zacarias ASN, RN

zacarias has 14 years experience as a ASN, RN and specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

zacarias's Latest Activity

1. 

   Specific question about UW DNP program

   zacarias posted a topic in NP Students

   Just wondering, has anyone that got their BSN through WGU been accepted to UW's DNP program? Does anyone know how many are accepted each cohort out of how many applicants? Thanks.
2. 

   right med, right dose, wrong route... ouchhhh

   zacarias replied to rvzohfeld's topic in Nursing

   wouldn't epi raise your BP? I guess peripherally it would lower it...but centrally raise it?
3. 

   Online RN to BSN program with tests??

   zacarias posted a topic in Online Learning

   Hi all, I see a lot of the RN to BSN programs online are research paper heavy. I'm wondering if there is a program that is more test heavy as I'm really good at tests? Thanks!
4. 

   Taking off a few months to volunteer?

   zacarias posted a topic in Washington

   Hello! So I know most hospitals' WSNA contracts are similar but I'm wondering something: In the contracts I've seen there are provisions for unpaid leave for military, education, childbirth. What about volunteering? What if I wanted to to volunteer abroad for three months and then come back to work? I wouldn't want to lose seniority nor benefits. Has any else done something similar?
5. 

   Taking off a few months to volunteer?

   zacarias posted a topic in Washington

   Hello! So I know most hospitals' WSNA contracts are similar but I'm wondering something: In the contracts I've seen there are provisions for unpaid leave for military, education, childbirth. What about volunteering? What if I wanted to to volunteer abroad for three months and then come back to work? I wouldn't want to lose seniority nor benefits. Has any else done something similar?
6. 

   BC RN to Washington State

   zacarias replied to bigblondebun's topic in Washington

   SF Bay is not representative of the US so it's hard to compare using that. Also WA is many wonderful places besides Seattle with a much lower housing cost. In fact, hospitals in Seattle will pay about the same as hospitals in another are of WA with a much lower cost-of-living!
7. 

   Home health or hospice?

   zacarias replied to zacarias's topic in Nursing

   I didn't mean to imply that home health or hospice aren't stressful in their own way. I am a good hospital nurse and owe my skills to my years as an acute care nurse. I still believe I would be good at hospice and am inquiring about home health to get more of an idea of that. Z
8. 

   Question about employment requirements while going to WGU?

   zacarias posted a topic in Western Governors

   Hi all! Just wondering if you must be working as an RN while you are attending WGU's RN to BSN program. Also, if you have to be working, do you have to be working acute care or is something like home health ok? Thanks! Z
9. 

   Home health or hospice?

   zacarias posted a topic in Nursing

   Hi all, Due to hospital nursing being really stressful for me I'm looking to cut back and change possibly either to home health or hospice. I have a feeling I'd really be good at hospice but don't know anything about home health in case I can't get into hospice. I have years of hospital experience and good assessment skills. Just looking for ideas on how to start and to find out what it all entails. Thank you!
10. 

    Drawing blood from picc, air? collapsed lumen?

    zacarias replied to zacarias's topic in Infusion

    Thanks for your comment. I think you're right. I also believed it was a fibrin sheath that was preventing easy flow. the part that freaked me out was that there'd be a little blood flow in the picc tubing and then a break with nothing and then more blood. I just have a hard time wrapping my head around that as far as explaining it. Thanks! Z
11. 

    Drawing blood from picc, air? collapsed lumen?

    zacarias posted a topic in Infusion

    Hey all I've never seen this happen but I went to help a new nurse who couldn't get blood very well from a PICC. It was a double lumen and she was drawing from the brown lumen and she got a little blood in the syringe but it wouldn't draw more. It was greating a vacuum in the syringe and then there would be breaks in the blood flow with air?? or something similar. I've never seen in my life and it made me nervous. I tried the other lumen and it drew fine. My question is: On the first lumen she tried, if it was collapsing when she drew blood WHY on earth would there be clear areas in between a little blood flow like it was air? That seems impossible. I was worried about catheter migration but the other lumen drew fine. Thanks Z
12. 

    Question about PCCN or med/surg cert

    zacarias replied to zacarias's topic in Nursing

    Any ideas?
13. 

    best school fnp school in WA state to learn skills like X-ray reading, suturing etc...?

    zacarias replied to zacarias's topic in NP Students

    Thanks for your comment! I think I might look at dual FNP/ACNP programs or possibly just do the FNP and then do a post masters ACNP. Time will tell. Thanks again!
14. 

    ekg fun...or not

    zacarias replied to zacarias's topic in CCU

    OK I see the afib for sure. How did you know the QTc was so long, just by eyeing it? The QT itself is like 0.24 to 0.28, but the QTc is way high like 0.90 or above.
15. 

    Question about PCCN or med/surg cert

    zacarias posted a topic in Nursing

    Hello all! I am at heart a stepdown/cardiac and tele nurse, but as a travel nurse, I've taken recently many med/surg assignments with little tele although I was did true cardiac stepdown earlier this year. My question is the following: Can I still go ahead and take the PCCN exam even though greater than 50% recently has been with med/surg? I hope to go back to stepdown soon or even the ICU where I'm currently at. I ask because I really don't have the desire to be certified in med/surg, but rather PCCN. It seems to me the requirements for certification seem to do with general acute care experience. I didn't see anywhere where you have to have hours in specific disciplines such as med/surg or cardiac/stepdown/tele. I'll have to recheck. Just wondering what you all think or have experienced. Thanks! Z
16. 

    ekg fun...or not

    zacarias posted a topic in CCU

    So this first EKG has electrical alternans because of pericardial effusion...but it's going so fast it's hard to tell if it's ST or afib. I would say ST, but the darn p waves don't show themselves too much. On the second EKG on a different pt, this pt was in low ST like 105-109 and then jumped up to 150 160s. He was just moving a little bit in his bed. And then after a few minutes he went right back down to 105-110s. Where I'm working currently the tele monitoring is horrible so it's hard to see but what the rhythm looks like to me is Afib. What do you think? The isolectric line isn't that squiqly, what else could it be? We didn't do a 12-lead on the guy per MDs orders. Thanks all!