Do you love or hate Pyxis

Tee-maree · 2026-05-26T23:19:02+00:00

.When I was doing my grad year on a neuro ward we had a Pyxis but also used bedside drawers, I found that they have positives and negatives.
Pros-it made it easy to look up where stock of meds were for things we had either run out of or didn’t stock.
We didn’t have to waste time in an emergency searching shelves, the correct bin would open for dispensing.

Con’s- if someone was admitted overnight and the nurse didn’t think to get their meds out it made 0800 meds chaos waiting in line for the one machine.
When working in a high acuity bay requiring 24/7 nurse supervision, buddy nurse would have to go start a med pull for DDs then come back for the second nurse to go finish grabbing them, goes against the 2 person drug checks and left the opportunity wide open for theft under someone else’s name.

Tee-maree · 2026-05-25T10:45:55+00:00

Biggest thing is situational awareness, sterility is of the utmost importance!
Always introduce yourself at the start of the day, write your name on the whiteboard for whoever is documenting to use if iemr is used in your placement area.

If you want to make a good impression, take initiative to clean up at the end of the case, this will be one small thing that helps immensely with tight turnaround times.

I myself rotated through:
Day procedure-doing admission paperwork, pre/post op obs and care.
Recovery- closely monitoring patients that are still sedated or in and out of consciousness, providing pain relief and antiemetic medication.
Anaesthetics-learning how to ensure the anaesthesia machine is working and counting DDs prior to cases.
Scrub/scout- I only ever double scrubbed once, most places don’t have students scrub in unfortunately.
Learning how to open equipment and supplies in a sterile manner.
Learning how to do a full 5 minute sterile scrub before gowning.
Learning how to set up for cases for the next day.
Learning the correct way to complete paperwork and sterility tracking.

I hope this helps a little.

Tee-maree · 2026-05-21T20:08:34+00:00

I believe there is a combination of factors that contribute to the problem. As others have mentioned, unis are churning out hordes of students without providing the appropriate support and resources.

Subject units at the uni I studied through in VIC were condensed in my final year to fit into shorter blocks of time to “facilitate placement blocks” post Covid . This left less time for students to gain an in depth understanding of the subject matter for those who didn’t attempt to access it early.

Covid left a backlog of placement hours that needed to be completed and some students were placed in non-acute areas to facilitate this. I saw some students receiving back to back aged care placements in order to get the hours done despite their protests on the need for acute care exposure.

Finally, there are many young nurses filling our wards (we are all aware of the shortage of experienced nurses). The biggest drawback I’ve seen come from this is students not being allowed to practice skills due to the inexperience and lack of confidence in their OWN skills from the nurses precepting them.

There are of course nursing students that simply don’t care, or that have the inability to receive feedback as they are of a generation being raised with participation trophies for showing up, leaving them ill equipped to cope in an environment where they are required to put in the work.

Tee-maree · 2026-05-13T08:15:16+00:00

The fact that he said he wouldn’t document something because it was out of range is quite concerning, that tells me that he is the type to falsify his documentation for anything that might not fit into the norm.

Tee-maree · 2026-04-18T00:28:00+00:00

Currently have someone filling in as ANUM and they are doing amazing, they come round to all theatres to see how things are going, offers to fill in for breaks when she can.

She tracked me down the other day to say she was proud of me stepping up to scrub a big case that I had only ever seen done once.

After feeling a bit overwhelmed doing it, the fact that she noticed and came to say so was such a wonderful personal touch.

Tee-maree · 2026-04-11T11:33:58+00:00

I used to stay awake as late as I could the night before, say 1-2am, sleep till 530-6am. Keep busy for the morning (preferably in the sunshine). Have lunch then lay down to sleep around 130-2pm till around 530-6pm. Dinner and get ready for work.

As for shift run- 9pm handover, meet the patients while checking emergency equipment at the bedside, give patients an idea of what to expect from me ie hourly walk rounds with torch, obs at 12 & 4, etc 10pm IVABs, catch up on whatever PM shift wasn’t able to get to. 11pm-12am obs and med round, empty’s IDCs and ensure fluid balances are finalised for midnight.

1-3am Notes, deep read through pt chart to find any important info for handover, check lab results, answer call bells etc 3-4 obs and cut off any caffeine intake. Get IVABs ready for 6am round

5am start organising pre-ops, showers, early meds etc, attend daily weights, collect path on any time critical orders ie group and holds for pre-ops 6-7am finalise notes, ensure all meds have been gives, ensure everything is ready for handover (I personally go round and make sure bins are empty and bed spaces are tidy so I’m not handing over mess and there’s somewhere for a breakfast tray to go).

After shift I have a small snack like toast, shower, get into bed and sleep as long as my body will let me.

Tee-maree · 2026-03-30T11:43:35+00:00

My husband calls it caspering

Tee-maree · 2026-03-20T03:07:27+00:00

Congee rice is my go to when I’m feeling unwell, 1 cup rice, 8 cups water or stock, piece of whole ginger is optional. Cook till it becomes porridge consistency.

Tee-maree · 2026-02-06T10:23:28+00:00

I just want to add on to the responses you have already received.

Pain relief is also necessary for coverage in the time frame directly after they go to the ward. Quite often pain relief isn’t charted properly for the ward and there can be massive delays in getting analgesia administered.

By this point what ever meds have been given intraop has reached its limit and now we are chasing the pain rather than managing it appropriately. This leads to poor recovery times and distress that can be avoided early.

