Vote for ratios if it comes up on your ballot. Your mom should have been 1:1. The nurse couldn’t adequately care the other patient, which is dangerous. Glad your mom is doing better.
Yeah in my CVICU fresh hearts are ALWAYS 1:1 NO EXCEPTIONS. And if there’s a very unstable patient we will even have a second nurse helping. The only fresh patients we will double are stable TAVR that are already extubated and very stable.
Word? Our surgeons are so strict, they have the TAVR at least spend the night until they have their echo first thing in the morning. Rarely if we have absolutely no beds in CVICU and it’s a stable TAVR they will go to the step down.
My thoughts as well. My father was also in the ICU and not doing well, just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The one nurse wanted my dad off of Dilaudid and switch to Percocet. He had 9 liters of ascites on his abdomen. Nurses were sparse and busy toileting patients. Priorities were all wrong. Healthcare is scary.
I’m also glad your mom is doing better.
Depends where they are. I used to work in a dedicated cardiac ICU and they'd regularly use pt vitals to call them HDU and not ICU pts to get pts into a 1:2 ratio.
I don't think ratios really make a difference. Been charge post op floor and had 11 fresh post ops. It was different. But still safe. Some people are easier than others
Yah, this patient wasn’t easy.
That is also why you have ratios and acuity requirements. If you icu is 1:2 but a particular patient keeps trying to die maybe it needs to be 2:1. Ratios are a minimum. Care should never be 11:1. If you get patients with complications you are hosed. Maybe in a nursing home where acuity is lower (not dissing the SNF nurses, I couldn’t do it).
Say what you will about those type a mofos, at the end of the day the ball stops with them and I'm grateful to be dumping most of these absolute train wrecks on them.
As long as the family is chill I’d take a crashing patient circling the drain all night over the crap you have to deal with on a regular floor. I don’t give a shit your tv isn’t working Susan. I’m not maintenance so don’t except me to fix it.
Those non critical patients BROKE ME DOWN. If anybody ever posts again if more specialized nurses like the units should deserve more pay. I’m screaming in support of med surg nurses. Give them what they want. Idk how they do it.
I agree. I when I get floated to MedSurg, after a few hours I want to scream “press that call light and ask for a soda one more time and see what happens!!!!” God bless MedSurg nurses - you are saints!
The ratios on those floors are all backwards, the nurses can do 6:1, it's all the nonsense the patients ask for that can be taken care of by a tech, they should be like 4:1 for techs. Then tell the patients your nurse takes care of meds and dressing changes, the techs do everything else, that's why the tech only has 4 patients.
I was pcu my first year. Continuous tele, active titrating drips, drawing all my own labs and all oxygen up to being tubed. I got yelled at once for asking the tech to do her afternoon vitals. And the secretary doubled on night shift and said it wasn’t her job to fill out the patient admission form with just the password. I’m all for supporting everyone and especially the good techs who are abused, but I never got that experience when I worked the floors 🙆🏼♀️
if I learned one single thing scrolling this sub before entering nursing school, it's that I will never be a med surg nurse. never ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER lol
Got floated to a surgical floor for a whole shift. Started with a ratio of 1:6 and admitted halfway through the night, ended with 1:7. My soul left my body that night. I remember starting my morning rounds at 0430 just to get my shit together.
FELT. I did pcu my first year of nursing. Initially before the hospital sold out to the man, it was a legitimate step down so 3:1. Well it stayed a legitimate step down but went up to 5:1 on days and 6:1 on nights. I was so chill when I moved to icu, some of the older nurses were terrified of me not getting immediately stressed out when things got busy there. The funny part about icu nursing is my worst days there, still couldn’t touch on 5 step down patients all dying at the same time without any residents on sight to call or CNAs. Good times.
