day shifter

So much for a nice, calm first time on day shift for me!

But first, I need to say that just my three days off to turn my body back onto a day schedule were amazing. I immediately felt like myself again. It was as if a light has been turned off and now it is on. I have motivation and energy and a spark! I woke up at 7 in the morning and I was so ready to go! I missed that.



Back to my first time alone on day's...it started off calm. I had two patients with the same exact problems.

Craziest of the day...they aren't allowed to give me three patients since I am still new, but they needed a 1:1 nurse for a new patient coming up from another ICU because he needed to be on a rotoprone bed! I have no training in this, at all. I knew my manager did NOT want to give me this patient, but she had no choice. These patients are SICK. My preceptor from orientation (aka: my ICU Mom) was like, "I cannot believe they are going to give you this patient. This is insane. I had to take a 10 hour class on this bed..." My manager felt that since it was at the end of the day, it wouldn't be a huge deal and she reiterated that she would never want me to have this patient for a whole shift. Not that I'm incompetent or anything, but I simply just do not have the experience.

After I gave up my patient to another nurse, I spent about 2 hours with the bed representative going over how the bed works. Wow, I feel like I don't need to go to weight lifting this week because I actually got a work out.

The bed looks like either a torture chamber or some sort of NASA device.


Numerous straps and buckles and controls.

I felt so anxious, I just wanted to go get the patient and bring him up! However, the bed representative was so helpful and reassuring. She kept saying how she would not leave me and I could call her day or night. Knowing that my shift was coming to an end, my fears began to alleviate.

My manager actually went up the open heart unit with me to help bring the patient down! The best part: I got report from my preceptor of my final semester of nursing school!! YAY!! She is so down to earth and similar in personality as me; sarcastic, etc.



In short, this patient was definitely sick. For those who have no idea what the heck this bed is or what it does: the basic premise is that it helps patients with severe respiratory issues, like ARDS. Basically, the patient goes into the bed (or...we put them in the bed) very tight, snug, and strapped in, and then the bed turns them upside down (prone) and starts rotating back and forth like a rotisserie. The purpose is to help perfuse other parts of their lungs and increase oxygenation to those other areas. That is the best I can explain it.


Here's a video I found on youtube. I have no association with this video, I am only trying to show what the heck it looks like:


I cannot give any info about the patient's diagnosis, but obviously their condition was sick if they were going into this bed.

The patient was obviously on the ventilator...with 100% FiO2. He/She also had the following drips: propofol, levophed, neosynephrine, xigris, D10, bicarb, potassium, protonix...I can't even remember what else! For lines, a swan, two central lines, and an A-line. Also, had a J-tube, G-tube, NGT, foley, Chest tube, JP drain, and blake...! In other words: sick.

Let's just say, it was A FREAKIN' pain in the ass to get the patient transferred, detangled, and assembled in the bed. Fortunately, the next shift had arrived, so the oncoming nurse (who happened to be my night shift preceptor) helped to set the patient up.

For this bed, all the lines need to be straightened (ha!) and placed in this wheel-device that turns with the patient and prevents everything from being pulled. All of that goes at the top of the head, while the foley, chest tube, and dignacare (or any fecal-management device) goes through the hole by the feet.

It took us about an hour and a half to get the patient mostly set-up. I left work at 6:45 (shift ends at 6), but I wanted to stay since we hadn't gotten to the point of proning him yet. The bed representative and I strapped the patient in. The freaky-ish part is this handle that you have to crank, which moves all of the cushions in towards the patient, squeezing them super tight. You need to turn the handle until you cannot anymore. It feels like you're going to just squish the patient to death!

When I left work, my legs hurt worse than they had in all of my life! I actually took an excedrin for them when I came home, and I never take medicine!




However, I can say that I did have a good day. Sure, I was nervous, but I learned something new. I feel like I need to be more confident and that is what I am going to work on. I need to prove to my manager and everyone else that I will survive on day's and everything will be ok! I think that majority of nurses trust me and think I am competent, but I just need the experience. For the most part, I want my manager to be comfortable with her decision to let me move to day's.

Click here and enter to win an ice cream maker!

Raspberry Stethoscope!

Just to let everyone know, I have purchased my own domain and the link to this site should be working in a few days. The new link is:

http://www.raspberrystethoscope.com


(note: the old link will re-direct you automatically, but just a heads-up)

Code blue, Nurse Nicole in a funk!

