what are your nursing must have items for either nursing school or in the field itself?
i am just starting the application process for LPN school but i like to be prepared for if i get in
just wanted to edit to add that i did some research and found out some of my old college courses may transfer so i am going to start taking my pre-nursing courses for my bsn in the fall instead of going for the lpn
if i went for the lpn i would of been returning to school a few yrs from then to get my rn anyhow so i figured its better in the long run for me to just go for the bsn
My ICU has a well stocked supply cart, so I don't carry as much in my pockets as when I worked in the float pool. Some of these floors have one supply closet, and I stuff my pocket with alcohol swabs, syringes, tape and gauze.
Check out the "what's in your pockets" thread in "first year of nursing" forum.
There is a whole different "me" when at work than not. Meaning, it isn't just a uniform but a uniform and a bunch of crap that goes with it. Scissors, hemostats, penlight, alcohol swabs, tape, stethoscope. Gotta have those. Good shoes, check. Watch, well I only take it off to shower!
Other stuff... you gotta have more than one pen, a highlighter or red pen, a fingernail clipper (for me, not for patients), I carry calipers 'cause I'm a tele freak, and a small notebook for the crap I can't remember. Nowadays I'm using my printable kardex as a "brain sheet" in my pocket, mostly 'cause I memorized my old one and can produce the info from memory.
Oh yeah. My pda has a calculator and drug book in it, and I need those! When I get ready to go home, I put the stuff in zip up pencil holders that go in my purse. (The stuff that fits, anyhow.) So I'm never without some form of first aid kit 'cause if I unpack the purse, I've learned it means going to work without my stuff and that's BAD.
Check out the "what's in your pockets" thread in "first year of nursing" forum.
There is a whole different "me" when at work than not. Meaning, it isn't just a uniform but a uniform and a bunch of crap that goes with it. Scissors, hemostats, penlight, alcohol swabs, tape, stethoscope. Gotta have those. Good shoes, check. Watch, well I only take it off to shower!
Other stuff... you gotta have more than one pen, a highlighter or red pen, a fingernail clipper (for me, not for patients), I carry calipers 'cause I'm a tele freak, and a small notebook for the crap I can't remember. Nowadays I'm using my printable kardex as a "brain sheet" in my pocket, mostly 'cause I memorized my old one and can produce the info from memory.
Oh yeah. My pda has a calculator and drug book in it, and I need those! When I get ready to go home, I put the stuff in zip up pencil holders that go in my purse. (The stuff that fits, anyhow.) So I'm never without some form of first aid kit 'cause if I unpack the purse, I've learned it means going to work without my stuff and that's BAD.
I use the same as you.....use the calipers at least twice a night! I don't have the nail clippers (but have been asked if I have any by other nurses many times), or the notebook. My PDA is invaluable to me at work. I never bring in the purse - it resides in my trunk at all times.
Thinklabs electronic stethoscope. Ensures that when I don't hear something, it's not my ears or a noisy environment, I'm really hearing nothing.
Good shoes.
Nurse Pro Pack (large), this is a working apron to hold everything I need, e.g., I need a constant supply of large gloves, not to be found in every room. I need instant access to real sugar for coffee. I'm a pack rat, yeah.
Surefire G2 (super bright flashlight). For looking under beds and working in darkened rooms. Possible emergency use.
WA halogen penlight. I can't believe it when nurses borrow my penlight. That's almost as much a shame as when an intern, accompanying a cardiologist to a code, had to borrow my stethoscope.
Sharpie. I quit using a big marker for whiteboards, just use the Sharpie.
Personal Purell bottle, filled up from wall dispensers. Saves lots of steps.
Paper and micropore tape rolls hanging from loops on my pack.
Bandage scissors.
Notepad and blank 3x5 cards.
2 ea. black and red pens and yellow highlighters.
Calipers and electrodes, luminious analog watch with second hand, calculator.
As soon as I find a source, I'm getting a pager holder to clip to my pack. I've gone home with the pager twice and am determined not to do it again, as on principle I go back to the unit to return it as soon as I discover it.
3-ring binder with plastic dividers and the half rings that have little posts that fit into recesses in the corresponding half rings. Best organizing tool found so far but I need something even better.
