sdprcrn

Please go to cdc.gov and osha.gov for the proper recommendations for the use of PPE's (gloves). You may be very surprised.

Clean gloves used as PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT are for the staff's safety, not the patient's. The BIG problem with using gloves inappropriately is that people using them go on to touch other items without thinking about changing the gloves. Can you imagine that you have just emptied a patient's urinal wearing gloves and then give the person a drink of water with those same gloves on? I've seen it happen and that's more gross that touch an IV tubing without gloves on.

As a point to consider...I don't even like when the graveyard shift nurses do the fingersticks and then cover according to the sliding scale, nor do I like it when they do the fingersticks (at about 6 or 6:30 am) and then I have to cover the bloodsugar. I tell most of them to just leave it until I start at 7 am and I will check the sugar and cover per MARS. That way I know exactly what the sugar was and I make myself responsible for covering it.

I would see if you can 'team up' the students so that you have 2 students with the same 2 patients, ideally in the same room. They can share the information they get with each other. One day have one pass meds on the 2 patients while the other student does the assessment and documentation and then have them swap on the next day. They can compare notes and findings that way.

What you need to keep in mind is that teaching is a wonderful way to keep your skills sharpened and up to date clinically. What I love about teaching??? When a student 'gets it'! Also the hours and snow days and summers off are pretty good too! Unfortunately, I don't know many nurses no matter what capacity they work in that can survive on just one paycheck,so they often have to pick up per diem shifts to somewhere to make ends meet.

I would focus my discussions on the following: 1) Address the effects of aging on psycosocial dynamics. 2) Address the most common illnesses that require nursing care. ( i.e., falls, depression, COPD,CHF etc.) 3) Address the need to scrutinize the pharmacotherapeutics for the elderly. 4) Address the effects of aging on physical assessments and altering care plans accordingly. Also you can check with your local Department of Health or since most states have an Agency on Aging or Aging Council you may find some pertinent information to focus on there.

http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-27417_27529_27544---,00.html

Students in uniform at clinical sites are always supposed to maintain a 'professional image and demeanor', this includes those times when they are on break and having a cigarette. Smoking is not unprofessional, it is sometimes regarded as unattractive. Also considered unattractive are those nurses with long artificial nails, door knocker earrings, and strong perfume. I have had to refuse to get on elevators because the colognes and perfume odors were so strong it made me choke up. Often this was from a visitors cologne or perfume. Lay off the students that want to use their break to smoke just as you would lay off the students who choose to use their break time reading magazines or making their personal phone calls.

"each ten graduations is 10, 100 ths . ie it goes 0.1, 0.2 etc until it gets to 1 ML. So for 34 units it would be up to 3 and the graduation just prior to the halfway mark." Yep... that would be 0.34ml (for 34 units of U100 insulin)because the halfway measure would be 0.35ml.

There are NOT any 5 ml TB syringes and there are NOT any 5 ml Insulin syringes. If you had to give 34 units of U100 Insulin in a 1 ml Insulin syringe you would extract exactly 34 units of Insulin into the syringe.Check this on the EVEN numbered side of the syringe. If you check on the other side of the syringe you would get a misreading due to the ODD numbers on that side. If you had to give the 34 units of Insulin using a 1 ml TB syringe you would extract 0.34 mls of insulin. 34/100ths on a TB syringe = 34 units of U100 Insulin. In the US we still use 50 or 100 unit/cc insulin syringes so you MUST check your doses and try to avoid using a TB syringe at all. USE THE INSULIN SYRINGE unless you are very very VERY good at calculating dosages and conversions.