I've been terrible about blogging. Lately, I haven't been feeling well, mostly just feeling like I look like crap and I not enjoying life, that kind of thing! I just feel like I need a new style. Maybe once I get some extra money, I will go out shopping. All I ever wear is jeans (practically the same ones I have had for 5 years), plain solid shirts/tanks, and flip flops. I am 24, but I look like I am 16-17 at times! But I also feel like I have no sense of style, that even when I do try to go out shopping, it is too overwhelming and I just give up and keep purchasing the same crap over and over!

I also saw that I have gained 5lbs! I know it is only a number, and I honestly wonder where this 5 lbs is because I think my stomach is still pretty flat and muscular, so I am going to pretend I gained 5 lbs of muscle, but I doubt it. I think I need to join this whole Back on track month. Not for weight or anything, but just for general eating habits, exercise, and mental health. Honestly though, I am just hard on myself. I eat healthier than anyone I know in real life!

Luckily, I had two good days at work, so I hope it took me out of my funk. Only the next 3 days off will tell...

Last week I established a new primary. I am not sick and will probably not need to see her until another check-up, but I like to know there is a doctor (close-by) that I can go to if I DO get sick. I also had my teeth cleaned and my eyes checked. I am quite regular with my every 6 months teeth cleaning. We never really went to the dentist growing up, so now that I have dental insurance, I take full advantage of it! Also, I never had my eyes checked before and since I pay for it every month, I figured why not? And my eyes are in good condition, so there you go.
Today I am going to a dermatologist for a general exam and a few questions, too.

I have about 2 more weeks on days with my awesome preceptor and then I am being shipped to nights. My preceptor is incredibly amazing at what she does. She's been a nurse for 18 years and I think 16 or 17 were spent in this same unit. Let's just say she knows what she is doing and you can honestly see that she cares about her patients. She is continually telling patients (or families, since patients usually are not aware) that they are her boss. And you totally believe her too. And she is not afraid to tell you if you're missing something or what you need to know, but she also praises. I love her! I know I am getting the best training for ICU with her because she does not miss a beat.


Let's recap:
Saturday:: Let's just say, I did NOT want to go to work. It was Saturday! argh! However, the day did turn out well. But, it was insanely busy. On the other side of the unit, there was a new transfer from the floor and I remember Rose* saying, "Room 2 will code today," and I thought, alrighty then. I was doing well with my two patients, developing a routine, or trying anyway, when Rose comes into the room and says, "Stop what you're doing," and I'm thinking to myself, "oh shit, what did I do wrong?" and then she calmly says, "Dr. SoandSo is going to put a central line in room 2 and I want you to assist. I will take over your assignment while you're gone, don't panic!" haha. I seriously thought I did something wrong by the way she walked into the room. I went to room 2 and "helped," and I say it lightly because my preceptor gathered all of the supplies (with me following) and then told me what to do. This patient was SICK. No pressure.

About 10 minutes later, "Code Blue, ICU, Code Blue ICU," and we knew it was room 2. We ran to the other side and sure enough, everyone was already at the bedside setting up and doing compressions. PEA. The other nurses decided I should do the recording, score! I recorded while another nurse pulled meds and calmly explained how to fill out the form. This code was effortless. Everyone worked together as a team, there was not one ounce of panic or even real urgency. The nurses in this unit are pros. After about 3 amps of epi, 40 of vasopresson, some bicarb, and d50 we got a pulse with the doppler! Amazing, we "brought him back." But truthfully, this was guy was not "back." He would die, and we knew it.

I left the room and 10 minutes later, again, "Code Blue, ICU!" I went back and started a new sheet to record. However, this effort would obviously be futile. We coded the patient for about 7 minutes and then a family member wanted to come in and when he/she saw the horrendous scene (seeing your loved one being worked on so vigorously is not pretty) he/she immediately cried and told us to stop. We had planned to stop anyway since the patient's heart was not responding, but I thought it was good for the family to see that YES, we were trying everything we could and there were many people helping.
And so, the patient died.

*name changed


I wanted to mention that "my" unit won the Beacon Award!

CCIP Graduation

Today I "graduated" from CCIP!

I got a cool pin:






And a certificate that needs framing.