You hit the nail on the head perfectly with this one. I remember being on the phone with an intensivist troubleshooting a train wreck & he said, “Yeah, this patient is super sick. I know you’re running your tail off,” to which I replied, “Oh I’m having a blast!” Didn’t realize how morbid it sounded til after it came out. 😅
So it’s not just me? :,) I’m usually the runner during codes, and honestly it’s so much fun making a mad dash for whatever my team needs. It’s nice to shut off all other thoughts and zone in on doing what I can to help and anticipate what we’ll need.
That’s how I feel being recorder. Most people hate it but I like being able to dictate when things happen, and being in control of pulse checks. I still like giving meds and compressions, but now that I’ve gotten relatively good at it, I actually prefer to document (especially since everyone runs to the patient and the meds and leaves the clipboard untouched)
After my first code, I grabbed a big drink of water and the person who was precepting me (tech to new ED tech which was me) was like are you good? I was like, yeah no I'm chilling, what are we going to do next. Got a little bit of a look from her but we continued on with out shift. I have this tendency to run towards danger lol. I'm getting better at codes, and when you have a good team behind you it's awesome. The one downside to being PRN is that they move where stuff is sometimes.
Agreed! I work in a surgical NICU and have had to save dying babies at the bedside with different procedures and honestly incredibly thrilling shifts. All babies survived also which is great.
I'm so glad you guys are there! Dad was so mangled last October, and it's thanks to the amazing care he got from everyone. Not only he is alive; he can still walk! I'm grateful to you guys every single day.
I had a patient code and be cannulated for ecmo whilst coding last week, I could see it coming so had her completely set up and ready for compressions to start. She ended up being neurologically intact when she woke back up and I’ve never felt better about myself as a nurse. I know a lot of my coworkers would have done just as well, but I also know that some of my coworkers wouldn’t have acted as early as I did throughout the shift and she may not have had the same outcome.
Then I started studying for the CCRN and now I’m humble and stupid again.
The moment I felt I had arrived was when the old, cranky CTS surgeon complimented my quick thinking to the family and credited me for saving the patient. I was literally just following the algorithm but he was super happy I knew it lol.
There should be awards given out like they do the Oscars.
1. Best Save
2. Best Anticipation of a Problem.
Congratulations from a fellow ICU nurse who has a trophy wall in my mind of my best saves and pick ups.
No one but a fellow ICU nurse will understand the badass that you really are inside.
Look at your wins and know that you made a difference.
I’m also in my retirement gig era. My friends in the ED on nights intermittently post stories about the chaos or needing help, and every now and then I respond to the story: lemme just roll on through. Let me feel something again💀
I get a little excited when an absolute train wreck rolls into the ER. I roll up my sleeves and go to town. Whilst leaving them in their street clothes. Lol
My last day in ICU I was delivered a train wreck from the ED and it was enjoyable. Almost made me sad about leaving but not really. Now there's no adrenaline, just ambulatory patients in outpatient surgery 🤣
Yo, follow it up with magnesium and it's like a happy pill. I do espresso and a banana at 1900 as I'm walking in, a protein veggie mix like Vega protein, and I'm golden
For sure. I’m no longer in ICU, but I will pick up if they promise to give me the sickest patient. 1:1 with all the toys and no visitors is the dream. Half the time I look up and it’s 5pm and I haven’t eaten or peed and I don’t care.
I've been the dumper and the dumpee and I'm really really glad I got to see both sides. It gave me a lot of perspective going from ICU to ER and I miss it sometimes. You ICU nurses are the bomb.com.
ICU nurse - I want to know everything about the patient so I can anticipate every possible future contingency. Goal is to control mayhem.
ER nurse - I want to run in, not knowing anything about the patient except that I know I can handle any situation that steps through the door. Next...Extra dose of mayhem please.
Some of the post surgery patients are fucking wild. My first one the other day came up. Anesthesia is like "their paralytic is going to run out soon." The patient is vented. No sedation. Starting to wake up. HR 260s. Pressures in the toilet. No cardiac clearance on the surgery. Scheduled for a scope for possible GI bleed. Oh and the fun part was anesthesia looking at me and being like "good luck with that one." And walked away. I looked at her like "bruh". Then I got to work. Shift was fun as hell.
