nursprl

you liked Arnold Palmer? i hated it there..i was bored in their PCICU

UVA has a new grad nursing program that is 6 months w/ a preceptor and 6 month probationary period. I did it 8 years ago.

Ark kids is doing away with travelers at the moment.

where are you driving from in Indiana and to where? I drove from northern VA to South Bend in 9 hours..i had a portable dvd and listened to movies on the drive. some people do book on tape/cd. if you have any friends or relatives, see if they'll go with you and pay for their plane ticket home.

I did three Peds CVCIU assignments: All Children's in St. Petersburg, FL earlier this year and Arkansas Children's last year and Medical University of South Carolina several years ago. Orientation for those facilities was one day hospital and two day unit. Currently neither hospital has any openings for CVICU or PICU at the moment.

Sent you a PM!

Thanks for letting me know: greatly appreciate it. What's the area like during the summer? Lots of Nascar fans around?:D

Thanks for getting back to me. Were the assignments given fairly or were the travelers given the chronics (GT vented trach patients?) Were travelers allowed to take CVICU patients (new post-ops) or allowed to take the complicated, sick patients? How many beds does the unit have?

Any travelers worked here. Need the scoop on orientation, any testing (BKAT/PBDS) required, how are travelers treated, scheduling, etc.

attachments removed..sorry

My old hospital had a Critical Care Float pool and an Acute Float pool. So whenever a pool nurse is needed, its from the CC Float and they get about a 6 week orientation and they rotate to each ICU and get about a week on each unit. I worked in the PICU and we get NICU and floor nurses if CC float isnt available and they get the less serious patients.

95 may be your best route..if you can time it so you get through the md/dc area late at night, traffic is pretty clear (anytime after 11pm). i drove from NH to VA in about 8 hrs and it was mostly night driving.

less people to deal with...different medical service teams (chief, many residents, and med students..about 10 people on each service), administrations isn't around, less family members and visitors

Consider the Tampa area. I agree with above poster about ORMC. You feel like your license is on the line.

Orlando Hospitals suck: Orlando Regional and Florida Hospital. Pay is low, even as a traveler and you feel like your license is on the line. I thought Tampa and St. Petersburg weren't too bad. I felt appreciated at All Children's in St. Pete and was treated well; where at Arnold Palmer (part of Orlando Reg., I was an overpaid baby-sitter who was bored for 12 hrs).

This was an adult CVICU?

I'm looking for any information (good or bad) about Riley Children's PICU and Peds CVCIU. Are the units traveler friendly? Do you get the to get good pt assignments? How is traveler scheduling done: along with the core staff or fill in holes? What about Methodist's PICU? Do they have a CVICU as well? Any information greatly appreciated. I'm looking in going to Riley next and want to know all updated info and experiences please. Thanks NursPrl

I'm looking for any information (good or bad) about Riley Children's PICU and Peds CVCIU. Are the units traveler friendly? Do you get the to get a good pt assignment or get dumped on? How is traveler scheduling done: along with the core staff or fill in holes? What about Methodist's PICU? Do they have a Peds CVICU as well? Any information greatly appreciated. I'm looking in going to Riley next and want to know all updated info and experiences please. Thanks NursPrl

im not sure about the nicu other than it's busy as hell, but from nurses who have worked in the picu...turn around and walk away. thats why they are paying so much because they are desperate and no one wants to work there. your license seems to be in jeopardy...the staff nurses (picu anyway) put travelers with trach/gtube patients and triple assign.

How about an 11 year old girl who was on vacation and ended up with a severe head injury after falling off a cliff. She ended up in the PICU for 6-8 weeks, intubated, ICP monitoring, craniotomy for severe head swelling, and neurological storming. We didn't think she would be back to normal; would have major deficits. We sent her home to NY for rehab and one year later, on her anniversary, her mom calls us up in our PICU to tell us how she was doing. Mom said she walks with a slight limp and a slur in her speech. This girl came onto the phone (we had speakerphone on), said hello to all of the nurses, and played her violin as if she was never in an accident. Listening to her play her violin 1 year after her accident brought tears to all the nurses eyes. I should mentioned she is a classically trained violinist before her accident and second chair in one of the orchestras in NY. How's that for an inspiring story!

I worked in the PICU and Ped CVICU, and liked them both. It's near the Downtown area and close to the College of Charleston. There are some shady areas, but I think most university hospitals live in the shady areas. Just be sure to have your PPD done within 3 months of hire, or they won't let you go further into orientaion. The pay is in the mid-20's but someone recently posted 31/hr pay. They are currently not using PBDS but have purchased the material for it. I'd get in now before they implement it, or ask if they have already started.

Go to Cove Point Foundation - Congenital Heart Disease. You can order this field guide from that site. It's written by the cardiologists, surgeons, and others I use to work with. It's a cool site and manual.

I caught it twice last December and was sick for the entire month:angryfire Not a good thing to have twice in one month, especially when you are a travel nurse. Thought I had strep at one point..thankfully it wasn't.

You know you're a peds nurse when you look for scalp veins in a newborn at home. You know you're a peds nurse when you feed your niece facing you in your lap and burp her using the chin hold (this is true with me and my cousin who is also a ped nurse..we have pictures).:smackingf You know you're a peds nurse when adults ask you for medical advice, you tell them they are out of your age range.

Yes in peds/picu/nicu a "waste" syringe is aspirated to clear the line of heparin and/or electrolytes if from a cvl so you'll be able to draw a "clean" syringe of blood for your sample that tested. That way you don't get false readings ie high ptt or elevated K or glucose b/c not enough "waste" was aspirated. As I said before, in the small patients we give back "waste" because they have a low blood volume and keeps them from getting a blood transfusion if they require frequent lab draws. Same thing for the ped. cardiac patients as well. The 90-sec rule is common/best practice from what i understand because that was what I was shown and learned when I started nursing 6 yrs ago. It was commonly seen in several facilitites I worked, I even asked them if they returned "waste" blood and some say they do. Each facility or unit has there way of doing things. I've returned the first aspirated syringe to my patients for so long that it becomes habit; from the tiny newborn to even the bigger kids. But with each facility I work in, I've always asked first and the common response is they do for the small patients b/c of blood volume.