bookworm1

Hey night-shifters! What do you ladies and gentlemen do on your 'nights' off? Many household chores are out because the sound will wake up the family. I was thinking about a 24 hour gym but those are so incredibly expensive. Any other ideas?? I do not want to switch around between day and night schedule because I just don't seem to have enough days off inbetween to readjust my sleep schedule to make it worth while and I absolutely do not want to risk my patients' lives by going in without enough sleep!

when you catch yourself staring at the patient's dialysis catheter with longing...

I just got my trial 3100 and I can't wait to try it out on the floor. I have used it on my family members to compare to my Master Cardio, and I find the volume adjustment quite helpful! it may be my next Littmann!

thanks so much for posting this! I am a new grad working in cardiac ICU and I am looking for a better scope! this just might be it, although I already have the master cardio by littmann, which I love so far. anyone else have experience with the 3100 or comparable electronic scope?? please share!

I scored ATI with 99.9% chance of passing NCLEX. In addition, I took Kaplan and scored fairly well and received the 'all clear' to test ASAP. Just passed NCLEX in 75 questions!!! HURRAY!!

You are right! I remember Zosyn, along with another abx. It was q8h in the small 100mL bag, right? That is a good start for my med list! Thanks.

As sort of a 'fun' project, our clinical instructor has assigned us to develop a medical scenario that we will act out in our simulation lab and our fellow students will be required to 'diagnose' the patient based upon patient hx, medication list, tx plan, labs, and assessment. My partner and i drew burst appendix. We have developed all of the important criteria EXCEPT for the medication list. I cannot find a list of potential medications and dosages that this patient will likely be on after the surgery. I am sure that there will be abx, but which one or ones? Also morphine, but what dosage? What really frustrates me is that I had a patient w this diagnosis last semester, but I can't remember the details of the medications. I do remember that he had Lovenox injections for DVT prevention because of the risk of clots d/t sepsis (his did result in sepsis). I doubt if she'll require the medication list to be exact, but I really want it to be as close to real as possible. What I am looking for is help in developing the medication list including dosages to include in our 'medical file'. thanks!

My son has the minimed 722. I can say that I love the convenience and control. It is so much easier to dial in a correction-especially since we now have the continuous monitoring device that is an adjunct to the Minimed pump. I hope that it works out for you!

From one nursing student to another: I had a real tough clinical instructor that was more like a drill sergeant and I did NOT want to screw up. He insisted that I do the first foley on a 93 y.o. lady, so I waited 'til he was out of the room talking to the Dr. and did 'peri care' on the patient in order to help locate the spot before I made a complete fool of myself. It worked so well that the instructor was yelling at me how I was in the wrong spot when...it slipped right in and we saw the gold. There was a collective sigh of relief from the group and the instructor actually smiled and backed off for the rest of the rotation. I still use the peri-care routine with 100% success. Besides, the patients often appreciate it.

I does make sense to r/o other causes. I know my doc has an order for an u/s and labs to be done prior to the procedure. I had the labs to document pre and post menses Hgb levels. No mention of doing a biopsy first, but he did require the standard pelvic. He mentioned several different versions of ablation available currently. A newer one that cauterizes the lining via expandable metallic 'netting' sounds very interesting.

"I would do it again in a second! Nothing was worse than having my period for 23 days straight, heavy, clotting the size of apples..stop for a day or two and start back up again for 19 days..stop a day..again for 32 days..on and on it went." Thank goodness I'm not that bad! I usually run for about 9 days real heavy. The problem is that I've become so anemic during that time that I can hardly get out of bed d/t exhaustion. I thought I was just nuts until the doc confirmed the findings with labs pre and post. Glad this is an option. My luck, I'd be one of those that have no change . I think I am going to call the doc in the next week and set up the pre-procedure stuff. Since I have class and clinicals at the beginning of the week, I could probably schedule it for midweek and have plenty of recovery time just in case...i have a high pain tolerance, just can't tolerate meds!

This is something I am seriously considering having done in the near future. The fact that so many people think it is an alternative to birth control is interesting. All the information I've read has clearly stated that the patient CAN get pregnant and must continue using birth control methods because pregnancy post-procedure can be dangerous. I am guessing that the uterine scarring increased the risk of the uterus ripping if a fertilized egg were to successfully implant. In addition, it does highly increase the chance of ectopic pregnancy (according to the pamphlets). btw, those who have had it, how long did it take for you to get back on your feet? My doc highly recommends it for me, but I don't want to take the chance of feeling too sick or be in too much pain to attend class or clinical. The doc was vague on the subject and just explained that it varies with each person... He could have at least given me a range!

You know, you are probably correct. I don't want OB, but I did love my Peds. rotation. Those in love with OB did better than I did on ATI.

