AntFlip7395

I applied for Jan '14 for the AGNP program. Crossing my fingers, waiting for word. From what I understand, an email will be sent with a decision and it takes 6-8 weeks.

Oh wow, in that case I would love to use a continuous infusion of Precedex or Diprivan, if it were legally possible.

Becoming unconscious at work, regardless of the reason, was obviously unintentional. You need documentation from the provider who prescribed the medication in question. You may also need a lawyer if they really choose to pursue this path. If I were you, I would be more concerned about the abandonment charge in and of itself rather than worrying right now whether it would affect entry into an RN program. You don't want to lose your job or your LPN license. Also, many nursing programs require unrestricted licensure just to get in.

I am not sure, but I suspect that a venous gas from a peripheral line would not be clinically useful. Are these existing peripheral lines that have been used to give meds/fluids? In our ER, they draw from a PIV but only one time before it is ever used for anything else. I have only drawn venous gases from a central line. The physicians I currently work with do not order CVPs on PICC lines as it is not considered accurate. It is hard enough to get an accurate read, at times, with a central line. The best ones I have seen are transduced from an internal jugular. IF you were attempting to get a CVP reading from a PICC, you would want to remove any deadspace (i.e. caps).

OMG, I can so relate to this thread! I didn't read through all the posts, so I don't know if these were mentioned but... it's OXYCONTIN people, NOT oxycotton! Also, NEURONTIN, NOT neurotten! It's bad enough that lay people and the news media get it wrong, but I have heard so many healthcare providers mispronounce these two drugs, as well as the oft mentioned Phenergan (Phenigan drives me insane!) OK, I feel better now!

If you can afford to swing it in any way, shape, or form, definitely RN all the way. More money and broader scope of practice in most facilities and states. If not, then go for your LPN and then see if your employer will help you pay for your RN. Just a thought however, you will likely not be able to work full-time regardless of which path you choose because of clinical time. This holds true especially if you are working M-F physician office hours. As far as the title of "nurse", your sister obviously is no more qualified to use it then you are. That does not demean the importance of either one of you, in terms of your position or capabilities. Just remind your sister that the title of nurse is protected in some states and that she might get in trouble for impersonating a nurse.

My thoughts are this. As an RN you need to try to overcome this "shy personality" you refer to. Please do not take offense, because I do not know enough about you to accurately interpret exactly what you mean or the extent of this shyness. In any healthcare environment, but certainly with acutely ill patients, you must be able to advocate and this sometimes means needing to be assertive with physicians. Especially in a teaching facility where you will deal with interns and residents. If you are not interested in psych, it would be my advice that you do not take this position, even if it is only to attempt to transfer to med-surg or any other floor. You will likely not be happy and if you have to take a pay cut, that will add to the unhappiness. Although the reality is that no matter what type of nursing you choose, you will always have "psych patients" and subject to possible violence and manipulative behaviors. LTC is certainly a mixture of psych and med-surg nursing. If anything, look for a med-surg position in this hospital or possibly a position in a long-term acute care center. Since you already have a weekend position that you are comfortable in, it seems to me that you could attend a reputable online BSN/MSN program or find a local brick and mortar accelerated program in your area.

Hmmm...well that depends. Are you wanting to specialize in psych nursing? If not, I do not necessarily see an advantage in leaving LTC. If you wanted critical care experience and had an opportunity to take an internship position in ICU, I would say definitely go for it. Now, you could get your MSN and become a CNS to specialize in geratrics, geri-psych, or palliative care easily with a background in LTC.

