ICU-BSN

The article is the mother's perception of events. Medical staff were not interviewed, making it a biased report. Also, it states that the boy was scheduled the next day for the final brain wave testing to indicate brain death; this test was cancell...

Peer interviews....I've been on both sides of that. When I was the one interviewing, the manager always came by afterwards and asked my opinion on how I felt the candidate would fit in on the unit. For the most part, management always went with th...

Speak to the instructor, see what she has to say. You may be pleasantly surprised. I always asked people if they would be willing to be a reference before I listed them. It's a nice courtesy.

I would pick the step-down/ICU spot. But then again, if my user name didn't clue you in, I may be a bit biased towards ICU... Step-down experience will open pretty much any door you want moving forward. ED and ICU are very different worlds....I'v...

Moving to a new specialty and scope of practice will require an adjustment period. It's just like starting all over. Actually maybe it's worse....I assume you felt comfortable, competent, and knowledgeable in your LTC position. And now you find yo...

Why they are there, what was done for them in the ED, IV access, any other line/drain/tube that they may have. A last set of vitals is nice on my unstable patients. I also like to know if any next of kin is present since many of my patients arrive ...

Nope. I write everything on my brain sheet. It lives in my pocket. Right alongside my pen. And don't even think about asking to borrow my pen...I trust no one to touch it. Lol.

I would say that it depends on your personal goals and objectives. Where do you see yourself working when you are finished with school? Most hospitals no longer hire LPNs so if you are looking for acute care, then go straight for your RN. As anoth...

I once went to an interview on a Tuesday afternoon. At the end of the interview I was told that they were still interviewing other candidates and that they would get back to me by the end of the following week. I had an offer before noon on the foll...

I had a similar dilemma when I finished school. I felt more drawn to the stepdown offer because of the manager, whereas the ICU (small community hospital) manager did not give me good vibes, at all. In the end though, I knew I wanted to be in an IC...

General, hands down. I HATE straight neuro patients, find them incredibly boring. As another poster mentioned, you will likely see some neuro patients in general ICU as well. General ICU will provide a much broader foundation.

I don't get any PTO....I chose to receive pay in lieu of benefits since we are all covered under my husband. I get an extra 18% added to my base pay instead of PTO. It works for me.

My workplace uses glucomander. It is all done through Epic. We don't use the carb counting feature of it though, rather we use it for continuous insulin drips. While everyone does complain about it, it is just the pain in the behind of having such...

Haha...I once took a prescription for one of my chickens to a regular pharmacy. I am pretty sure that pharmacist will tell that story for many years to come.

The only place to get the correct answer to this question is at your school.

What about something away from the bedside? Case management, Quality, Risk Management, Infection Control... Or perhaps working in a doctor's office, wound care clinic, outpatient surgery...

I was in this situation in my first job. I dealt with it by getting a new job. To be fair, lack of a raise was just one of many many issues I had with that job.

I am unsure what you mean by coming up with your own? Do you mean to be your own reference? I would highly recommend against that. I had the same experience as described above, I was required to supply 5 references, at least one current/former m...

At my facility we call for anything that is a critical value. There is special documentation to complete for all critical values where you have to indicate which doctor was notified, at what time, and if any additional orders were received. Definit...

I left a less than 10 minute commute for an almost hour commute. The drive there is no problem. Sometimes coming home I am really tired, doesn't help that I'm on nights. In some ways, I prefer the longer commute, it gives me time to mentally proce...

Highly individual. Some people are ready as new grads and do well in critical care. Some people need a little more time to develop. I went straight to ICU after nursing school, it's a HUGE learning curve with very high stakes. On the other hand,...

There is no guarantee you will be offered an RN position after either externship. Also, there is zero obligation to accept a position just because that's where you did an externship. Many factors could play into the decision to accept a job offer.....

Personally, if my goal was ICU, that's where I would go. You will pick up a plenty of skills there as well. It being a smaller hospital will not negatively affect your future ICU chances. You will still be exposed to vents and drips in a small ICU...

If your goal is ICU to get to CRNA (and you have to have ICU to become a CRNA), then take the ICU spot. You will be very surprised at what you see in the smaller ICU. When I graduated from nursing school, I started in an ICU at a small community hos...

K 1.0. Alive-ish. For about an hour anyways. Platelets 23. Alive. ABGs with a pH of 6.7. Alive-ish but not for long.