Kiringat

I'm a pretty dedicated Tai Chi student. I find ways to fit practice in at work, whether it is doing drills while I'm waiting for a Pt. in the bathroom, doing the fast form (about 45 seconds for me), or the same amount of time circle walking, everytime I walk down a certain hallway. Even sneakier, I can do certain stretches standing at the pyxis, or breathing techniques when sitting. I work nights, and my coworkers are used to me doing stuff random stuff like that. All together, I can usually get in about 60-90 minutes of good practice a night. I also live within reasonable walking distance of my hospital, so when the weather is good I'll walk to/from work. On my days off, thanks to no family or anything else, I can spend hours at the martial arts school. Not everyone can do that though, so finding sneaky ways to integrate a workout into your routine can be interesting! Maybe try something like doing 5 lunges everytime you're are in the utility room, find something weighty and do 5 bicep curls everythime you are in the med room, whatever. Remember that you don't have to put in consecutive hourse of excercise to get benefits. A minute or 2 of a good concentrated stretch or basic exercise can still do a lot of good!

Hi all, Long story short, I'm 28, I have been working as an RN (Acute Care) for about 2.5 years now, and just completed my BSN in December. It has always been in the back of my mind to look into military nursing once my BSN was complete, and I am giving it some serious thought now. I did my ADN Capstone at a VA hospital, and was impressed with a culture dedicated to something beyond making a profit. I am looking at either the Army or Navy Active Duty, and would like just a general idea of the best way of getting the ball rolling. My biggest question is how doing an ADN-BSN track will be received. Will it hurt me that I got my ADN, and have worked as one 99% of my career before earning the BSN? Or is a BSN pretty much a BSN? Secondly, I know I need to talk to a Healthcare recruiter. Besides the obvious, like a resume, transcripts, etc, what other documents are good to have handy? Assuming I can wrangle all the paperwork, and my Recruiter stays on top of things, how long might the application/selection process take? Is there really such a massive glut of applicants to go through? Thanks!

I take my 9mm down to the local range and fire off a couple hundred rounds about every 2 weeks. Its amazing stress relief. I also study Tai Chi, and will frequently go to the local park to get some practice/meditation in. I am also studying the Tai Chi sword forms, and enjoy hacking apart an innocent box once in awhile with my sharp sword. Yes, I get weird looks when I tell people about the above, but it allows me to get rid of stress and get back to being a great nurse my next shift.

I don't think so, I would think the anemia would be due to the underlying reason for the ascites, not the ascites or paracentesis.

You don't have to jab the entire length of a needle into somebody...

I keep a small bottle of lavender essential oil with me at all times. The stuff is fantastic at covering up odors when dabbed under the nose or the inside of a mask. Even works with c-diff and bad GI bleeds. Just don't do it within sight of the patient.

Considering they know I work for the hospital system the second I hand over my insurance card, I don't see the point in hiding that I'm a nurse. I don't go flat out and say it, but if someone asks, I'm not going to lie. Plus, I always seem to drop a medical term, and get looked at funny until I explain.

When I work 3 12s in a row, with 4 nights off, I stay up all night the night before (maybe a quick nap from 3-5am), then sleep all day until work. On my first day off, I will try to stay awake until at least 1 or 2 in the afternoon, take a nap, and then get on a normal schedule. On my days off, I try an do what my body wants, and seem to fall into a going to bed around 10pm, waking up about 5 am routine. If I don't have a long stretch of time off, I just sleep when ever I feel like it, staying up the whole night before my first night on.

We are usually out of the basics - gowns, tissues, wipes... etc. by 0200 Saturday. We've actually gotten in the habit of forming a team about that time to make a scrounge run to central supply and other floors for supplies. What is really frustrating is when we run out of not so basics, like IV fluids, medications, flushes, and batteries for telemetry. We've taken to keeping lists of things that run out and passing them both to our floor manager and the acute care manager. Been doing that for a while. Still run out of the exact same things at the exact same time. I know they are trying to save money, but does making your staff run around (for I'm sure what adds up to hours) really make sense?

After a loooong, horrifying shift (or when they call and try to get me to work a 5th night), the first verse or so of Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi: It's all all the same Only the names will change Everyday, it seems we're wasting away Another place, where the faces are so cold I drive all night just to get back home... Then there's the Everything Comes Down to Poo song from Scrubs... good times!

I bought nice scrubs. No one outside of work needs to know I am a nurse.

I'm going to test for my Acute Care Certification next month...

No verbal orders unless there is a code or other emergency. If a doctor is around and tries to give me an order in a non-emergency situation, I will offer to go get the chart and a pen (or just freaking hand them the chart!).

http://www.ismp.org/newsletters/nursing/Issues/NurseAdviseERR201007.pdf Here we go! Can't see the "edit" button on the hospital browser, sorry about triple posts!

I will try to find a direct link or scan my copy of the newsletter when I get home.