ICU – The Nurses’ Lounge

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”

Another hard day at my dream career

I am in a small hospital ICU as the resource nurse. Now when I took this position, the unit I work in was quite different from what it is today. Then we had 4 beds, with 2 patients per nurse. Our days while sometimes very busy and sometimes quite hard, but they were always –Continue reading “Another hard day at my dream career”