sissyboo

I feel you! I am sorry things are this way for you right now but you can make it! Here's some things I did while in school to get things done... Made notes of routine things to be done. I would even leave them posted next to places so there was a little reminder to take that extra step (such as washing a dish after you use it so they don't pile up) Made a checklist of things that need to be done less frequently (bills to be paid, grocery trips, odd & end jobs that need attention. People can reference this when they have a few minutes and can maybe tackle one or two of the smaller tasks at a time while doing bigger ones...then if you find yourself with extra time you can also look at it and catch up on something you wanted to do but didn't have time to earlier. Give LOTS of pleases & thank you's! They go a long ways. Also doing something extra in exchange later on! (I would usually do something silly...leave a thank you note or buy a little periodic thank-you gift, nothing big, just something to acknowledge all the help they are giving me) Take some time for YOU, even if it means letting something else go for a while...I know its corny but it will still be waiting when you get back & it is not detrimental...but allow your mind to rest! Don't expect perfection (my biggest problem!) I had an idea that if someone else was going to do it they should do it right or just don't do it at all. Then I realized what I was considering "right" was really just "my way." There are many ways to do almost anything...and it's not the end of the world when its done differently...it just takes some getting used to! I hope this post helps! Best wishes for the rest of nursing school!

I'm with the others! Look up the med and be sure to dilute properly! Flush, push med at correct rate, flush again using the same rate you did for the medication (there is still medication in the IV catheter). I hang a flush bag with piggyback medications when the patient doesnt have fluids hanging continuously to follow up behind the medication so the patient gets all the medication instead of part of it being left in the tubing. Hope this helps!

I'm a senior nursing student from an ADN program. Granted its only two years it's been a rough two years and my family has been GREAT at helping me get through this mess they call nursing school...still not quite done--but they are all still going strong. I wanted to get my family & boyfriend (and his family!) something around my graduation to thank them all for being so wonderful while I've been...not so wonderful! Anyway--I just want them to know how much I've appreciated all their efforts. Any ideas?!

I don't know a mnemonic for it...I just work head to toe! A little A&P goes a long way for me!

Anything thats not medical related! Be it going for a walk, listening to music, going for coffee with friends (usually non-nursing ones so you don't spend the whole time yacking about nursing school), cooking something awesome...whatever.. Since there's not alot of time for exercise--but its soo important as we all know...I walk on the treadmill (slower pace) alot but I read 1-2 study guides while I walk...

Short & Sweet GingerSue! Thanks!

me too!

White scrub bottoms, royal blue polo shirt with school logo, white shoes If we choose to wear a lab coat it has to be white with a school patch on the left shoulder

I got 10mL 12mL 4x/day is 48mL/day 16oz converts to 480mL (16oz x 30mL/1oz) 480mL / 48mL per day = 10mL/day I'm not too great at these myself...correct me if I am wrong!

Thanks for the info! I start my OR rotation in a couple of weeks, I hope this stuff is helpful! Keep it up!

I work my a** off for my grades. Keep it fair to the fullest extent possible--don't allow people to "get by"! Do not bash my actions in front of patients. I am not incompetent--I am a student. Be on time. I am paying YOU to teach--I don't get much out of this if you don't teach. Your paycheck rests on my evaluation--remember that! You are not as FREAKING perfect as you like to think you are--do not expect me to be--I am already giving you everything I have! *Thank you! For positive reinforcement and for making me do things I didn't necessarily want to do..for giving me patients with pages and pages of history and more than 30 meds...for reviewing things with me...for answering my many questions....the list goes on....

Good luck with clinical day number two! I just finished my first round of med surg clinicals, there's more to come in the next year! I'm with many of the other ones. By the time my class reached med surg one we were checked off on several skills and (depending on CI) were able to perform any skill we were checked off on (depending on the skill, if we've done it before, if CI & student were comfortable with previously demonstrated ability, & pt acuity..etc--the CI may or may not have to be present or may send another RN to supervise). By the end of the term we were able to perform any skills necessary for our pts (IV/Foley/NG insertion/care/removal, INDEPENDENT (and ACCURATE!) head to toe assessments (that began on day one), VS, ADL, medication administration (all routes). Some of us got chances to do "special" things--like remove JPs--if our patient needed it! . We were responsible for listening to morning report, clarifying what we did not understand with that report, documenting our findings in the pt record, and reporting off to the pts primary nurse. We could even do a little teaching with our patients and families (usually consisted of them asking questions, us answering to the best of our abilities and/or relaying the question to our CI or the primary nurse for confirmation or more teaching if they needed it) We only had one patient each and were responsible for every aspect of their care during a clinical day. After report, we were to *try* to follow our "plan" that we made in clinical paperwork the night before--as much as patient condition and hospital would allow (it changes alot b/c they're scheduled for a test or PT comes to get them..or whatever--if I didn't learn anything else I learned to expect nothing to go as planned!) We could follow them to labs for x-rays, ultrasounds, cardiac cath, GI lab..wherever they were going. *BTW--I did everything I could to stay busy during clinicals. If my patient was comfortable and didn't need my attention at the moment--I'd take off to help nurse aides changing linens, helping with baths, answering call bells, helping with new admits/discharges, seeing/assisting with a procedure I'd hear about ("I'm going to reinsert a catheter in room ABC"--"Can I come along and assist?" and usually the answer is yes). This way the CI would not see me standing around and I could write a number of things in my journal report after clinical. It never seemed to fail me...

I'm not a big fan of "sim-man" labs. 1. My school had a wierd schedule for time doing SIM applications. They tried to make it so that the situation related to class, but considering it took three to four weeks to get everyone through each scenario, the testing was already over for that. I do believe any education is good, even if it is not "on schedule"--but that did not give everyone the same benefit. 2. I gained a little less than nothing. 3. What I did find helpful was hearing abnormal heart and lung sounds and having to differentiate between the two (we were still working on abnormal assessment at the time). 4. If you're going to do them, I advise enforcing that sim man is an actual patient. More times than not, people in my groups were quickly drawing up the meds and pushing them with no regard to the dosage or how fast to push it. I would also try to make the scenarios useful to each particular group getting a rotation (changing scenarios would also allow for fewer relays of info; the next group will not know what they're doing in the activity)

I realize alot of what you do in LTC is meds and paperwork. But you CAN make a difference in LTC, alot more than you may think. I'm not a nurse yet--but I know that residents in LTC have just as much need for a good nurse as patients in the hospital. Best of luck to you!!

Honestly--I just read about the school and decided "I'm gonna go there!" There was no entrance exam or interview--application, letters of recommendation only (I've heard they are now going to interview though). The location is *poo* from my house--1.5hrs one way. It is private run though--they pay for most of the schooling--and you "work it off" at their hospital (the rate isn't that bad). It's alot more expensive than other programs. It's only 2 years long--one of my biggest concerns--I'm tired of going to school and I just wanted (and still want!) it over as soon as possible. My MOM--I got a seat in an 11 month LPN program 20 minutes from home--but my Mom wanted me to go ahead to the RN--I've learned that most of the time she's right, even when I think she's wrong--one day after all this is over, I'm sure I will thank her--as I do for nearly everything else she tells me. Good luck choosing your school!