Rach101

im 22 but look young for my age so i get asked ALL the time how old i am? if im old enough to be a nurse? etc. at least once everyday im asked about my age. most people are pretty polite about it though...you can almost see people trying to figure out a way to ask without sounding rude. that being said i find patients and their families quickly trust me and its more about competence and confidence than how young you appear. one of my nursing tutors said that young nurses are often more mature than their friends of the same age who are non-nurses because of the working environment and situations that you will deal with on a daily basis. i believe this is true to an extent. which area are you working in? i remember when i worked in adults and many of the older adults would try to 'set me up' with their sons who were a good 30 years older than me so they cant have been to worried about my age. i now work in paeds and find my age means i can relate to the teenagers easily. in anycase to answer your question...im sure your patients wont be frightened :)

hi! i also work on a paeds medical floor with a mixture of general and infectious disease. Common respiratory- bronchiolitis, pneumonia, asthma, pertussis, apnoeas Infectious- gastroenteritis, chicken pox, Tb, tropical diseases eg. typhoid., HIV, MRSA, ESBL, VRE Skin- eczema, cellulitis, staph scalded skin Also, seizures, abuse (non accidental injuries), anorexia nervosa, head injuries, ingestion/ severe intoxication, failure to thrive/ feeding issues. Also kids with syndromes that dont fit under any specific specialty, babies that get kicked out of NICU when they get too 'big' but still have ongoing problems. And children from other specialties who need isolation rooms- eg. cardiac kids with resp infections, oncology kids with febrile neutropenia, surgical kids with 'superbugs' etc. And im sure i've forgotten to include lots of our most common conditions! Generally MOST patients are less than 1 year of age but it is variable. Basically it is a great place to get general experience as a new grad!!! Kids from all over the hospital will come through general paeds and its a nice mix of generally well children with an acute illness and chronic kids that come and go who you get to know really well! All the best!!!!!!

we use a single mask for a shift. would be interested to see any further info on best practice for this.

there was a child on my ward just yesterday- 7yr old with mystery illness spiking temps over 40 degrees celcius and having febrile seizures. The nurse looking after her applied cooling measures- damp washcloths and a fan. Parents were emphatic about not wanting a fan in the room. Parents then proceded to give kid a freezing cold bath. I was like hmmm not sure thats a good idea and explained to nurse looking after her about shivering causing increase in core body temp. what do you know kid starts shivering and the temperature keeps rising.

Hi. Yes she will be working for Auckland District Health Board (ADHB). ADHB is made up of Auckland City Hospital, Starship Childrens Hospital, Greenlane Clinical Centre. The DHB means all services in the Auckland Region are covered by one board of directors. New Zealand is made up of many DHB's. For example there are three DHB's within the Auckland region. As for Auckland, im not sure how much you already know. Auckland City Hospital is the major hospital in the Auckland region for most of the specialities. (Burns and plastic surgery go to Middlemore Hospital). The hospital is new (i think it was rebuilt approx 5 years ago) and therefore a nice place to work. It has views overlooking AUckland City and the Hauraki Gulf made up of many islands. Very pretty! I think the biggest negative about working at Auckland City Hospital is the parking but saying that there are many flats nearby and buses (sometimes frustrating) are caught by lots of people. I think if you live in Auckland it is essential that you have a car. I would suggest living really close to the hospital in Grafton (literally across the road from the hospital-lots of flats around there but are more expensive) or in Parnell (just down the road, pretty much in central city, lots of apartments and flats). Or another nice area to live is in Ponsonby/ Grey Lynn. I live on the North Shore of AUckland and travel time is 20mins drive in off peak traffic (which you get when working shift work). So to start a 7am shift i leave at 6.20am. Many people who work at AUckland and who want to live on the North Shore choose to live in Northcote as it is very quick to get on the motorway (about 10mins to the hospital) Where you decide to live in AUckland will depend on the lifestyle that you want. I love the beaches so i love living on the shore. If you are more of a bush person you might choose to live West of the main City. Then saying that AUckland is a pretty small place so everywhere is within an hours drive of everywhere else. Its a great city to live in- lots of exploring to do. You will never get bored if you like exploring bush/ocean/walks. There are lots of websites to find places to rent. Check out www.trademe.co.nz (its like NZ version of your ebay.also has a flatmates and houses for rent section) http://www.nzflatmates.co.nz/ http://www.flatfinder.co.nz/ Those are just a few. If you google there are many more sites for these purposes. If you have any more questions let me know! Im sure there are many more Aucklanders out there who can help answer too!

Hey. I have a friend who will be starting as a new grad in ICU this year at Auckland. She has worked there for 2.5 months as a student and loved it. Staff very friendly and helpful!

i cared for a child who was in hospital with symptoms of seizures and becoming increasingly unsteady on their feet- child learnt how to walk and then was having difficulty standing, started falling more and hitting their head on objects. They were about 15months. Were diagnosed with maple syrup urine disease! Interestingly, we found the family had 3 children die previously shortly after birth. Never found out what from- the family was transferred shortly after the diagnosis and their english was very limited.

WOW its all over! definately time to celebrate and relax over the summer!! i agree that the questions, particularly mental health were very straight forward. im wondering how much my study actually helped...i think i would have known most of it just from what i remembered (feel a bit like i wasted a week of sunny weather with my head in a text book!) enjoy the summer guys. all the best with starting jobs etc!

eek. yeah i should be spending more time studying rather than on the internet! anything is distracting me right now. i have got sick of nclex questions i have now started reviewing straight pathophys/anatomy. i figure if i know what normal is i can logically figure out abnormal. ie. kidney releases EPO stimulate RBC production therefore kidney disease could cause anaemia. wow lisamaree i have new grad at starship too!!!!! in general paeds ward. where will you be. will prob meet you at the orientation days. small world huh.

After my first ever night shift i went to sign a legal document and spelt my name wrong!!

im not sure about the safety and drug calc. i ASSUME that they will only be contained in one of the two exams. i think that is my biggest worry...what if you accidently get a question that you have to get right wrong. it would be so sad to fail because of one question!! All the best!

Hey. I am also sitting state on Nov 20. Dont stress too much- talking to people who sat it last year it seems fairly straight forward. I know several people who only studied for 3 days and still passed. Have you got a review book? I have a NCLEX review book which is really helpful for giving overviews of what you need to know. Definately helps to identify areas that you need to study more!!

who is your recruiter?? there are definately LOTS of jobs available at starship.

We work all shifts during our training. Including 1-9pm and 3-11pm. If we work on a ward doing 12 hour shifts we do those too including 7pm-7am night shifts. Lucky for me i enjoy doing them .

i am a student and recently did a placement in NICU. They had a male new grad working there who said he was really enjoying it. All the nurses on the unit thought it was great and spoke very highly of having a guy on the staff. They said it bought a different dynamic to the ward. My preceptor's husband who is a nurse also worked in NICU for 5 or so years. She said he really enjoyed the experience and had very few issues (just the odd joking comment from parents).