casey12873

thank you all for your advice. I refused to give the gent until after the dr ordered a random gent level. He was due for a trough level in the am (tomorrow would have been his third dose.) However, his level was high last week, so they've adjusted the dose twice thus far. It's also going to be held until after he sees an infectious disease specialist. I was worried that I may have been overreacting about the ringing in the ears, but I'm glad I stood my ground and got what my resident needed!

I have a resident on gentomycin (sp?) IV. He began complaining of his ears ringing yesterday. He says it starts usually after his IV has ran for about a half and hour, and will usually subside within an hour and a half after the IV is finished. He gets 360 mg/109ml over an hour via pump once daily. Is this just a side effect that will go away when his therapy is over or does this mean the ototoxic capabilities of the drug are possibly happening? He has no stop date ordered yet as they are going to reculture next week, and then decide whether to continue the antibiotic. The other nurses I work with have suggested I only monitor the symptoms for now. How long do I just monitor before it could be permanent? Help!

Best of luck on your test!

I don't remember exactly what day I got my results, but it was pretty quick. In Ohio, you can go to the state BON web site, click on licensure verification, type in your name. If it showed up (which mine did!! ), you passed. I think I even got my license in the mail before I got my test results back if I remember right. Good luck on the test!!

"Got any pizza for me?" as he walked over towards me and

I graduated from PN classes a little over a year ago. I started out on night shift--hated it!! Got a day shift position, ended up hating the facility, lol. I'm glad I had to work nights for a while, though. There definitely is a huge difference between the shifts!! Days you have to deal with dr's rounds, family, meals, activities, therapies, pharmacies, management, etc. Nights you pass pills, do your assessments, chart, maintain equipment, etc. My girlfriend from school started out on days, though. I remember her screaming every day after work about "how in the world am I supposed to get everything done in 12 hours when I've got the dr giving orders, family asking questions, activities stealing my residents, and the phone ringing for me every fifteen minutes?" (Of course, that's paraphrased, but you get the idea.) Good news is: eventually you learn to manage your time. My best advice for you is determine if you function better during the daytime or night time. Either way, congratulations and best of luck!! :yelclap:

This one wasn't intentional, but ended up being pretty funny... When I was doing my IV sticks to get my cert, the nurses would tell the patients that I was a student and ask their permission for me to do the IV before I went in. This big ol' honkin' guy had a great vein and I got it on first try. However, I pulled the needle out too quickly and got blood all over the place. When that happened, I said "OOPS!" Lol, I thought he was going to pass out when I said that! :roll

isn't that false imprisonment??

Hi, everyone! I just wanted to share this little joke a family member told me the other day. There were 3 people walking on the beach. They came upon a jeanie's lamp and were granted one wish each. The first person said, "Make me the smartest person in the world!" Poof! The jeanie made her a family doctor. The second person saw this and was amazed. She said, "Make me 50% smarter than her!" Poof! The jeanie made her into one of the most brilliant, finest surgeons on Earth. Now, the third person was watching both of her friends as they made their wishes. She said, "I want to be 100% smarter than both of them!" Poof! The jeanie turned her into a nurse! Hope this little story makes you smile as big as I did and feel just as proud as me to be a nurse. Have a blessed day, everyone!

OK, so I've read the first and last page of this loooong thread. Maybe some of you will laugh (please be my guest--I love laughter), but here are the main reasons I chose nursing: 1) My husband is a 45 year old factory worker. He didn't graduate from high school. I needed a job I could count on in case something happens to his job. 2) I want to move to Kentucky. When we do, my husband can retire/quit and become my house husband!! (What a lovely dream!! ) 3) I wanted to be able to afford a Dodge Durango! lol--still hasn't happened--probably could afford the car payment, but not the gas....

I was the last class to finish before they added their RN program. (They added just before we graduated.) I would have to take pre reqs, since they didn't have our courses planned out for the bridge program. After 15 months of PN classes, (I took night classes) I am not so willing to go back to a classroom. Actually, I had a pretty negative experience while at RETS. I've considered going back there since it is such a quick course for RN, but I think I'm going to go through Excelsior instead. I think it will work out better for my family. Good for you, though! How much longer do you have to go now? Are you working somewhere also?

Rachel, where are you looking for a job? I thought it was pretty easy to get a job once I graduated. Congratulations on graduation!!! Lori, what do you think of RETS ADN program? I took LPN there, graduated May '05.

Texas, you are so supportive!! What would I do without you?? The CN guy was here. I have decided I am going to try to take my pre-reqs on my own, test out, then try nursing through EC. If that doesn't work, then I will go back and sign up with CN just for the nursing aspect of it. To everyone who left advice/tips for me: :thankya: THANK YOU!!!

it IS pretty weird all the things we have in common.... The CN guy is coming out today at 1:30pm. I'll let you guys know what all he has to say. I have been up since 3:30 this morning!!! I need sleep!!!! I had to go an hour away from home this morning to try to get my IV sticks in so I could get my IV cert. I tried 5 times, got one, blew two, and just plain missed on two. So, now, I have to go back again!

Sheesh my thoughts are that I've had 3 full semesters of LPN school and the second year RNs that I want to join only have 2 semesters under their belt...they are the ones that need the "bridge program" to catch up to me, lol. :yeahthat: