MoonRose

I start next week and we all are fiitted with N95 masks which we have to wear at all times with goggles. We will not be assigned COVID patients (those which are confirmed positive). That being said you could be in contact with a patient who is positive without knowing it I suppose. This is how my school does it but not all are the same it's crazy to see how different they all really are.

My school requires all white leather shoes as well. It is definitely up to your schools dress code.

Yes I would just wear gloves and maybe a mask if necessary. Your not to ever actually touch the drugs or medications anyhow. They gave you pretty good advice. Many nurses have allergies as they are human too. I'd ask your physician, carry the epinephrine, and if it is a severe allergy that can be set off with minimal contact I would def try to find an area where you'd be less likely to encounter it. Did you ask your professors or your clinical instructor? I'm sure they also would be knowledgeable and eager to help as well.

Also there are so many different avenues in nursing. Maybe maternal and infant won't be the area you want to work in. That information is not necessary for the other areas you know. Just do you best to get through it we all have the areas we do better and worse in. Don't fluster yourself just keep calm and try your best to learn what you can.

It is not just you! Remember you are good enough. I start clinicals next week and am super nervous. I was a waitress most of my life I was great with people but now being home for the last 4 years I feel like an awkward alien. Even though I usually ended up being one of the best at my past jobs I always started feeling like an idiot. I have pretty good grades have been on the Dean's List the last 3 semesters and I feel the same way as you often. I don't think that everyone else is so much smarter. I just think you realize how real this career is and your doubting yourself. Yes, it is alot the catheters, injections, all the information. Most of the students at my school are stressed out and nervous also. I have a friend that wasn't always the best at school and has been an RN for the last 4 years. If you study, try your hardest, and really want this I believe you can do it. Yes there are a few geniuses that will get everything right on the tests but it is not all about the tests. There is so much more too it. Once you get hands on experience and the routine down you will feel so much better. You are not the dumbest nor an idiot I can assure you because if you were you wouldn't question yourself so much. You are just stressed and being hard on yourself which I think is absolutely normal as I have had the same thoughts myself. I am 32 so I can't even imagine how stressful this is for younger students. Put that energy into learning all that you can because you have every resource available for you to succeed. Have faith in yourself. Use your nerves to prepare and touch up on the concepts you may be struggling with. Make sure to also make time for yourself and try to eat healthy. Get in some sort of exercise; doing this has always helped to build my confidence. I can promise you the students at my school feel the same way and there's no way that everyone is too dumb to make it or we'd never have any nurses graduate and working in the field. You are not alone. You can do it!

I just know they have to get special permission for a small set of patients and do 24 hours of training. I know where I live it's mostly doctors that prescribe and many won't take certain insurances and some only take cash and charge insane fees for each visit and when the patient starts they have to pay that fee first visit and the week after and two weeks after that then once monthly it can come up to 200-500 per visit. It seems though that the ones that take cash only prescribe higher amounts to the patients than those that take the insurances that's just what I found from people I knew who took the medication. A lot of the doctors get filled up esp the ones who don't charge a lot or take insurance. I wouldn't know though exactly how that would be paid out. I would imagine they would get a large portion of the fees they charge for the visits. The the spaces being filled up quickly and the demand for more ppl that can prescribe I can see how they would have a higher salary. https://www.stvincentcharity.com/radiant/posts/Dr-ted-parran-discusses-the-need-for-research-of-cash-only-opioid-clinics/

It does seem though they don't include it on most regular tests but I'd imagine if you worked at a rehab or somewhere like that they may.. just depends on the type of test they do as it does cost more to add it to the screen.

I also read in a forum that if you fail they the nursing board then can pull your medial records which is how they get that history but it don't see.to be standard just if you are under investigation. One girl took a Xanax from an expired prescription then was randomly drug tested, failed, they pulled her records they found she had been on Suboxone years before and was marked as high risk. So as long as you don't mess up and have a legal prescription that shouldn't happen. Just keep things to yourself as anyone can tell on you at any time. According to the nursing board your not even allowed to take Benadryl. Nothing not even for legitimate reasons as intoxication could put patients at risk. I just don't want that stress of having to hide something and if anything would go wrong it could be used against you. That sux about your ex tho