Badly needed and soon to be bought: spare set of scrubs to leave in the locker (I always leave everything in my locker when I go home). I should also leave an old pair of shoes.
I keep lots of books, tip sheets, etc in my locker.
Discarded: cheap multi-tool (never used), trauma shears (never used), all quick ref pocket books, all clutch-back pins (the clutches fall off, can't have them falling in random places).
Ornaments kept: wedding ring, school pin (on badge holder, has a hinged pin attachment).
My drug book and my watch.Everything else the hospital has. Why do so many people list a stethoscope? and scissors? and wound care supplies? Don't most hospitals have them?
Thinklabs electronic stethoscope. Ensures that when I don't hear something, it's not my ears or a noisy environment, I'm really hearing nothing.
Good shoes.
Nurse Pro Pack (large), this is a working apron to hold everything I need, e.g., I need a constant supply of large gloves, not to be found in every room. I need instant access to real sugar for coffee. I'm a pack rat, yeah.
Surefire G2 (super bright flashlight). For looking under beds and working in darkened rooms. Possible emergency use.
WA halogen penlight. I can't believe it when nurses borrow my penlight. That's almost as much a shame as when an intern, accompanying a cardiologist to a code, had to borrow my stethoscope.
Sharpie. I quit using a big marker for whiteboards, just use the Sharpie.
Personal Purell bottle, filled up from wall dispensers. Saves lots of steps.
Paper and micropore tape rolls hanging from loops on my pack.
Bandage scissors.
Notepad and blank 3x5 cards.
2 ea. black and red pens and yellow highlighters.
Calipers and electrodes, luminious analog watch with second hand, calculator.
As soon as I find a source, I'm getting a pager holder to clip to my pack. I've gone home with the pager twice and am determined not to do it again, as on principle I go back to the unit to return it as soon as I discover it.
3-ring binder with plastic dividers and the half rings that have little posts that fit into recesses in the corresponding half rings. Best organizing tool found so far but I need something even better.
Badly needed and soon to be bought: spare set of scrubs to leave in the locker (I always leave everything in my locker when I go home). I should also leave an old pair of shoes.
I keep lots of books, tip sheets, etc in my locker.
Discarded: cheap multi-tool (never used), trauma shears (never used), all quick ref pocket books, all clutch-back pins (the clutches fall off, can't have them falling in random places).
Ornaments kept: wedding ring, school pin (on badge holder, has a hinged pin attachment).
Wow, my friend! You need a cart to take with you to work . I carry a penlight with me, too (although not a cool halogen one, LOL); how do you assess PERRLA without one??? Having a flashlight also beats having to read a PCA machine with my Timex Indiglo watch in the middle of the night
My drug book and my watch.Everything else the hospital has. Why do so many people list a stethoscope? and scissors? and wound care supplies? Don't most hospitals have them?
There's usually a couple stethoscopes knocking around wherever you'll be working, but some are a bit, ummm. . . not the best . The one time I forgot my steth and had to borrow my floor's I discovered that as I put one earpiece in my ear, the other one was floating a few inches behind my head. I guess they didn't have to worry about it "walking" off the floor. I can only imagine how silly I looked trying to hold the darn thing on as I was doing assessments, LOL.
And scissors are NEVER around when you need them. That said, I end up raiding my fellow nurse's pockets because I don't usually have them on me when I need them. I usually put a couple of 2x2 gauze in my pocket because I often end up needing them, but I always use the hospitals supply.
yes places do have stethascopes and bp cuffs but like pp said the quality of them isn't great and its easier to just have your own instead of waiting for someone to finish with the facility one. at least thats my main reason for having my own bp cuff and stethascope when i was doing cna work.
. I carry a penlight with me, too (although not a cool halogen one, LOL); how do you assess PERRLA without one??? Having a flashlight also beats having to read a PCA machine with my Timex Indiglo watch in the middle of the night 
RNperdiem, RN
4,592 Posts
My ICU has a well stocked supply cart, so I don't carry as much in my pockets as when I worked in the float pool. Some of these floors have one supply closet, and I stuff my pocket with alcohol swabs, syringes, tape and gauze.
Scrubs with pockets are essential.