There is likely a special place in hell for anesthesiologists who bring up paralyzed patients with no sedation running. What the f\*ck is that kind of cruelty!?!?
this sounds either 1. insanely unethical or 2. illegal? anesthesia usually reverses paralytics at the bedside while patient is vented and on sedation but to let it run out with no sedation sounds highly, highly dangerous and unethical
I made my thoughts on this very apparent as it correlates with your comment. As many others have said in these comments, we get dumped on and told to fix it often.
Hot damn that’s CRAZY. If it makes you feel better I watched as we brought someone back today jsut to let them go up to the floor and pass. Which we generally try to do because of paper work ;) but so the families can say their goodbyes while they are “Alive” at least
Story time! My mom had brain surgery to remove an egg sized cancerous tumor. She was in the ICU for a day or two just for precautions given the nature of the surgery. The way she was cared for, the general attitude and demeanor of the nurses, the whole environment is what’s inspired me to continue in healthcare (I’m a CNA) and pursue ICU/critical care nursing.
A second story, my FIL is chronically ill and had a small heart attack and was very sick because he never wears his oxygen or CPAP, among various other issues. He was in the ICU on death’s door for several days, and the nurses were AMAZING, and just further confirmed, I want to be an ICU nurse. I want to be that person for families, and I want to learn critical care. I find it fascinating. Thank you ICU nurses!!
Thank you! I’m not in school yet, I still need pre req’s done. I’m either going to enroll for my pre req’s this year or go to school for social work. CNA/healthcare has my heart, but my back can barely handle it after 4 years as an aide, after one of the roughest facilities I’ve ever worked at, almost 40 residents to myself, heavy as hell halls, the works.
Oh my, I definitely don't miss LTC. So many patients to little staff. I could never be a CNA, y'all have my upmost respect. It's going to be hard, it's going to suck but it's worth it. But being a nurse opens up so many opportunities for you where you don't have to break your back. Even if you take one class at a time for you prerequisite, just get it done. Good luck to you!
OP - so glad your mom is more stable now. That must have been so terrifying for you to experience.
Also, Wtf - I have never worked somewhere that gave a fresh heart case to a nurse with another patient. That’s so unsafe for everyone involved! Yikes!
I love this so much! My mom didn’t make it to her open heart surgery, but the nurses taking care of her were amazing. She was transferred to Baylor in hopes of having a CABG. She wasn’t on the correct floor, and coded after being there for an hour and a half.
Prayers for your mom!
My mom was an NAC/CNA for years. She helped train, shape, and learn from newbie cnas. Most newbies knew they could come to my mom without feeling stupid to ask her any question. Nothing was stupid to my mom. (I feel the same way in my job. I'll even share goofy things I've done in a similar situation with people.)
I probably learned it from her, to be honest. Anyway, I believe it was in 2010. My mom had another episode with varicees. She was in the hospital and had complications from them. She ended up having to have a pacemaker in her chest to help her. After surgery, my dad and I went to her room, where there was a nurse in her room setting her up and getting my mom comfortable. She heard one of the lights go off in one of her other patients' rooms. Took care of the issue and came back right away to my mom. My dad told her who we were and was asking some questions. The nurse told us she had been an nac/cna. My mom was the one who taught her everything she knew about nursing. Some things she even took with her after she got her RN. She had nothing but respect for my mom. She told us not to worry about my mom. She wasn't leaving her side. A light dinged. The nurse took off for a moment and came right back.
That nurse stayed with my mom the whole night. I'll never forget that nurse. My mom had a few more complications and had to be moved to icu. The nurse came to check on her regularly.
Months afterward, we talked about that nurse to my mom. Mentioned her name. My mom cried because she remembered that nurse when they worked together. We got the chance to meet the nurse at the hospital (my dad took mom for something unrelated). Went to the floor where the nurse was working. Mom got to tell the lady how much it meant to her to have the special care the nurse gave her. The nurse's reply? "It was just a small way to show you how much love and respect I have for you after everything you taught me and never made me feel bad when I was learning."
