What's your best 'Nurse Hack'?

Nurses General Nursing

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I'm a soon-to-be new grad RN (only 29 days!! woo-hoo!) and I am curious to know from the seasoned working nurses: What is your best 'nursing hack' or advice for a baby nurses like me?

Taping a medicine cup to a bed rail to hold up cords/ iv lines. If you haven't already seen this I'm sure you will soon!

Specializes in Med-Tele; ED; ICU.
Taping a medicine cup to a bed rail to hold up cords/ iv lines.

I've used the tongue depressor; I think I might prefer the med cup... gonna try it.

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
You may not actually need a new pump. If it's an Upstream Occlusion, lower the pump so there isn't a loop in the tubing between the bag and the pump -- make sure the tubing is a mostly straight shot from bag to pump.

Our pumps don't have enough "oomph" to pull fluid uphill, so it alarms "upstream occlusion" when what is really needs to say is, "I'm too wimpy to pull liquid uphill from where the tubing dips down and up again".

I find that it mostly happens when a piggyback got hung and the main bag was lowered... that creates a dependent loop in the tubing (think about how you learned not to have dependent loops in catheter tubing).

Avoiding that dependent loop in your IV tubing will also help to prevent the dreaded "air in line" bubbles.

I have certainly been in that foley bind. The solution sounds doable and less traumatic than fishing around for Waldo. Anyway, it your description is brilliant and ever so funny.

Please please please don't give them all at 7am. Some meds HAVE to have at least an hour separation or you could be underdosing your patient. LEVOTHYROXINE especially needs to be given an hour before anything else.

Specializes in Long-term care, ICU..

Just wanted to add on to my previous comment about icing the NG/OG tube: **ONLY for oral insertion** do not advance an iced stiff tube into the nasal passage for risk of perforation. I meant NG/OG as it is the same tube, but for oral insertions only. Thank you.

Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.
Don't think this is a 'hack', just a warning from the voice of experience. If you have a tube feeding to do, and cough medicine is part of the meds you are to give, make double sure you've got ALL the feeding out of the g-tube. I just poured it in on top of the feeding, thinking it would just go on down like everything does. Well, it didn't. It solidified. Coca-cola did not work, nor any other soda. Suction and/or pushing a bolus did not work. Just remember that cough syrup and G-tube formula turn almost to cement. Don't try to shortcut like I did.

An easy way to fully clear the feeding out of the G-tube is to introduce a small air bubble through the med port. It only needs to take up about 1mm of the tube. If you separate the feeding in the tube from the water flush, even by only 1mm, the tube will clear.

You know that amount of air in the stomach is never going to matter.

You may not actually need a new pump. If it's an Upstream Occlusion, lower the pump so there isn't a loop in the tubing between the bag and the pump -- make sure the tubing is a mostly straight shot from bag to pump.

Our pumps don't have enough "oomph" to pull fluid uphill, so it alarms "upstream occlusion" when what is really needs to say is, "I'm too wimpy to pull liquid uphill from where the tubing dips down and up again".

I find that it mostly happens when a piggyback got hung and the main bag was lowered... that creates a dependent loop in the tubing (think about how you learned not to have dependent loops in catheter tubing).

Point was, don't go call IV therapy and meanwhile let the IV clot off just because your pump is acting up beeping occlusion, whether you have to go get a new one or not, just check the thing to make sure it drips off the pump! Yes, it may not be the pump but it could be too.

Hermione G, you sound nice and had good points at the end but who wants to play that 'baby' game?

"Hi. I'm just a baby doctor. I'm a baby electrician. I'm a baby biochemical engineer. I'm a baby teacher. I'm a baby astronaut. I'm a baby car mechanic." Who does that???!!!

Are you kidding me?! Ridunkulous!!! We work hard enough for respect without 'cutesie' little labels like that! You do us all an inservice when you call yourself a cutesie little 'baby nurse'!!! :wtf: Grow up already!!! I'm not trying to be rude or hurt feelings but come on! It's insulting and not as cute as you think it is!

Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).

My best hack is in psych where patients can't have belts or shoe laces - we ties their belt loops together with plastic ID writband to hold their pants up. We also wrap them around their shoe.

Hppy

Put a brief over the bedpan before putting it under your patient. Softer, no splashing, easier clean up. Less risk for skin breakdown on the little ones that take forever to go. (If you don't need to get a sample or accurate I/Os)

The bead around gloves can be torn off and used as a hair tie or to bundle supplies together.

Colace works well to get ear wax out. Skip trying to squeeze it out of the pills and just get the liquid (i.e. ask the doc if you can put in the order for him/her to get it right the first time)

If you are using dark iodine to swab before inserting a foley, sometimes leaving the last swab in place before going for the urethra helps avoid missing and accidentally cathing the vag.

Drunks tend to tolerate a pulse ox on their toe much easier than on their hands. Same for teenagers who can't stop texting for 15 sec.

Depending on how loose your department is with their supplies, if you have cuts on your hands from the rest of your life or paper cuts, wrap a tegaderm around it. It'll stay clean for dozens of alcohol hand washes. Naturally, if this would be considered stealing in your department, don't do it! (It's fine where I work, but locations vary)

Nasal cannulas hooked up to NS makes for a good continuous eye wash. However, be sure to account for the mess you are about to make.

Mesh panties with the middle cut out sometimes make for a good way to hold an ABD on a large leg or a normal sized abdomen.

Maxi pads are great for wounds in and out of the hospital. They are often cheap enough patients can afford them on their own.

It is often better to acknowledge people's pain even if you aren't going to give them meds. "There's nothing wrong with you" is rarely a satisfying answer.

"Your scans and blood tests are normal. We tested x/y/z. I'm sorry that you are still in pain but we don't see any reason to keep you in the hospital or send you to surgery. Nearly 100 people a day die because of opioid overdoses so we think it's safest for you to take care of yourself at home with heat/ice tylenol/ibuprofen and follow up with a specialist/primary care. I'm glad we didn't find something so serious that you needed surgery today and I hope you feel better."

Understanding the Epidemic | Drug Overdose | CDC Injury Center

Also, some people who have been a nurse 20 years will have 20 years of nursing experience. Some will have one year of experience repeated 20 times.

Be the first one. Keep reading, studying, learning, improving your practice. It doesn't end with orientation. Be a learner and a self improver for good.

-ICU/ED/former teacher/future flight nurse.

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