Freedom42

Latest Activity

1. NP working as RN?

   Freedom42 replied to APei's topic in Nurse Practitioners, NP

   I'm about to start my first job as an FNP. I did an accelerated BSN to enter nursing as a second career and worked as an ER nurse for four years while pursuing my master's degree. Some thoughts as I...

2. Psychiatric Institutions

   Freedom42 replied to doegirl's topic in General Nursing

   The largest private psych hospital in Maine is at St. Mary's in Lewiston. It's a unit of the larger hospital, but it's around 88 beds plus a psychiatric ED. They hire

3. Professionals or "workers"

   Freedom42 replied to blackribbon's topic in Collective Bargaining, Union

   I don't have the option of belonging to a union at my hospital. I haven't had a raise since 2009. I have no guarantee of health insurance, retirement benefits or paid time off. I can be fired at any...

4. Have you ever witnessed this situation?

   Freedom42 replied to RNewbie's topic in Patient, Colleague Relations

   This isn't rocket science. I pick up my meds at a supermarket. The pharmacy has a sign posted that asks other customers to respect others' privacy by coming to the counter only when called. There's a...

5. Frequent Flyers

   Freedom42 replied to RustyMedic's topic in Emergency

   Room them somewhere north of Siberia, without a phone or a TV. When they ask for a meal tray, tell them that you only serve meals at designated times. Period. The doc will more than likely recognize...

6. All Those NPs with No Bedside Experience

   Freedom42 replied to Ruby Vee's topic in General Nursing

   No, I don't see any incongruity. As I've indicated in my posts, I consider my BSN education valuable, but not all of it is relevant to the education I am now pursuing to become an NP. Much of it is;...

7. All Those NPs with No Bedside Experience

   Freedom42 replied to Ruby Vee's topic in General Nursing

   I presume you're referring to my post. As an RN entering my fourth year at the bedside -- including two in the ED -- yes, I do count my BSN education toward my clinical hours. The PA student has not...

8. All Those NPs with No Bedside Experience

   Freedom42 replied to Ruby Vee's topic in General Nursing

   As an NP student, I will have completed 1350 clinical hours, including BSN clinicals, by the time I graduate. Classmates who are in the three-year entry-to-practice program will have accumulated the...

9. All Those NPs with No Bedside Experience

   Freedom42 replied to Ruby Vee's topic in General Nursing

   People who think they know everything -- or who are not secure enough to admit that they don't -- are a problem in any setting or profession, regardless of the initials they have after their name or...

10. Vodka tampons?!?

    Freedom42 replied to Christy1019's topic in Emergency

    Again, the issue was not the quote from a 14-year-old. It was the praising of the quote by an adult. And I'm quite confident that neither the teenager nor the adult considered "retarded" anything but...

11. Vodka tampons?!?

    Freedom42 replied to Christy1019's topic in Emergency

    Thank you. I understand why kids use the word that way; after all, they hear adults use it that way, unfortunately. What bothered me was the poster's "well said" response to the

12. Vodka tampons?!?

    Freedom42 replied to Christy1019's topic in Emergency

    I don't mean to digress from the topic of this thread. Call me old fashioned, but I still prefer my booze in a glass. This quote, however, is troubling. It's offensive. Can we please stop using the...

13. Need some advice on how to start an IV on pt with severe edema

    Freedom42 replied to heparinized's topic in Infusion, Intravenous

    It's true, some people are nearly impossible. But I'll say this, as one of my patients recently pointed out: My charge nurse could start an IV on a dead man. She's that good. I have never seen her...

14. Need some advice on how to start an IV on pt with severe edema

    Freedom42 replied to heparinized's topic in Infusion, Intravenous

    The lower the albumin level, the tougher the stick. My supervisor gave me a good tip: Use two tourniquets, one in the usual place, the other about three inches above that. Works well with hands to...

15. Obstructive vs. restrictive lung disease

    Freedom42 posted a topic in Post Graduate Students

    Do I have this right? Obstructive lung disease: FEV1 is low, FEV1/FVC is low. Restrictive lung disease: FEV1 is low (?), FEV1/FVC is high (latter ratio may be normal or high, actually). I can't find...