Top 10 favorite things of week one in the MICU

10. The hospital food is edible.

9. The IV pumps are the same as my previous hospital so when they go into a frenzy of beeping I now know how to fix them!

8.I will not develop carpal tunnel because we do paper charting ...and Epic, the electronic charting system, is going to roll out in X number of years.

7. My unit it known for "having all the comedians"

6. The ICU is unlocked - this means families can come and go as they please making the patients and nurses much happier!

5. Nurses get to self schedule!

4. There is soft serve ice cream in the cafeteria for when you have one of the those days.

3. When you admit a patient to the unit there are so many people helping you have to start kicking them out. Seriously!

2. My preceptors are amazing, knowledgeable, supportive, and nice. The staff nurses are inclusive, kind, and have a great sense of humor...and Wednesday nights are waffle nights!

#1. The hospital provides scrubs!!! My laundry basket is both cleaner and lighter!

Humor: You know you're a critical care nurse when...

Okay, yesterday's post was heavy. This morning I scoured the internet for some critical care nurse humor to lighten things up:

20 reasons you know you're a critical care nurse:

1. You dread the new resident rotation.
2. You’re used to not using the bathroom in a 12-hour shift.
3. You tell the resident and/or doctor what orders to write.
4. You eat in between hanging blood and plasma.
5. You’re there when the code 99 is over before the doctor gets to the room.
6. Your job is stressful and all you’re afraid of is the thought of cutting people’s hair.
7. You go in to work for your shift and you’re not overwhelmed—it is what it is. 
8. When you can't stand your patient not to look tidy and calm in the bed with all their lines neatly organized.
9. When you get angry that a patient doesn't have a central line.
10. When you understand the saying "There are many things worse than death."
11. When you put the code cart next to certain patient's rooms to ward off evil spirits. 
12. When your patient's room looks cleaner than your own bedroom.
13. When outside of work, you answer your cellphone with, "ICU this is ____"
14. You are superstitious about the words "Code" & "Quiet" being said aloud at work.
15. You believe in happenings of 3.
16. When the amount of devices in your room requires you to recruit a posse for traveling.
17. What you consider humor is considered deranged by others.
18. Your ECG leads come off, giving the illusion of asystole. When your co-workers get to the room, you wink and say, "gotcha!"
19. You alphabetize your drips
20. You have seriously considered giving yourself an IV coffee bolus before

I have done a few of these already in the last week! For example I got a swallow eval ordered on a patient that aspiration seemed a likely risk. When the doctor arrived I let him know that it was a good thing he ordered the swallow eval because the patient needed a diet change to prevent aspiration. He was thankful I didn't bother him with the phone call and went ahead and used some critical thinking skills.

And my patients' rooms always look tidier than my house...;)


Sources:
ScrubMag
AllNurses