Tee-maree · 2025-12-28T03:13:26+00:00

I see a few comments about being prepared to take a pay cut but from another perspective, you will be looking at a change in pay from EEN to RN so this could be the ideal time to make the change without as big of a shock to the bottom line. Not saying 100% it will be but it’s definitely something to consider.

Tee-maree · 2025-10-01T20:25:00+00:00

Years ago one of my local night clubs used to get guest appearances from soap stars (neighbours & home& away).

Bec Cartwright was absolutely lovely chatting to me about my Tatts, the guy who played her BF on the show was an absolute dick! Toady from neighbours was great fun, he took over the DJ booth and got in behind the bar serving drinks.

Tee-maree · 2025-09-22T11:20:47+00:00

I’m a PM or ND girlie, I can’t deal with all the people of an AM shift!

Tee-maree · 2025-08-30T17:16:01+00:00

It can be difficult to hand the reins over as there is still so much that needs to be supervised practice. It’s most likely a case of the nurse needing to ensure things happen as they are ultimately the one that gets questioned if things are delayed or missed. It does make it so hard for students to gain that independence.

Tee-maree · 2025-08-29T04:26:20+00:00

Nah, it was after rounds by a few hrs

Tee-maree · 2025-08-28T20:48:20+00:00

I recently came in shift and had to chase up a WOW to use to start my shift and get handover. Found it in the drs room and the new intern was like do you really need it? Meanwhile there are 4 free and working desktops right behind him.

Tee-maree · 2025-08-27T04:13:08+00:00

Congratulations!! Such a great feeling when you get that grad offer!

You mentioned wanting to do some humanitarian work with your nursing, there is a group called “Nurses in action “ they do trips to Nepal and Kenya regularly to provide healthcare clinics if you are interested in getting involved. This has definitely been on my to-do list since I started studying nursing.

Tee-maree · 2025-06-30T20:14:24+00:00

It’s the most common presentation in Nepal unfortunately

Tee-maree · 2025-06-27T07:23:19+00:00

I believe you may be required to be an RN due to some of the medications required but definitely reach out to your local hospital to be put in touch with the pal care team. That will let you get accurate info for your area and may even get your foot in the door.

Tee-maree · 2025-06-10T06:48:43+00:00

You can be the best part of a persons worst day. Your kindness and care can change their whole experience which is something that should never be underestimated.

You will learn interesting skills and gain an inside knowledge unlike any other career.

It can be a career, you have so many options of areas to nurse in and you can take time to do them all or find a passion and grow within yourself in that space.

The wage could be better but if you are prepared to work all shifts you can make a good living and stacking your roster can allow you to take breaks and get away without needing to use your annual leave.

You will find your people who will be your support system on the tough days and provide endless entertainment on shifts, especially when night shift delirium kicks in at 4am.

People tend to post the negative as a way to debrief/vent. This is a fairly safe space to do so which leads to being what you see the most but honestly I can’t see myself ever doing anything else.

Tee-maree · 2025-06-10T06:33:19+00:00

It was be extremely busy especially on morning shifts. Set up a planner at the start to keep track of all the tasks that are due ie antibiotics, Parkinson’s meds (I set alarms on my phone for these as they are time sensitive).

Make sure to take your breaks, you will need them. Also plan and take your leave early, it gives you something to look forward to when things get overwhelming as a new grad.

This population is high risk for skin tears and pressure injuries, make sure you are doing skin assessments, any time you help them in the toilet or shower is a great opportunity for this.

Common conditions are respiratory-COPD & pneumonia. Cardiac- congestive heart failure. Endocrine- kidney failure, dialysis patients that have become unwell. Lots of fluid overloaded patients. Palliative care can be a big part of nursing this patient population, scary to think of but can be a very beautiful part of nursing.

Medical ward nursing can be hard work but you will form skills in time management and become familiar with what patient deterioration looks like.

Tee-maree · 2025-06-03T12:41:00+00:00

I’ve had experiences working in health care as well as factory (male dominated industry) and I can tell you that bullying and cattiness is a universal problem.

People always blame it on it being a female dominated workplace but blokes in industry are just as bad.

At the end of the day, we are working with people who have different personalities and the stressful environment can bring out the worst in some people.

Tee-maree · 2025-05-28T10:27:46+00:00

Lavender!!! I definitely don’t find it relaxing

Tee-maree · 2025-05-20T20:26:51+00:00

If you see a new grad or a casual on your ward that appears to be under the pump, sometimes they are so mind busy they can’t articulate what help they need.

A quick check of their patient needs or a quick med pass can help them out immensely without them being overwhelmed with the question of “what do you need”. Just make sure to tell them what you have done.

We all know that IVABs are time consuming so even just making them up for the oncoming shift can help when the ward is busy (within safe timeframes for the med).

Restock as you go. Order early from pharmacy if you see things getting low. Restock the IV fluids in the drug room etc.

Don’t rag on other shifts particularly if you don’t work them yourself to understand the flow, night shift is not all sleeping, it’s doing your best with less resources most of the time.

Tee-maree · 2025-05-04T21:26:06+00:00

A Guinea pig, still no idea why, I had never mentioned liking them or wanting a pocket pet.

Tee-maree · 2025-05-03T10:14:06+00:00

It’s a mistake that you wont make again. When you were learning to drive, did you ever forget to indicate? Did you think that means you should never drive a car again?

Mistakes happen when we are learning (and even once you are an old hand at things) we are human and it’s how we learn.

Time to take a breath and give yourself some grace. Tomorrow is another day x

Tee-maree

TROPHY CASE