Lisi-LPN

I love my NurseMates, they are awsome! I wear the sneakers that don't have shoelaces. I don't remember what the flavor name is. But they are the only ones that fit wonderfully, and don't hurt after my 12 (sometimes 16) hour shifts.

I am getting ready to switch jobs from a burn/trauma/ortho/neuro nurse to a newborn/high risk nursery nurse. I am looking for some advice as to what to expect and so forth. Please let me know! I am excited to work with babies!

I am getting ready to switch jobs from a burn/trauma/ortho/neuro nurse to a newborn/high risk nursery nurse. I am looking for some advice as to what to expect and so forth. Please let me know! I am excited to work with babies!

Hi kbella126-I graduated from Sentara's Nursing School, and even though I wasn't under any kind of contract to work for them, I chose to work there anyway and I thoroughly enjoy it. I work on a unit that challenges me ( Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, and Burns) and the people I work with are wonderful. I would just say that remember there are always going to be ups and downs to everywhere, just keep an open mind and go with your gut instinct!:)

Hi kbella126-I graduated from Sentara's Nursing School, and even though I wasn't under any kind of contract to work for them, I chose to work there anyway and I thoroughly enjoy it. I work on a unit that challenges me ( Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, and Burns) and the people I work with are wonderful. I would just say that remember there are always going to be ups and downs to everywhere, just keep an open mind and go with your gut instinct!:)

Thanks for saying that because I am 24, I graduated nsg school when I was 23, and honestly everybody I hear from says "Why don't you get your RN?" "You're just an LPN?" That sucks to hear sometimes. So thank you for saying kind words about people like me. I appreciate it. :)

what cash? i know i only get paid if i work 80hrs/week+.

I work night shift now and I have to agree, it is absolutely the most difficult transition to have to make. What works for me is taking a nap Friday afternoon if I can (I do Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night from 7p-7a) and then on Monday morning I might nap on the couch or in my bed for a little while but not past 1 or 2 (plus I still get to watch my stories), and then sleep with everyone else that night. And on Saturday and Sunday during the day, I use ear plugs and every now and then those eye pillows but the ear plugs usually work. And if someone else is home, I turn off the ringer on the phone in the room and don't take my cell phone in there with me. Just because I know someone else will be able to get the phone. It does ok by me! Good luck to you!:)

I have seen a couple of sad cases on my floor. We (actually in the last few months) have had two people come in for Steven Johnsons related to allergic reations to meds that were considered burns. We discharged on lady in April who had been here since September because her ex-husband (maybe ex boyfriend I can't quite remember) set the house on fire killing her mentally challenged 13 yo son. she went in to save him and that gave her 80%BSA burns. I think the only places she wasn't burned was in a fold in her abdomen and well that's about it. We also have a 21 yo who was in the backseat of a car, and the driver to evade police went on a high speed chase and ended up hitting a tree. the driver and passenger died and he has 40%BSA burns to his legs. He has a girlfriend who is 6mo pregnant with their son too. Then we get dummies like this one guy who was drunk and fell into his campfire. Came in with a .41 ETOH level. It is definitely an experience though. We are one of our regions only Burn Centers, we have a Burn Trauma Unit and we are the only Level 1 Trauma center so we get to see a LOT. And I am just shy of a year out of school so it's been a great learning experience.

He did recieve Narcan. Unfortunately it didn't help. They also found an internal bleed very late in the game, apparently they found a liver lac along with a splenic lac and he had lost a lot of blood. They replaced 15 units but he ended up going into DIC. I spoke with the charge nurse that evening and she understood how I felt and even agreed with me. So I don't know what's going to happen with it. I haven't been made aware of any action but I will definitely follow up. Thanks for listening!

We were overloaded with trauma patients last night. I work on a unit that gets what we hope are stable patients from the ED. Last night we had a pt who had a retro peritoneal bleed after falling off of his coffee table. So he comes from the PACU after surgery where in one hours time they gave him x amount of pain meds in one hour ( I can't remember the specifics but I do remember it was too much) and he started to go into respiratory depression. So his nurse just calmly calls the Trauma team and goes to get a non rebreather and doesn't tell the charge nurse what's going on, the only reason she found out is because she couldn't find the non rebreather and asked her where to find it. And of course she wants to know why. But anyway, long and short of it is that he had to be intubated in the room and sent down to CCU. All the while, his nurse is just sitting out in the nurses station on the computer while the other nurses (like myself) are in his room trying desperately to obtain his rapidly fading BP last (last read was 68/32). So she wasn't even in there to help save her pt. After we transferred him she and I were walking back and she says "I don't know what everyone was fussing about. I don't get stressed over my job because I know it's all in God's hands anyway." Now I gotta say I am not one to knock religion, but is that a little off to anyone else? Another nurse put it like this, "I feel that God works through us to help heal these people. If we have exhausted our resources and this pt goes anyway, then I feel that is God's doing." I happened to agree with her point of view. Just because it might be in God's hands from the get go doesn't mean we don't try. And this other nurse, she was just so aloof over the whole ordeal like it wasn't anything she had to be worried about. That man now is still on a vent, will probably never recover and his poor wife is just in agony. I don't know, it just blew me away the nerve of his nurse that night. No replies needed, just needed to vent (no pun intended.)

Hi! I am currently working on a Trauma/Burn/Cardiac/Ortho floor at SNGH. I happen to really love what I do. We get such a mix of people up here! Pts and employees. Like any other job there are some things you could do without but overall I have been very happy with my experiences here. I would recommend this area to anyone. The climate can leave a little something to be desired when the humidity is through the roof, but there is plenty to do and having the beach so close is wonderful. I hope you enjoy the area when you get here! Good luck to you!