shaunamarslan

thank you for that insight maelstrom... thats what I was looking for

that was my logic sweetseRn. Thankfully my patient will take a pill or two whole with her applesauce but i know other Rn's are opening it up and giving it to her open. She doesn't wear her dentures so I'm not that worried about her chewing the balls and releasing a rapid dose of the medication, but I am curious to as if this is safe. I know "ask the pharmacy" is the text book answer but wondering just from curiosity if anyone has any experience from a cardiologist objecting to or having any input

Look up a list and do some research online about LTC's with good ratings /minimal deficiencies and walk in with your resume in hand. Ask the receptionist to grab the DON for a minute and simply introduce yourself and have a mini interview. I have done this 3 times now and have been hired on the spot when there were no advertised job openings each time

So i understand pradaxa is non crushable but my question is for patients who have difficulty swallowing whole pills is it ok to open the capsule and have them swallow it with apple sauce if they are not biting down on the litlle "balls". I think it is a wonderful medication especially for those who are unable to take coumadin/ don't want to deal with the blood work involved with coumadin therapy but am curious to know if the med is safe to be administered this way. thanks!

Hello there, as most new grads who had difficulty attaining their first job out of nursing school, I settled for a job and field that I was less then ecstatic about to receive that ominous "nursing experience". Now after a years worth of experience on an EXTREMELY busy sub acute (mostly ortho/rehab) facility I have been promoted from charge nurse to unit manager to nursing supervisor... all with out a raise. The majority of my patients are medicare and my facility has no sense whatsoever about patient acuity. That being said most of my patients still belong in acute... and in fact, i've had to send a couple new admissions out within 4-6 hours of them arriving to our facility. I had been hoping that once I had that experience under my belt it would be significantly easier to get a job in a "kaiser" or "sutter" but I find I'm still being over looked and possibly down on as employers not looking at SNF experience as "nursing experience". My medical director and the PAC's i work with LOVE me and my critical thinking/ logic skills that half of the staff I work with some how lack. I am an ADN Rn who will be going back to school next Fall for my RN-BSN. My DON is one of my references and the PAC's I work with are as well. I am interested in tele and med surge and am wondering if anyone knows of any programs or classes offered by AHA, AMR or any other outside educational facility that I can take to make me more noticeable. I live in Northern California and competition here is fierce. I am already ACLS, PALS certified. I have tried to network but unfortunately I have moved to Santa Rosa from the peninsula and don't have a whole lot of connections. Any advice, words of inspiration or criticism are greatly appreciated.

I have been a working nurse for almost a year now and have dealt with quite a few deaths. I have always worked in SNFs and love the elderly population that make up the majority of my patients. My first death was about 3 weeks into my first job, were I was by myself in my facility except for one CNA. I was more freaked out with having to make sure he was actually dead versus him actually dieing. A year later I have seen quite a few patients pass and although some hit me harder then others I feel most attached to one of my patients who had "behavior problems" that passed today. It was a rocky road gaining her trust and her fiery and strong personality that most of the other nurses on my unit had despised, I had grown to respect and admire. After all, when someone is aware they are dieing it is not always an easy, clear cut process for them to deal with. She was one of the most stubborn, strong willed people I have yet to come accross and I truly thank her for all that she has tested me with and made me a nurse that I am proud to be. Everyone on my shift would always hope that I was working because it seemed to keep her quiet all day. Contrary to their beliefs, I think I was a better nurse because of her and learned how to be patient, understanding, flexible and empathetic. I also learned how to keep my mouth shut and just listen when she needed to talk, be firm and assertive when the situation calls and simply how to hold a hand and make someone feel comfortable when they are legitimately scared. I pray that I helped her final days on earth as peaceful, comfortable and rewarding as I could and even though it is unprofessional to have "favorites" in our profession, she will definitely have a place in my heart. Dealing with the dieing patient is nothing... dealing with the grieving family is the hardest part.

