AppyHorseFan

thanks everyone for replying. we are in the process of looking at several manuals that we have located and revising them to fit our schools. again thank you for replying.

had one just yesterday (monday). the teacher brings him in and says he looks flush, didn't eat lunch, and just sat during recess (very unlike him). take temp, it's 95.7 he says he feels fine and i send him back to class. teacher brings him back and says he "feels warm", take temp it's now up to 99.6 and i have him lay down, the teacher has already called mom to come pick him up. i ask about nausea/vomiting and he says, "no, i only throw up on the weekends." i couldn't help but laugh. then because it takes a couple of hours for mom to get to school to pick him up, he falls asleep in my office. in the meantime, i watch him and hear him snore some. when he wakes up and his mom finally gets here, i tell her he slept for a while and he denies it, "i did not sleep". :monkeydance:

we are in need of help. we have been informed by our superintendent that the nurse's need to write a procedural protocol manual for all 4 of our campuses. we have 2 elementary, 1 middle, and 1 high schools in our district. our district rn who has been in school nursing for about 15 years has never had a manual before and we have very little on the way of where to begin. we have talked with other districts in our area, plus the nurse where our super came from and no one seems to have a manual. if anyone has a manual and would be willing to share ideas, please pm me. any and all help in this matter is greatly appreciated. i hope you have a great day!! appyhorsefan

wow!! there are lots of ideas here!! and while i'd like to do many of them, my intention is to do the following (not necessarily in any particular order): put the majority of my sign-on bonus in a savings account make sure that i'm signed up for retirement savings at work and put some in for that each check start putting money back (in my "stash") for a disney world vacation for the kids next summer pay my monthly bills on time!!! :rotfl: buy my children 1 item that they really want with no $5 or $10 limit on it then take my parents out to eat @ a restaurant of their choice then who knows, maybe get a massage, new hairdo, or something along those lines put money in my kids' savings for their college and think about what i'm going to do for my son a vehicle (he'll be driving in just a couple of years) i'll just have to wait and see what the future holds

gij1...thank you for your kind words. it's nice to hear someone say that they think you'll make a good nurse...i can hardly wait until we start preceptorship in just 4 short weeks... that means we have 4 weeks to get in 3 exams plus other class assignments!!! oh my, well, i gotta go...4 a.m. comes early down here in the south

jemommy, thank you for your kind words. it hasn't been an easy road these past few years, but i shall overcome and succeed. if you'll notice my sig line...god lead me here, he'll lead me through it. without his love and strength i couldn't have made it this far. and as someone else posted...i will one day soon prove to those people (ex-family) who said i couldn't do it...that i can...i did...and i will!! good luck and don't let them break you down!!

i can certainly feel your pain!! i was in an adn program a couple of years ago. passed first semester, failed out second semester by 1 point. had to retake first semester, passed with an "a", failed second semester again by less than 1/4 point...just goes to show you, when they say they won't bump your grade to passing...trust me they won't!!! but now, i am 7 weeks from completing an lvn program...and learned a whole lot more too. first semester, i finished on the dean's list...second semester, i had 1 "c", but third semester is well under way and i am going to receive my certificate on august 12!!! don't let this get you down. if you want this bad enough, you can succeed!!! don't give up...if all else fails...find another school. life happens and sometimes we have absolutely no control over...but sometimes you just have to tell your family and friends "no". my mother told me at the beginning of this semester that if she, my dad, or my kids asked me to do something and i didn't have time (needed to study) that i had "permission" to tell them "no", it's hard, but i have completed one course this semester already with an "a" and we are about to have our first med-surg exam and i'll pass it with flying colors. good luck and don't give up...you are not alone in not passing a nursing class.

we have to take the hesi a total of 3 times during our program, at the end of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semesters. it is set up to cover the material we have covered up to that point. so, it is customized by your program (from what i understand). our school rules are if you do not pass with an 85, you have to do remediation. i just took mine last friday and made an 85.88...whew!!! just barely passed. the test is graded very strangely (imo), but it has all the areas broken down and gives you grades on each system, medications, or other area, etc. with the graded sheet, you can look and see where you need to brush up on your knowledge base. you can get all questions correct in say the cardiac area, but the most you can make on that section is 99.99. i did not study or review for the test. just went in, calmly sat down, took a deep breath, and plunged in. it took me just over an hour to complete. there is some study material available, i don't have the website handy, but type in a search for "hesi" and you shouldn't have any problems finding the official site. good luck. shonda