Yes I have seen a lot of people in my family be addicted to medications and wanted to avoid taking anything like that esp long term. I had been through a very violent abusive relationship which I think was the cause of my issues with anxiety and depression and at the time just was trying to work through it and not have to take anything strong as I figured I wouldn't need it later on which is why I decided to go the tea route. Plus I know how bad antianxiety meds and antidepressants can be to come off of. I think really they should of just let me quit drinking it I don't see it of having as much of a negative affect to stop as they were saying. I just think they don't know much about it maybe IDK. There's really no studies on drinking that , quitting drinking it, and pregnancy and I def didn't want to risk that either. As Suboxone I think affects you a lot more and is way worse to come off of which I didn't know much about at the time and UST trusted their judgement. When I drank the tea I didn't really have issues when I didn't drink it. I wanted to tell them though bc I didn't want to do anything that would harm the baby and wasn't sure if it was safe to quite just drinking it and knew it wasn't safe to keep drinking it. They even knew I was in nursing school at the time and none of them mentioned any of this stuff at any time. Now in retrospect I think it would of been the better choice to just quit drinking it and not take the medication but they made me take the medication saying I was potentially putting me and the baby in harm if I didn't. Being that I already told them, there wasn't much I thought I could do. Again there is so little information and not really many studies on it so it's hard to say. Luckily though my baby had no NAS at all but I also nursed him nonstop and held him almost the entire time bc I felt so awful and guilty. He is very smart started talking very early saying phrases and sentences months before he was supposed to. Also it was unexpected pregnancy not planned. I did though after have my tubes cut. On the bright side though I still have time to come off of it and with being through domestic violence and seeing addiction ruin my family and now having taken this medication myself I will be able to easily identify those situations and better help ppl going thru it. I also got to see how poor the NAS scoring system was between various RNs and that there probably are many babies given morphine that don't need it due to some nurses not knowing how to correctly score. Which top is a big issue but not in all hospitals just some and my doctor warned me about this hospital so I was well aware and on top of it the whole time.

I just read this article posted by RN Bill Kinkle this year actually and they won't allow you on suboxone while nursing in Pennsylvania. They will make you get expensive testing that proves you are not cognitively negatively affected I don't remember the actual term for it while in treatment and that's only if you agree to taper off. They will also make you have a official tapering plan on file and make you go through a whole treatment plan. If you state you plan to stay on indefinitely you will not be able to practice and go through the treatment basically. Here is the article https://www.Google.com/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en/article/j5yga3/can-doctors-and-nurses-take-suboxone-or-methadone I was researching it bc I am in nursing school and was put on the medication two years ago as I was drinking an herbal supplement to help with PTSD, anxiety, and depression then found out I was pregnant my OB decided to put me on the medication. Knowing now what I do I wish I'd never been put on it but they basically made me bc they said stopping the supplement without taking the medication otherwise was too dangerous with being pregnant. I have been trying to decide how to go about it, if they actually even test for that. My school apparently does only a 10 panel which doesn't but still am scared to take it so I guess it would depend on the employer from what I read. On the bright side though I did read about a lot of people getting the sublocade shot a few times and not having withdrawals or needing another. I have already once tapered off of the meds once and the withdrawal lasted months and was unbearable and ended up having to go back on it as I didn't want to have to take other medications. It's a mess bc you would rather be honest about it. Another thing I have found out though is that the labs that do the drug tests actually just have a medical review officer that will ask for proof of a prescription if the medication shows and only report back to the school or employer that you passed or failed and if you have a script for it you pass. So it almost seems better not to say anything and if it comes up provide the prescription. I just wonder how they find out what prescriptions people are on then for the states that are super strict and don't allow nurses to be on anything even if prescribed. IDK it's just a bad situation though I think ppl are at less risk on it if they need to be my situation is kinda different but I'll be just as screwed. I do want to stop taking the meds again but really am afraid to have to end up taking a medication for anxiety or depression and don't really want to go back to drinking the supplement bc it got me into this mess tho it isn't illegal nor a narcotic. Just rather not have to take the medication or nothing else. Does NCLEX or the nursing board ask if your on a potentially disorienting medication and how does that work with HIPAA is it a matter of opinion then. If I have to I'd just get the shot a few months and be done with it just nervous with being able to get thru it with school and my four kids but have so much invested I can't just give up on nursing school esp bc I'm doing so well and am over halfway through. Pennsylvania sucks esp for stuff like this.