12sonrisa BSN

12sonrisa has 7 years experience as a BSN and specializes in Hemodialysis, Mental Health, Addictions.

Latest Activity

1. RN job situation in Ontario and BC

   12sonrisa posted a topic in Canada

   Hey there! I will likely be moving to Victoria, BC or one if the university cities in Ontario next summer for my husband's PhD. I'm wondering what the job situation is like in those areas. I have been working as an RN for 1 year this September and ...

2. Beaten down newer nurse please help!

   12sonrisa replied to Serenity0688's topic in Relations

   I hear you. I'm coming up to my one year anniversary of starting work as a nurse. I am luck though because I started out being hired into a regional renal program and then assigned to one of their units. My orientation was on the Unit I work at curr...

3. Is nursing school really awful?

   12sonrisa replied to makykh's topic in Pre-Nursing

   Nursing school for me was brutal. I LOVE nursing and enjoyed the content we learned and actually working with patients. What makes it so hard is the amount of information you have to learn. Expect 800 pages of reading every week on top of seemingly ...

4. Gap year before nursing school?

   12sonrisa replied to Sweetie's topic in Pre-Nursing

   Personally, I would take the year, work full time, get the experience with kids that will look GREAT on a peds application, and get tuition reimbursement that will help keep you less in debt. I would assume thought that their tuition reimbursement ...

5. working with homeless pts

   12sonrisa replied to matryoshka87's topic in Public/Community

   I work in community dialysis where non-compliance is a big issue. A couple weeks ago I had a patient with very clear signs of a cvc line infection. The doctor wanted her to go to emerge directly after dialysis and she flat out refused. All you can ...

6. New grad in need of some more advice

   12sonrisa replied to Sheika34's topic in NP Students

   Also, nurse educators are an amazing resource! Your unit should have one and I recommend asking advice from him/her.

7. New grad in need of some more advice

   12sonrisa replied to Sheika34's topic in NP Students

   In September I'll have been working as a nurse for 1 year (hemodialysis and inpatient adolescent psych). From experience, in the beginning, most days will be hard and you will feel stupid and like a burden. HOWEVER, the only way to be a better nurse...

8. Dialysis or Psych for new grad?

   12sonrisa replied to Nurse Beth's topic in Nurse Beth

   Both are amazing!!! I started in community hemo after graduating as it was my only job offer and it was a great place to start! I agree with all the benefits AngelKissed mentioned and would also add that as a new grad, it was nice to be in a somewh...

9. transitioning to Med-surg-HELP

   12sonrisa replied to ellielaborada's topic in Med-Surg

   I am in a similar boat as well! It took me five months and having my final preceptorship in dialysis to finally get a my first nursing job in dialysis. There are things I like about it but it can be very repetitive and I'll be starting casually in ...

10. Any Canadian Dialysis Nurse Out Here?

    12sonrisa replied to peripateticRN's topic in Urology

    I'm not sure! Here, you are assigned to one unit as your home unit and then after 3 months or so you can start picking up casual on other units. You just have to ask the admin coordinator to schedule you for an orientation shift on that unit. It's s...

11. Any Canadian Dialysis Nurse Out Here?

    12sonrisa replied to peripateticRN's topic in Urology

    Don't worry about feeling ignorant! Dialysis seems like a well-kept secret! I had no idea about any of it until I did a practicum in community dialysis in school!

12. Any Canadian Dialysis Nurse Out Here?

    12sonrisa replied to peripateticRN's topic in Urology

    Haha yeah when I started in HD I read the posts here and was basically terrified from what I'd read! Have you heard of home hemo? It's fantastic! One of the best options for patients who can manage it! From what I've seen, there is only one dialysis...

13. Any Canadian Dialysis Nurse Out Here?

    12sonrisa replied to peripateticRN's topic in Urology

    I missed part of your question in my original post! Yes, I got 4 weeks of full-time classroom and practical on-the-unit training followed by a 2 week preceptorship and a short exam based on the theory. From what I have seen, you don't usually get c...

14. Any Canadian Dialysis Nurse Out Here?

    12sonrisa replied to peripateticRN's topic in Urology

    Welcome to dialysis! I've been in community dialysis for four months now (first job post-grad). From what I've read on here, it's pretty different from the states! At least in Alberta. It's similar to other units in that there is a charge nurse wi...

15. Low Diastolic Pressure - I mean REALLy Low

    12sonrisa replied to AlabamaBelle's topic in Urology

    Fantastic article! Definitely printing this one out! I've been wondering about DBPs too as I've seem many DBPs in the 30s-50s but no one ever seems concerned.