Episode 11: "There are no boundaries to the human condition." A personal history in nursing - Linda Sorensen, RN
Patient names have been "bleeped" in order to protect patient privacy in accordance with HIPPA.
Show Notes (helpful to non-clinical listeners!)
- LVN – Licensed Vocational Nurse, a different type of nursing license still offered by many states, also called LPN in some parts of the country. This type of license is not as liberal as RN licenses, i.e. LVNs cannot perform some skills like blood product administration (varies by state)
- “step up program” – once RN licensure became the norm many educational programs were created to allow LVNs and LPNs bridge to RN licensure
- CNA – Certified Nursing Assistant, or a “nurse’s aide” – many nurses have practiced as CNAs and aides prior to becoming fully licensed nurses
- “Float” nurse – nurses that work typically in different hospital units rather than just the same one all the time
- “CCRN” – Critical Care Certified Registered Nurse – a national certification offered by the AACN to recognize expertise in critical care. Not many nurses around have had this distinction for as long as Linda has. Hospital administrations are just now starting to offer bonuses and pay differential to nurses with this certification.
- “Swan” – a piece of medical equipment inserted through a large vein and threaded into the heart’s pulmonary artery. Also called a pulmonary artery catheter, it allows clinicians to measure advanced hemodynamics and diagnose heart failure. First used in 1970 and we still use Swan-Ganz catheters today.
- “ICP drain” – intracranial pressure drain; much like the Swan-Ganz, it is a diagnostic as well as a therapeutic tool inserted into the skull to relieve cerebral swelling and measure pressures
- “precepted” – “Precepting” is a term used by nurses to identify the training of new nurses and newly hired nurses
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