linhi

If you are unsure, you might go for the LVN first. There are some of them working in hospitals although it's more difficult to get those jobs. They pay more and there are not as many of them. Once you get the LVN and you get into practice, it will give you an idea about how you like it and whether you want to continue on to the RN or not. Don't ever believe you are too old to go for that BSN degree. I'm 52 and working on mine. I got a diploma over 30 years ago which has since become obsolete but still accepted for those of us who have one. LVN's have to do some chemistry too. Don't let those courses scare you. You just need to develop a study plan. Maybe your kids can help. You go girl! Good luck to you. I hope you enjoy nursing as much as I do.

Post op total hip you need to document things like dressing changes and wound, pain assessments and interventions, activity levels and tolerance to PT, fall assessments, skin assessments, don't forget bowel and bladder function, does the patient know total hip precautions, and do they have all the equipment they need for discharge. Otherwise just the normal nursing stuff post-op. It's so much fun!

Having some experience in a med/surg unit would be helpful to working in an ortho unit but you can survive without it. You want to make good friends with a physical therapist to teach you some of the mobility information. You want to make friends with a pharmacist to teach you some of the pain management information. Find one of those old ortho nurses to teach you haw to poke the pillows just right for more comfort. Then you want to join the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses so that you will have the best support system in the world behind you. They publish many references for orthopaedic nurses in all kinds of fields--home health, OR, office practice as well as the nurse on the unit. You can check them out at www.orthonurse.org There is a certification in orthopaedics as well and you can get all the information about that at this site also. There are chapters all over the country where you can participate in workshops and educaitn sessions. We also have an annual conference on the national level that offers about 35 contact hours as well as lots of fun. Good luck with your job hunt. Hope you do get to do ortho. I've loved it for more than 20 years.

Find a physical therapist you can spend some time with to learn how to move patients and then keep them moving. Learn the hip precautions, knee flexion and extension tricks, how to help them use walkers and crutches, where to put ice and how to punch that pillow exactly right to make them more comfortable so that they can rest quickly and then go some more. And while you're there, brush up on your pain management skills and try not to cause nausea because that severely slows motion. We just get 'em going, get 'em going and then keep them going. Your goal is to prevent complications. Then you want to check out the National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses. I've been a member for nearly 20 years and I love them. You can get more info at www.orthonurse.org

The National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses has published references about traction--both skeletal and skin. You can get archives of those articles by writing to www.orthopaedicnursing.com. We also have published research regarding pin care for skeletal traction. I've been doing orthopaedic nursing for about 20 years and I haven't seen a cervical halter in at least 10 of those years. Zimmer publishes a very good traction manual also. Hope you find what you are looking for.