justblink

Our protocol is this: Anti X-A is drawn six hrs after initiating therapy; if sub-therapeutic, we follow the pre-printed bolus orders, bump up the units per hour, and put in another Anti X-a 6 hrs after changing the dose. If the Anti X-a is within therapeutic range, we just draw another Anti-Xa with the A.M. labs. Just remember that Heparin's half-life is short. Oh, and regarding boluses: sometimes, they'll have us bolus 5,000 units SQ. Other times, it'll be with IV heparin.

It's not that bad. It's in downtown New Orleans, run by Louisiana State University. During Hurricane Katrina, the big Charity hospital (located just blocks from MCLNO) was flooded and has not reopened. Thus, MCLNO is known as the "interim Charity" till a new one can be built (years down the road). They get a large number of indigent pts. They get all the trauma -- the ER is state-of-the-art. I did clinicals there while I was still in nursing school. A few months ago there wasn't a Level I trauma center in the entire southeast Louisiana area, but the only hold-up they were waiting for was paperwork-related. I bet by now it's been awarded that certification, but I could be wrong. Their E.R. is the best in the city if you've been shot/stabbed/MVA'd. You will need a car. Public transportation in NOLA has never been great, and downtown is downright scary. The campus is safe, as LSU's medical/nursing/etc schools are in the same cluster of buildings. Parking (garage) is safe. You'll probably want housing that's close, but not *too* far away. I'd look Uptown, in the Garden District (yes there are some affordable places there), Mid-City, City-park, or Lakeview areas. Be aware that in many neighborhoods, the safety of an area can change drastically in a matter of 2 blocks. This is a dangerous city but you just have to be careful. Hope that helped! Pvt message me if I can be of any other help in that area.

West Jeff is a sinking ship.

By all means, take out loans to make your life less stressful. Most of the hospitals in the area are paying $400/mo loan repayment when you graduate. I took out loans I didn't think I needed, but I promise you it was worth it.

I never used a PDA when I was at Charity. More than likely, you should have looked up your meds the prior evening. If you do need to look up something, however, there are always drug books laying around the unit. I brought mine to clinical anyway, though.

And they have raised New Grad rates. It's $22.50 for days now. I'm a new grad.

Delgado didn't want to accept one of my higher-level math classes from Tulane. I was like "y'all are kidding, right? a community college isn't going to accept credit from a University?!" You can always appeal, and should do so ASAP. They are relatively accomodating on the 6th floor at school.

You are right, they're not really important anymore. Most of the lectures are recorded and posted on blackboard. T-notes were awesome when that was your only way to "hear" the lectures over again. Now, tegrity also shows you the corresponding powerpoint presentation along with the instructor's voice recording. oh and if a large number of your classmates decide not to attend a particular lecture, there is a good chance it won't be recorded

Don't bother with a PDA. You'll need a drug guide book anyway (used to look up the meds you'll be giving the next day @ clinicals) so just use a post-it-note to mark the scheduled meds when you are researching your meds the night before. it's also nice to be able to glance at your meds in the drug guide book before approaching your instructor with "hey, mrs __, i have a 4pm med due, let's talk about it. i'm giving ___ and i know it's ___." You'll know it's an ACE-inhibitor because you just refreshed your memory. And don't buy the junk at orientation. In my 1st semester I just used a stethoscope (I like my Littmann Classic, it's just $70), a pen light, small scissors, clip-board with storage beneath it, and probably a few other small things i'm forgetting. Most importantly, RELAX. I know it's a whole new world and a big adjustment but if you establish a rapport with your instructor early on, you will have someone to turn to for questions, advice, and encouragement. 90% of the instructors are really great about helping you along and absolutely don't expect you to know everything. After all, nurses are used to teaching/educating patients and most have shed the drill sargeant thing. I am friends with some of my former instructors. bottom line: be friendly, don't piss off your instructor by breaking simple rules (i.e., dress code violations or showing up late -- they REALLY hate that one ), and play nice with your classmates.

