JTinSC

I'm in my last semester, and delegation is giving me the most trouble I've had in nursing school. You know, the questions like "You have patient A, B, C, and D, who do you assign the LPN too?" While the only thing they really tell us is, LPNs cannot push meds, they can't teach, can't do shift assessments, and can't discharge. Those are what I know for fact, but does anyone know of any websites who might give me some insight on delegating? Its kinda hard to know what an RN can delegate for sure or not, because in clinical you see LPNs doing shift assessments, teaching, I've even seen them do pushes. I'm afraid when I take a test I'm gonna look at answers and think "I've seen an LPN do that" and get the question wrong. Anyone have any helpful websites that have lits of things an RN definitely cannot delegate to an LPN?

Baths are nothing, you get used to it after awhile. The patients are usually very old and not able to care for themselves, and no patient has ever made me feel awkward about bathing them. Normally after you do, their family will come in and notice how clean they are, especially if you have someone you shaved, and they'll greatly appreciate it. This really does make it seem like even the simplest things do matter even though it might not seem like such a big deal to you. Now the most uncomfortable thing for a male nurse is the OB rotation. I know the instructors go in and ask each patient if they mind a male nurse, but I've come to the conclusion that the patient really isn't aware of what you'll actually be doing. I've had a few tell me they didn't want me assessing their perineal, they didn't want me to assess their breasts, lord forbid me look at an episiotomy. It really does **** me off because I walk in as a professional and I feel like a professional, and then they treat you like you're just someone off the street, but most of their ob/gyn's are males. I've been kicked out of one room by a patient who changed her mind, I've been chased out by a husband who didn't want me walking in to take vitals because the mother was breast feeding. I've had the nurses give me attitude sometimes, especially the OR nurses, they seem to have a really bad attitude towards male students. Its not only us males either, I've seen the females have hard times in OB clinicals also. It just seems we're not as appreciated as we are on the normal med/surg clinical rotations. My last OB clinical was this past Thursday, and I am done with it FOREVER. It was the greatest feeling I've ever had since starting this program. You just don't know the feeling of telling a female "I'm going to assess your perineal/private area, ok?" "Oh no you're not."

I just started my OB rotation, and was put in the nursery for the first day. We haven't really covered newborn care in lecture, so I'm kinda lost coming up with 3 dx's for my newborn. I do have risk for infection, but I'm not sure what to use for my other two. My newborn was term with no complications, and AGA. They sort of threw us into the nursery before any lecture, so I'm hoping someone here with good experience in newborn care could help me with a couple proper newborn nursing dx's to use for my newborn.

Hold on, your test is Saturday and you're just now looking for study tips? I don't really want to be negative, but if you are just now starting to study, I don't think anything can help you. I wouldn't say the muscle test is the hardest, but it is the most time consuming. I made my flashcards for it at the beginning of that semester, and studied 3 cards a day until the test. This was in the span of 8-10 weeks, so I made sure I was ready for the test because I knew it wasn't a test you could cram for and plan to make an A on.

I'm in the same boat as you, practically the same age. I chose to go to a 2 year school first and get my associate's so I could start working as an RN sooner. I plan to transfer to a university and get my BSN while I'm working on my experience in ICU. I've had mixed opinions on this route, but some have told me it is possible. Even if I don't get into ICU when I graduate I still won't mind working another year or two after my BSN. Just look at it like this, you can put aside money for CRNA school while you work. This way when you become a CRNA, you won't be $100,000 in debt.

I'm not sure how your teachers are but mine already have notes for you to print out. I will preread the notes before class and even though it might not be as clear to me, it will make more sense once the teacher goes over the material that day in class. Then later in the day, go back over what you went over in class. Since my teacher gives us the notes, I always rewrite my notes several times and as I'm writing I try to understand what I'm writing and not just copying. I'd also suggest actually learning the physiological concepts of the body, not just remembering things. It doesn't take much to remember something, even parrots can do that, but can you apply what you've learned? The best way is to learn "why" things happen the way they do, don't just memorize the information. You say you might be lazy, well that even happens to me some of the time, and I also get out of the groove, or just burnt out. The things that help me in these times is thinking about my future and the things I'll be able to do once I'm finished with school. I might go look at houses I'd want to buy and cars I'd want to drive. This gets me back into the "damn i better study if I want to make something of myself" attitude. Its materialistic but it works for me. Just think of things you will accomplish in your life because of finishing nursing school, and I am sure it will help you get back into the groove of things.