And also a goody-bag full of hospital logo things, like a calculator, note pads, pens, etc. and candy.


does this mean I can "officially" call myself a Critical Care RN and not feel like a poser?;)

Day 29: yoga, sleep, bake

Day 29, can anyone else believe it? The end has been the most difficult for me. Not because I don't want to do yoga, but because of my schedule. I am exhausted after work; it's ridiculous! Yesterday I ended up doing a 15 minute podcast.
This afternoon I completed a 25 minute podcast.
Someone asked me what my favorite podcasts are for yoga, and I honestly do not have any yet since I just bought my new MacBook Pro last week! My previous computer was a piece of crap and I couldn't download anything! Argh!!
I am enjoying 20 minute yoga download, though. I really prefer videos, so if someone has any suggestions for yoga download VIDEOS then hit me up.


After yoga, I had every intention of going food shopping, but sleep overcame me! I ended up napping for 3.5 hours. um, oops?
Right now my egg-free and dairy-free banana bread is baking away (-free because I didn't make it to the store). I hope it turns out good. I'm not too worried. I also grated in 1/2 of a honeycrisp apple (am enjoying the other half as I write this).

Lately, I'm been enjoying a lot of vegetarian and vegan meals. Sometimes I just cannot eat any meat or animal products; I feel like crap after...toxic-like? I do not like to label myself as vegetarian or vegan, but I'd say right now my diet is 85% vegetarian. Still love my cow's milk yogurt and cheese, but I did venture out the other night and try one of Amy's frozen pizzas that had no dairy. Pizza with no cheese! And I was pleasantly surprise!

It will be interesting to see how my diet changes over the next few months to accommodate to my CSA. And even more importantly, how it changes when I start to work nights--PS: terrified. If anyone has any tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, especially eating when working three 12 hour night shifts, hit me up. Right now, I am tentatively beginning November 16th. My manager is well-aware that I am not wanting to work nights and says, "it won't be for long." I think she might know something, but cannot say for sure. I'm all for working nights at the moment though, since I need to pay off this lovely laptop. I'll be making about an extra $400 per paycheck. Sweet! I'm trying to look on the bright side.

Here are some pictures from last weekend. We went to International Mall to get Mirza's MacBook fixed and ended up at a delicious restaurant, which I have no idea the name!! aah. It was something "bistro." Inside was quite aesthetically pleasing. They had a variety of options and it was not expensive at all.




I had the vegetable wrap with house salad:



Mirza had the coconut curry shrimp with jasmine rice and "vegetables."


Dessert was a Creme Brule cheesecake. Sorry, no picture:(

Tomorrow is my CCIP graduation!! I will post pictures of my pin and certificate.

Day 19

Just completed a good 30 minutes of yoga at home. I lit candles and put on my music and it felt great. I'm actually liking home practice a lot more than I had originally anticipated.

This morning we had our last lecture for CCIP. It was on shock and sepsis. I also finished all of my ECCO MODULES!! Amazing. 50 online modules of all the body systems. Each body system broken down into anatomy and physiology, tests and procedures, pathologic conditions, nursing care, etc! Next Friday is our graduation and I guess that means I will officially be a "Critical care nurse," although I already feel like one now. Well, maybe an impostor since I'm still learning, but I'm not a new nurse, sooooo...

Class ended for me at 10:15 because I'm already ACLS certified and didn't need to take the exam/mock code. I hung around the house for a bit and then it felt like a brick wall of exhaustion hit me around 12:30. I tried to stay awake, but gave in to the sleepiness. I unrolled the covers and slept until almost 4pm! What the heck!?

Mirza stopped by after school and we went for a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood. I'm absolutely loving the weather and walks and will be incredibly saddened when the heat returns.
--

Lately, my neck and shoulders have been killing me. They don't hurt like muscle aches from physical activity, they just feel strained like I've been holding my body the wrong way. I'm conscious of when my shoulders come up to my ears, so I'm not quite sure the culprit.
I think I'll go look for some yoga poses to release neck and shoulders.

Any suggestions?

Day 15: work, yoga

Greetings! Quick post before bed because I am exhausted. My day begins at 4am and ends at 6:00pm. That is a looooong day. And it isn't 12 hours spent behind a desk, but 12 hours on my feet, providing care to critically ill patients; it is emotional, stressful, and PHYSICAL: turning, pulling patients twice, triple my size. Holding them up to clean, etc. It's a hard day's work, for sure.

This evenings yoga was all about relaxation and releasing of my lower back. I woke up this morning sore from the ashtanga yoga, especially my arms and between my shoulder blades--upper back, and lower back.

