Related: Caring, Compassion, Conflict, Critical Care Nursing, Death, Feelings, Patients, Prayer

Have I ever told you the story of why I left Pediatric Intensive Care?

I walked into work one day and one of our little patients went into respiratory arrest right as I finished getting report on her.  We spent the next 12 hours saving the life of this poor little girl.

The patient had been born with problems (though all these years later I have no [...]

Related: Balance, Caregiving, Compassion Fatigue, Critical Care Nursing, Energy, Healthy Living, New Nurse, Night Shift, Nursing Shortage, Stress, Support

I am a nurse on a cardiovascular floor. I have been there for a couple of years and can't help but notice the increasing acuity of the patients.

Our nurse/patient ratio is 1:5/6. I know that doesn't sound like a lot to some people, but most of the patients we take care of have a list 20 miles long of medical conditions, which only adds to [...]

Related: Caring, Conflict, Critical Care Nursing, Patients, Perfect Nurse

After being off for a few days, I went back to work at my cover-all ICU. I had the typical two, vented patients, who were very much fluff and turns.

Around 9 pm on my first night back, a twenty-something-year-old male from the ER arrives. The ER nurse gave our nurse report, stating the patient was breathing a little fast. We are all thinking 25-30 breaths [...]

Related: Critical Care Nursing, ICU Census, Med-Surg Nursing

I have been a Registered Nurse for about 32 years and have a BSN and MS in Nursing Education and Maternal-Infant Nursing. I am also a Certified Diabetes Educator.

Although my graduate work was in OB, I have accrued many years experience in Med-Surg and Ortho (thanks to the United States Army Nurse Corps' approach to deciding where to place their officer nurses.)

About six months [...]