Uncategorized – The Nurses’ Lounge

Insulting

Sometimes at work, upper management makes decisions that astound us. Like the decision to have a department that has EX-ICU nurses come and give the ICU re-education on our charting pitfalls. It is even more insulting the moment you realize the information being taught is incorrect and against protocol. It just opened my eyes AGAINContinue reading “Insulting”

Give up the “guts and glory”?

It is time to make a decision. Money and back-breaking ICU work in an intermittently unsafe environment? Or 7000 dollars less a year in a safer, happier, place? That is a huge salary chunk for a single mother with a deadbeat ex. What to do, what to do….

Lanyard, or badge-reel?

I see both types. Personally, I feel like the lanyard drops into the bed and can be used as a weapon. I like the badge-reel, but the strings break a lot. I also have to wear a shirt underneath my uniform as I am allergic to some metals and the clips of the badge reelsContinue reading “Lanyard, or badge-reel?”

Nurse Managers, be careful of your response

A very dear nurse friend of mine reached out to her manager for support and guidance during this latest spike in the epidemic. Her unit has been short-staffed for several months, and keeps getting worse as each day goes by. She confessed her frustration, anxiety, and how much she cries on a daily basis dueContinue reading “Nurse Managers, be careful of your response”

Restoring your peace, a perspective from a front-line nurse.

We can all agree that the past 18 months has been the most awful time in our lives regarding the covid-19 pandemic. There have been so many deaths among the inpatient population, that even the most hopeful nurse I know has confessed that she feels as if she cannot pray for the patients anymore becauseContinue reading “Restoring your peace, a perspective from a front-line nurse.”

When your work home is forever crushed

We are short staffed in our hospital right now. Covid-19, you might say, is causing all the nurses to leave. But is it? A nurse friend of mine was recently called into her manager’s office. It had been a hard month in the CCU; every day was short staffed with high acuity patients. Every dayContinue reading “When your work home is forever crushed”

I’m a pen geek and I know it!

I just got this most amazing pen off of Amazon. My co-worker showed me hers and I knew an in instant that I must also own this same pen. You nurses will love it. You know those old, four-color Bic pens we all got in nursing school? Well, meet the Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto. It isContinue reading “I’m a pen geek and I know it!”

One of my many nursing pet peeves

Nursing gear with heart “rhythms” that would send you to a cardiologist if they were real.

New nurse anxiety

I hope you get a good laugh out of this post – and some hope for your own journey. Today I found something I lost 6 years ago. I will show it to you at the end of this post and you will feel so much better. I am snickering at myself already. When IContinue reading “New nurse anxiety”

Pulling into the Frustration Station!

I had a patient recently that had an interesting hospital course of action. To the nurses, it was clear what was going on. The residents and MD disagreed – and did not share this information with the nurses. This patient, who was an octogenarian, was Covid-19 positive. She was admitted for altered mental status andContinue reading “Pulling into the Frustration Station!”