I completed only sitting and laying poses, lots of spinal twists, and this:

Viparita Karani

25 minutes.

Followed by a 15 minute guided meditation on desires and achieving goals.

and now I'm going to the ultimate savasana, haha!

Day 14: Two weeks!

Today marks two weeks of the 31-Day Challenge! It is going SO FAST.
I'm thinking of extending it to a 60-Day Yoga Challenge, hmmm, any thoughts?


In honor of day 14, I tried out a new studio: St. Pete Yoga. I attended the 9:30 class Asthanga flow: Internal heat. It is for levels 2-3, according to the site. It was a difficult class for me. The sun salutations weren't a big deal, but they did a lot of other poses that I'm not used to. However, I liked the instructor because she helped to adjust my position numerous times (she asked first, of course), which was nice because sometimes you wonder if you're doing a simple pose correctly or not. And the instructors at my gym don't really do that.
My back is kind of sore today though probably from all those attempts at dancer pose yesterday!

I spent the rest of the day taking care of business, errands, etc. Also browsed through the winter Kripalu catalog, drooled over the awesome retreats...

Made an early dinner from a combo of recipes from Clean Food.

I made the Quinoa with Almonds and Currants, and on the side enjoyed the Sauteed garlic greens (I used purple kale).





Dessert was a coconut almond ice cream bar. mmmmmm.


I'm feeling kind of bummed right now. Pretty sure it is a combination of hormones and the fact that I work the next two days and I had like 8 days off (I did have labs though). Going back to work is always difficult when you have fun days off. It isn't that I am sad to go to work; more stressed. I'm always worried before I go in, especially since I am new to the unit and wonder who will be working and blablabla, it's dumb. Staying positive and cursing female hormones.

Day 12: Apple squash soup

This morning I wanted to go to a studio class, but decided to save money since there was a 10:30 class at my gym. Today's practice was refreshing; it felt like we held the poses for an eternity! Sometimes I love that and sometimes not...I did today!

I spent the rest of the day finishing up my GI/Heme CCIP modules and then decided to go shopping!
I bought a pair of yoga pants from Old Navy and some shorts, too.
I also stopped by Borders and almost bought this book.


But decided to wait and read reviews online first. Has anyone read it? Worth buying?

Dinner was Apple-Squash Soup from Clean Food. I highly recommend this book. My CSA begins in one month and I know it will definitely come in handy.

As far as the soup?
It was delicious!! Had an apple-sauce kind of feel, but the flavors were all over the place good. UNFORTUNATELY, my camera is still at Mirza's and I have yet to retrieve it, so no pictures:(

For the recipe, it called for a hand held blender and I bought one for $20 at Walmart. Call me weird, but it was fun to use! I'm going to be finding more recipes to incorporate it.

I'd really like to hear how everyone's yoga practice is going, especially if you're doing the 31-Yoga Challenge. Please comment with any stories, inspirational thoughts, anything!

Have a happy night!

Day 7, a day late!

I was too exhausted to post my Day 7 yesterday. I had been sitting in class all day being lectured on stroke scales, neuromuscular blockade, neuro pharmacology, and ventriculostomies. I wasn't sure if the day would ever end! And they "made me" test my nerves with the train of four--pretty much a little "zap" along my ulnar nerve to make my fingers twitch. The best way I can describe it, was if someone hit my funny bone and that odd feeling you get as the pain travels up the arm and into the fingers. It wasn't a pain though, just a zap.


Thankfully, we left early (2pm) and I rushed home to pretty much nap. I slept for about an hour. And then reset the alarm for 30 minutes more...followed by 10 more minutes, until it was time to get ready for yoga!

I'm always exhausted the day after working 2- 12 hour shifts. I feel like a walking zombie! Not to mention the fact that it was HOT and disgusting yesterday. Autumn, where are you?! Mother nature teased us with about 2.5 days of "cooler" weather (ie--cooler=high in the 80's, as opposed to 90's and no humidity). I am so sick of the hot weather. I wish that Mirza would graduate soon and be forced to move out of state to find a position as a music instructor. I will gladly pick up and move...the Carolina's sound nice, Colorado, California, Mass...seriously! Let's get moving!!

Besides that fantasy, yesterday's yoga was more than I could have imagined. As previously blogged, it was on the rooftop of a restaurant overlooking downtown St. Petersburg (Florida), as the sun set and the stars made their way through!



