Halinja BSN, RN

A lot of the clinics around here have their nurses full time by having them work 4 9's. That way you still get a day off for those pesky doctor's appts.

I always feel that way in a new job. Just the way I'm built, I guess. But then, it's the same way I feel when I get people's fantasy Christmas letters saying how WONDERFUL their children are, and what a FABULOUS year they had. Take everything with...

Compared to San Francisco, Santa Barbara, or LA/Orange county, Modesto has a "low" cost of living. Compared the rest of the united states...not so much. It is in the central valley, and the central valley, especially the lower portion is a pollutio...

One of the best nurses I know was fired from her first job...as a waitress. Hating to make mistakes is probably a good thing. You're less likely to make them in the first place. That being said...everyone makes mistakes. There are job aids that c...

I worked L&D. The first few times the actual birth was an emotional thing. And there were times right up until the end where I'd made such a connection with the family that my eyes would get damp at the birth. But you get used to it, mostly. ...

Not exactly what you're looking for, but one of our surgeons wears his scrub pants a bit loose. One day in surgery they fell to the floor. They stayed in a puddle around his ankles until he finished surgery.

For our care plans we always had to have a nursing diagnosis. A nursing diagnosis would address the patients functional condition. So, it would be something like ...impaired mobility. The impaired mobility can be related to the arthroscopy, but t...

I'm sure we all see how it would benefit the patients to save money. Maybe nothing would ever happen and the patients would be happily saving money for years. Let's consider a scenario. Let's say the doc writes it. And for some reason, one or the...

I work as an advice/triage nurse in a clinic. We do S-Bar now, though we didn't when I started. Used properly, it is SOOOOO much more effective than the narrative charting/messages we were sending

I found this post kind of ironic. Last week three fresh LPN's were hired at my clinic. Today I was told my RN position had been eliminated. So...I'd say there are still jobs for LPN's.

The one thing I remember from my labor and delivery interview was that a L&D nurse needs to be strong. Able to keep a frightened mother on task, and back a doc down if need be. Work well under pressure. Hmmm...that's about it, but that's probab...

Ask yourself if there are any aspects of the job you like. If the people who are criticizing you were not there, if you were on your own, do you like anything about the work? The patients? Also, if you can get through the first two years, your opt...

Another reason I can think of is a visitor going in to the room, not knowing that the patient is in the hospital might think that the patient had passed and be distressed. (depending on the mobility of the pt) When I worked in L&D we had signs l...

Have given IV decadron PO. Haven't heard of doing it with Zofran. And of course, it was done with a doctor's order.

Well, no family in either OR or PACU. I prefer PACU. But part of that is I just don't like the thought of wearing a cap and mask ALL DAY. I'm not really fond of some surgeons attitudes either, so I do better in PACU where we seldom see them. Yeah...

I think email is fine. In fact, that is how I got my first job out out of nursing school. My first contact with my nurse manager was with an unsolicited email from me to her. I agree that being direct is a good idea. Also, leaving out tentative ...

I've heard that complaint before in hospice. In fact, I tried hospice for a whopping two months, and decided my license wasn't worth the risks my particular administration pushed. I do know, however, that not all hospice companies are the same. So...

At the surgery center I work at, we push Reglan all the time. I can't remember the last time we had a bad reaction. We don't use Compazine much at all. And I would never administer a drug one way and chart it another. What if something goes wrong?...

Is it legal to discriminate based on pregnancy status? Ooh, had to edit to add this (I'm in an evil frame of mind) You likely would hire another person to mow your lawn. But you might not hire another nurse, just work the other nurses a little hard...

At our junior college you had to be an X-Ray tech before you could take ultrasound. To be an X-ray tech you just had to go through the junior college's x-ray tech program, then pass the national test. But as the others have said, the best way to fi...

I distinctly remember that overwhelmed feeling the first day...week...month after being off orientation. Busy L&D, high risk, scarier than all get out, and I kept forgetting things. Needless to say, I was too hard on myself, I hope you can keep...

Um...just a thought. Was it a three check month? Last month was, for us. In that case they do not take out benefit payments on the third check.

It was my first couple of weeks on my own in Labor and Delivery and the patient had delivered. The doc wanted the bag of LR swapped out with a bag that had pitocin in it. I knew we wanted it done quickly, to prevent excess bleeding. This was a doc...

I had a harder time hearing with the dual stethoscope than with my own. If it is hard to hear, it is perfectly acceptable to ask everyone to be quiet. You NEED to be able to hear. And once you pass (you will, I think instructors like to scare stu...

One of the big advantages of Per Diem is being able to say no. It SHOULDN'T be held against you. However...grin...just because it shouldn't, doesn't mean it won't. You say you've got other places that would be interested in you on weekends. So yo...