Things you only learn on the floor...

Nurses General Nursing

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Sooo...drop some knowledge! What are some tidbits, tricks, secrets, and just-so-you-knows of nursing that you did not learn in nursing school.

I was not taught about the sternal rub...my co-workers could not believe that.

I did not know you cannot give marinol in the morning (pharmacist told me that today)

Having a brain fart...please share yours:)

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Sooo...drop some knowledge! What are some tidbits, tricks, secrets, and just-so-you-knows of nursing that you did not learn in nursing school.

I was not taught about the sternal rub...my co-workers could not believe that.

I did not know you cannot give marinol in the morning (pharmacist told me that today)

Having a brain fart...please share yours:)

Why can't you give marinol in the morn?

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Specializes in Psych.

as a new grad, im learning now that most everything i learn on the floor! lol. school was just the tip of the iceberg!

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Hospitals are not sparkling clean places of rest! (definately don't seem like it when an honest 1/3 of your floor's pt are on isolation for c-diff/mrsa/vre/etc)

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I did not learn about the sternal rub in school either.

In school, they made us get ALL of those stinking teeny tiny bubbles out of the IV tubing and syringes. Then I was told by one of the docs in ICU that it takes almost an entire length of IV tubing full of air before you need to be concerned. After that, I stopped trying to get every little bubble out.

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Only the floor can teach you how to recover and get any work done when repeated interruptions interfere with work.

Interruptions are a fact of life.

The call bell rings during report several times. The phone rings during your first assessment. The meal trays arrive before you have finished checking blood sugars and there is no aide to pass trays. Missing meds means a note or call to pharmacy-another interruption.

Somewhere and sometime during all this, charting needs to be done.

Experience will teach you to juggle, remember where you left off and prioritize what is most important.

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I did not learn about the sternal rub in school either.

In school, they made us get ALL of those stinking teeny tiny bubbles out of the IV tubing and syringes. Then I was told by one of the docs in ICU that it takes almost an entire length of IV tubing full of air before you need to be concerned. After that, I stopped trying to get every little bubble out.

Ha I remember being told that at the the SNF that I started working at. I used to get so worked up in nursing school about those damn bubbles!

I learn things all the time everyday. Yesterday I learned that albuterol can be given to ESRD pt's for hyperkalemia as an adjunct to insulin and kaexylate. Was really cool actually.

I learned to listen to everyone around me, had a 1:1 sitter in the room next to my pt. call me and tell she was breathing very fast. She ended up being intubated and sent to the unit.

I've learned so much more then I ever could retain in nursing school and I continue to everyday.

You can put on compression stockings with a plastic bag over the toes first and it makes them a cinch to get on.

The most important thing I've learned is to eat. I get all wonky and try to pass out at work unless I eat.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

I've learned that there are many, many, many, many mentally unstable adults. And I mean...many.

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Specializes in LTC.

I learned on the floor how the deal with difficult families. Wish they had touched on that in school!

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Specializes in ER.

A trick I learned a while back to use as an alternative to the sternal rub, when assessing response to pain....take your pen and place it on top of the pt's fingernail (nail bed), then squeeze down hard. Try it on yourself....hurts, doesn't it? :) I was taught this by a paramedic and he had several rationales. First of all, explaining big bruises on a person's chest sucks. Secondly, I've had plenty of pt's that could stay "unresponsive" during a sternal rub (I guess they were veterans of that particular move). Last, doing a rub puts you in a vulnerable position if the pt decides to react violently, where as squeezing a fingernail can be done with you standing almost out of reach. Besides, family members tend to freak if they see you "punching" their beloved in the chest...squeezing the nailbed can be done with them standing next to you and never seeing it. :)

I've done lots of sternal rubs, and was a big fan. Now, I'm more of the covert "fingernail rub" kinda gal. It hasn't failed me yet.

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Specializes in CVICU.

  • I've learned that the "turn to the left side" phenomenon that many say is a myth is completely true when you work in cardiac ICU.
  • That a precordial thump really does work sometimes, and not just in the movies.
  • That JoPACURN is right - there are a hell of a lot of mentally unstable adults in this world.
  • That when layering chucks or pads on a bed, put the highest one on top so that the poop doesn't run in between them and get on the bed itself.
  • That my fellow nurses are some of the funniest damn people I have ever, ever met.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTAC, Critical Care.

Codes invariably will most likely happen at shift change...

I am now extremely paranoid of Dilaudid.....

Narcan is a wonderful thing.

Yes all the above are related.

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