Ok, gotta fun question... What is your favorite nursing skill, and what is the weirdest thing about you as a nurse, that maybe not everyone knows about? I'll start.
My favorite nursing skill is venipuncture, be it phlebotomy or IV starts, I love it.
The weird thing about me is the fact that one of my favorite pastimes is watching autopsies.
For obvious reasons, I don't mention that one too much. I am probably the only person in the country to have FAVORITE forensic pathologist. Sigh...oh, well.
Okay, my favorite and weirdest since becoming an ER nurse is gastric lavages. Take out the pain and circumstances of the patient......I really enjoy the fact that I can quickly insert the gastric tube usually without making the patient vomit. The whole process of pumping until clear and the challenge of applying all of the charcoal without making a mess thrills me.
I compete to try to make the least mess possible and now have a reputation of performing the cleanest lavages and having the neatest ODs. Lol.....I guess you can call that strange!
I love an extubation (not the unplanned kind). I love the transition from a sedated ventilated patient to one who is obviously getting better. It does not make my day any easier, but I love when the family gets to speak to their loved one after a stressful ICU stay.
What a cool thread. I wanna work with all of you who love the things I dispise. My personal favorite is giving PPD skin tests. I don't really like it that much, it's just that I have seen and received so many given with lousy and ineffective technique that I cannot stand it anymore. My weirdo thing is I like to take care of expired patients (clean them, take out tubes and get them ready for family etc). I don't have a thing for death, but I cannot stand it when they are handled roughly like an object.
Oh no, not at all. I definitely wanna work with you. Seriously, besides being entertaining, this thread clearly shows how it takes the diversity of all of us to make up the nursing force.
Gotta be IV starts or blood draws for phlebotomy. Especially when it is one of those "No one" can get then you pop in, badda bing badda bang lol. Maybe its an ego thing I dont know but just feels good. Starting arterial lines, intubation and suturing used to be my best but nurses dont get to do those so much anymore .
I love a cardiac arrest or an intubation. I also love a blakemore patient because I like using the rapid infuser. Not so much a fan of sucking out secretions.
Specializes in med-surg, psych, ER, school nurse-CRNP.
Gee, what a response!
To clarify, I LOVE Dr. Michael Baden, he's who got me into forensics at the outset.
Started an IV today for the first time in months. Of course, I didn't tell the guy that until it was in. He hated needles, and the nurse was new, so I guess I just took over. He was getting ill, she had missed the first one. I must remember to apologize to her tomorrow.
I love IVs and can stick just about anyone. My patients love it too because I don't take 30 minutes punching them full of holes. One poster mentioned biker dudes...I loved this...Big burly biker dude comes into ER, gotta get IV access. Tries the "You aren't sticking that (***^* in me" and then promptly PASSES OUT when I stuck him.
I still like codes, but only if well run with a sensible doc that doesn't code a patient for 4 hours. Thats why I like ICU, I get to do all the stuff that I like doing.
I had to do a week in ICU as part of my clinical experiences...that was one long week...it was so INTIMIDATING! lol All those machines and meds...I had such a hard time getting past the machines to focus on the patient. I have such admiration for you ICU nurses...it's downright scary to me!
Leave me on the locked unit with the guy who just put his foot through the TV and threw a chair over the desk at us (that was one of the weirdest takedowns ever...took 6 of us to get that guy and he called my nurse manager a space monkey)!!
I definitely wanna work with you. Seriously, besides being entertaining, this thread clearly shows how it takes the diversity of all of us to make up the nursing force.
.
Medic2RN, BSN, RN, EMT-P
1,576 Posts
Okay, my favorite and weirdest since becoming an ER nurse is gastric lavages. Take out the pain and circumstances of the patient......I really enjoy the fact that I can quickly insert the gastric tube usually without making the patient vomit. The whole process of pumping until clear and the challenge of applying all of the charcoal without making a mess thrills me.
I compete to try to make the least mess possible and now have a reputation of performing the cleanest lavages and having the neatest ODs. Lol.....I guess you can call that strange!