Thanks Epiphany, that's all I really needed to know, that it is possible. That's exactly how I look at it, if its possible for someone to do it then there's nothing to stop me from doing it.

Hello everyone, I will be graduating in the near future and I am wanting to work in ICU for reasons I'm sure some of you probably know. I just wanted to know what are my chances for getting in ICU as a new grad. I have looked around and found some hospitals which list prior experience in ICU as a requirement and others who didn't. I'd just like to know what to look forward to so when the time comes I won't be down if I have to wait a year or two. This will also let me know if I should move or not. I plan to move out of SC if I have to wait to get in ICU, but if I can get on right out of school then I will sit it out here for my few years of ICU experience. Thanks for any info.

The best advice I can give you is to go through your list of bones/muscles and learn to pronounce them and spell them first. Once you can spell them and pronounce them it makes it a lot easier to remeber where they are. Its hard to remember where a marking or muscle is if you can barely pronounce it or spell it. I'm not sure what kind of muscle test they will give you. We were required to know the muslce, the action, the origin/insertion, and the innervation of the muscle. I made flash cards the first day of class and studied them for the next 8-10 weeks or how many it was. Its best to study muscles in groups, because a lot will be innervated by the same nerve and will have the same action. I would really stress to make muscle flash cards the first day of class and start studying daily. If you only need to know the muscles and maybe the actions, then it shouldn't be too hard. Just remember to go over the names first.

I'm not sure about which path you should take, but I can give you some information on the cost. This is a link for the University of South Carolina's CRNA program. I'm pretty sure its not where you will be going but it will give you some idea of the costs. http://anesthesia.med.sc.edu/Overview.htm I hope this helps.

I have a question in regards to A&P. I have one more Bio class, which is my Microbiology. As soon as I finish Micro I will be taking nothing but nursing courses and I will be finished. My A&P professor keeps talking about how tough the nursing classes are, and I just heard about a lot of people failed their classes this semester. So far I have a 97 and 99 avg in my A&PI and A&PII. What I'm wanting to know is if your A&P grades are any indication as to how well you will do in your nursing classes. I'm one of those most confident people you will ever meet. I even took my last A&P final without studying because I was very confident I knew the material already, and I made a 95. So, is my professor just overexagerrating, or will I come into problems with the nursing classes even though I'm breezing through A&P? I'm not really worried about if I will be able to maintain A's because I feel you can acheive anything if you put forth the effort. There is a tiny tiny part of me that is concerned though. Should I be worried?

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm glad I found this website, its so helpful. Right now I really have no guidance or a mentor type person. My advisor is a psych major and really doesn't help me. You guys are great and really help keep a person motivated and headed in the right direction. Just wanted to show you some thanks and tell you how much its appreciated.

Hello, I'm looking forward to a career as a CRNA. Right now I am seeking my Associate's in Nursing. I chose to get an Associate's in Nursing and then go for my BSN so I could get a job sooner. I know experience is one of the key points in getting accepting into a CRNA Program, so I am hoping to get experience while I am getting my BSN. My question is....is it difficult to get into ICU? I will be working at a hospital for at least 2 years while I pursue my BSN. I am curious as to how long I should expect it to take me to get into ICU within those 2 years. I'm also wondering if there is a flaw in my plan. I notice people talk about having to work 3 years after their BSN before they can get accepted into the Grad program. I never see people mention going to a 2 year school for an Associate's to get a job and then get into their BSN. Is there a problem with this, because it seems like a great idea. Any help is greatly appreciated.