tde1992

I have never understood why someone would work in a facility where they are the primary nurse and have no coverage. I work in an ICU where I have 2 patients and tons of other nurses around to assist. That is why I can take all of my breaks everyday. I would feel like I am being taken advantage of if I could not take my breaks and they were taking the pay from me. I would never walk in anyones shoes who worked with 10 patients and they were the only nurse. That to me is inconceivable, but that is my opinion. Good luck on getting a lunch break, try to stay concious, check your blood sugar.

We are required to take a 1 hour break. You can split it up to 2 15min breaks and a 30 min lunch or a one hour break or a 15 min. breakfast and a 45 min lunch. They are going to take the time in pay from you anyway, the patient isn't going to die. There are numerous nurses and doctors on my floor the patient will not die. Take your break. I need to get away for awhile and relax my body. You are not a super hero, you can only accomplish what you can. And you won't accomplish much if you don't take care of yourself. Ask for help, you don't have to do everything yourself. The most important thing is that the patient is alive and stable. Also planning ahead helps so much. There has only been 1 time I couldn't go off the unit for lunch and that was durring a blizzard when we were extremly short staffed, but the cafeteria delivered us food for free and we got paid for our lunch break.

I know, I don't like referring to an older persons undergarments as diapers. It is degradding enough that they are wearing them. I just call them undergarments. It sounds respectful that way.

Go to ICU, do what makes you happy. If you are in Maryland University of Maryland Medical Center (Medical Intensive Care Unit) needs nurses. We hire new grads (I was one of them). Our orientation is now 4 months. We have an excellent mix of experienced nurses mixed with new grads, mixed with nurses from various countries. It is an amazing experience. I could not imagine trying to locate a MD. Our residents, interns and fellows are always on our unit. I think that I would not survive on a med-surg unit. I say this because it is nothing like a sedated/ventilated patients. You got to love who ever invented propofol, fentanyl, ativan, and midazolam. Nothing like a comftorable, quite patient.

I started in an ICU straight from school. I command anyone who works on a med-surg floor. I could never have more than two patients. Organizational skills are something I think is innate. You assessment skills will always improve and it should. You should always be reaching towards self actualization in any profession you are in. In an ICU you can focus on just 2 patients and truely get an understanding of what is going on medically. It is an excellent environment if you are a person who loves to learn. In my ICU (in a large teaching hospital), we have residents, interns and fellows that are on the floor at all times. The attendings are here for rounds and periodically. The nurses takes part in rounds. We have PCT who do vitals Q2H, the do baths with the nurses assistance depending on the acuity of the patient. We have a transport team (with a nurse) finally which is a blessing. I do not believe you have to be a med surg nurse first. It's just like starting any new job it will be a little overwhelming at first then it gets easier, just like anything in life. But you won't know unless you try. Stop sitting on the sideline, go out and play the game.

You can never go wrong with shock absorbency Nikes. Have worn them for years. Never had foot problems, painful legs or any problems. They last for at least 2 years.

I am applying to programs and made the mistake of telling a co-worker, now people who I rarely talk to keep asking me, do you get an interview, when will you hear something. I wish i did not say anything about it.

I am glad this info was posted I am an RN and thinking about applying to Kaisers program.

I agree with NICU 3 RN, you should never recap a needle in any situation. Be conscious of your surroundings. Especially in a code situation you have to keep your head and remain calm otherwise you will get lost in the mist. Put your sharps in the sharps container. Remember to always keep your patient and yourself safe. Also I see a lot of nurses getting blood with a syringe then transferring it to a vial with a needle, that is another no no, your facility should have a needless transfer device use those as much as possible also.

I started in the ICU as a new graduate. I did my senior practicum in the ICU (1 to 1 with an ICU nurse). But I know people in my class who did practicums in other areas and they still began working in the ICU. Basically I would prefer ICU over a med-surg floor anyday. You can focus on 1 to 2 patients. Although they are sicker you can focus your care on them and not on a gazillion patients. Also the residents are always on the unit (large teaching hospitals) along with the fellows where you can pick their brains. I hear smaller hospitals doesn't have residents assessible to them at all times. The experience is great, I could not imagine being on a med-surg floor.

I am an RN also an Occupational Therapist who have worked with lots of spinal injuries back surgery patients. Check rehab journals, rehab textbooks where you can find multiple articles. Type in something like status post lumbar laminectomy, compression fractures. Also you can look under orthopedic journals. Go to the American Occupational Therapy website, the American Physical Therapy website or Orthopedic association website and they will give you the websites for different online rehab journals.

Thanks for that information regarding getting the order. Primarily I normally test the aline for the square line, look at the waveform and always zero the line. I also prefer to place the transducer on the patients arm so that it can always stay in alignment regardless if a tech moves the bed up or down. My patients are normally sedated so they aren't moving their extremeties.

I also went straight to an ICU with no problem. I could not imagine working on a med-surg floor. Which ever floor you go to you will be oriented for 3 months. Don't be afraid if the ICU is what you want go for it.

