cdktRN

Look around at different facilities before you anchor yourself to one that might prove too stressful for a new grad. I have worked at hospitals where we had 1:9 on day shift (med-surg/tele) and 1:12 on night shift. As people are aging and the degree of illness increases, the acuity of these patients lends to nurse burnout. I now work at a facility where we have a 1:4 ratio on med-surg/tele on day and 1:5 on night shift. There is a tremendous difference in patient care and a decrease in nurse burnout. Good luck and make sure that you talk to the nurses at a variety of places before you decide where to land for a while.

I was wondering if anyone knows of an agency or how to get into doing private duty nursing with patients seeking surgery outside the USA. After taking a cruise focused on the touring industry, I found that there are many individuals seeking a registered nurse to go with them as they travel to other countries for major surgical procedures. Has anyone done this type of nursing? As long as I am not involved in the hospital care and am there as a caregiver while oversees, what liability would I be putting my license in? As far as I know, these are private payors and do not involve insurance of any sort.

I agree with everybody on this issue. One note is to watch phenergan with post-surgical patients. It can increase the anesthetic if they have not fully breathed it off and can cause them to go back into a coma state. There is nothing that can take it away so give it sparingly to any patient within a 12 hour post-surgical period. We give it in 3 mg increments and I try to warn our new nurses not to give a full 25 mg on post-op patients.

acls now says on biphasics to shock at 200 not 360 that was for the old monophasic...you might make sure which machine you have in your unit just to make sure...

acls now says on biphasics to shock at 200 not 360 that was for the old monophasic...you might make sure which machine you have in your unit just to make sure...

another good thing i found for PF is to wear a night splint...most of them are $50 but they are worth it. it keeps the fascia stretched at night so you don't have that pain in the morning. if the orthotics don't work, you might try the z-coil shoes they are wonderful...i've been down the road with orthotics and shoes and found these to be old feet to be pain free

I have flat feet also and for 2 years I wore crocs/clogs. They finally did my feet in and I now have plantar fasciitis severely in my right foot. At first I tried insoles and wrapping it but that would only last about 4-6 hours into a 12 hour shift. After trying many different tennis shoes & insoles I finally broke down and bought me a pair of z-coil shoes. There was instant relief and that same night I bought them I walked 2 miles just to test them out. There was no more pain when I walked. They are a bit pricey like around $200 but considering how much I've spent on everything, these are well worth the price. Good luck.

Just out of curiosity how many years experience do you have? I know they do not start RN's from this area at that rate so I was wondering how much experience you have. Covenant has very high patient to nurse ratios ... average is 8-9:1 on med surg, 6:1 on step downs and 3:1 in ICU. Do not believe what they tell you about staffing, as covenant does not have a written staffing plan dealing with ratios. They do not staff by acuity either. I do know that covenant is about to lose 30 nurses over staffing issues because it never gets any better and management is not willing to help out. Good luck and truly consider going to UMC (University Medical Center).

My hospital just changed over from scheduled meals to a new menu system and the patients ordering when they are hungry. This has put a lot of added stress on the nurses because now we have to direct our diabetics when to eat and then juggle their insulin around the time the trays might show up, make sure our elderly patients who can't see the menu or dial the phone get something to eat. In some dream land of management this is ideal, but when you have 8 patients (which is ridiculously high but that's our average), it is very hard to deal with. Do any other hospitals have this type of meal arrangement? If so, how do you cope with the different meal schedules etc. thanks.

;)I am also a member of NNOC. Looking at the history of California and what is happening to our Texas nurses raises concerns that Texas is headed down the same road. What is going to happen when our patients are calling 911 from the hospital? Look at the stats from the California ratios, they actually brought nurses back to the bedside. Please also look at HB 1707 in the TX senate right now. It is now in the public health committee. We all need to write and call our reps to have them support this bill. Surely 150,000 RNs is more than the Texas Hospital Association and doesn't our voice and our vote mean more than a few who disagree with HB 1707. Here's a link to the page where you can view the history and the text of the bill. http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB1707 Send this to all of your Texas RNs and let's stand behind Sen Coleman who is already pushing for a better nursing environment which means a better patient environment and care.

First you need to consider why you want to go into nursing and then consider how much time you are willing to give to this project. If you want to be more in the managerial part of nursing, I would suggest going to TTU for the BSN. If you want to be a caring, hands on, patient oriented nurse, I would strongly suggest going to Covenant SON. If you just want the basics of nursing and want to do it the cheapest way and the quickest, go to SPC. The best school for clinical rotations is Covenant, it is also the hardest program even if it is a diploma program. You have to obtain all of your pre-reqs before entering the nursing program at Covenant, unlike Tech or SPC. Also, consider the class size. Tech's class size is huge, like over 200; covenant is about 70 and SPC is about 50. GOOD LUCK!