ChemoRN

Hairy Cell Leukemia is one of the better in a class of really bad diseases. I mean leukemia stinks, but it usually carries a better prognosis than the acute leukemias and sometimes better than chronic ones. Of course, every rule has a rule breaker....

Sunnygirl72, I am so sorry to hear your bad news. The "big C" can be scary no matter how good the prognosis is. I am a hematology nurse that works primarily with leukemia and lymphoma patients, so I hope I can be some help. When doctor's say "low g...

Pappy, I am an inpatient heme onc nurse, so I don't deal a lot with CLL since it is managed outpatient primarily. I have a friend with CLL and have gathered most of my info from trying to help her. CLL is frequently managed with W&W, but if it's...

Vote #3 for peripheral neuropathy! I had a patient who had peripheral neuropathy and told me that he felt like he had saran wrap on his feet. Similar? Peripheral neuropathy is dose limiting for a lot of chemotherapies. Be sure that you report it if...

This exact thing happened to me, except it was Demerol IV. I wasted a lot of "demerol" with a certain nurse - only it was saline! You can't tell the difference! Nothing happened to me because of it, just a lot of data collection stuff. It made me ...

27 patients gives us 9 nurses, 4 techs and 1 MR. That's what we are allowed to have. If you don't have 9 nurses, you just suck it up. We do have some variance with acuity. I have worked with 8 and been bored and I have had days where I would have ...

Dont' forget Bone Marrow!! Save a life with just some discomfort in the hip region and 23 hours in a hospital. You even get cool drugs and a nice nap, all billed directly to someone elses insurance! Where can you get a better deal? http://www.bo...

During our last semester, our instructors made us take TONS of old NCLEX tests. Like 3-4 a day. They were the old "pencil and paper" ones. Sounds like a great idea, right? Well, there was one particularly interesting section. The director of the ...

I have attended a few patient funerals - the one's who were really special to me. I admit I did it for myself, to get closure, etc. But I think it benefitted the families also. At one particular funeral, I was invited to sit with the family and w...

This is CRAZY on so many levels!! First of all the fact that you are not their babysitter!! Tell them teenagers are available for that job - NOT RN's!! We don't allow children under 3 on my oncology unit. They don't get past the front desk, period....

Agree with all of the above responses!! Also, the locator may tell where you are, but it can't tell what you are doing. Say a newer nurse has a clinical question and needs support. The two of you are in the staff lounge for longer than your allot...

That sounds like the type program I did. It was a weekends only program. Only covered the nursing stuff, though. I had to get my pre-req's before I started. Took me 2 years to get my degree. Really worked into my life at the time, but was pretty...

Gloves Gloves Gloves!!! I worked through both of my pregnancies and was VERY lucky to have awesome support. I did not have to deal with isolation patients or handle chemo or anything, AND I did not catch any slack about it, if you know what I mean. ...

Congratulations!! First babies are so exciting! I worked my full nine months (Or 8 1/2 as the case may be ) IMHO - you're already through the hard part. Nothing like working in your first trimester when the meal trays come around. Make way for the...

Ya think chemo could fix that? :eek:

Moni - I was in your situation a few years back. I chose to go to the "tech" position. Never regretted it a minute!! I don't remember actually studying at work, but I learned things I could apply in my classes. It really gave me a heads up when I...

ShannonRN I am so sorry to hear about your friend's mom. Her prognosis is variable depending on what type of bone cancer she actually has. More than likely, given her history, she does not actually have bone cancer. Rather she has breast cancer ...

I actually have had people in the blood lab suggest treatment!! I had a patient who was bleeding. Not gushing or anything, but bleeding and we couldn't get it stopped. The plt count that AM was Patient had gotten a 4 pack (gone are the days of 6...

I had a doctor introduce me to one of his colleagues as "the best nurse I've ever known". It was pretty special because this particular doctor was also my patient :) :) :) :)

SpecFuz: I have heard great things about the Columbia State C.C. in Franklin. Work with some RN's who graduated from there and they are awesome. Vol State C.C and TSU have a joint venture ADN program that is not very expensive. The school is pretty...

I've said it before and I'll say it again - My docs ROCK!! We have one who donated a large sum of money to buy all of the nurses on our floor (about 40) personal gifts for nurses week. He felt the hospital didn't do enough. He had one of the nurses...

1-800-4marrow or www.marrow.org these are your contacts to get on the bone marrow transplant donor list. it's a very expensive test and you may be told that their is a charge to be put on the list. once you are on the list, there is no charge and w...

:roll :roll :roll People have heard of "Universal Precautions" but not chemotherapy precautions! I have NEVER EVER EVER mixed chemotherapy. I'm sure in some places nurses do - but they are trained in how to do it right. When I was pregnant, ...

I really liked the core curriculum study guide. It had sample questions and such in it that helped me think along the right lines. So much of what I do has become second nature that I need rationales to jump start my brain. also, get a good review ...

KeniRN: I haven't been on the board in a while, and just saw your post. I am so sorry to hear about your friend's dad. I hope everyone is doing well. You are a good friend.