Our last day of clinicals...we walk onto the floor, in the process of picking our patients. I think to myself, "I'll take patient in room 123", split second after this thought a woman comes out of a room and says "He's not breathing." Mind you, this is just as report is beginning for the employees. Everyone begins to run down the hall. "Code Blue Room 123" is announced. I immediately change my mind on picking this patient. No students were allowed, I did go down there, but there was no room for standing. He ended up not making it and I ended clinicals with two very sweet and wonderful ladies as patients.

our pinning ceremony is held on the day of the last semester final. only the graduating sophomores and instructors are present. the freshmen sna studens give a "sophomore tea" following the ceremony . others are allowed to help if they wish. we are asked (as freshmn) to give a small donation (about $2 or $3 each) to pay for the reception/tea. the instructor who is over sna oversees the planning for each class and has said, "if you don't give a good/decent reception/tea, i will see to it that yours is not good/decent." basically meaning, you get what you give. we will probably start planning the first of february, because i know for a fact that the sophomore (graduating) class gave a great tea last year. btw, just because this is called a "tea" doesn't mean it's all formal like a sit down tea, last year, it was like a luau (sp?) happy studying all, shonda

our clinicals are considered a class/course by itself each semester. you do have to pass clinical and theory before moving to the next semester. in our clinical, we have a tremendous amount of paperwork to complete (not just care plans). we get points for each of our clinical assignments, they add all of these points up and come up with a percentage of the possible points to determine grade. like our theory class we must pass clinicals with a 75 in order to have a c and pass the class. shonda

being a single mother of two, most of the housework falls to me. my kiddos are 11 and almost 7, so we have devised a system that works "most of the time." each person is responsible for their own bedroom. if the kid's rooms get messy, i just shut the door. if they want friends over they must clean their room first. my son (11) is responsible for cleaning living room and vaccuming house. my daughter (6) cleans bathroom. i do the kitchen. is my living room and bathroom clean?? well, not as clean as i would do it, but it's presentable. we all have laundry baskets in our closets and on wash day, everyone takes their dirties to the laundry room and sorts them in the color-coordinator/sorter. i wash/dry/fold (occasionally they help with the latter) and place them into our baskets. everyone puts up their own clothes. i still have to help my daughter hang up her clothes, but she puts the other thing in her dresser drawers. one day a week, i take one of the rooms and pick it up then dust/sweep/mop/clean toliet and tub/or whatever needs to be done to that particular room. is my house spotless??? by no means!!!! but it's presentable to company. happy studying and cleaning...:chuckle shonda

Brian, The best remedy I have found for the hiccups (that works every time for me) is to eat a teaspoon of table sugar. It's a little grainy and takes a bit to get it "eaten", but it works for me every time. If you don't have a teaspoon around, and have the little packets available, just eat a whole packet. Good luck, hope this helps you. Shonda

I can't give you any nursing advise at this time (just start nursing program in August), however, I can give you a PERSONAL experience. My son was born by c-section just over 10 years ago and my OB-GYN said any subsequent deliveries would have to be c-section because of the width of my pelvic bone. When I became pregnant with my daughter, (thanks to HMOs) I had to use a different OB-GYN. We agreed to try a vbac although I knew in my heart it wasn't going to happen. Well, my due date came and went and I had yet to dilate. I asked him to induce if we were still going to do a vbac. He advised me that he would not induce after a c-section, because of possible problems such as what you all are describing. Although she had delivered vbac, perhaps he shouldn't have induced in the first place...just food for thought.

Fiestynurse, I can only speak for myself. But I feel nursing is a "calling" from God for me. Although I am not a nurse YET, I will begin the ADN program in August. Let me give you a brief run-down of my story. When I was a small child, a family friend (with clothes, watch, and shoes) jumped into a lake and saved me from drowning. Going through my young adult years I worked in offices in many and all aspects from KP duty all the way up to Office Manager of a medium-sized corporation. In my late 20s-early 30s, I finally realized why I had been saved from that drowning...TO BE A NURSE!!! And not just any nurse, but a peds oncology nurse. And now with the onset of AIDS, to even possibly go in that direction. God is a major part of my life and he has gotten me this far. No, we should not have to suffer by doing God's work, but we have to realize we are NOT God and we are not perfect. I hope that somehow I can use my faith to help families of/and children deal with the pain, anguish, and sometimes loss that they have to endure. Shonda