akulahawkRN ADN, RN, EMT-P

Emergency Department

Wee bit about me!

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About akulahawkRN

akulahawkRN has 9 years experience as a ADN, RN, EMT-P and specializes in Emergency Department.


I have approximately 20 years experience doing patient care in some form or another, finding along the way that Nursing has been calling me about 10 of those years. I consider myself fortunate that I am now able to answer that call. I hold a Bachelor's in Sports Medicine and now proudly hold an ASN. I feel lucky to have found a position in the ED, a position I have long desired and I enjoy every minute of it.


Got a license to learn! 

Had around 3k "likes" before the new format...

Latest Activity

  1. akulahawkRN

    Fluid Med Error

    I haven't (yet?) made this specific mistake... because I caught the fact that I grabbed the wrong fluid bag as I was getting ready to spike and flood a line. Quite literally every time that I open a new fluid bag, I squeeze the bag to check for leaks...
  2. akulahawkRN

    Exclusive: NCLEX-RN Shut-Off Data Reveals Pass and Fail Rates

    If the NCLEX format has changed, then there is going to be little immediate data that shows any sort of trend as to number of questions presented vs pass rate from which one can draw any significant conclusions. Why? The format changed... Doing this ...
  3. akulahawkRN

    Verbal orders

    The travelers I work with also don't typically have access to our hospital / department policies but they can ask regular staff to access it for them. If any of the travelers I work with asked me, I'd happily pull it up for them and print it out, as ...
  4. akulahawkRN

    I'm disabled, is nursing for me?

    Nursing school will be, at times, physically, mentally, and emotionally challenging. The classroom stuff isn't typically all that difficult but the challenge is being able to put various pieces of information together. The exams aren't going to be si...
  5. akulahawkRN

    Verbal orders

    It is preferable to have the physician do the order entries themselves if they have EMR access from wherever they may be. It is not the only way that orders may be entered on behalf of a physician and still have these orders be legal. The physician w...
  6. akulahawkRN

    Infusion Nurse To ER Nurse - HELP!

    For the most part, you'll do fine. Review the basic EKG rhythms and ACLS. Review your basic labs (CBC/CMP) for what those values mean and know that in the ED, they're going to tolerate a little bit wider variance in those values than you might see in...
  7. akulahawkRN

    OT vs. Nurse

    You're not going to find a single position that fills all those wants/desires simultaneously, in the depth with which you'd want to, at least not right out of nursing school (or any other school save PA/Physician school). Do I have the knowledge to d...
  8. akulahawkRN

    OT vs. Nurse

    Nursing and PT/OT usually do very different jobs. Most RNs don't have the biomechanics background that is necessary to be good at doing PT/OT. I'm not saying that stuff can't be learned, clearly it can! What I am saying is that PT/OT involves a LOT m...
  9. akulahawkRN

    Dilaudid

    I don't encounter the dilaudid demander all that often. I do, however, encounter the Norco Needers quite a bit. Mostly I get the "I usually get the Norco 10s" when they're offered pain medication, which sometimes is a Norco 5, but often it's a Tyleno...
  10. akulahawkRN

    LVN to RN programs in California?

    Quick disclaimer: I have been out of school for about 6-7 years now and I was a "traditional" RN student. That being said, a few of my classmates were LVN-RN upgrade path students. I attended Sacramento City College's RN program. The related program ...
  11. akulahawkRN

    Giving Report and IV Access

    I'm also an ED RN. Pretty much this. In my ED, we run primarily the BD Diffusics catheters. Even the 22g is remarkably capable for volume resus, though nowhere near what a 16g or 14g is. My usual go-to's are 20g and 22g BD Diffusics. If I need VOLUME...
  12. akulahawkRN

    LVN Challenge Method Then LVN to RN

    It's a way to earn an LVN license through (mostly) experience vs classroom learning. California has a this as a method, and it's "Method 3" of the 5 ways the state offers as a means to earning the license. The applicant has to take a pharmacology cou...
  13. akulahawkRN

    Can You Help Me Calculate This

    There are a couple ways to figure out your GPA. One way is to multiply the value of the grade by the semester units of the class and divide the result by the total of the semester units. So if you have two 3 unit courses and you earned an A and ...
  14. akulahawkRN

    Nursing Intuition- What Is It, and Do You Have It?

    Intuition comes with experience. I've been working with patients in various capacities over the years and it's definitely a "thing" but it is not something you can usually quantify. I have sprinted to catch falling patients before they or anyone else...
  15. akulahawkRN

    SCC/ARC Fall 2021 Sac City/American River College

    I went to SCC and I was one of the students that was accepted to both ARC and SCC for the same starting semester. SCC runs their program a little differently from ARC but the basics are going to be fairly similar as ARC originated from SCC many years...