in all sad honesty, i'd pray for a job within 9 months of graduating. Let alone, leaving one to travel.

i spent 6 months looking for a job in san diego ( i had been accepted into sdsu for my rn - bsn) but i am originally from the bay area. after career fairs, talking with friends who live and work in hospitals down there and hundreds of applications to new grad programs and skilled nursing facilities online, I tried looking for jobs north of san francisco. I then decided to look at a map and look up cities up to an hour away from where i live. After googling the hospitals in those individual cities I called a convalescent hospital that was hiring, asked if i could come in and speak with the DON and the next day, drove an hour away to sonoma where i was hired on the spot pending background check. Pay sucks and I am commuting over an hour for now until we move closer but its a job as a nurse and some much needed experience until i can get into a hospital and do what i really want to do... work in the ER.

thanks for the advice :-)

So all the new grads out there know how HORRIFIC the job market is right now! After getting accepted into SDSU's RN TO BSN program (where i was one or only fifteen people selected with over 5,000 applicants) and having to defer my acceptance because I couldn't find a job down there for the LIFE of me ( Yah.... 200+ applications I'm sure), I have FINALLY found a job in a skilled nursing facility in the Northern Bay Area. After a mere week orientation I am now a "charge nurse", mostly because I am the only nurse working with 2 CNA's and commuting an hour and a half EACH way to work Nights. The facility is private pay and actually pretty nice with a low census of only 15 pts, but it is NOT CHALLENGING AT ALL!!! I feel I will seriously lose my nursing knowledge and skills ( everyone here is no code, no iv's) and everyone is dementia/alzheimers. Although I truly love the pt's, it is no where near the ER where I want to be. My question to those who are reading are Should I stick it out and get my 6 mos- a year experience here to practically "babysit" so i can merely put this on my resume or should i continually be looking for something immediatly even though i just accepted this position. If you would reccomend the later, do you think it will look bad on my resume to even list the current job since i have only been here for 3 weeks? I have also heard of hiring managers not counting nursing homes actual "experience". any thoughts, comments and advice is greatly appreciated!

Will be starting my first RN job on the 14th and nervous as all hell. Glad that after submitting over 150 applications that I FINALLY have a job! It may be a temporary pay cut but excited to finally get my career going!!

Im totally over being nervous for jobs... after applying for well over a 100 nursing jobs, i don't think i can get nervous... and I am ACLS, PALS, BLS certified with a 3.4 gpa in nursing school

Hey guys. This is my second time applying to UCSD new grad. Last time I applied there were over 1500 applications for about 15 spots. This time I'm not sure how many people applied but I was told that if you don't submit your application almost immediatley after the filing period opens they aren't going to even look at it. I applied on the the first day, maybe an hour after they opened up the applications and received the questionaire that same day. The nurse recruiter personally emails those out. Last time I applied too late and didn't even get the questionaire. I am an ADN RN who is currently going to SDSU for their RN - BSN program but I feel like that doesn't even matter because the field is so competetive. I REALLY want to work in the ER or ICU but because I know there are soooooo many ppl out there applying I figured I'd have a better chance of actually landing a job if i applied to Med-Surge... which I really don't mind. Still haven't heard of my resume being forwarded, but who knows... maybe a miracle will happen and I will land an interview. Good luck to everyone else out there in the same boat. And most of all, try not to take it personal if you don't get it. We've got a hell of a situation out there right now in our "recession proof" industry

I (try) to do as much of the reading before lecture as possible so you can ask your teachers any questions about anything that you are unsure of when you go over it in class. Then, after lecture I recopy my notes and use my book to fill in anything that I may have missed in lecture. I try to incorporate concept maps to my notes because I CAN NOT try and memorize everything (Anatomy almost killed me). But if I can see how everything is related it makes it much easier to conceptualize (which is most likely what you are going to be tested on anyways... not just regurgitation of the facts)... and then I pray and have a nice big glass of wine after the tests