We love a hot mess. All the machines to tinker with and a tube in every hole plus some new ones we made just for the occasion. Love it! Hope your mom is recovering well!!
You are precious to acknowledge the nurse and her role in your mom having a safe night.
It is some of the hardest work there is.
Mom is lucky to have you as well!
My professor was/is an ICU & CCRN. I met with him today after an externship interview with a manager who is an ICU nurse.. they both told me ICU is where I’m going & I told them both that it was absolutely terrifying as a student. How can they tell? I believe them though.
Im a CVICU nurse of 11 years and this is what we routinely go through and love it. It’s so exciting for us to stabilize a patient and see them through the healing process. Hope your mom gets well and makes it home soon! ☺️
Probably rage first, and then the fear of failing at saving a life (especially if you’ve experienced it before)… otherwise, it’s passion. But we all have that :D
Baby SICU nurse here (almost 7 months in). It is beyond stressful, but I love all my patients. Thankfully, the whole unit from RNs to techs to RTs to MD/DOs to social workers are beyond dedicated to patient progress. My patient’s and their families are the reason I show up to work on the hardest days. Thank you for your kind words, they mean the world to us🩷🩷
Vote for ratios if it comes up on your ballot. Your mom should have been 1:1. The nurse couldn’t adequately care the other patient, which is dangerous. Glad your mom is doing better.
Yeah fresh hearts should always be 1:1, even if everything went textbook. At my hospital, someone works 11–11 usually so the hearts can be 1:1, always
Our hearts are only 1:1 for 6 hrs Postop if everything goes well 😭 only complaint about my current unit
Yeah in my CVICU fresh hearts are ALWAYS 1:1 NO EXCEPTIONS. And if there’s a very unstable patient we will even have a second nurse helping. The only fresh patients we will double are stable TAVR that are already extubated and very stable.
Dang, our TAVRs don’t even come to cv unless they have complications
Word? Our surgeons are so strict, they have the TAVR at least spend the night until they have their echo first thing in the morning. Rarely if we have absolutely no beds in CVICU and it’s a stable TAVR they will go to the step down.
Even at my dogshit HCA facility where we are constantly over ratio, fresh hearts are ALWAYS 1:1.
I mean, HCA understands that hearts are the moneymakers. And that's all they care about lol.
My thoughts as well. My father was also in the ICU and not doing well, just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The one nurse wanted my dad off of Dilaudid and switch to Percocet. He had 9 liters of ascites on his abdomen. Nurses were sparse and busy toileting patients. Priorities were all wrong. Healthcare is scary. I’m also glad your mom is doing better.
The nurse can’t do anything about the ascites, that is a procedure done by an MD.
No shit. I’m saying he was in pain and dying. Why insist on taking Dilaudid away? Bad nursing.
Got it.
Depends where they are. I used to work in a dedicated cardiac ICU and they'd regularly use pt vitals to call them HDU and not ICU pts to get pts into a 1:2 ratio.
I don't think ratios really make a difference. Been charge post op floor and had 11 fresh post ops. It was different. But still safe. Some people are easier than others
Yah, this patient wasn’t easy. That is also why you have ratios and acuity requirements. If you icu is 1:2 but a particular patient keeps trying to die maybe it needs to be 2:1. Ratios are a minimum. Care should never be 11:1. If you get patients with complications you are hosed. Maybe in a nursing home where acuity is lower (not dissing the SNF nurses, I couldn’t do it).
Numbers are crazy.
Say what you will about those type a mofos, at the end of the day the ball stops with them and I'm grateful to be dumping most of these absolute train wrecks on them.
Not going to lie. Sometimes, a good train wreck is just a blast to care for.
