replied to JRP1120, RN's topic in Ob/Gyn

    Ugh...and those are the kids we get in our NICU....the ones that the docs do the c/s on weeks before the due date without good cause! Luckily, the vast majority of our OB's don't do this and they are...
  21. NicuGal

    Newly graduated RN... and pregnant

    NicuGal replied to mojomama's topic in General Nursing

    I'd tell them when you start...you may get moms with things you can't be exposed to (ie certain viruses, etc) at our hospital some things carry a "don't give to the pregnant one" stigma that has been...
  22. NicuGal

    Drug babies and families

    NicuGal replied to aerorunner80's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    Drug cases are hard. We have 20 moms currently waiting to deliver,not all at once thank goodness, but the methadone clinic gives us stats each month. Ugh. I think the thing that bothers me is that...
  23. NicuGal

    Any 22 weekers out there?

    NicuGal replied to mauigal's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    Sorry...just saying that we didn't save 23 weekers about 22 years ago, neverless 22 weekers, the age these kids would be now that are graduating from college, so if the other poster is seeing college...
  24. NicuGal

    Mandatory "on-call" scheduling

    NicuGal replied to IttyBittyBabyRN's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    Wow..am I glad we don't do on call. And if I were picking up a lot of extra time I certainly would stop that if they expected me to be on call too. Are you getting on call pay? If not, I'd be...
  25. NicuGal

    Any 22 weekers out there?

    NicuGal replied to mauigal's topic in NICU, Neonatal

    We follow our kids until age 3 but then they are turned over to our comprehensive care after that.....when we float up to that floor we see these kids....and I have to say, more than 50% of our 23...