NurseConnect.com Medical-Surgical (MS / Med-Surg) Nurses Forum

Nurse Jackie

I recently watched this show and find it completely insulting to Nurses. I heard months ago that a show was coming out with Edie Falco that actually portrayed RN's taking care of patients and running hospitals instead of hospitals being run by doctors only without nurses ever being seen.. This show does focus on the RN but it portrays the heroine nurse Jackie as someone taking illegal drugs for a back problem and every RN that happens to be male as gay.. I work in the ER it is very demanding quite often I work 12 hour shifts without a break. I also get drug tested often because I'm a traveler and yes there are gay men in nursing just like every other profession no more no less. Do they have to portray every man in nursing as gay can they portray some men as married with children which is the norm..I think this show will absolutely hurt nursing.

New Nursing Shows

I think it is interesting how we are finally getting tv shows that focus on nurses as opposed to MD's. I just finished watching HawthoRNe on TNT and I have to say that I enjoyed it. The nurses appeared realistic for the most part, although they did have to sensationalize a few things, it is TV after all. I like how it shows a strong female nurse without making her appear to be a b*tch. Nurse Jackie is a different story. I like Edie Falco, and some of the storylines are good, but I don't want some of her behaviour to be associated with nurses. We are finally getting some respect, and I would like to keep it that way. I might have to watch a few more episodes of Nurse Jackie before I decide for sure if I like that show. There is going to be another nursing show on NBC sometime soon as well. It "follows the lives of three attractive nurses". Something tells me that I am not going to like this one. But I am going to watch it anyway and see. So, how do you all like these shows? Do you watch them at all? I tried to describe them without giving away too much of the storyline for people who haven't watched them yet, but are going to. Please, if you are going to describe more of the plot, make sure you put a spoiler alert. Thanks.

Hi Stacey,

I agree. However, I find that I cannot sit through an entire episode. The other show (with Jada Pinkett Smith) may be worth a look. I haven't heard about the show that follows three attractive nurses (doesn't sound promising). I find shows like Hopkins 24/7 much more interesting.

C-Diff

I work in a rural facility with a GI group. It seems as if the occurance of C-diff, especially community acquired, is on the rise... We've experienced an increase in the numbers of diagnosed cases over the past two years. I'm curious if any of you have experienced a similar finding?There have been studies that have shown a correlation between C-diff and proton pump use. In fact, I did my Master's Thesis on the subject at Florida State University. I try not to leave patients on them for long periods of time, especially if they use antibiotics frequently. Hope this helps!

Mediport access prob. HELP

I am new to the site. Hello! I am a home health nurse of two years and am currently taking care of a chemo patient. She is getting continuous TPN through her mediport. We change the huber needle weekly and draw lab's at that time. I have accessed approx. 20 mediports and have been the only one to access this patients mediport since she started TPN around June 1st. Yesterday I replaced her huber needle, as usual, using a 22G 3/4 huber in the exact same place it was accessed previously. I also obtained lab as follows: I flushed port with 10 cc NS, then aspirated 10cc of waste blood and threw away and then aspirated another 10cc for my lab. I then flushed with another 10cc followed by heparin. I then hooked this patient back up to TPN and when I left all was fine. I get the lab back from the hospital and her WBC was 1.4 and platelet is 6. I call MD who has patient come to hosptial for platelets the next day (on regurally scheduled chemo day). I get a call from the family today saying the MD drew lab again today and the above levels were normal. MD stated that I had put the huber needle in the subclavian cavity and drew the labs from there and that was why the labs were not normal. I do not understand this because, I KNOW I accessed in the same place as previous accessed and the port flused easily with good blood return. How could I have got approx 20cc of blood if I went into the subclavian cavity? I have accessed this port many times with no problems. I am really afraid to access this port again and really upset. Please help!

pt. load

Just wondering what type of case load other med/surg- orthopedic floor nurses are caring. The hospital I work in, has a 5-1 pt. load on days 6-1 on evenings and 7-1 on nights. The majority of discharges and admission come in on the evening shift. What is your case load and when are the majority of your admission and discharges?