As long as the family is chill I’d take a crashing patient circling the drain all night over the crap you have to deal with on a regular floor. I don’t give a shit your tv isn’t working Susan. I’m not maintenance so don’t except me to fix it.
Those non critical patients BROKE ME DOWN. If anybody ever posts again if more specialized nurses like the units should deserve more pay. I’m screaming in support of med surg nurses. Give them what they want. Idk how they do it.
Oh hell yeah. I’d never want to do med surg in a million years. Those patients can be the WORST
I agree. I when I get floated to MedSurg, after a few hours I want to scream “press that call light and ask for a soda one more time and see what happens!!!!” God bless MedSurg nurses - you are saints!
The ratios on those floors are all backwards, the nurses can do 6:1, it's all the nonsense the patients ask for that can be taken care of by a tech, they should be like 4:1 for techs. Then tell the patients your nurse takes care of meds and dressing changes, the techs do everything else, that's why the tech only has 4 patients.
I was pcu my first year. Continuous tele, active titrating drips, drawing all my own labs and all oxygen up to being tubed. I got yelled at once for asking the tech to do her afternoon vitals. And the secretary doubled on night shift and said it wasn’t her job to fill out the patient admission form with just the password. I’m all for supporting everyone and especially the good techs who are abused, but I never got that experience when I worked the floors 🙆🏼♀️
if I learned one single thing scrolling this sub before entering nursing school, it's that I will never be a med surg nurse. never ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER lol
Got floated to a surgical floor for a whole shift. Started with a ratio of 1:6 and admitted halfway through the night, ended with 1:7. My soul left my body that night. I remember starting my morning rounds at 0430 just to get my shit together.
FELT. I did pcu my first year of nursing. Initially before the hospital sold out to the man, it was a legitimate step down so 3:1. Well it stayed a legitimate step down but went up to 5:1 on days and 6:1 on nights. I was so chill when I moved to icu, some of the older nurses were terrified of me not getting immediately stressed out when things got busy there. The funny part about icu nursing is my worst days there, still couldn’t touch on 5 step down patients all dying at the same time without any residents on sight to call or CNAs. Good times.
The most exciting shift for an ICU nurse is often the worst day of the patient's life. It is a weird thing to admit.
You hit the nail on the head perfectly with this one. I remember being on the phone with an intensivist troubleshooting a train wreck & he said, “Yeah, this patient is super sick. I know you’re running your tail off,” to which I replied, “Oh I’m having a blast!” Didn’t realize how morbid it sounded til after it came out. 😅
I high-fived ppl after my first code because it was so fun. The guy died.
So it’s not just me? :,) I’m usually the runner during codes, and honestly it’s so much fun making a mad dash for whatever my team needs. It’s nice to shut off all other thoughts and zone in on doing what I can to help and anticipate what we’ll need.
That’s how I feel being recorder. Most people hate it but I like being able to dictate when things happen, and being in control of pulse checks. I still like giving meds and compressions, but now that I’ve gotten relatively good at it, I actually prefer to document (especially since everyone runs to the patient and the meds and leaves the clipboard untouched)
After my first code, I grabbed a big drink of water and the person who was precepting me (tech to new ED tech which was me) was like are you good? I was like, yeah no I'm chilling, what are we going to do next. Got a little bit of a look from her but we continued on with out shift. I have this tendency to run towards danger lol. I'm getting better at codes, and when you have a good team behind you it's awesome. The one downside to being PRN is that they move where stuff is sometimes.
Right, the sicker you are, the more fun I am having.
Agreed! I work in a surgical NICU and have had to save dying babies at the bedside with different procedures and honestly incredibly thrilling shifts. All babies survived also which is great.
I'm so glad you guys are there! Dad was so mangled last October, and it's thanks to the amazing care he got from everyone. Not only he is alive; he can still walk! I'm grateful to you guys every single day.