The test is tough. I was extremely frustrated with the content difference between ATI and class lecture. I do watch the dvd's, which helps somewhat, but I have little time to read through the book. I don't believe our instructors even looked at the ATI books nor exam, so the answer is "yes, they really don't know". In regards to exam content being the same, well...some of my classmates had the same exam and some didn't! This was the first ATI exam that I didn't pass on the first time through-in fact, no one in my class passed the first time. Unfortunately, starting next semester we will no longer be given a second opportunity to pass:o. I did manage to pass the Peds portion by starting the video portion EARLY and apply the video to the current subject in our lecture portion. There were still glaring differences in content, but the isntructor is always right (at least she is if you want to pass:)

I've applied several times and have never been selected. My EFC has always been well below 1000. Would have been great, though. One of the few that I can receive and still use my academic scholarships. That would have more than eliminated any need for loans...

I have to develop an educational plan for a mentally retarded patient regarding maintenance care for my online Patient Education class. I am supposed to choose something 'simple' so I have decided that educating a patient on the use of a transdermal patch would fulfill the bill. I haven't worked with transdermal patches before and my experience with MR adults is limited. To make it as realistic as possible, I am asking for some help! what I need help with is: 1) What types of transdermal patches are available (I know nicotine, nitro, and a few others) 2) any personal stories on specific difficulties or positive encounters on educating a MR or learning disabled patient on home care for specific medical conditions. Thanks alot! Bookworm1

There is no preparation for it. We were required to take it at the beginning of the nursing program and we are expected to take it at the end of the nursing program. It looks at your critical thinking skills and evaluates areas of strengths and weakness (such as analysis, evaluation, etc.) and offers suggestions to improve on various areas. We were told that "No one passes the first test" (great boost to confidence!), but I passed and my evaluation said that I had no areas of weakness. Yeah right! I am just glad the test isn't a determining factor for our school or we'd have lost out on a lot of excellent future nurses. Unfortuantely, the rest of the ATI tests do count. I just wish the content would agree with the content we are taught in class and in clinical!

Worst:Giving up my family-and life- while in nursing school. Can't freeze dry the kids! For some reason, they seem to keep growing and changing regardless of the fact that I'm not always there to watch and help:crying2: . Best: Knowing that when I'm finally done, I will be in a position to save and change lives! I have already changed my children's lives. They know that my future job is their future education! My oldest are already researching colleges...

:ancong!: Can't wait for my turn!

I am not a nurse yet-just one year to go, but some things I would like to see changed while I am still in school: -more clinical time. We have one 11 hour shift per week to work on the floor. I don't feel like we get to see enough, hear enough, experience enough with one shift per week! The classroom portion is very thorough, but to see the things we are discussing would help immensely! -Hospital politics. I know this has been mentioned before, but even as a student I can tell that each floor and each area within the hospital has their own 'system'. Much of it is just personality, but we should still be exposed in greater detail! -there are just too many other things to discuss! I know that I still have two clinical semesters left, but I still feel so unprepared for the 'real world', as if we aren't learning all that we should.

I didn't hear about the Stafford increase. That is good news! I am also attending a private University and have found financing to be a bit difficult. I was able to do my pre-req's a a local CC, which meant I paid next to nothing. My grades there allowed me to qualify for several scholarships at the private university, which is taking care of a large chunk of my tuition. I am taking a few classes over the summer at the much higher tuition rate, which I had to cover with private loans. My first 2 years of working as a nurse will go into repaying all these loans. We do not get our financial aid information until July-very frustrating!

It is completely ridiculous! As a student, I have worked on many, many research papers. Some have brought me to tears due to frustration, but with each and every paper I've written, I have LEARNED valuable lessons that I would never trade. That's the point: RESEARCH papers are meant to be LEARNING opportunities. Those companies should be illegal. I would expect ghostwriting from students that are studying law and politics-wait, that is stereotyping:chair:

Congrats are in order and good luck! Moraine: home of the 100-page careplan. sorry, had to say that:uhoh21:

I have 5 kids-2 have chronic conditions that require hospitalization and frequent sick days or doc. visits. I have never missed clinicals, although it has been close this semester, but I have been required to miss part of a class here and there. We have no family close by and haven't found anyone willing to deal with the kids-even for a short time-when they are having health issues. My husband has no personal days at his current job, but we've taken advantage of the Family Leave act on several occasions so that I can make it to clinicals. Just try to work out possible issues ahead of time. Work out an agreement with your spouse that he'll cover days you have exams or clinicals, and you'll cover the rest. Nursing school doesn't pay the bills now, but in the end it will! In addition, I make sure my instructors are aware of my situation and bring in proof of their medical diagnoses before I need them.

The careplans my school requires seem to be reasonable compared to surrounding schools. They end up approximately 7-12 pages in length. They really do assist in training your brain for critical thinking, recognizing trends in symptomology, and in assessments. Our instructors are honest enough to admit that we aren't going to see them once we are done with school, but it has already changed my thought processes!