To begin, I arrived with two other strangers about 5 minutes late as this place was impossible to find! It felt odd to walk through a restaurant with my yoga gear and mat, but...
Once we made it to the roof, I immediately recognized the instructor as someone I have learned from at Living Room Yoga! YAY!! She welcomed us with a bright smile and we placed our mats among 10-12 other yogi's. This may sound odd, but I've never done yoga with a male in the "room" before! I go to an all-woman's gym and it has just been coincidence that no men have been at the studio on the day's I have arrived. I thought this would bother me for some odd reason, but I didn't think twice about it during my practice.

When I first sat down, the sun was glaring, BLINDING in my eyes! Directly in front of me. I just shut my eyes and knew it would be setting soon. Once we started our sun salutations, the sun was behind a building!
Practicing yoga outside brought on a whole new experience. I'm used to looking up and seeing ceiling, but outside---all you see is blue sky. And there were absolutely no clouds yesterday evening. It was kind of difficult to focus since the eye could seemingly look on forever, getting lost in the blue. To start, this was an intense class. 90 minutes, vinyasa, many sun salutations, down dogs...I'm feeling it this morning (and love that)! Literally, sweat was dripping off my face onto my mat.
As the class progressed, the sun drifted lower and lower dragging the night sky with stars overhead. I absolutely loved the atmosphere.
My practice began with the blinding sun and ended in savasana staring up at the stars.



Today is day 8! Updates to follow...


Ps: Vote for Max in this photo contest!
http://www.petcentric.com/Pics/Photo-Challenge.aspx

click on "view 16 results." His is titled "Yoga Max"

Day 4: Sunday

Today was a wonderful Sunday, if I do say so myself!!

I started the day off with my usual oatmeal and peanut butter toast. I completed a few of my Neuro modules for CCIP, and around 8:30 decided to go for a walk on the beach.







Mirza is sitting next to me right now watching me blog. It feels weird since I'm usually alone when I blog! (random thought)

After the beach, I stopped by Target since it was on the way. I remembered that my nephew is turning 4 on the 7th, so I had to get him something! I bought him a big preschool workbook, and a dinosaur coloring book that comes with tiny dinosaur figurines and stickers. I think he'll like it!

I rushed home to get in a snack before Yoga! I cut up an organic honeycrisp apple, a few slices of aged Vermont white cheddar cheese, a handful of pita chips with sea salt, and sun-dried tomato hummus! This was surprisingly a very satisfying snack. The perfect combo of sweetness and salty to balance out. Sorry, no picture!


11:30 was Yoga! The new instructor (who I think is fabulous) is off for two weeks because she's at a yoga philosophy class (jealous), but the instructor today was awesome, too. We did a lot of sun salutations and down-dogs.


I spent the rest of my day cleaning, shopping, and finishing my modules. I cannot believe CCIP is going to end at the end of the month. I'm nervous!

Dinner was a lemon pepper chicken, spinach/carrot salad, and spiced sweet potato fries, recipe courtesy of Terry Walters from "Clean Food." They were absolutely delicious and the star of the meal.


And for dessert: double chocolate banana bread. The recipe came from the magazine, "Cooking pleasures." There is pretty much nothing healthy about this recipe, but that's okay!! My mom gave it to me a few weeks ago because right now she is without an oven and thought it would be good. It was! Plus, I had a lot of too-ripe for eating bananas to get rid of.




The next two days I'll be working, so my updates may be short, but I will definitely be letting everyone know how my home practice goes!


Yoga Question: Do you have a favorite
Asana (pose)? Tell me why! I'll reveal mine later in the week...

Day 1 of 31-Day Yoga Challenge

Boy, was today long!
But oh so good!

I came home about a half hour ago from my first Yoga class of the challenge and it was definitely the perfect start.

As I mentioned, I went to Living Room Yoga in St. Pete, which is awesome! Everyone is so nice and welcoming and the atmosphere is calming! I took a picture of our room before we started. The studio is arranged with a beautiful office upon entering and then I believe 3 rooms (could be 2, I am drawing a blank here from lack of sleep). I couldn't exactly going around taking pictures because I'm sure I'd look like a weirdo. This obviously does not do it justice.Plus there was someone in the corner, so I didn't want to disturb her!:):)


On the other wall is a mirror and to the left is a little closet with supplies, and also a bathroom.