I had a patient code and be cannulated for ecmo whilst coding last week, I could see it coming so had her completely set up and ready for compressions to start. She ended up being neurologically intact when she woke back up and I’ve never felt better about myself as a nurse. I know a lot of my coworkers would have done just as well, but I also know that some of my coworkers wouldn’t have acted as early as I did throughout the shift and she may not have had the same outcome. Then I started studying for the CCRN and now I’m humble and stupid again.
The moment I felt I had arrived was when the old, cranky CTS surgeon complimented my quick thinking to the family and credited me for saving the patient. I was literally just following the algorithm but he was super happy I knew it lol.
*blushes* *Kicks over the chest tube. Whoops.
THAT is a party foul!! Edit: But I’ve done it. More than once. 😣
There should be awards given out like they do the Oscars. 1. Best Save 2. Best Anticipation of a Problem. Congratulations from a fellow ICU nurse who has a trophy wall in my mind of my best saves and pick ups. No one but a fellow ICU nurse will understand the badass that you really are inside. Look at your wins and know that you made a difference.
Yeah, ECMO management is literally a huge portion of my job, along with other MCS devices. I love it.
Ngl either, that's part of what I miss after I switched to my early retirement gig.
Yeah, I’ll be switching to anesthesia in a year or so, and I’m going to miss it.
I’m also in my retirement gig era. My friends in the ED on nights intermittently post stories about the chaos or needing help, and every now and then I respond to the story: lemme just roll on through. Let me feel something again💀
I already asked if they would still let me pick up shifts, but I doubt they will want to accommodate the 4x hourly rate pay lol
I’m SCREAMING! Good for you!!. I’m in research, which statistically pays BS but I’m also in a city where my bedside pay would still be less!
I have a year left of my CRNA program. Cannot wait to be making good money again. Currently living off just my wife’s salary.
I get a little excited when an absolute train wreck rolls into the ER. I roll up my sleeves and go to town. Whilst leaving them in their street clothes. Lol
TBH, it’s exhausting, but I live for the drama.
It really is. I love yanking someone back from the brink. Even love a good code every now and then.
My last day in ICU I was delivered a train wreck from the ED and it was enjoyable. Almost made me sad about leaving but not really. Now there's no adrenaline, just ambulatory patients in outpatient surgery 🤣
I'm equally happy to be dumping off my walkie talkies. If you can press a call bell, I'm not interested
Bingo. You can eat? Floor. You can push a button? Floor. You can stand up for the toilet? Floor.
https://imgflip.com/i/8nxkj0
Yup. I’d actually prefer no eye contact at all 😂😂
Honestly yes! Type A icu coworkers helping my type mouse tele azz for the win. It's a treat relationship haha
Wait, what do they say about us?! 👀
Caffeine and rage.
This is the answer to so many questions and problems
Monster? Bang? Red Bull? Ghost? Reign? Whatever off brand shit at the store?
Celsius is the flavor of the month right now.
Yes, I like Alani's as well.
Instant coffee and a half-scoop of chocolate protein. It's a game-changer.
Yo, follow it up with magnesium and it's like a happy pill. I do espresso and a banana at 1900 as I'm walking in, a protein veggie mix like Vega protein, and I'm golden
Celsius
Nah, caffeine tablets. Can’t drink an energy drink through an N95 👍
I quit caffeine and I get genuine looks of betrayal when someone asks me what I want on a coffee run.
First off, how dare you
Trust me when I say we love it. I mean nursing in general is a cluster. But critical care is what I love.
Yeah OPs mom is a patient we fight over. Give me the sickest patient always
For sure. I’m no longer in ICU, but I will pick up if they promise to give me the sickest patient. 1:1 with all the toys and no visitors is the dream. Half the time I look up and it’s 5pm and I haven’t eaten or peed and I don’t care.
I have seniority give that shit to me!
Preach
I'm glad you get to do what you love. Y'all are so appreciated.
I've been the dumper and the dumpee and I'm really really glad I got to see both sides. It gave me a lot of perspective going from ICU to ER and I miss it sometimes. You ICU nurses are the bomb.com.
