I hate to brag(but I will)

I just took the 25 question med/surg refresher test in this months Nursing 2002. I got 21 correct. That ain't bad for someone who has not worked very much in last two years. Three of the 4 questions I got wrong were about what was the correct IV solutions to select for a particular medical condition. To me they looked like the question you would see on a forth year medical student exam. The forth wrong answer was treatment of pancreatitis. They said the primary focus was fluid and electrolyte replacement. Do the people that make these things have any actual clinical experience? Any ER or floor nurse knows that the PAIN is the primary focus of the patient. So that is always my primary focus. They did mention that pain control was important. My answer was pain. That is a nurses answer, I am a nurse not a medical student. Also my other grip was that it is billed as a med/surg but there are several ER questions and OB questions. I got them right anyway. OH WELL, did some educated quessing there.

[catlady, BSN, RN]

While pain is certainly an important issue in a patient with pancreatitis, it's not going to be the difference between living and dying, the way maintaining fluid and electrolytes would be. In any acute care situation, pain needs to be treated, but it's rarely the number one priority (possible exception being acute MI, where treating the pain also treats the condition).

[thisnurse]

hey ormar...thats great...you probably did better than i would ...lol

i would have got the pancreatitis one wrong too. i thought it was pain

[RNforLongTime]

I haven't received my June issue yet. I think that my mailman/post office is very slow! I didn't get my May issue of RN until May 20th! How's that for bad! I called them(RN) that day and requested a new copy, they informed me that I should soon be receiving my June issue as it's already been shipped(on May 20th) It'll be interesting to see how long it takes the USPS to deliver!

[Jenny P]

Oramar, "you did good"; and I would have gone with the pain issue also after having a couple of family members having had acute pancreatitis over the past several years.

I haven't seen my copy of the magazine yet either; I never seem to get any of my nursing magazines until the middle of the month. How does one get nursing mail and journals before the 15th?

[RNforLongTime]

I used to get all my nursing mags by the 5th or 6th of the month. Things have gotten slower since 9/11. Didn't get it in today's mail either.

[Teshiee]

Pain now is the big deal in nursing. No matter what we do we must assess pain. We have to make sure the patient's pain is being adequately relieved. They found that when a patient is comfortable he/she recovers better and there is a less chance of complications. I am pro pain. I give my patients their pain meds. I hate being in pain it is not fun. I suffered from meningitis and my head felt like someone stomping on it. My pain at first was not being relieved until I was very persistent Toradol was my lover. ahahahahahha