Personally I wore some adidas shoes that had a little bit of tan/gray on them. They were subtle, not blatant violations of the all-white policy. it's hard to find solid white tennis shoes that don't look like something for the elderly mall-walkers! Some girls have work the white Nike Shox, and these are white leather with gray 'shox' absorbers in the heel. So, not totally white. Basically it all depends on how strict your clinical instructor wants to be :) If you're going to spend $100-125 many would recommend the Dansko clogs (the ones with a closed heel). They hurt at first, but after several days they're supposedly a godsend. I'm trying those next.

some test questions from my 1st semester (Basics) came straight from that book. however, the library has several copies. i didn't want to pay the $50 for the book. Never used it again after 1st semester.

HOPE-- you should apply to charity NOW and take the PAX-RN test NOW. I think it's offered every 3 months (could be totally wrong on that, though). Call Delgado -- City Park's campus was my testing center. I say that because it takes about a year from when you apply to actually start classes. So, if you're like a lot of us, you will be finished your prerequisites and will be essentially just waiting for admission.

OH -- not all the T-Notes are totally accurate word-for-word. My coworker graduated with Teresa (the namesake) in ~1998. she basically recorded lectures and went home to re-type what she heard. So, the instructor lecturing on Fluids & Electrolytes in '98 might not necessarily be the same one you get and it might be harder to follow, but most of the content is the same. if nothing else, it'll be a good 2nd or 3rd studying source. I do know that the Immobility/Elimination stuff from Ms. Manieri is totally word for word. Same thing goes for Ms. Sunseri's fun legal stuff (how-to-not-get-sued, what to write on an incident report, etc.). Both of them are really great teachers and are hilarious! I don't think the t-notes hold as much value anymore because Charity just started recording all (well, most) of the lectures on this program called Tegrity that you access via BlackBoard. So, you can be at home @2am re-listening to the lecture you heard earlier in the day or earlier in the semester. it's pretty cool.

I have the T-notes. I can send them via email as Word document attachments. E-mail me if you want them! [email protected] CASN (Charity Assoc of Student Nurses) also sells them burned to a disc for (i think!) $5. or maybe it's $1. I just finished Basics with a 90/B and am headed to NAC I next semester. Here's the advice I can give: -bandage scissors: never used them! don't waste your $5. The dressings you change in Basics are attached via silk or paper tape, and you simply support the surrounding skin as you pull them off with your hand. Easy. -Stethoscope: it's arguable but I'd suggest you invest in a Littmann. I think mine was $70 from stethoscope.com. It makes auscultating breath sounds easy. Just be careful, they're good quality and tend to walk if you don't keep an eye on them. -Pharmacology: Ms. Jordan will be teaching Pharm next semester and she's wonderful. Very, very fair and has an out-of-this-world nice personality. I learned a LOT. and it wasn't nearly as hard as people said. Just study the nursing considerations for each CLASS of drug on that particular test...don't waste your time memorizing names of drugs! (i.e., know what to look out for if administering a benzodiazepine drug [watch the vital signs]; don't necessarily know that the benzodiazepines in her lecture are Ativan, Valium, etc). Also, you don't need to know the generic and brand names. A question might look like this: A nurse is administering Lorazepam (Ativan), a Benzodiazepine. An important nursing consideration is: A) monitor I&O B) vitals q4h C) fluid intake >1500cc/day I just made that up but you'd want B. You'd remember that from the "Nursing Considerations - Benzodiazepines" section of your notes. She will give you the generic name, the brand name, and the class of drug. You just need to know what to do with it. **THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE:** if you have time, studying material from the text couldn't hurt. but realistically, you'll probably procrastinate to the point that it's not an option. MOST (if not all) of the material on tests comes from the course guide. it's on a CD as a ~600-page .pdf file that you get @ orientation. you will need to go to office depot and pay about $20 to have them print it up for you. Make sure you get them to print it double-sided! it's a LOT easier to carry around 300 pages than 600 single-side printed ones! I learned that the hard way! KNOW THE COURSE GUIDE CONTENT BACK AND FORTH! I opened my $140 text maybe twice this past semester, and I did very well. Ditto with the Pharmacology tests. If you know the COURSE GUIDE info, you will do great. the text is lagniappe to me. if you have any other questions I can try to answer, feel free to email me. [email protected] good luck! i have 3 friends starting in august as well.