Isakolistic

Most nursing shoes look pretty nasty to me. I'm not a super picky guy, but I would prefer shoes that don't look like clogs. I just use comfortable running/training shoes with good support. I currently have a nice pair of Nike running shoes that have served me well. I'd say just find a comfortable pair and worry about the cleanliness/look later.

The hospital I work in requires an additional staff member to be present; doesn't require the staff member to be an RN. Ditto to the aforementioned comments that it helps to be accountable to aseptic technique (if it is an RN). This is the only procedure that 2 staff members are required to be present for in my facility to my knowledge.

As long as you didn't give any patient identifiers or any information that could lead your client to guess who the other client might be, you're fine. If you were giving specifics to the syndrome and that alone, there shouldn't be much that you shared in the area of patient information. However, if your client knows some people with her syndrome and may possibly know your other client, you could be getting into some sticky areas.

Nursing is a good job. It's not an easy one, though. If you think getting through school will magically give you an amazing life, think again; nursing is hard work, especially when you're learning the ropes. The hours can be tough, but if you find the right fit in an employer, it is certainly possible to live a wonderful life and not bring your work home with you. I love being a nurse, and my family life doesn't suffer because of it. If being a nurse is what you want, go ahead and pursue it. If you have doubts while in school, it's not the worst thing in the world to change majors.

Necessary? No. Beneficial? Very. If you absolutely despise it, there are ways to get experience without starting off on a med-surg floor. Many have done it and are amazing nurses. Personally though, I think the med-surg floor is a good way to work on your basic nursing skills, so it would be a good starting point for just about any other specialty.

As PPs have said, I would probably go for the ortho job. I've worked in both - both come with their own unique challenges. Ortho floors are generally pretty busy, as your patient will be doing therapy during the day and you will be giving meds all day and night. SNFs are also busy, as you are giving meds ALL the time. The nice thing about orthos is that the plan of care is pretty similar for most patients, whereas you will probably see more variety in the SNF. You will learn the routine on an ortho floor and learn to do your job well. If your goal is the OR, ortho is definitely a better stepping stone than any SNF.

There is hope. Don't be turned away from nursing! Before I became a nurse, I got queasy from watching gory movies (127 Hours wasn't good for me). I struggled with the same thing, questioning if nursing was right for me. When I started working in healthcare, I just kind of got over it. Now that blood and other bodily fluids are part of my everyday routine, it doesn't bother me anymore. I work on a med-surg floor, so I don't see what you might describe as "gore" or crime scenes or anything like that, but I occasionally have to deal with blood administration, an IV gone wrong, or a cut. I would say that even if you didn't "get over" that feeling when you become a nurse, there are areas of nursing that would possibly be better suited for you; like I said, I don't see too much blood or "gore" on a med-surg floor (while there is potential for it to happen occasionally), and maybe other areas like school nursing or geriatric nursing could be a good fit for you.

The EMR system that we use automatically tracks how much tylenol is administered in the last 24 hours, even if it is part of a combination med. If we attempt to give over the "max" of 4g in a 24 hour period, it will warn you with a popup that you need to override in order to give the medication. If your facility does not have an EMR with these kind of capabilities, the easiest way to determine this would be to contact the pharmacy or just check the EMR and add up their total for the past 24 hours. If they are at or near their "max", you may need to wait until a previously administered dose of tylenol "times out"; for example, if someone administered 1000 mg of tylenol at 0600 the previous day and they are at their max, you would need to wait until at least 0600 the next day to administer the next dose.

Many states do have their "own" unions, but not all facilities in that state are union facilities. It is up to the facility to decide if they want to be a part of any union. The facility I work in is union, so we are only allowed to be put on-call for a certain amount of hours per year. Once we hit that maximum, we cannot be placed on-call until the start of the next time period.

It happens occasionally. I correct them sometimes.

Nights have worked out great for me. I had never worked nights before I started at the hospital that I currently work at. I started on evenings and nights, and I also got trained on days/evenings and nights. The hustle and bustle of the day shifts has never really appealed to me; I'd much rather work a busy night than a crazy day. I would say you should ask to orient a few shifts at night, especially if that's what you'll be working off of orientation, to get a feel for them. Nights are generally a little less hectic, as you don't really have discharges/rounding physicians/therapy to worry about, but you may feel like you have less resources available to you. I feel like nights would be good for you to get a feel for the hospital environment as well. Good luck, hope everything goes well!

They hate us cuz they ain't us.

Start applying to some SNFs that have rehab wings. Or, literally anything. Sitting on your butt filling out applications isn't making your resume look any better. Might as well get a "less desirable" job while you are continually looking and applying, then you can at least say "I have this many months experience as an RN".

Location: Upper Midwest Experience: 1 year med/surg, 1.5 years LTC/TCU Specialty: Med/surg Pay: $34/hr base pay, $4 diff. for nights, $1.25 diff. for weekends COL: $1500/month mortgage; rent for 2 bedroom apartment runs around $1000/month

I started off in a LTC/STR facility as a CNA and got hired on as a nurse after I passed my boards. When I entered healthcare, I definitely did not expect to get hit on by so many elderly ladies. I imagine I must have been a bit flustered the first time it happened.