Alley Cat

Alley Cat has 25 years experience and specializes in Peds Critical Care, NICU, Burn.

Latest Activity

1. Whites or Colored scrubs?

   Alley Cat replied to UM Review RN's topic in General Nursing

   Sorry, my mistake. I should have said nurses and left it at that. Did not intend to ruffle feathers. Now I remember why I quit visiting this forum or replying; can't seem to keep myself out of trouble.

2. Whites or Colored scrubs?

   Alley Cat replied to UM Review RN's topic in General Nursing

   Am working in a facility that recently forced everyone to bag their patterned scrubs, RN's now are in white and/or ceil blue, nurse tech's (aides, if you will) are in navy blue, as are the desk clerks/HUC's/unit secretaries. Other departments have n...

3. Cmon Guys

   Alley Cat replied to petiteflower's topic in Kansas

   That reminds me--I have a neighbor who recently graduated from Hutchinson Community College's program, she got on day shift @ Select Specialty and only has to work 1 weekend a month. She was nervous about her skills also, and since Select gets lon...

4. Inactive RN returning to practice, what is the environment for RN's like in Wichita?

   Alley Cat replied to Buttercupkitten3's topic in Kansas

   What did you find out from your discussion with your nursing instructor? Some hospitals have refresher courses available, or have had in the past, but you would probably have better luck checking with their Human Resources departments. Also, sit do...

5. Welcome to the new Learning Disability Nursing forum

   Alley Cat replied to Brian's topic in Disabilities

   By "distress assessment" do you mean pain? If so, we use the FLACC scale in assessing pain in our nonverbal patients.

6. Philosophy of Nursing

   Alley Cat replied to ADNRN's topic in General Nursing

   As an Rn who happens to have a BSN and has been in the profession 20+ years, here's my two cents' worth: 1. When it's about the check or who- did -what- to -whom battle with management, it's time to either get out or re-prioritize. 2. My burn-out s...

7. Ultram cost me my new dream job

   Alley Cat replied to KELLYGIRL's topic in General Nursing

   Very interesting thread, folks. Lots of very valid points. Recently I had a back problem occur--woke up one morning, couldn't move. Usually can loosen up with heating pad, etc., but didn't work this time. Went to my primary care doc, gives me scri...

8. Handling Kids

   Alley Cat replied to Danamegg's topic in Pediatric

   Danamegg, I noticed your post was a while back. How's your daughter doing with her rotation?

9. "I've been never so happy and so depressed".

   Alley Cat replied to vemiliob's topic in Pediatric

   I'm not sure I totally follow exactly what you are currently doing. In the states, "clinic" means more like a doctor's office rather than a hospital setting. Whichever type of area you are working in, it sounds overwhelming--or an awful lot like an ...

10. What makes a good nurse?

    Alley Cat replied to Mail4Tammy's topic in Career Support

    Okay, so I didn't exactly read the question right. What I meant was, lack of confidence in your abilities will really impede one's professionalism and function. From this stems all of the things I just yammered about up above.

11. What makes a good nurse?

    Alley Cat replied to Mail4Tammy's topic in Career Support

    Excellent Question! Also love these answers for strengths, but I don't see anybody saying what weaknesses they'd hold back. My primary one is trying to curb my mouth before my brain kicks into gear! (Also known as TEMPER !) KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS! ...

12. When did you realize?

    Alley Cat replied to the taoist's topic in General Nursing

    OOPS!:chair: Thanks, sjoe, didn't catch that one! What I meant was that the particular uniform did not necessarily represent the entire profession by the time I entered nursing as a career, con-trary to what I'd heard constantly from my mother and "C...

13. When did you realize?

    Alley Cat replied to the taoist's topic in General Nursing

    I decided to become a nurse when I was four years old, after a lengthy stay in the hospital; I didn't change my mind even when high school counselors and other forward-minded well-meaning people said "You're too smart to be a nurse, you should be a d...

14. staff morale

    Alley Cat replied to gumby Rn's topic in General Nursing

    Having stable administration helps. When there's a lot of change and unrest going on in the ranks, it's hard to keep things together. I do think working with the same crew can help--if everyone in your group works well together. Sometimes this can ...

15. Survey: Do you believe the nursing shortage is contributing to medication errors?

    Alley Cat replied to Brian's topic in General Nursing

    BTW, thank goodness for those "inexperienced staff"! You know the saying "see one, do one, teach one"--if we handle the teaching right, more of these individuals would be inclined to "hang in there" with us instead of bailing out. Attitude makes al...