overlyrn

Our facility is going smoke free in Sept., I both look forward to and dread it. I look forward to it because we have enough trouble as it is with pts going out to smoke and missing doctor rounds, ect... but I can already just imagine how well this will go over with pts and families. What really annoys me is how often I'll have a patient go out to smoke and then come back in "terrible pain and nausea", then 1 hour later off they go again! Anyway, it remains to be seen how well this will actually be enforced.

As the mother of a 27 weeker, now a healthy and beautiful 10 yr old, I can't really give a number, but I know that my husband and I were very blessed to have our daughter grow up with very little effects from her rocky start.

I work days on a med/surg floor where we typically have 6-7 pts per nurse, and the CNA's typically have 8-10. It can be very stressful at times but not as bad as it was before our staffing ratios were raised. Use to be that we always had 8 pts, I was very close to leaving the job because I never felt I gave adequate pt care. The best days are when I only have 4-5 pts, very rare but I treasure those days...

I recently took care of an elderly gentleman who was fixated on his genitalia, he talked a great deal about his "John Henry". Later that day, we had an ER nurse bring us a pt and after giving report, asked if he could get someone's "John Henry" on the form. The poor nurse had no idea why we all doubled over laughing....:)

We have an admission nurse on from 10 am to 6 pm 7 days/wk, and it's great! It really frees up valuable time for the staff nurses, and I no longer dread an ER or direct admit.

I work on a med surg unit and often have elderly pts with skin tears. Recently another nurse suggested I use xeroform on a tear, and after approximating the wound, I applied it. I was really impressed with how quickly and well the wound healed, it looked great after 5 days of bid changes. Since then I've been observing other nurses just putting steri-strips over a tear and now I'm wondering which is best? Any opinions? Thanks!

I recently tested a foley cath that, sure enough, had a leak. If I hadn't tested....

I've worn Quarkies for 2 yrs, and love 'em! They are really light, comfortable, and easy to keep clean. I think they are about 40.00.

I didn't graduate from MSU, but I work with new grads from the program and the one complaint I hear is the lack of hospital clinical time. The grads who come to work on my med surg floor have a more difficult time adjusting because they don't have the experience that the local hospital based programs provide. I've heard though that MSU faculty recognize this and are changing things, it's a work in progress I guess...

The hospital where I'm employed pays fifty cents more/hour for BSN, but $1.00 more for certification. I've decided to go for cert at this time, but may go on to BSN program later.

I'm a grad of St. John's/SBU College of nursing and am going on 5 yrs of employment at St. John's Hospital. I got a great start with SBU, lots of clinical time and an overall great program I highly reccommend. Good luck!