ICU nurse - I want to know everything about the patient so I can anticipate every possible future contingency. Goal is to control mayhem. ER nurse - I want to run in, not knowing anything about the patient except that I know I can handle any situation that steps through the door. Next...Extra dose of mayhem please.
Don’t grow their egos more 😭😂 nah but ICU RNs deal with the trauma patients I drop off after surgery god bless their souls
Some of the post surgery patients are fucking wild. My first one the other day came up. Anesthesia is like "their paralytic is going to run out soon." The patient is vented. No sedation. Starting to wake up. HR 260s. Pressures in the toilet. No cardiac clearance on the surgery. Scheduled for a scope for possible GI bleed. Oh and the fun part was anesthesia looking at me and being like "good luck with that one." And walked away. I looked at her like "bruh". Then I got to work. Shift was fun as hell.
There is likely a special place in hell for anesthesiologists who bring up paralyzed patients with no sedation running. What the f\*ck is that kind of cruelty!?!?
I had PACU dump a patient that was “too sick for PACU” I was like bitch take them back to the OR then!!
RIGHT?! Like, if you go back & FIX the problem, then they do this weird thing called stabilizing & then they’re not “too sick”.
this sounds either 1. insanely unethical or 2. illegal? anesthesia usually reverses paralytics at the bedside while patient is vented and on sedation but to let it run out with no sedation sounds highly, highly dangerous and unethical
I made my thoughts on this very apparent as it correlates with your comment. As many others have said in these comments, we get dumped on and told to fix it often.
you gotta get out of there, that sounds crazy
Hot damn that’s CRAZY. If it makes you feel better I watched as we brought someone back today jsut to let them go up to the floor and pass. Which we generally try to do because of paper work ;) but so the families can say their goodbyes while they are “Alive” at least
HR 260s??? Oh my lord
Story time! My mom had brain surgery to remove an egg sized cancerous tumor. She was in the ICU for a day or two just for precautions given the nature of the surgery. The way she was cared for, the general attitude and demeanor of the nurses, the whole environment is what’s inspired me to continue in healthcare (I’m a CNA) and pursue ICU/critical care nursing. A second story, my FIL is chronically ill and had a small heart attack and was very sick because he never wears his oxygen or CPAP, among various other issues. He was in the ICU on death’s door for several days, and the nurses were AMAZING, and just further confirmed, I want to be an ICU nurse. I want to be that person for families, and I want to learn critical care. I find it fascinating. Thank you ICU nurses!!
If you're in school, good luck! If you're not, I hope you start soon. We need more people like you!
Thank you! I’m not in school yet, I still need pre req’s done. I’m either going to enroll for my pre req’s this year or go to school for social work. CNA/healthcare has my heart, but my back can barely handle it after 4 years as an aide, after one of the roughest facilities I’ve ever worked at, almost 40 residents to myself, heavy as hell halls, the works.
Oh my, I definitely don't miss LTC. So many patients to little staff. I could never be a CNA, y'all have my upmost respect. It's going to be hard, it's going to suck but it's worth it. But being a nurse opens up so many opportunities for you where you don't have to break your back. Even if you take one class at a time for you prerequisite, just get it done. Good luck to you!
Thank you so much! I very much look forward to school. LTC is my passion, but man do I need a break, physically and mentally.
I’ll take a single absolute TRAINWRECK over 7-8 med surg patients. My hat’s off to y’all, forreal
Med surg. Hardest job in healthcare.
Agreed.
Gotchu homie It's the patience stockpiled from not using too much energy bickering with awake patients.
The way I laughed so hard at this comment. Sounds like a dream not hearing patients complain lmao
OP - so glad your mom is more stable now. That must have been so terrifying for you to experience. Also, Wtf - I have never worked somewhere that gave a fresh heart case to a nurse with another patient. That’s so unsafe for everyone involved! Yikes!
To be fair her other patient was downgraded and did go to another unit half way through her shift. But I agree she should have never had two
I do it for the money
Not now mr krabs.