Thanks

Hi! I work on a med/surg...mostly surgical floor. We do team nursing (RN, LPN, and aide per team). Generally, we have 11 or 12, sometimes 13 patients per team. It is a big load, especially with patients going to surgery or who have already had surgery. Most of the discharges happen on days, sometimes evenings, and admissions are mostly on evenings. We definetely have crazy days. I wish we didn't have that many patients per team. I frequently wonder if it is safe?

I work at a small hospital in georgia on the surgical floor our pt. load is on average 6-1 on days and nights (we work 12 hour shifts). To make this happen we usually have a charge and 4 nurses on the floor. On days that we are short staffed we can have up to 9 patients per nurse. Most of our admissions come on day shift because they come from surgery and our discharges are on days as well. we also have two a and d nurses to handle those so our nurses aren't tied up with them and can focus on the other pts.

New RN

I am a brand new RN working on a med/surg floor. This is my first nursing job and I am very nervous about it. Anybody have any advice for me? What to expect or how to handle things?Hi there sorry no one has replied I am not sure if you started your job but don't expect to know it all. Nursing school is nothing like the real thing. The patient load is huge comparing to NS. THe 1st things are to come up with your own routine. Management skills are a big deal. The rest will eventually ease off. You won't feel comfortable until you are about 6 mos to a year. Good luckThe only advice I can give is to not be afraid to ask questions! There are no stupid questions. Better to ask somebody then to make a mistake.

chest tube question

I am a nursing student. I have questions about how to solve the problem with chest tube. When a pt. accidentally disconnect the drainage tube from the pt's chest tube, what the 1st thing should the nurse do? I have heard different answers that make me confuse. One said clamp the tube. Another said connect the chest tube to a normal saline cup. Which one is correct?

I think either one is correct. The most important thing is that no air gets sucked into the cavity causing the pneumo to get bigger. Putting the tube in sterile saline is just like putting it to water seal. And you know that clamping it will stop the air from getting in. These are both only short term solutions though. The first thing is to get it sealed and you are more likely to have access to a clamp than to a cup of saline.

retaining nurses (help!)

Hello, I am a current Obstetrical Nurse and am going back to school. One of my assignments is to collaborate with other nurses on a topic. What suggestions do you have on retaining new nurses to a facility?

Well, self scheduling definitely helps. Bonuses help. Sign-on, retention, referral bonuses. Paid education leave, free CE's all help. NURSE TO PATIENT RATIO DEFINITELY ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS I LOOK FOR IN A FACILITY. BEING ABLE TO PRACTICE SAFELY IS MY BIGGEST ISSUE. FEELING LIKE THE FACILITY ACTUALLY CARES FOR IT'S EMPLOYEES IS ANOTHER BIG ONE. ALSO TUITION REIMBURSEMENT FOR GRADUATE EDUCATION.One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet (all of the previous suggestions are great). Ergonomics, the arrangement of equipment and supplies in locations that is both safe and effecient for the staff to use. Having equipment that works and staff support that works and is just as dependable.
Unit secretaries that are there to do what is best for the patient and to help nurses to take care of patients and not just do what they have to for their shift.
Nurses aids who work with nurses and nurses who work with staff.
Find ways to minimize wasted time, like trying to figure out what a Dr wrote or for that matter who wrote it. Encourage the use of name and number stamps by Dr's.
Minimize redundent paperwork, charting the same information 2 or 3 times is frustrating as well as a waste of valuable time.
Don't be affraid to get rid of nurses or staff who cause problems for the other staff and or endanger patients, it is better to loose one nurse or staff member than several staff because they don't want to work with them, or a patient getting hurt or worse.
If your facility is ever renovated/remodeled, do whatever you can to get as many staff involved in the design work before it is done. I have worked at some facilities that had the opportunity to improve and actually made it harder to work with and less safe for patients and staff.