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She Had a Bug in Her Urine.
Florence Nightingale created the nursing profession based on her belief that dirt was at the root of all all sickness, and cleanliness=good health. Interestingly enough though, she rejected the germ theory of disease. Perhaps she would have liked this story: ———————————— My patient had a bug in her urine. Escherichia coli? Proteus mirabilis? Try Pediculus…
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Vent Wars, Part 3; or The Decannulization of Fred
So the end of life saga continues. I guess in the MICU “end of life” is just our way of life. Two more “firsts” for me as a nurse – my first Family Meeting and my first unplanned decannulation (Mom- this means that my patient ripped his trach tube out and subsequently could not breath).…
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Vent Wars, Part 2
Here is an update: My patient that I was so convinced could be extubated? Extubated the next day. Developed airway edema. Had to be reintubated. I found this all out when I came to work two days later. So I was wrong. She didn’t fly. You see? I still have so much to learn. And…
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Do ICU Nurses Really Have Autonomy?
So today I have an interview at another great hospital in my city, the mental hospital. I’ve spent a lot of time there as a student and was convinced I wanted to do psych nursing. Somewhere along the way I was on monster.com and noticed that Nurse Anesthetists make 100K/year. I also noticed that you…
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Can Palliative Care Exist in a MICU?
I am thinking about leaving the MICU for another type of nursing. I’ve been in the MICU for almost 2 years (if you include my student rotation). I’ve thought about leaving before, but up until now I hadn’t crossed the threshold of thinking, “I’m leaving because I can’t do this” to “I’m leaving because I…
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L’enfer, c’est les PCs…
I’ve crossed to the Other Side. It’s been 12 long years and I never thought I’d go down that road again. Some told me “never do it!” Others said I’m crazy not to. I went and bought a Mac. It was those new commercials that did it. You know the ones with the cool guy…