The class was calming, but not enough that it was boring or anything. The instructor's name was Gail and she was wonderful!! Her energy was just smooth and tranquil. There were only 3 of us total in the class and you could feel a great mood in the room. I did not feel self-conscious or worried about others. I loved it!
90 minutes of pure bliss.

I'm a little pooped right now, so I will have a more thorough account of the class tomorrow morning.

What did everyone do for their first day?

I want to leave you with a beautiful picture of the sky that I took last night outside my apartment...

it's all greek to me!

Not a whole lot to report on the ICU job front. I've basically been in awe by how sick people can get so quickly. Sepsis=scary! I'm also in awe by how quickly they can also turn around and get better all because of great care. I love it!

I don't work again until Wednesday, but I have two labs in a row on Monday and Tueday.
Monday is apparently a lecture on diabetes and Tuesday will be the actual lab portion with stations. The CCIP instructors said the diabetic lecture is something we will not soon forget, as it is taught by someone who is quite enthusiastic, getting the crowd involved, etc. We'll see...;)

Mirza and I went out last night to a greek restaurant (we also went last Friday too!) and it was great as usual. We started with an appetizer of hummus with pita. The pita was warm and toasty, but soft. Last week we both got huge dinner plates, but yesterday decided to go for sandwiches.
Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera to photograph the deliciousness, but I got the portabella mushroom sandwich, which consisted of: portabella mushrooms, onions, red peppers, tomatoes, and A LOT of taziki sauce stuffed into a gorgeous pita bread! I LOVE taziki sauce. I also got a side of Mediterranean pasta salad.
Mirza got the same thing, but substitute the mushrooms for lamb souvlaki and the pasta salad with french fries!:)
I'm glad that I went with a vegetarian entree. I didn't feel weighed down by the meal like I would have if I had chosen chicken or french fries:/
We also talked about how if and when we finally get a chance to travel, we probably wouldn't even care about seeing all the famous landmarks, we'd only be interested in eating. Because really, who cares about the coliseum when you have amaaaaazing food!?

Schedule for today includes working on my endocrine modules, 11:30 yoga, cleaning, food shopping, and hanging out with Mirza. He teaches guitar all day Saturday, so it gives me time to catch up on this kind of stuff!!

I leave you with the ferocious Max!

1:1

CCIP is moving along quickly! We've finished the cardiac modules and are now doing hemodynamics. Luckily, my nursing program was excellent about teaching this, so it isn't completely foreign to me. Also, since we did have Sim Man at school, we had a lot of opportunities to look at monitors and waveforms, etc. That being said, I've been in tele the past year and did not need to know any of this information, so there is still a learning curve. Everyday I learn more and more, yet it seems the more I learn, the more I realize there is even more stuff to know *slaps forehead*...

The past two days were a definite learning experience! Halfway through the day on Wednesday, our assignment changed from 2:1 to 1:1. The 1:1 was originally admitted to the hospital for an elective takedown colostomy, ventral hernia repair, and ileostomy insertion. He then went septic and was transfered to us and subsequently went into respiratory distress and was placed on the vent. I won't get into the details of his history too greatly, but he needs dialysis 4 times per week. He became a 1:1 assignment because we started CRRT (Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy) on him.

The last few days have been good because I'm getting "used to" titrating drips, which is not something nurses do on the floors. For example, he was on neosynephrine because of his hypotension. As the ICU nurse, we have to increase or decrease the drug to effect the patient's blood pressure and get the numbers we want to see. I love this part of ICU nursing because I feel much more autonomous! He was also on an amiodarone, propofol, and heparin gtt (drip).

As for the CRRT, it was difficult figuring out the numbers and such, but I THINK I got the hang of it...


(our machines look way more modern than this. We use NxStage)




In other "exciting" news...they started a Monthly nursing journal club at work. Each month we will get together and choose one nursing journal research article to discuss. We had the first meeting yesterday to discuss logistics of the meetings, and we went over an article from Critical Care Nurse regarding Rapid Response Teams. Here's the article:
http://ccn.aacnjournals.org/cgi/content/full/29/3/66

My ICU has had a RRT since 2004. I can't wait until I'm "competent" enough to be the one who carries the beeper and feel like a bad ass when I go up on the floor and help the nurses, haha!!


A long way to go...

CHEST COMPRESSIONSSSSSSSS

I did chest compressions today!! First time EVER!! So exciting and scary.LOVED IT!!

I love my job, I LOVE ICU!!