chemshark

chemshark BSN, CNA, LPN, LVN, RN, CRNA, NP

ICU (CCRN) / Psych (NP) / Preceptor / Biochemistry

Member

About chemshark

chemshark has 25 years experience as a BSN, CNA, LPN, LVN, RN, CRNA, NP and specializes in ICU (CCRN) / Psych (NP) / Preceptor / Biochemistry.

Hi, I'm Chemshark and I have over fifteen years of experience in the medical field--but not always as a nurse. I started out in the Navy as a recruit and did well on my assessment test, but only had a green card at the time. So my only choice was to become a Hospital Corpsman with the Marines. I enjoyed this so much, I decided to challenge the boards for my LVN license. Then I obtained a biochemistry degree from the University of California. Now I am learning to work in the field as a new grad RN and I find that I have a lot to learn from those more experienced than me. In the meantime, I have started my schooling to become a nurse practitioner. I thought I wanted to go into pharmacy and medicine but it took me years to figure out that nursing was more my style. Why? Because I'm interested in the person more than their disease. I often wonder what led to a person's demise that they find themselves in the hospital under my care. It humanizes them for me and increases my intent to deliver personalized care. While I do enjoy nursing, it does not take over my life (which is why I don't call it a passion). I enjoy photographing people because it is another way to get to know strangers, and I also like to write stories. I am currently working on a medical app geared towards new grad nurses. Please contact me if you have questions--especially if it involves suggestions about how to use tech & informatics to help all nurses, such as how to decrease time spent on charting. So contact me! You've probably already guessed that I enjoy interacting with people.

Latest Activity

  1. ICU Nursing Learning Goals

    chemshark replied to Nessie Mano's topic in Critical

    Hi welcome to the ICU! Here are some things I wish I had known right away: - Understand what makes the ventilator alarm and what steps I should do to 1. Prevent it, 2. Do immediately before calling the doctor or RT, 3. Set the RT up for success,...

  2. My First Day at the Neuro ICU

    chemshark posted a topic in General Students

    This is not med/surg. This, of course, means that most of our patients are on vents. They usually assign us only 1-2 patients here, but they are quite acute. But, I also think that my med/surg experience helped me out a lot. For example, most of our ...

  3. New to the ICU Cheat Sheet

    chemshark posted a topic in General Students

    [TABLE=class: listHier messagesThreaded specialLink, width: 100%] [TR=class: hierItemBlock] [TD=class: bogus] I created an ICU cheat sheet. Though not exhaustive, it helped me when I felt overwhelmed. Most days when I get up in the morning, I have a ...

  4. Nursing school gpa

    chemshark replied to Ldm_bethlehem's topic in General Students

    I've challenged the board. The LVN board. And I was in the military as a Hospital Corpsman. I think that's the main reason why people challenge the boards: so that Veterans can have a meaningful job when they return from war. However, I don't think t...

  5. Residency: What I Learned (Final Reflection)

    chemshark posted a topic in New Nurse

    What can I say? This has been an eye-opening experience. Everything that I didn't learn in class, I learned here. My 3 biggest takeaways are: 1. Time is EVERYTHING 2. If you have a problem with someone, TALK TO THEM 3. Stay positive "Nursing is a pe...

  6. Nursing Residency: Stick to a Plan

    chemshark posted a topic in New Nurse

    [TABLE=class: listHier messagesThreaded specialLink, width: 100%] [TR=class: hierItemBlock] [TD=class: bogus] This week, I assumed full care for 2 patients. The only time that my preceptor would come inside the rooms were to introduce herself to the...

  7. Who Says Nursing is Stressful? New to MedSurg Residency

    chemshark posted a topic in New Nurse

    # NMCSD RESIDENCY EXPERIENCE SEPTEMBER 2017 ## WEEK 2 As I get more familiar with the staff and learn to pace myself for the daytime 12 hour shifts, I begin to find myself getting comfortable. This has its pros and cons. Pro: I'm feeling more "at ho...

  8. Azusa ELM Summer 2016

    chemshark replied to Malec001's topic in NP Students

    Hey phenoma21! Congrats on making it to the family! Uniforms are expensive, but luckily the program coordinator, Renee Dierking, collects used scrubs from the advanced cohorts to donate or sell to the newbies. I made it through the program fine with...

  9. Dosage Calc Question

    chemshark replied to Rebekaha95's topic in Student Assist

    [ATTACH=CONFIG]24560[/ATTACH] What was missing was that the drop factor units are gtt/mL. That's what you use to setup the multidimensional analysis. Next you just convert the minutes to 6.25 hours.

  10. Failed General Chem...

    chemshark replied to guest935762's topic in Pre-Nursing

    Bwahaha, windsurfer8 was a little harsh in response to your post. I can just imagine him giving out meds in the unit: "Take this enema or you'll die!" LOL but he had a point. Anyway, Gen Chem is hard; It's a lot to take in because it involves multipl...

  11. National University LVN-BSN 2016 Cohort 8

    chemshark replied to chemshark's topic in California

    @July26, the National University programs for California link are all here. But the deadlines for applying differ. Still, they offer programs in Fresno, Los Angeles as well as San Diego (Rancho Bernardo).

  12. Azusa ELM Summer 2016

    chemshark replied to Malec001's topic in NP Students

    Congrats @ienurse! What a long wait. Glad you made it through. I think I'm going to send my check tomorrow. Can't wait to meet you all at the Orientation. On a different note...does anyone know the percentage of people who start this program and con...

  13. Azusa ELM Summer 2016

    chemshark replied to Malec001's topic in NP Students

    Thanks for starting an all-campus Facebook group, @Malec001. I sent you a friend request.

  14. Azusa ELM Summer 2016

    chemshark replied to Malec001's topic in NP Students

    @Malec001, would you like to start a Facebook group for ELM Summer 2016 but with all campuses involved? Maybe we can help each other out and find out more resources if we band together. For example, we could expand our choices for study groups if we ...

  15. Azusa ELM Summer 2016

    chemshark replied to Malec001's topic in NP Students

    So the administrators at APU mistook me for another person and thought I was in the Spring Cohort. But I'm not, haha. Still, I learned that the Spring cohort will begin their orientation on January 11. It consists of two days: the first day will have...