Dink75

Stumbled onto your posts about moving to Marshall County. I have lived in Marshall County my entire life and I am working as an RN at Lourdes. If you have any questions, please let me know.

The best story I have is about a patient I had. He was inpatient hospice. He had been doing fairly well considering and then suddenly one afternoon, his breathing changed. His breaths became more shallow and with periods of apnea. This man who was normally joking around with us was no longer smiling. He said that he felt a crushing feeling in his chest and that he knew he wasn't going to live much longer. His blood pressure was dropping and the pallative care nurse was in visiting with him. After assessing him, she told the family that if there was anyone they wanted to call, they might want to start calling them. She wrote in his progress notes that his death was imminent. As the day progressed, the hall was full of his children and grandchildren coming to say goodbye. I spoke with one of his daughters and and she was upset because her brother was still at work and had not been able to leave to come to the hospital. She told me that she hoped Daddy would hold on until this last son could be there. As soon as the son's shift was over, he raced to the hospital. As soon as the elevator doors opened, he burst through them...running to his father's side. The crowd parted to make room for him to say his final goodbye. As he leaned over the pale man in the bed, he said "Daddy, I'm here." With the solemn look on his face, the old man responded "Thank heavens! I really have to go pee." As everyone stood there in shock, the old man got out of bed, walked to the bathroom, then proceeded to come back and perform magic tricks for the children and tell jokes to the stunned crowd. When we rechecked his vital signs, they had all returned to normal. He lived for another week and a half.

the great Commonwealth of Kentucky (God bless them!!!!)

Just check BON site, I have a license number....I passed! Yeaaaaaaaaaa! :balloons: The BON had the results in 24 hours rather than waiting 48 for Pearson Vue.

I'm with you! I just took the NCLEX-RN today and it stopped at 75 questions. I really had no clue after a while. I am just numb. I always scored over 1000 on any HESI I ever took. This test was just mind-blowing. I have never felt so inadequate and useless in my entire life. Well, nothing to do now but wait till Friday for Quick Results. Four of us rode together...2 got 75 questions, 1 got 76 questions, and 1 poor soul had all 265 questions.

We were taught the cabbage leaf thing in nursing school. You can put them in the freezer too before putting them on in order to ease the pain.

Graduated last night!!! I have Reinhart Review May 17-20. I hope to take NCLEX in about 3 weeks.

It is my opinion that difficulties and tragic events in the past shape us to be the people we are today. It is in how we react to these hardships. Does this stop you from becoming a caring nurse...or does it enable you to better understand the difficult feelings that your patients are dealing with? Those who have had "perfect" lives are sometimes not equipped to handle the difficult positions we, as nurses, sometimes find ourselves in. As the saying goes, that which does not kill us makes us stronger. On graduation day, hold your head up proudly for all that you have accomplished and be proud to be the unique caring nurse that you are.

When I worked in a LTC facility, we had the same reports of little children. Several of the residents would start asking us about who the children were. None of us ever saw any kids, but the residents would swear they were there. Some of them would report that they had kept them up half the night. One woman told us that they were sitting on the bed across the hall looking at her. Sure enough, within a day or two, one of the residents would die. I thought perhaps that it was just something about the facility. I later went to work at an area hospital. One of my patients asked who the children were that were in the hall. There had been no children on the floor that day. That night, the patient died. Now, if anyone asks me who the children are and I can't find any kids around, you can bet that I keep an extra watch on everyone.

You are not too old! I was 28 when I started on my Associate Degree. I had 3 kids (aged 10, 9, and 4). The two year program actually took me three years. I had never attended college before, so I had to take all my pre-reqs. I spent the first year getting all of those out of the way so I could focus on nursing. I will graduate this Friday night. 12 days shy of my 31st birthday. You can do this! There were many in our class who turned 50 during the time we were in school. I think the age helps a bit when it comes to school. I know that I wouldn't have been able to focus as well when I was a kid. There is a lot to be said for maturity level, you know?

Sounds like you've got it. I started as a CNA in a LTC facility then moved to a hospital. After two years as a CNA, I started attending a community college. I spent the first year on pre-reqs so that I could devote my time to nursing when I entered the program. I will graduate with my Associate degree in less than two weeks. I will then be eligible to take the NCLEX and become an RN. I have a position lined up at a hospital that also does tuition reimbursement. There is a program that comes to the hospital for classes once a week and has the remainder of classes online to go from RN-BSN. The pay is the same but the job offerings are a bit more varied with the BSN. I will just see where it goes from there. Like you were saying, I believe that the experience does help. Just be careful not to let what you learn in the "real world" influence what they teach you in class. In class you base everything on a perfect world where no one is short-staffed and the nurse has 14 arms and can be in 3 places as once. ( Ha, you laugh now, but you will see when you start taking those nursing tests!) I wish you luck and just take it one step at a time. You'll get there!

Those are so funny. My dad is from Illinois. He moved to Kentucky where he met my mom and lived here ever since. I remember as kids going to grandma's and everyone staring at us on the playground because we talked "funny." Same thing happens now with my own kids. Somethings never change. Ha ha! When I was little, it took me forever to figure out that "pop" was "coke." I spent most of my time saying "huh?".

I am from Kentucky (USA).

I hated my Peds rotation, too. Kids are not my thing. It doesn't matter if they are sick or not (actually, the really sick ones are not that much trouble - they are as miserable as I am and don't want to be there either). I have 3 kids of my own that I love, but I am just not good with other people's kids. On the floor where I worked before I started school, it had med/surg, oncology, respiratory and pediatrics all on the same floor. I used to beg the charge nurse to not put me on the peds side. Everyone has their own thing. I absolutely loved my hospice rotation. To each his own.

For head lice, we use 1:1 mixture of vegetable oil and white vinegar. The oil kills the lice and the vinegar makes the nit come off the hair easier. Mix the two together in a bottle and pour on the hair. Place a shower cap on or plastic wrap and sit. Leave it on as long as possible (at least 1 hour). Works like a charm. It it safe enough to use everyday where the chemicals can only be used once a week. This is good for those schools that don't follow through with the "no-nit" policy. The only drawback is trying to get it out of the hair. I use Dawn dishwashing liquid. It cuts the greasy oil fast. The hair is so much softer and shinier afterward.