The most valuable thing(s) you've been told

So there were a lot of little things in nursing school that were burned into my brain

Bed down, side rails up

Bed down, side rails up

Bed down, side rails up

Four p's

Only touch each med once (reduces med errors)

Backprime your lines

Label in the presence of the patient

Label your syringes

Read back verbal orders

I'm sure there's more I can't remember right now, feel free to add to this list by the way. But I have yet to learn anything that made me go "wow thank goodness someone told me that (that) may save my butt one day" Has anyone told you info that you were really glad to hear.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

Yep. "You can't help someone who is hurt, scared, or angry." It's very simple. People that are hurt, scared, or angry will often do things that they never would do normally, including letting others help them. The trick is to get them to not be as hurt, scared, or angry...

A supervisor (in a LTC facility) once told me, "if you aren't going to do something about it, then don't chart that you noted something". Makes a lot of sense from more than one perspective.

[suanna]

The wisest unit director I've ever worked for once told me " There aren't two ways of doing something- the wrong way and the way I felt it should be done. There may be as many right ways of accomplishing what needs to be acclompished for the patient as there are staff members.

Nurses constantly interact with people who are in situations that are absolutely heartbreaking. We see human suffering in some of its most abject forms.

Someone once told me to avoid imagining yourself in the shoes of your patients and their families. Thinking "this could be me one day" starts to take a serious emotional toll.

I can't remember where this advice came from, but I am grateful for it because until someone said NOT to do that, I hadn't realized that it was something I was always doing!

If it wasnt docemented it wasnt done.

When in doubt, call the doc.

Dont document if you dont intervene....

[icuRNmaggie, BSN, RN]

sick people look sick.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

In an emergency....take your own pulse first.

sick people look sick.

And the sickest patients are frequently the ones who complain the least.

And the sickest patients are frequently the ones who complain the least.

very true

Yep. "You can't help someone who is hurt, scared, or angry." It's very simple. People that are hurt, scared, or angry will often do things that they never would do normally, including letting others help them. The trick is to get them to not be as hurt, scared, or angry...

That is very similar to what I learned: "You have the opportunity to make what is often the worst day of another person's life somewhat easier on them, and not just with your clinical skills. Your greatest assets are listening, understanding, observing, supporting, and caring. You won't be able to help any patient without them."

Save your back, it's your pay cheque!

Raise the bed to working height EVERY time!

When boosting someone in bed, raise to your working height, lay bed flat, place into trandelenberg, have pt grab side rails, bend their knees and help you boost them.

Make it a routine that the last thing you always do in a room is check that the bed is low and locked and call bell is on place.

Make it routine that when you enter a room after assessing your pt, check IV site, rate, solution and O2 rate.

If you have a problem with always placing the brief too high, or too low at the back; line the top of the padded lining with the top of the crack, you will always have it in perfect position.

At beginning of every shift, fill pocket with alcohol swabs and IV caps!

Use a four color pen for your brain sheet. One color for report, one color for lab values, one color for med times another for priority items.

When boosting someone in bed, raise to your working height, lay bed flat, place into trandelenberg, have pt grab side rails, bend their knees and help you boost them.

Yes! It took me WAY too long to figure that one out!

A CNA showed me this: to help a weak patient get out of bed, have them sit at the edge with their feet on the floor. Then put a chair in front of them, with the back of the chair facing the patient. They can use the back of the chair to push themselves up to a standing position. Bonus: You can help them scoot the chair a little bit, and it functions as a pseudo-walker!

Don't wait to do later what you have time to do now....

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Say when you don't know the answer but know where to find it.

[Karou]

These are some basic, obvious things but very important and that stuck with me...

Don't let a patient decide where their IV will be placed. Go for the site where you think you can place it. That might be the site the patient insists on or not.

Always have the continuous pulse oximeter on patients receiving IV narcs or with a DVT.

Bed alarm on, bed low to the floor, door open for fall risk patients. Most patients at night are a fall risk.

Actually look at your patients bowel movements who are taking bowel prep...

Take out water pitchers from the rooms at midnight for those who are NPO at midnight for procedures the next morning.

Never be afraid to ask a "stupid question". Better to ask first then to act without knowledge and make a mistake.

Turn off your TPN when drawing labs from a central line. I didn't forget to do this, but someone else did.

Check your orders often, especially with electronic charting.

There are more but it's getting close to my sleep time.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

You are going to make mistakes. Learn from them.

[emtb2rn, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

Don't let a patient decide where their IV will be placed. Go for the site where you think you can place it. That might be the site the patient insists on or not.

But do take the patient's requests seriously. A lot of folks do actually know exactly where you'll get the line.