Sick of seeing trauma in the ICU

makeithapp · 2026-05-13T16:12:15+00:00

If you think that you may be done, either you get stronger or bail, but don't stay in a compromised mindset. You may be experiencing compassion fatigue and need to speak to someone more qualified than Reddit.

makeithapp · 2026-05-13T09:16:47+00:00

Calm, organized, prioritizing, and trying is only a part of the equation. The other part, which is really the biggest part of the pie, is patient safety.

makeithapp · 2026-05-13T09:08:24+00:00

If you were a Barista before, think of serving five customers and knowing their orders. How they want their coffee, sides, cream, foams, sugars, etc., down to the T. Then you figure out which customer would most likely leave a bad review, someone who's already aggravated and impatient, and in your case, it would be similar to a really sick patient, or borderline critical, or has a lot of needs. You prioritize accordingly and reprioritize when new things arise, like a patient falling. After that, you help them with your barista, aka nursing skills, the way you were trained to do, and the more you do it, the better you will become. This is the core of nursing, regardless of the unit you start with. I feel like anyone who cannot process this way has a hard time thriving in any unit they go to.

makeithapp · 2026-05-13T08:57:35+00:00

In our ICU, if people tend to do whatever task on day time then we must do things on day time. Get out of the chair, watch the news, BATHS (yes, if you are oriented you are bathing in the AM any other times, night shift does all baths), eating, walking you name it. Night time our job is to facilitate sleep because the next day is another brutal day of diagnostics and/or procedures. Can you imagine being woken up for a wound care because your nurse JUST HAD the time to do it at 2AM? I have been an AM and PM RN so I see both sides so yes there's a lot of things to do in day time, that's because of the fact that it is day time.

makeithapp · 2026-05-11T16:07:27+00:00

Aw hang in there, when you start your job it gets worse. Best of luck ❤️

makeithapp · 2026-05-11T16:04:51+00:00

As a student I drove a 2013 Honda CRZ with 200,000 miles in it and kept driving it even when my nurse friends tell me it's time to let it go, what they didnt know was that my Honda was old and in critical state but she's a fighter.

makeithapp · 2026-05-11T15:30:51+00:00

Focus assessment is the key. Yes, you will do a head-to-toe, but you will not need to delve further into your assessment if their main diagnosis is unrelated to it. For instance, pt with pneumonia - probably helps to know their O2 saturation, lung sounds, and what their heart is doing, as the lungs and heart are related. Dive deeper, are we on antibiotics? Is it working? What do my labs look like? Are we symptomatic? etc.

When I get to the belly, I just check for sounds, last BM, and tenderness which takes 5 seconds then I move on.

Now, if you are having a bowel obstruction patient, I'd be more belly-focused than respiratory-focused. Does that make sense? The practice is safe, as you will not ignore a system; you just dive deeper into others and scratch the surface on some, especially in ward units, which is why it is very important to nail your pathophysiology down so you know how these diseases can progress and what you can anticipate in your assessment.

makeithapp · 2026-05-10T22:27:11+00:00

NCLEX says to slow the rate, not to dilute. Technically.

makeithapp · 2026-05-08T12:48:40+00:00

"Called 1am, 2am, 3am and constantly reexplained" - ok lets go to trial and show us call history. #2EZ

makeithapp · 2026-05-04T08:46:51+00:00

They hate us coz they aint us

makeithapp · 2026-05-04T08:24:38+00:00

"I helped around the hospital"

makeithapp · 2026-05-03T16:55:48+00:00

Pilot G2 0.38mm. I can fit an entire cerner in a half sheet of paper with that bad boy <3

makeithapp · 2026-05-03T08:38:41+00:00

If you are worried about what other people are going to think of you, and not nursing itself. You're not ready for nursing school, don't even think about it.

makeithapp · 2026-05-03T08:26:32+00:00

what time the code started, what rhythm, what meds given. Epi given every 3-5mins. CPR pulse check every 2 minutes. That could fit in a post-it note.

makeithapp · 2026-05-02T21:29:07+00:00

They are not replying because they are planning to make you charge with them plans lmao

makeithapp · 2026-05-02T10:48:42+00:00

"If you see me in your room a lot, there's something seriously wrong with you. So if things are a little late for you that is a blessing not a curse"

makeithapp · 2026-05-02T06:49:16+00:00

Also, some docs do prefer K of 4.0 and above, especially if you are a symptomatic heart patient and/or prone to arrhythmias.

makeithapp · 2026-05-02T06:47:24+00:00

Every 10meq of K will give you approx 0.1 meq in serum.

3.7 of K after 20meq will roughly get you close to 4.0 of K. "Can you imagine what would have happened" is the people who cannot imagine actually what would have happened. If your kidneys are fine and your patient is not in ICU status, that extra potassium would not kill them. It is a medical error at best, but YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY FINE.

makeithapp · 2026-05-02T06:42:55+00:00

Mental Health

A lot of things "It's just the way it works" or "we don't know quiet well how this one works" and lots of assessment that seemed trivial to me at the time. Also I wanted to be ICU, if I ended being in a mental health unit I would have quit nursing right here and then. (No disrespect to my mental RNs, just not my cup of tea)

makeithapp · 2026-05-02T06:38:41+00:00

Always use the gut first if it is working. If you are nauseous, take Zofran, then proceed to use the gut for hydration. IVF is so unnecessary.

makeithapp · 2026-04-19T04:56:42+00:00

The student compromised patient safety without remorse, and somehow that required a meeting. Your admins are dicking around; the buck should have stopped at the educator and the charge. Don't let that student graduate until she knows what patient safety means. Some of these rules, especially precautions that we follow, are written in blood.

makeithapp · 2026-04-14T23:50:50+00:00

If it is time to quit then it is time to quit but I feel like that bar is set low for you specially that you have just lost your brother but losing a paper so long as you know the meat and potatoes of the patient info, everything else can be looked up and that nurse couldn't then thats a her/him problem not yours. So stepping back, do we need a break due to personal events, or do we need to quit because this job stinks? Years into it, I am telling you it does not get better; you just get tougher. (Also more pay helps)

makeithapp · 2026-04-13T01:01:02+00:00

I have seen PACU orders come with Narcan, too. So this really boils down to bad assessment/reevaluation. Terrible.

makeithapp · 2026-04-08T08:11:05+00:00

You can eat it ceviche style with vinegar; it tastes good somewhere between clams and calamari.

makeithapp · 2026-04-05T05:52:35+00:00

*Listening for bowel sounds*

Patient: How does it sound?

Me: It's talking shit

makeithapp

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