tvccrn

The courses are very interesting. I am in my last semester of the nursing ourses and start the specialization courses in the fall. You take two 8 week courses a semester so it is not overwhelming with the amount of research and paper writing. I spend about 10-12 hours a week between the discussions and the asignments.

What would you people have done in the days where you had to wait 2 WEEKS for the results from the computer NCLEX?

Having never worked in an intensive care setting before and taking care of my first art line, I was nervous when performing my first tubing change. We changed out our bags and tubing every 24 hours. This was back when they still had heparinized solutions for the lines and we used the old hard, blue TYCOs. I got all the supplies ready and took everything into the room. Ran though the procedure in my head and did everything perfectly (in my head). Reached up and...pulled the spike out of the bag, still in the TYCO, still pressurized. Did you know that you cannot move fast enough to get that thing off the IV pole before the ENTIRE 500 ml bag (minus the 72 ml for the flush) empties out onto you and the floor? Did you also know that heparinized saline is VERY sticky? I do. No matter how much we mopped we could not get the floor clean enough to keep me from squicking every time I walked across it for the rest of the night. Fortunately, we had a locker room with showers and I had extra scrubs in my locker.

I do not know much about working at DHMC, but I do know that unless you already have your BSN they will not hire you. I had applied there when I was looking to move here. I had 3 years of PICU experience in a PICU that did everything except ECMO and transplants, never got a call back even though they listed 5 open positions. After moving here and talking with others, I found out that they will not hire less than an experienced BSN. I hope you had good luck in your search.

No, just a generic exclamation.

bookmarking this

Sheesh..I live in northern New Hampshire. Our hospital is slated for 25 beds, critical access. If we have more than 12 patients we are "crazy busy". Our ED is a total of 6 beds..no cath lab..anything with a TnI of 2.0 is sent to the closet tertiary center (Dartmouth) which is 2.5 hours away by ground and 1 hour away by helicopter (if you can get them to fly). Our MCU is three beds, 1 nurse. I haven't taken care of a vent for more than a couple of hours while transport was being arranged, we don't do hemodynamic monitoring outside of the very occasional art line or CVP. Central lines are a rarity and we don't do organ donation, just tissue donation as we are too far from any place for the organs to be of any use. So, you think YOU'RE rural? I don't think so.

Saying that someone has "moved their bowels" is asking them if they have had a BM (bowel movement). We say this all the time in the ICU.

I am currrently enrolled in the program and I love it!! I can work on the curriculum at my leisure and find that it doesn't overwhelm me. I usually spend about 10 hours a week on my coursework.

I don't think she meant love for her patients, per se. I believe she was referring to the love the parents had for each other and it is Love like that, that makes it all worthwhile.

I love these!! Keep 'em coming.

Cinnamon does help control blood sugar, but not as the SOLE treatment. In junction with other medications, it can add an extra layer of treatment.

How old? I have been a nurse for over 16 years and have never heard this term. You learn something new everyday.

This is why people should not go into nursing for the money. If you don't like it, get out. Don't waste your time or the time of anyone else.

Make copies of every form you fill out and send to management. If you have a conversations with someone, write it down (Date, time, who you spoke with and the content of the conversation) Be VERY specific!! As Rob72 said state, "On 9-19-2011 @ 1327 in OR#3, RN in question was observed by this RN, scrub tech, and circulating RN to touch hair then proceed to open sterile pack without re-scrubbing or changing sterile gloves. Once RN was appraised of noticed breach of sterilty, RN then continued to set up table and not re-scrub or changes sterile gloves. MD of case notified who then confronted RN who then proceeded to re-scrub before donning new sterile gloves." Use names of witnesses, places, and specific times. Make note of your actions to correct situation and his reactions. You can not be too detailed, but do make certain that you are not falling into some of the same things you documenting about him. Good luck!!