CraigBSN02

What Missnurse said. No replacement for hospital experience. Start in the hospital, and forget about the EMT program. Unless you see your career path leading you to a first responder type position (Flight Nursing or Transport Nursing). However, with ...

Starting out in Tele gives you a leg up on the competition for the TICU positions. TICU is competitive and there are fewer of those jobs; They are going to take people who have floor experience first. It's also beneficial if you are working for the f...

Greets, I'm a 10 year CEN ER nurse who is "looking to try something new". I've done ER from 100,000 + academic centers to 6 bed rural hospitals. I love the really sick patients and I like the intensity that their care demands. I'm thinking about movi...

Har har har. I love this thread. :rotfl: My least favorite are the ones with minor complaints and a condescending/demanding attitude. This is the nightmare scenario: Young couple late 20s, childless, possible married but in a relationship nontheless....

Hey all, I'm beginning to get the itch to do something more with my BSN. I really like the idea of being an ENP, but I haven't found too many schools offering it specifically. So far: University of Texas - Arlington University of Texas - Houston Univ...

The economy affects us all, but hospitals in the DC market are still hiring. GWU Hospital, and several INOVA locations (Mt. Vernon, Healthplex, Fairfax). As far as travel nursing goes, fuhgeddabowdit! Contracts have all but disappeared nationwide. -C...

No no , and no! If ICU is really what you want to do, and you "really feel you belong", then there is no stopping you. Study hard, learn alot and you will succeed. This bogus "new grads can't handle the ICU" theory needs to go the way of nursing caps...

More precisely, you can challenge (sit for the exam) for a paramedic certification as long as you have a BSN and a active RN licensure. -Craig RN, BSN, and others... :-)

Did you contact the attending MD and get orders for this guy's AMA? Did you have the patient sign the AMA form and provide him detailed discharge instructions about what could have and what he should do? Was the patient in command of his faculties? I...

You stated that your goal was to become a flight nurse. If that's the case, the big messy ER is where you'll need to get some experience. However, that may not be the best place for you. Allow me to explain... Critical care/flight nursing is an advan...

If you have to ask this question, then you do not need to work during nursing school. :-) Those of us that needed to pay rent, eat, put gas in the car, etc. etc.... we worked because there wasn't a choice. If you're a "traditional student" coming rig...

If you wanted to be a policeman, how much sense would it be to be a firefighter for a year? If you're a person who is certain that one specific specialty is what you want and have make it your career path thus far (eg: you want to be in ER, so you be...

For shears, there is only one correct answer... http://www.bigshears.com (picture attached for proof) Suckers are big, too. Weigh about a pound (~400gm) They can cut thru anything. Denim, leather, boots, bad attitudes, you name it. -Craig, RN, BSN, a...

Ever seen when a character passes out? All the "color" drains out of him so that he's see-thru?? I ask for a reason. Keep reading. My pt is a young adult, transferred to us for a distal comminuted humerus fracture with radial nerve palsy. We'll call ...

I agree with your decision. The fact that this lady had risk factors out the wazoo is a side point. However, this doesn't sound like new onset cardiac pain. The salient points are: reproduceable RIGHT side chest pain x 1 year and dyspnea on its own t...

Yes, they have internships and externships. Usually coincides with school graduations, but ideally they'll start a new grad training class whenever they're enough people. I think it's pretty heavily skewed towards newbies, though I don't know wha...

I;ll join the 'wash your hands' chorus. And remember; c-diff is unaffected by hand sanitizers or the alcohol hand rubs that are often used in lieu of handwashing. Don't stress. :-)

:ahem: Seeing as how the s.o. is from Maui, allow me to expound on a few things. Maui is god's country. Top 3 most beautiful places I've ever seen, bar none. People who live there, truly live 'aloha'. Maui is nicknamed the Valley Isle, so there are ...

Been with Cross Country for 2+ years, the same recruiter for 2 years solid, and I've had an excellent experience. Good pay, decent benefits, housing is the one wildcard. Sometimes, it's fantastic, other times is meh. Any and all complaints I've had h...

Ask someone with whom you work with (in a supervisory position) how they would rate your clinical competence and skills. Compare these to your own personal list of 'great good/bad' skills, and see where they mesh. When you apply for postings, ask you...

Been traveling solid for 2+ years now. Seen Hawaii, mostly all of Florida, now staying in DC for a bit (2 years) before probably heading off to Texas. It's been great, assignments have been nearly all good (1 or 2 stinkers, but hey, I can do anything...

Traveling is awesome. I'm seen more/done more/made more that I ever hoped to do working at one facility. Sure, there have been average & poor assignments, but the good outweighs the bad. If you're flexible with where you lay your head, there's no...

I've been working agency/travel for 2+ years now, averaging 9 months per location (Hawaii, Jacksonville, Orlando, DC). It helps to go with a larger company if you want a selection of different locations. However, if you want local only, you would bes...

A little story for your weekend coffee... allow me to paint a picture for ya. ***** 0030 on a weekday night, in a usually busy (but not tonight) Level 1 ER. You're doing your thing, got 4 patients and are keeping up with them. In comes patient number...

There's lots of alcohol-related complaints here. I've found that the hospitals here would rather let the person "sober up" and then release to custody of a friend. Besides, if the person is a chronic drinker, and their serum ethanol is 0.36, what is ...