LifelongNursing MSN, RN, APRN, NP

My comment may be a bit naive, so please forgive and correct me if I post something radically wrong. Personally, I've never wanted to pursue a job that has a very vague role, or a role that not many understood, such as the CNS. I'm a newly graduated ...

Being a recent new grad myself, that was some of the findings I also experienced myself. Fortunately, I landed a job that paid actually what a new nurse practitioner SHOULD be paid. the 80K a year is embarrassing for our profession and somewhat of an...

Are you speaking in regards like this example: You and the nurse you are reporting to found an issue, and should technically call the physician about it but the other RN wants to get report from other nurses first? Or, you offer to page the MD since ...

I think this is all on how one views it personally. During my last months of school and hospital rotations, I had an optimistic view. However, once I graduated, the early weeks after school, that optimisim turned right into the gutter. Now, after the...

I took those classes together. It was doable for myself, however, I learned later than I had one of the "easier" instructors for A&P and one of the "harder" instructors for micro, so if you have interest, go for it.

Indeed, but I disagree about the charge. It is part of the nursing reasoning and assessment when the patient is post Foley, or has an acute change in urine output.

Not in the least bit. The PT/INR work through various clotting cascades, and is not the end, all, be all, lab values to be concerned about when they are low. The only concern would be if the patient was on Coumadin/warafin therapy and those values we...

It is uncommon, but not out of bounds. It all depends on what the facility can charge and not charge under the "nursing" side of things that typically comes with the charge for the hospital room for the day/night. I used to work for a facility that w...

You have the right idea, however, you must realize that the human body is not a machine, and therefore, we cannot expect precisely for it to behave so. Ideally, the INR and PT values do, in fact, reflect and have a positive correlation, but this is f...

I would feel personally anxious, but it depends on how you look at it. Don't beat yourself up about it, but at the same time, understand that a PICC dressing that is soiled or out-of-date, should be treated with some urgency as that is a very large i...

I agree, pain does play an important factor in influencing the blood pressure. Good point! You are exactly right, I 100% agree. For the new nurses, this is definitely something to keep in mind.

I've just had the pleasure of being a nurse for years. You'll learn many common dosages of common medications very quickly. Lexi-Comp is a great resource as well. As a nurse, you have plenty of options and decisions to make to, in order for you to be...

At this point there is no need for further action, only a learning moment. Based on the dosing, if the patient had a 167 systolic, and the order was for 20 mg IV hydralazine, you could 1. Give the 20 mg hydralazine and see how it affected the patien...

It depends on how much the hydralazine and clonidine dosing were. Just because a patient says his BP normally runs at 170/90 does not mean we, as nurses, cannot or should not have a tigher blood pressure control in our patients. Outside of orders to ...

Not sure on the specifics of the facility but you can certainly search CMS guidelines for payment and reimbursement. If they require it, it will be there. However, in most cases, SNFs and LTACH hospitals give the patient a TB test in order to be comp...

If you strive to be a charge nurse, you will one day. There is no specific combination of experience that will ultimately guarantee you to be a charge nurse. I'll say, from being a nursing supervisor myself and loving to teach new nurses, eagerness w...

You may need to call to set up an in person training, however, typically your employer sets this up. You typically don't get trained once and done. You need to be observed several times and then do them routinely to stay proficient. I was trained t...

I haven't gotten all of my videos up yet on the CCRN review but if you visit lifelongnursing.com there is a few on CCRN review. I'll be posting another this week, and as time permits, I'll have quite a collection.

Maybe not illegal but certainly may introduce certain situations where this is unethical. She cannot possibly recommend the flu shot to each and every person on any sort of social media without first knowing each person's background, medical history,...

I completely understand the need to be prepared and keep your ducks in a row by applying early. However, there is no need to. If you have one more year left of school in your BSN program, then I recommend completing that, and then passing NCLEX. If y...

I agree with many people responding. Any specialty can be challenging and furthermore, the "challenging" aspect is what you make of it. I personally challenge myself on a day-to-day basis, and push the limits of my knowledge. I often, study unknown c...

Also a CPAP user here, no chance at all to hurt your chances. I've seen the older nurse who has been in it for 35 or 40 years and about to retire, hobbling around, barely can feel their feet, and do just fine. Glad you are choosing to be a nurse!

Absolutely nothing can replace experience. However, will this gain you an edge in acceptance into a AG acute care program, more than likely not. Some are competitive, however, most accept you with decent grades. The extra experience will definitely ...

I feel your pain, my geriatric class preceptor cancelled on me for the same reasons. Thankfully, her colleague agreed to take me on such a short Notice. I wish you the best of luck finding another preceptor.

Being a male nurse myself, I've always run into issues while shopping for anything nursing that related to men, most scrub shops place the men section out by the dumpster, near the bathroom that is constantly out of order, or the dark room in the bac...