Quite naturally I was referring to BSN. In my opinion going to an LPN program then to an ADN program then to a BSN that is a waste of time and money when you think about it logically and I am not trying to step on anyones toes. How can someone possibly think that you need to be a CNA to understand what a nurse does or that it will make you understand how your assistant feels. Do you hear a dentist saying that they need to be a dental assistant first, or an attorney saying that they have to be paralegals first. I am not saying anything is wrong with a person who wants to take a long traveled road to get to a profession, but why would you if you didn't have to. If it was up to me LPN and ADN programs would be eliminated. It makes the profession looks bad when you are working with other healthcare professionals who alot of the entry level programs requires a masters degree. I know because I am also a physical therapist. How can you expect other professionals to hold our opinions in high regards when we have people in our profession who doesn't even hold a college degree. I am not saying that this would make someone more intelligent over another but when you don't have the fundementals that hopefully you obtained from a bachelors degree, i am sorry but your opinion wouldn't matter much. And yes some nurses with a ADN or LPN's may have alot of clinical skills that was learned by doing the same thing over and over again, but that does not make you a professional. A true professional understands why they are doing what they do and can anticipate outcomes based on learned knowledge. Say what you like keep giving your money to schools. I also noticed alot of nurses don't want to be challenged or understand what they are doing. They are content with taking orders, pushing pills and running around all day like a chicken with their head cut off instead of sitting down and thinking about what is going on with the patient and how their interventions will affect the patients outcomes. Oh and before anyone comments my entire purpose of becoming a RN is to go on to CRNA school which I am doing after 1 year of bedside nursing.

thanks for responding. can you give me the name of the article and where i can find it.

I honestly would say don't waste your time with getting your LPN, your limiting yourself and just prolonging what you really want to do. On that note I would also say don't attend an Associate program that is also prolonging the inevitable because you will still be limited in your scope of practice as an RN. The people who benefit by those persons getting a LPN, then the ADN then the RN are institutions who will accumulate your money. And God forbid you go on and get your MSN or PhD, you will be in school forever and giving so much of your money and time to higher education institutions. Also the amount of time you spend getting an associate degree (you have to do the same prerequisites or maybe 1 or 2 classes less) then still 2 years of actuall nursing courses it will be a total of 4 years anyway. Just my opinion. Go for the brass ring.

LPNs in the baltimore/baltimore county/glen burnie area in nursing homes vs hospitals get paid more. For example in anne arundel county i know a LPN who gets paid $22 hr. that is almost equivalent to what i make in a hospital as an RN. In hospitals LPN's get paid like $18 hr. Also University of Maryland Medical center in the MICU are in despirate need of RN's, the hospital doesn't hire LPN's. And we do hire new grads.

university of maryland medical center MICU are in need of nurses, we just opened a 30 bed unit from a 10 bed unit. We hire new grads

what part of the country are you all in, i am in the middle eastern atlantic area and there are tons of jobs. You can pretty much quite a job today and start a new one tomorrow.

I Completly Agree With You. It Is Amazing How This Profession Is So Fearful To Move And Advance. I Have Another Health Care Degree (ms Level) In THAT Profession And In Other PROFESSION Advancement Is Highly Encouraged From Day One. You Will Never Know Everything In The Icu, Patients Are Forever Changing, There Is Always Advancements, New Medications, New Technology. So Those Of You Who Want To Sit In The Icu Forever Because You Feel Like Its Not The Right Time Or I Need To Know More, News Flash There Will Never Be The Right Time And You Will Always Feel Like You Need To Know More. That Is The Sign Of A True Professional, You Will Always Have Questions, You Will Always Research. Nurse Anesthetist Is A Specialty Area Where You Will Obtain Textbook Knowledge In Class And Have The Oppourtunity To Implement Learned Skills In The Clinical Arena. Nursing Is My Second Career, My Entire Purpose Of Going To Nursing School Was To Go Onto Na School. No Offense I Have No Intentions Of Being A Bedside Nurse (some People Love It, It Is Not For Me). I Am Not Afraid Of Challenging Myself And Being Educated. I AM USE TO AUTONOMY AND I CAN'T WAIT TO GET IT BACK. Nurses Should Stop Being Afraid Of Being On Their Own, Trust In Your Abilities. By The Way I Have Now Had 18mos. Experience In An Icu, Where I Had 3 Months Orientation, Have Had A Student Nurse And An Orientee. I Was Accelerated On My Unit Because We Moved From A 10 Bed Unit To A 30 Bed Unit Where 30 Nurses Where Hired After Me And Guest What I Get The Sickest Patients To The Not So Sick Patients, I Have Utilized MANY Gtt'S. You Can Think Of, While Using Various Types Of Ventilators And Modes. In My Unit You Sink Or Swim. Good Luck To All The Nurses Who Want To Become A Crna, I Plan To Attend In 2007.

The pay sucks regardless of where you go, a few pennies here a few there. The bonuses suck because they are taxed heavely, you may get a little less then half the bonuse. Mercy pays a little more compared to the hospitals you listed.

Only a few hospitals in baltimore staff LPN's (Good Samaritan, St. Joseph, Maryland General, Sinai, Union Memorial). None of the larger teaching hospitals staff LPN's. Also the pay is alot lower in hospitals for LPN's versus a nursing home.

This person said that when a person has a CVP their head of bed can't be elevated. I have never heard of that, I am going to try to find literature regarding this. I work in a medical intesive care unit, where we monitor CVP all the time via central lines, and swans, but I have never heard of any contrandications with finding the values with the head of bed raised. I do know that the actual values should be read during expiration due to the increased intrathoracic pressure which increases the readings. Can anyone comment on the head of bed issue and monitor of CVP. Thanks

Nursing school wasn't hard at all. It is extremly general and doesn't get deep into information. You pretty much cram through nursing school (esp. BSN programs). For example my program consisted of 1 semester of med surg that met once a week, every week we had a test based on 8 to 10 chapters. You actually begin to learn when you start to work and through self teaching by way of reading literature from not only nursing books/journals but also by reading medical, respiratory and pharmacy articles/books.