Your best nursing tips/tricks

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I saw a post in another thread about using coffee filters to help with obese patients' skin fold yeast and found it to be a great tip. I've seen some great ideas on AN over the years. What is your best tip/trick you've picked up in your practice?

Specializes in neuro/ortho med surge 4.

I have one for when a patient comes up from the ED with an IV in their AC with fluids running. I wrap 2 4X4s over the AC site and then tape it with papaer tape to their arm. I then wind some kerlix over that to make it a little thicker and secure. Now, when the patient bends their arm the IV does not get occluded and beep. This has been a life saver when I do not have time to change their IV site or when they have poor access. The patient can still bend their arm but just not all of the way.

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Specializes in acute care med/surg, LTC, orthopedics.
I have one for when a patient comes up from the ED with an IV in their AC with fluids running. I wrap 2 4X4s over the AC site and then tape it with papaer tape to their arm. I then wind some kerlix over that to make it a little thicker and secure. Now, when the patient bends their arm the IV does not get occluded and beep. This has been a life saver when I do not have time to change their IV site or when they have poor access. The patient can still bend their arm but just not all of the way.

I've improvised a splint using cardboard and cling for those ultra confused patients. Works wonderfully.

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Specializes in acute care med/surg, LTC, orthopedics.

How to tell if your patient is playing possum: Gently open their eyes - any resistance to eye opening is a tell. Once open, the pretending patient may roll their eyes back up into his head until you can only see sclera (Bell's phenomenon) or move eyes around in short tracking movements. Blinking also increases in pretending patients.

In patients with a true decreased LOC, passive eyelid opening is easy and is followed by slow eyelid closure. The eyes may have a neutral position or exhibit a roving gaze where the eyes slowly scan back and forth across the visual field.


Try it, it works.

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Specializes in Wound care, Surgery,Infection control.

This is an oldie but goodie : Many patients choose to wear socks from home during their hospital stay. Quite often we remove one sock for surgery, x-rays etc. and the sock is never seen again.

My tip is Sock on Sock : removed and placed on the non affected foot it can't get lost.

Also a tip for putting anti embolism stockings on your patients : They usually come in a plastic bag, use the bag to slip over front of the foot. This helps the stockings slide on much easier.

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I learned from a few CNAs in a nursing home a cool trick when your trying to clean up a patient that is incontinent of stool and its really difficult to clean up (like those C.Diff patients who you can never seem to get all of the stool off of their skin). What you do is take one of those small cans of shaving cream (most hospitals or nursing homes have tiny travel size cans for patients who want to shave) and after you have tried to wipe all of the feces off of the skin then apply a small layer of shaving creme. After you apply the shaving cream take a dry cloth or toilet paper and wipe off all of the cream, you will see how much feces ends up getting left behind and you might not even see it (especially on darker skin patients). After that I just take a wet cloth and make sure to wipe off any left over shaving cream. It's that easy.

!Chris :specs:

Lotion also works very well. I usually warm it up in the basin while giving a bed bath.

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New nurse here...

my best tip is when cathing obese female patients, have a helper hold open the labia upwards and outwards (like butterfly wings). It easily allows me to see where I am going.

Could you explain the coffee filters/ porifice yeast thing to me? Thanks!

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When inserting a catheter into a male patient, dont just lubricate the tip of the catheter. Take the syringe with lubricant in it and squeeze it directly into the urethra (its sterile, you're sterile). Males have a much longer path, and you need the lubricant BEFORE the catheter. Most of it is gone before you even get to where it counts! The pain is significantly reduced.

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Specializes in my patients.

Can this thread be resurrected?

1) Easy way to tell if your patient can read or not without being "harsh" - hand them something upside down and see if they turn it right-side up. Or, do they look at it for awhile and say something like "I don't have my glasses right now..."

2) Use a blue emesis bag (cut the circle part off) or a small garbage bag/liner to get those pesky TED hose on...works like an ABSOLUTE DREAM!!! Thank me later :)

Allie

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Specializes in Med Surg, Perinatal, Endoscopy, IVF Lab.

Occasionally you can get a recently d/c'd foley pt to pee by cracking an amonia tab into a pilgrims hat and having them sit on the pot over it.

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