cvryder

cvryder has 20 years experience.

Latest Activity

1. Ageism?

   cvryder posted a topic in General Nursing

   I've been a nurse for 21+ years, was a "late entry" who went back to school when my kids started school. Been doing travel nursing for the last almost 2 1/2 years and enjoyed it as I was divorced within that time and it was an opportunity to try my w...

2. CCU position eludes me again

   cvryder replied to ItalianRN's topic in CCU

   I had a similar experience some years ago. I applied to COU after speaking with the manager and being told that yes, she *needed* more RNs, please apply for a transfer. A couple of weeks later I got a note saying there were no needs in that unit; how...

3. what the HECK is PBDS?

   cvryder replied to texascowgirl's topic in Travel

   I took PBDS at Pitt in Greenville, NC, summer of 2006 and passed, but I think a couple of nurses in my group failed it. My biggest complaint was how it was handled...we were told we'd know first thing next morning and it was well along in the afterno...

4. Heparin Protocol

   cvryder replied to Butternut's topic in CCU

   Heparin protocols are CRAZY! Every where I go it's something different....Cruikshank, weight-based, some personal kind, just anything. What drives me craziest is the differing concentrations of heparin. I was always used to a 1:1 which makes the titr...

5. Cardiac Nurses....have you ever....

   cvryder replied to Boston-RN's topic in Cardiac

   NO, and I'd have done exactly what you did. Sounds like she is about ready to buy herself a pacemaker!

6. PCU-Stepdown info

   cvryder replied to MsShanRN's topic in Cardiac

   It varies according to what they call PCU. Some are nothing but glorified tele floors and you get anywhere from 4-6 patients. Others are self-contained and just this side of ICU with a lot of really sick patients. Best ratio I ever got in PCU was in ...

7. Open heart ICU

   cvryder replied to Kiwi's topic in CCU

   I went to a MSICU about a year out of school, and it wasn't till then that I *really* got my assessment skills down. On med/surg you're too darn busy to do more than superficial assessments, and that was even more true that many years ago. I disagree...

8. Chito-seals

   cvryder replied to cardiac.cure03's topic in CCU

   That sounds like the Syvek patch we used at one hospital I worked at. I liked them a lot. We then switched to the Clo-sur patch which you wet with a small bit of arterial blood, then hold over the wound firmly while holding pressure on the artery abo...

9. Best travel nursing companies to work for??/

   cvryder replied to cindy41379's topic in General Nursing

   Go visit the Travel Nurse forum here, or the ones on Delphi...you'll hear plenty about all kinds of agencies. Travel nursing depends a lot on your recruiter, not just your company. Some pretty good companies have the occasional awful recruiter. That ...

10. How many times did you switch jobs as a RN?

    cvryder replied to RNroseshea's topic in General Nursing

    Oh my goodness...the first two were peds and it took me about 4 months in each place to figure out I didn't like it. Went to M/S and was hating it, but in that small hospital the ICU manager picked me out as "good ICU material." Since then I've chang...

11. Vent/Trach nurses: If a trach becomes dislodged, what do you do?

    cvryder replied to Dunno?'s topic in General Nursing

    We had to do that once with a morbidly obese patient whose brand-new trach came out before it had been in 24 hrs! He ended up keeping that ETT in until they could get a specially-ordered extra-long trach for him. Normally there should be an extra tap...

12. moving, housing stipends, and commuting, sort of

    cvryder posted a topic in Travel

    I'm contemplating moving to another state--long story, but involves a divorce. I know there are a lot of travel jobs within 3-4 hours of the city I want to move to. I'm not quite ready to give up the joys of travel nursing, but I'm wondering about do...

13. Recruiters...GRRRRR! (venting)

    cvryder posted a topic in Career Support

    I recently posted a resume on a couple of job boards. It states quite clearly in the "Objective" section that I am seeking a PERMANENT position in a particular area. I am planning to relocate to that area, though the specific location is yet to be de...

14. Regular staff members are so snotty to me, the traveler

    cvryder replied to raindrop's topic in Travel

    It really varies with the unit, not so much the hospital, and I believe the attitudes come from above (usually the manager, who is either part of the clique, or is isolated/uninvolved/incompetent or all three). My last assignment was in a hospital th...

15. 4-8 week questions

    cvryder replied to nurse1day's topic in Travel

    TNS has short term contracts also. I'm talking to them again for just that reason. Also you could consider strike nursing (Fastaff does that, and I just learned that On Assignment does too) but I don't do that, feeling that when nurses strike it's us...