( I've devised a list of things I needed to take note on the day I realized that working in the ICU isn't as simple as it seems--just when I thought working in a medical-surgical ward packed with patients is already hard. My job itself is an overdose of reality, sometimes you have to do things like this to keep yourself sane.)
1. pray before and after duty
2. take a deep breath and prepare to be intoxicated
3. assess your patient thoroughly
4. nursing is an art form
5. develop your deep-seated obsessive compulsion
6. answer all the doctors questions
7. move steady and fast
8. don't fuss about the harmless infusion pumps
9. endorse the proper IV level
10. don't feel stupid
11. you still have to wake up the sleeping doctor at night because your patient is desaturating, gone hypoglycemic or worse, coding
12. sometimes you really have to figure out things by yourself
13. ask when in doubt
14. do what you think you can do
15. don't feel bad when you're asking help for the simplest things. you're still a novice for crying out loud and they put you in the ICU
16. learn how to insert an IV on an edematous patient
17. learn the ECG tracings
18. taking the 12 Lead ECG takes a great amount if skill
19. you can learn things when you actually do them
18. use your time wisely
19. keep everything clean
20. replace your suction catheters, sterile bottles, ET tie every shift
21. get rid of the water from the mech vent tubes
22. night shift means deal with all the papers and deal with them fast
23. focus on the patient and not on the stack of papers
24. deal with the papers anyway
24. turn your patient
25. be present at admissions, turning rounds, daily hygiene, and everything you need to be in
26. master the stockroom
27. learn how to be a nursing assistant
28. deal with the special endorsement with a legitimate face
29. don't feel like you are at the bottom of a food chain even if you are
30. your co-staffs are still people
31. don't make stupid mistakes
32. you will get used to codes sooner or later
33. sometimes, you might know better of the patient than the doctor does
34. it's okay to cry. just don't do it in front of them
35. try to live
(to be continued)
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