awalker1015

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1. The coveted Monday thru Friday job

   awalker1015 replied to LTCNS's topic in General Nursing

   I work mon- fri and love it. I especially love no holidays. With two school age children the predictable schedule helps us spend more quality time together. But I have many nurse friends who hate the idea and thrive on shift work. That is the bea...

2. Blood Draws

   awalker1015 replied to jcarl12's topic in New Nurse

   My job now requires me to draw blood frequently. Here are some suggestions; Go by what you feel over what you see. Lots of good veins are not visible. I always try the AC first. Most pts find drawing from the hand more painful. A good vein will ...

3. Successful transition from noc shift to day?

   awalker1015 replied to dirtyhippiegirl's topic in General Nursing

   When I switched from 12h noc shift to a 9-5 clinic job, I worked my last night shift on Thursday night and started my new job Monday. I was lucky to seamlessly move into the new schedule with the three day break. But my body and mind had never acc...

4. SQ technique help

   awalker1015 replied to confused06's topic in Ambulatory

   I give SQ injections all the time in my anemia clinics and the key is pinch and placement. Make sure you are going in the side or underside of the upper arm. Also make sure you are using the right gauge/length needle. I use a 25g 5/8 inch.

5. Fed up of Nursing and only a year in

   awalker1015 replied to StaffNurseMcS's topic in Stress 101

   OP I could have written your post three years ago while at my first job in the hospital out of nursing school. So I left my facility and joined a private specialty practice. I love my job now. And the pay is better. I didn't dislike bedside nurs...

6. How do you parents do it?

   awalker1015 replied to KNB3715's topic in General Nursing

   I am one who couldn't hack it. My DH works nights and that was the shift I got. Made it a year having sitters stay late or overnight then left the hospital and got a clinic job working M-F 8:30-4:30. I know many make it work but we could never ac...

7. What's the BEST nursing shoes?

   awalker1015 replied to BigCSN's topic in Uniform/Gear

   Danskos!!!!

8. "You've never said you liked nursing." A vent.

   awalker1015 replied to dudette10's topic in General Nursing

   Though I loved my patients, I hated nursing the whole time I worked at the hospital. It was exhausting being treated so poorly. Then I left for a specialty practice and I love it.

9. What are you good at?

   awalker1015 replied to proudnurseRN's topic in General Nursing

   I think I am good at therapeutic communication, starting IVs, drawing blood, and assessments. I'm also decent at emergency intervention , though it isn't often necessary at the clinic I work at.

10. what did you get for Christmas from your employer?

    awalker1015 replied to AlphaPig's topic in General Nursing

    We used to get paid holiday pay the entire shift. I worked nights so if I worked Christmas night I was paid holiday pay from 7p-7a. Two weeks before Christmas last year they changed it to only paying holiday pay 12a-12p th actual holiday, thus thos...

11. what did you get for Christmas from your employer?

    awalker1015 replied to AlphaPig's topic in General Nursing

    All the nurses received a $850 bonus, which was awesome!! Drug reps brought lunch Thursday and Friday last week. We also had a really nice Christmas party with catered food and bar. And on Friday they let us leave at 3, but paid us until 5p. ...

12. Assessments every shift?

    awalker1015 replied to Ntheboat2's topic in General Nursing

    Exactly! I did half of mine when I introduced myself to the pt and the other half with 8pm meds (worked nights) It is unbelievable to me how many nurses aren't assessing their patients. I did skin checks on all pts and it really doesn't take lo...

13. Patient assignments - Are nurses assigned to empty beds

    awalker1015 replied to LearningAboutNursing's topic in General Nursing

    On the med surg tele I worked we were evenly assigned patients and empty beds. We always got admissions and those were heavier than existing patients. I always hoped for an all patient assignment. Having more than one empty usually didn't bode ...

14. Who loves their job?

    awalker1015 replied to solneeshka's topic in General Nursing

    Love mine. Work at a kidney practice. I handle two doctors that I respect tremendously, as well as two EPO clinics. We do a lot of clinical trials in our practice and most of our patients are very complex. I also love that I work 5 min from my ...

15. Why do some nurses guess on BP?

    awalker1015 replied to Dixon, future NP's topic in Safety

    I do manual BPs all day long at work and I can get an accurate BP in less than 30 seconds. If you know what you are doing it is possible. Every now and then I get a tough pt I have to palate the brachial, etc. But generally I can get a quick one...