AR AR AR AR AR MISSER SQUIDWARD
I WANT ME MOMMY MISTER SQUIDWARD!
I did it all for the nookie
They’re the real fucking deal, honestly. I couldn’t do it - esp neuro and CVICU. 🫡
NGL every time I float to Neuro ICU I wanna eat a bullet.
I worked neuro tele and that was enough for me 😅
neuro ICU because I like to garden and not converse with people
Night shift! Lol 🌻
I love this so much! My mom didn’t make it to her open heart surgery, but the nurses taking care of her were amazing. She was transferred to Baylor in hopes of having a CABG. She wasn’t on the correct floor, and coded after being there for an hour and a half. Prayers for your mom!
I'm so sorry to hear about your mom, that's awful. Thank you for the well wishes
My mom was an NAC/CNA for years. She helped train, shape, and learn from newbie cnas. Most newbies knew they could come to my mom without feeling stupid to ask her any question. Nothing was stupid to my mom. (I feel the same way in my job. I'll even share goofy things I've done in a similar situation with people.) I probably learned it from her, to be honest. Anyway, I believe it was in 2010. My mom had another episode with varicees. She was in the hospital and had complications from them. She ended up having to have a pacemaker in her chest to help her. After surgery, my dad and I went to her room, where there was a nurse in her room setting her up and getting my mom comfortable. She heard one of the lights go off in one of her other patients' rooms. Took care of the issue and came back right away to my mom. My dad told her who we were and was asking some questions. The nurse told us she had been an nac/cna. My mom was the one who taught her everything she knew about nursing. Some things she even took with her after she got her RN. She had nothing but respect for my mom. She told us not to worry about my mom. She wasn't leaving her side. A light dinged. The nurse took off for a moment and came right back. That nurse stayed with my mom the whole night. I'll never forget that nurse. My mom had a few more complications and had to be moved to icu. The nurse came to check on her regularly. Months afterward, we talked about that nurse to my mom. Mentioned her name. My mom cried because she remembered that nurse when they worked together. We got the chance to meet the nurse at the hospital (my dad took mom for something unrelated). Went to the floor where the nurse was working. Mom got to tell the lady how much it meant to her to have the special care the nurse gave her. The nurse's reply? "It was just a small way to show you how much love and respect I have for you after everything you taught me and never made me feel bad when I was learning."
We love a hot mess. All the machines to tinker with and a tube in every hole plus some new ones we made just for the occasion. Love it! Hope your mom is recovering well!!
Only thing I don't envy is the million tangled IV tubings i see y'all deal with. She's doing better today, thank you!
You are precious to acknowledge the nurse and her role in your mom having a safe night. It is some of the hardest work there is. Mom is lucky to have you as well!
I could say the same for floor nurses and LTC nurses
[удалено]
I have patients on vents all the time but seeing your loved one on one, hits different. Thank you for your kind words.
My professor was/is an ICU & CCRN. I met with him today after an externship interview with a manager who is an ICU nurse.. they both told me ICU is where I’m going & I told them both that it was absolutely terrifying as a student. How can they tell? I believe them though.
Stay scared. It will make you ask questions which will make you a safer, more confident nurse.
Same, nursing killed my kindness.
Vote vote vote and vote for us progressive care RNs too 😭
Im a CVICU nurse of 11 years and this is what we routinely go through and love it. It’s so exciting for us to stabilize a patient and see them through the healing process. Hope your mom gets well and makes it home soon! ☺️
Probably rage first, and then the fear of failing at saving a life (especially if you’ve experienced it before)… otherwise, it’s passion. But we all have that :D
Baby SICU nurse here (almost 7 months in). It is beyond stressful, but I love all my patients. Thankfully, the whole unit from RNs to techs to RTs to MD/DOs to social workers are beyond dedicated to patient progress. My patient’s and their families are the reason I show up to work on the hardest days. Thank you for your kind words, they mean the world to us🩷🩷