The "Teach a Student Something-a-Day" thread!

[agent]

In an effort to not enter nursing school as a completely nieve individual, I was hoping that some 2nd years or RN's could share something beneficial with us students each day.

It can be anything little or totally meaningful. Whatever you contribute will be greatly appreciated and hopefully will help me to be a better student and nurse

Thanks!

[km5v6r, EdD, RN]

Just an FYI, banked blood or blood that is close to it's expiration date will have a much higher potassium level then "fresh" blood. This can be a concern for a dialysis pt or one who has impaired renal function. Try and order "freshest" blood from the blood bank for those with renal impairment. Some blood banks will list dialysis pts in the blood bank and automatically send the freshest blood products.

[SoulShine75]

Good reminder, Erin. I had 2 incidents this semester alone when I overheard people giving out inappropriate confidential information about a patient and it turned out to be someone I knew personally. It's not fun to find out that the father of one of your daughter's classmates is dying of cancer when you overhear the nurses b*tching about what a demanding patient he is.

I've had that happen to me too. I was getting report and the nurses were all talking about this one "demanding" pt and I ended up knowing her. :angryfireThey were talking so much smack about her. I really wanted to say that she was someone I knew, but figured I'd only embarrass them so I said nothing. It made me VERY uncomfortable to hear them talking this way about someone I knew. Words to the wise....never talk about anyone in a negative light because you never know who may be listening.

[Fun2, BSN, RN]

I had a test question almost exactly like this one on one of my fundamentals test last semester. I picked to give O2. WRONG...... according to my school!!!!!! They said call the docter because as a nurse I could not give O2. Later in another class the instructor said that there may be a standing order for o2 on the floor and you could give O2 but my answer was still wrong. So at least on my tests at school I will NEVER give O2.

Mary Ann

I just hope that whoever picks/picked "call the dr", knows that you wouldn't leave your pt gasping for air to call the Dr.

The Dr's have...what? 10 minutes to call back? I guess as a STAT call you'd call the staff Dr, but still.

Nurses can admin 02, then obtain a Dr's order for it.

I almost want to say that was point-blank in my fundamentals book, either that, or I learned it at clinical.

[Fun2, BSN, RN]

I am a student who tries to learn from the nurses I follow. One tip I learned is to always write the date that the foley was changed on the back of the bag with a sharpie. This is very important in long care were the foleys are scheduled to be changed every month.

To go off on a different angle for beginning students......Make sure that you DON'T use a Sharpie on an IV bag.

You're suppose to just use a pen to mark on it.

[RNfromMN, BSN, RN]

To go off on a different angle for beginning students......Make sure that you DON'T use a Sharpie on an IV bag.

Imagine me sitting in the classroom waving my hand all around to get your attention because I have a question:lol2: : Why? Do Sharpies run?

[Fun2, BSN, RN]

Imagine me sitting in the classroom waving my hand all around to get your attention because I have a question:lol2: : Why? Do Sharpies run?

I was told, if I remember correctly, that the marker ink can somehow seep in, be absorbed...whatever the words were...into the bag.

Whew.....now you can ask your next question. haha

[SarasotaRN2b]

Also, always remember to respect your patient's privacy- don't leave them naked and vulnerable where other people can see! My mom was a nurse for 34 years altogether, and I've never forgotten a story that she told me. She got pulled to the PICU, and they had a code going on and it was just mayhem. There was an eleven year old boy, rather chubby young man, lying naked on his bed and unable to move. He was on a ventilator and the nurses had been performing something on him prior to the code, and had run off quickly to assist another nurse. My mother passed his bed and noticed that he had silent tears running down his cheeks and his face had turned red from embarrassment. She pulled the sheet over him to cover him up, and he just looked at her, crying, and couldn't say a word. She wiped the tears from his face and held his hand for a moment, then had to rush off to do something. Later, his mother told my mom that he'd said that he was terrified because of all the action going on in the unit, and that after he recovered he had just gone on and on about how much he loved her for covering him up because he'd always been self-conscious about his weight, and he'd cried when he told his mom how she sat down with him and held his hand when he was scared.

There is ALWAYS something you can do. Always.

This brought tears to my eyes when I read it. This is exactly why I am going into nursing...it's bad enough being sick enough to be in the hospital, but the total helplessness that many patients feel can be at least lessened with by a caring RN.

When my mom was in the hospital in September for a major operation due to their finding both colon and ovarian cancer, it was a very scary time...while the surgery was a success and things look good on the prognosis side, her hospital care the first few days was really very distressing. Not to want to ruffle feathers, she herself didn't speak up (my stepdad though went right to the nursing supervisor after having spoken with my mom who was in tears...something very rare for this very strong lady), and only one nurse actually brought her an extra blanket...not because she asked for it, but because she was visibly cold. I just think that it is important that everyone involved with patient care (not just the nurses) should try to be empathetic and provide the basic needs of a patient...make sure that they are warm, clean, comfortable and let them know that they are looked at as a patient and not as an intrusion. Sorry for the rant...but needless to say, this was distressing for all of us.

Thanks, NICUnurse, for sharing this tip.

[SarasotaRN2b]

Then I would have gotten this wrong. I thought, before a nurse could act on either of these interventions, the nurse would have to call the doctor. I thought only the doctor could order either of these....D was wrong, eh?

When I saw this, I, too, initially thought of this...but consider this, by the time you may reach the MD, you pt may be in cardiac arrest due to respiratory distress. The first response is to make sure that the patient is alive when you call him. Even if this were not at the discretion of the RN, I would figure that this would be a standing order of any doctor when a patient is admitted into the hospital with SOB. Again, it comes down to the A,B,C's...

[1:ob/gynMURSE]

I am pretty sure that this has been said before but is worth mentioning again...when you are taking care of your patients....care for them as if they are your mother, grandmother, dad, brother, sister, etc......think about it...it could be you in that same bed....so treat your patients with that on your mind and heart...

[crazybusyRN]

Dunno if something like this has been said before but here's my "pearl of wisdom":

When thinking about pediatric doses, knowing the adult norm can help set off "alarm bells" when a dose is too high. Doesn't get you out of checking and rechecking and rechecking again, but it may alert you to a problem...

I've found that many new nurses (and new docs!) get a little stuck on the mg/kg concept and order huge doses- just because it's ok to give my 2kg baby 2mEq of KCl (1mEq/kg) doesn't necessarily mean that I want to give my obese 50kg 10 year old 50mEq.

Knowing the adult dose may alert me that even though the dose is still 1mEq/kg, I might want to question the second one. Same goes for most drugs... if I'm giving a 2nd-grader a bigger dose than I would take myself, maybe I should think twice...

[x3xsolxdierx3x]

Great thread! It dates all the way back to 2003....and, still just as applicable today.....

I'm a junior nursing student....Maternity and Pediatric clinicals are coming up for me this semester (Any tips by the way?)....One thing that I'll always remember from Med/surg, along with many other things, was that you should always raise the bed to a workable position when your'e doing things like changing the sheets.....I can remember my back not feeling as strained....and, I can still remember my professor saying "Raise that bed, your back wont last you forever....".....lol.....

Hope that helps.... :)

[x3xsolxdierx3x]

....and, here I am, sitting with my stethescope listening to my own heart and bowel sounds....lol....great practice! thanks for all the help everyone! I'm sure that I speak for all the students out there in Allnurses.com land when I express my thanks for all the help those more experienced nurses have given..... :)