Archive for January, 2009

Pray for a stronger heart

Friday, January 30th, 2009

I attended a seminar yesterday about how to read an ECG result. I learned a lot from it. We learned that there are a lot of many heart conditions and most of them are life threatening. We all should pray for a strong heart. When you are suffering from heart diseases already you need to pray and be positive. Recovery comes faster for those with faith. Religious people may recover faster from heart attack. Going to church is good medicine, according to a small study. People who had had a heart attack and who most often attended services, prayed, and participated in church activities had the most confidence and made the greatest strides during rehabilitation, say researchers. The study tracked Christians.

WW: rose

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

dsc06936I am so excited to join the Wordless Wednesday. This is my first entry. I hope you will find this a good one. I am excited to visit other sites from the all bloggers around the world.

MICU orientation schedule

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

I learn today that our hospital MICU orientation will be in two weeks. I thought it would be sooner. I think I am just excited. It is okay though I still have time to study and review some nursing procedures and common diseases in the Medicine ICU. At the same time I can do the things I needed to do because I know when I start the training I only have limited time. For now, I list all the things that need to be done.

What if patient becomes unresponsive?

Monday, January 26th, 2009

This must be hard for a newbie ICU nurse like me. I ask this question so that I will be prepared to know what should I do when my patient becomes unresponsive. Nursing process should always be utilized. What should be done first? First thing that needed to be done is assessment. The thing to focus on here is pretty simple- keep in mind the basic question: “What’s wrong with my patient?”. The goal as a new ICU nurse is to try to figure out what the patient is doing- but when the patient does something happened unexpected, there is just no substitute for experience. So go get some help: get the resource nurse, and get the team. This points up the most basic principle of ICU nursing: it is a group process. As a new nurse, we should know where we stand, what are our roles and most of all always communicate what is happening to the patients with the resource nurse.

Excited for MICU training

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

In the next two weeks my training in MICU (Medicine Intensive care unit). I am very excited and at the same time kind of nervous as to what to do. This will be my first exposure to that unit. I know this is one of the busiest and toxic nursing units in the hospital. I am very excited to learn and to care for sick patients. I know in the beginning I need to observe, learn and familiarize things. At first, I think I will feel like it seems as though there is an endless stream of emergent situations that crop up in the unit, may be sometimes it clearly in response to some prior event, sometimes all by themselves, and they can be genuinely terrifying. Experienced ICU nurses may be a lot more nervous than a newbie trainee nurse simply because they know what to be afraid of. A key rule of ICU: any patients is capable of doing anything at any time. I know where to put myself though. When there will be cases that needs an experience then I need to call the experienced ICU nurse and I need to back up myself and let them do what is needed to be done. I can help them handing the things they needed. In that case, I should be a keen observer so if that case will happen again I know what to do. It is good to know that later on in my training I will improve and function or do what the unit staff do. I cannot wait for that time.

How to read ECG in seconds

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

My sister who is also a nurse told me that there will be a seminar to be held on January 29, 2009 on Reading ECG in seconds and ABG interpretation. I am so glad to know it because, I really wanted to be really good at reading ECGs. I am very much curious about this seminar because of the how can someone read an ECG in just seconds. I cant wait to attend. I am familiar though about how to interpret ABG (arterial blood gas) but it is always good to have a review and another technique of interpreting it easier. The registration is very cheap so I am sure there will be a lot of nurses will attend.

I passed the Nurse Qualifying exam

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Few days after the said exam, I called to follow up if the Hospital Human Resource posted the names who passed the exam. I went to the hospital to follow up about it. When I looked at their cork board it is not posted yet. Just in time the Head nurse III came out from their room and I inquired about. She told me to just go inside and ask her secretary who is not finish checking the test papers. I was so lucky that my test paper was checked first. I passed.. yeheahh!!!! I am so grateful and thankful for God answered my prayers. I remember some of the questions : How many liters of Oxygen of nasal cannula? It is 1-6 liters. There was also a IV calculation about the drops per minute. I forgot the exact question but all I know was that I know how to calculate. It is easy if you memorized the formula which is Total volume X drop factor over time in minutes.
I was advised to call them few days after to know the day of orientation. I am very excited…

Called for IV insertion

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

I was once again called up in the middle of the night to insert an IV to a laboring patient. The staff in the Lying clinic where I worked before needed help for it. So I went there and of course, I prayed and ask God to guide my hand and be able to insert the IV cannula successfully in one try since the patient had couple of poke already. God did answered my prayer. I was able to insert it without any problems. I used to insert it in the cephalic vein. I like that site because it big compare to the other veins. At the same time, it is not hard for the patient since she can move her hand without dislodging the IV cannula. There is no need for a splint which make her hand immobile.
The laboring patient needs to be induced for her labor did not progress so I she needs one so that medication will be given to her via IVTT (intravenous through tubing). After the insertion I went back home feeling good about myself that I was able to help someone.

Not that nurses should refuse orders

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

I am reminded today of what our clinical instructors emphasized to us when we were still student nurse. They told us that as nurses we ought not to carry all of the doctors orders. Everyone of us makes mistakes. Nobody is perfect. Nurses make mistakes and doctors too. So as nurses we need to be very careful and knowledgeable enough to know what orders are right or wrong. It is not that we should refuse doctors’ orders but we are responsible for knowing better if we are told by a doctor to do the wrong thing. We are legally responsible in carrying out orders that are not right. So we should better know our stuff. But we need to play closely with the team, and get orders written. When we detect that the order is wrong, we have to approach the doctor in a professional an unoffensive manner. Nurses should not act as all knowing nurse. Doctors will hate you. We should work hand in hand as a team for the sake of all our patients.

My bro’s bday

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009

Today is my youngest brother’s b-day. He just turned 15 years old today. We prepared a food for his celebration. I really love him a lot. He is our youngest. I was the one caring for him when he was still very young when my mom was not around. We have a close bond with him. I could not imagine he is already 15. It seems like it was only yesterday that he was running around and making funny stuff as a toddler but now he already a teenager. I am thank to God for giving him another year of his life. I wish that God will bless him more this year and the He will grant the desires of my bro’s heart. I wish he will finish his studies and be of of good health always.