Unfortunately, as a traveller you are going to have to float to areas that may be outside your "comfort region". While that may not seem fair, that is the price to be paid for having flexibility and most likely, considerably more money than a regular staff nurse. However, I disagree that an ICU nurse should be able to handle anything that is thrown their way. Exchanging ratio for acuity is not an "even Steven" undertaking. It is highly dependent upon each circumstance. Before going to the ICU, I worked med-surg cardiac tele and at night the average was 7:1. IF you were organized and efficient, and nothing major happened, you would survive. That was with doing bare minimum assessments on people and aides to help out. ICU is a completely different culture. Assessments are more frequent and more complex. I worked on the tele unit for seven years and I know that going back to that environment would be difficult because I am no longer accustomed to it. No matter how sick the patient or how hard I have to work, ICU is for me because I can focus on giving excellent care to all my patients (ratio 2:1) versus having to rush around just to get tasks done on 7 patients and feel guilty because some got more attention than others. Besides, how many times in med-surg have we all basically ignored the majority of our patients while one got all the attention because they were either too sick to be on that unit and the physician wouldn't transfer them to ICU or because the patient/family were a PR problem?

It is not uncommon to observe asystole during a tilt table test. Since this was a young person, they were likely referred to the cardiologist to be worked up for neurogenic syncope. Sounds like it was a positive result!

Nursing is not "a service for their money". We do not get direct reimbursement for our care. There is nothing wrong with expecting competent care for your child, but this expectation must be accompanied with a mutually respectful relationship with his/her caregivers. Do not expect to get the kindest, most competent care if you are not willing to be courteous and flexible while being firm about what you feel is best for your child. At this point, you are a nursing student. Once you are on the other side of the fence, as a nursing professional, I expect your viewpoint will change. You truly have little idea how it is for health care professionals. I believe it is important to listen to people and accomodate them, but this must be within reason. In other words, their "demands" must not jeopardize them, my other patients, or my nursing license. I could give so many examples of patients and families, the latter being the most prevalent, having ridiculous demands and how outrageously they act when their demands are not met. The saddest part of it all is that the powers that be often go ahead and accomodate them because they are afraid of losing business. This sets a precedent of coddling behavior that only makes it harder for the nurses to cope. While I realize that a hospital must make money to survive, there needs to be a code of conduct for patients and visitors that sets limits. I think the reputation of a hospital should stand on clinical excellence first and step far, far away from this butt-kissing trend. Just my

Every situation is different, and of course you'll have to ask your state board of nursing. Schools often turn people down because it would be unjust to have students with felony convictions spend time and money to attend and then be ineligible to sit for the NCLEX.

I hope you are right, but from what I have seen, you could be in the ER for major traumatic injuries, and my hospital wouldn't care. You'd still be written up for being absent. Oh and although they require a physician's note if you've missed more than 3 shifts, you are still punished for being absent.

hmmm...i am going to go out on a limb here and venture to guess that you have never dealt with a nasty drug addict. work with a few and you will realize that you will most likely not be able to develop a therapeutic relationship. i can relate having worked in medical icus where you go through times when it seems the only patients you get are drug and alcohol withdrawal patients. it is not fun to have to get 4-5 nurses plus 2-3 big security officers to get a patient into restraints and give meds while they are hell bent on getting up. it is very, very dangerous work.

I have been sitting here laughing my butt off at all these posts, but I swear to God, this one takes the cake! :roll:roll Ok so I will tell one on myself...not nearly as funny as others. One day I was wearing a pair of scrub pants that were just too big for me. I had been fussing with them all night, tying and retying them to keep them from falling down. I went off the floor to go to the cafeteria. No sooner did I get into the elevator, well, the scrub pants were at my ankles! I pulled them up real quick, but I am sure security got an eyeful. I was wearing underwear, however! Another story, this time, a coworker. She pointed out her wardrobe malfunction, apparently she went to the bathroom and noticed that her bra was not providing quite enough coverage. So, she came back out and asked everyone "why didn't anyone tell me that my nipples have been showing!" Nobody had noticed, or if they did, they didn't want to say anything. So she went around the whole night with her arms over her chest. One of my more mischeivous coworkers at the time decided to punk her though. The next morning, the word "nip" was written by the nurse's name on the assignment board and someone from dayshift, who wasn't in on the joke, was going around asking "who's nip?" :chuckle