littleredmare

Oooh I always used to get the willies when I had the "mental status change" patient on my timecard. It usually involved something being thrown at me and an eventual change of scrubs. But that was a looong time ago...

In response to the previous poster, yes if my patient asks for pain meds or anti-anxiety meds prior to the procedure, of course I will give it to them. The last thing I want is my patient (who already has enough ill stuff going on if they need a BMB) to have pain or deprive them comfort. That comes first. Also, if I sense that someone seems anxious (Nursey Spidey-sense) it is always good to offer pain/anxiety meds prior to procedure. Most of the Dr's I work with offer as most of them are pretty great.

I work in outpatient hem/onc. We do biopsies at the bedside outpatient clinic. They should not hurt. If they hurt, your MD/NP/PA has not numbed up the area enough/used enough lidocaine. The most important part is to make sure that the periosteum (outer bone) is numbed well, you honestly need to numb the bone itself. There should be no pain if the practitioner does this well. If a person is having pain, someone is not doing their job right.

Hi folks, I went to this program. It was great. PM me to discuss in more detail.:)

I work for a hospital in town. I do have to pay for parking which runs $40 a week. I live in the burbs so my rent is cheap. I actually really am looking to transition out of Oncology and into Occ Health because Oncology Nursing is an evil succubus that will eat your soul. Just kidding, but it's just VERY stressful. I work anywhere from 50-55 hour weeks, I am usually overwhelmed with work. I work for 3 different MD's. Prior I worked in private practice Oncology which was less stress but pay was less. Hours were better though.

90K in Boston. But if you're anything like me the burnout makes it not worth it. I wish I had gone to acupuncture school instead so I could really help people instead of pump them full of chemo for them to suffer anyway. I would not recommend it. But that's another thread entirely. For specialty in Boston I started at 75K and after 2 years now it's around 90K pretax.

I work at this hospital. The whole thing is really scary. I am an NP but I feel for the nurses on the floors. It will actually be an (at least) 5 day strike because they have to pay the hire-ins for 5 days. All nurses that work at Tufts will be "locked-out" for 5 days. We don't get paid. Who knows how long it will last. I have a friend who works at Robert Wood in Jersey and lived through a 3 week strike there.

I am so, so glad for this post. I first want to thank the OP for posting this topic as it is such a good one. I am an Oncology Nurse Practitioner. I have only ever done oncology, both as a nurse and an NP. I am applying to Acupuncture school in about a year and a half, I am saving up for school so that I do not need to take out additional loans. I am also currently paying off about 100K in loans from undergrad and graduate nursing school. My job is incredibly stressful. In some ways, I never go home. There are always issues, it never stops. I work a 50 hour week usually. The stress of my job has really sucked the life out of me. I have always been interested in Eastern Medicine and feel that it has a real role in the Western Medical world. I know that I will make a fraction of what I make now as an acupuncturist. However, I cannot spend the rest of my life being stressed, I'll end up with an MI at the age of 40! I have thought about other areas of Nursing, but I think I'm burned out from the whole profession as a whole. I will gladly take a pay cut, even a big one, just to have less stress in my life. Is there anyone out there that has the RN/NP/MD under their belt and is now pursuing a career in Acupuncture?

I bring my lunch. I don't know about everyone else, but I am way to busy lately to take a lunch break, let alone sit and gab with a drug rep. Don't get me wrong, some have some very interesting information...but so far I can get everything I need to know from a book, the pharmacy, or the drug package insert, or Up to Date. I would go and ask them a question if needed, but I'd never eat their food. Though, I'm a vegetarian so that sets me apart from the start.

Any sort of cancer history? A lot of folks who end up with clots have a malignancy floating around somewhere...or are bound for one.

The other thing that factors in is that I will be interviewing (3rd and final interview) for my dream job this week and hope and pray that I get offered the position-it looks really good and they have me meeting with all members of the staff and MD's, and want to make a decision asap according to them. I have been waiting years to have an opportunity like this. On top of all this my mom has cancer and will be going into hospice this week, and I cannot commit to the previous position as they want me to start asap but I need to be there for my mom as she does not have much time. I know I need to do what is right and just be honest. I just don't want to disappoint anyone, and want to make all parties happy, but most importantly, myself and my family. Everything always happens at once. I just hope that I don't end up with years of bad karma for accepting a position and then telling them I cannot come to work for them two weeks later.

I like to say the following, after doing some research about the mean salaries of NP's in the geographic area: "I'd like to make a salary comparable/on par with what NP's in area are making." If they try to get a number out of me I really try to dodge it, and say, it's negotiable. Then, if they low-ball, I don't feel bad asking for more.

If you are suspecting B12 def check a 'MMA' methylmelonic acid-better indicator of B12 def. Most people who are B12 def got there in the first place because they do not absorb or do not have the intrinsic factor (in stomach) to synthesize B12, or are vegans and don't get a lot of it from food. So unlikely to absorb it by mouth, injections and also Nascobal the nasal spray are good in that was, I think injection is cheaper 32cents? I LOVE anemia. love love it. I need to keep my day job too! A lot of hospitals will have a basic panel for anemia-I wouldn't get carried away first off with all the direct coombs etc-those are VERY expensive tests and if someone gets a bill they might not be happy about that one. I'd start with a ferritin, tibc, transferrin sat, B12, MMA, folate, and EPO level and take it from there...sounds like she's anemic from CKD, or a lot of elderly people have some MDS of one form or another...Depends on how farm you want to dig for trrouble!

Hello all, Thought I bounce something off an objective source. So here is a dilemma, hopefully not too vague. How bad is it to accept a job offer, and then reneg it if a more suitable situation arises in the time between acceptance and starting? And if so, what is the best way to handle it professionally with the party with who you are renegging? Just be honest? Thanks!

I think that some med/surg is helpful but not paramount. I think that you get exposure to a lot of med/surg issues when working in oncology (people have issues despite their cancer, or as a result of their cancer) such as ARF related to ureters being blocked by huge ovarian tumor, respiratory failure r/t PE (increased risk of clots with cancer)etc. You get exposure to so much in ONC and it is a good training ground as an RN or NP. littlered