rotary

We've given 10mg Haldol and 4mg Ativan for severe agitation. On occasion, 4mg Ativan with 150mg Zuclopenthixol Acetate.

That doesn't sound correct. It's rare to hit a vessel but it DOES happen. You definitely don't want to be injecting a long acting antipsychotic into someone's blood stream.

I work in the only acute psych unit for my city. 56 patients and 10 nurses. No techs or aides. On nights it falls to 6 nurses. I think it's the perfect ratio.

It depends on the reason for restraints in the first place and what the circumstances are when they fall alseep. If they're suicidal and sleeping I'll remove and place them on close observation. If they were physically threatening others I'll loosen them but leave them on if they're sedated/sleeping during the day. At night when all the patients are in their rooms I'm more inclined to release them.

looks like they need an update soon, the site still includes current contracts that expired in 2008. Wages have changed significantly since then in some provinces.

We do not allow smoking, patients have to leave hospital property to light up and must sign a waiver to do so (i think that's unsafe). We do however have Nicotine Replacement Therapy where free gum, patches and inhalers are provided for them to use while staying in hospital.

ANY nursing skill can be re-learned. The majority of our time as students was spent in the class room, not working full time in heavy medical units becoming expert nurses in everything, so I really don't understand the worry that new grads have regarding this (and I'm a new grad myself). If you go to psych and decide to switch off to something with more physical skills required down the road, you'll have absolutely no problems getting back into the swing of things. It might take a bit longer for you to be independent, but it's nothing to worry about.

Make sure you have a winter coat. Not one of Saskatchewan's nicer cities, that's for sure.

12 patients? Are you kidding? On my psych unit each RN or RPN carries a maximum of 5. Occasionally we will take an extra patient if someone calls in sick and the shift isn't filled, but that's it. Carrying as many as 12 is a dangerous load, especially when you're in acute care. How many support staff workers do you have available to help should something go wrong?

I notice a lot of gay men in nursing because I keep an eye out for them However I doubt there's a higher concentration of gay men in this profession compared to others. It's wrongly assumed, unfortunately.

Sorry to hear about that, but try and keep your head up. :) In the grand scheme of things, this is quite minor. As students, we're thrown into clinical and expected to know exactly how the unit operates. We need to ask a lot of questions, but sometimes we get nervous/overwhelmed and mistakes are made. In your case, it sounds as though the instructor should have talked with you guys a little more about your scope. It was a learning experience, and you've grown from it. Here's two incidents that might make you feel better. A friend of mine gave an IV med orally through a syringe. Another student I knew gave a suppository without unwrapping the foil.

Couldn't care less about bed making, just as long as it's clean. My mitered corners look like my failed attempts at wrapping christmas presents. I now go the gift bag route, thank you very much.

My L&D rotation went pretty well. I helped with a delivery at 7am my first day, did the apgar, etc. An hour later I was in the OR observing a section. In all honesty, the only problem I had the entire time was trying to maintain a fetal heart rate on an extremely obese woman. My time on the mother/baby unit wasn't as good, but still a positive experience. Luckily I had an instructor that did her best to assign me bottle feeding mothers. Another good point: I never had to show a new mom how to tickle the baby's lips with her nipple

That is scary... We remove all belongings and clothing. They can have their clothes back in 24 hours if they're voluntary, otherwise it requires a doctors order. Unsafe belongings are kept locked up, though there are certain hospital privileges the residents can earn over time.

I don't see why it would matter. Unless you're picking up casual shifts on a general surgery floor or something, those learned skills will fly out the window. We have RN's and RPN's who can't and won't start IV's; instead they'll call ICU to send an RN down and start one. If psychiatry is all you want to do, forget about med/surg.

Last weekend I worked two 12 hour days, followed by two 16 hour shifts, then a 12 hour night, all in a row. I had coffee in my veins, and although it's not healthy, the overtime was to die for. Two 16 hour shifts are definitely worth it.

I'm having some trouble understanding the working conditions in Dubai. Everyone I ask seems to have a different answer for me, so I'm hopeful a nurse here will be able to clarify some things. I'll be entering my 4th year BSN (Canada) very shortly and have been considering Dubai as a place to work abroad while I'm young. I've read you need to have approximately 4 years of experience before an agency will hire you there. I've heard A) there is no tax, B) taxes are extremely high, C) pay is $1200 US per month, D) pay is double that of an RN in Canada. Would anyone be able to elaborate on tax, pay, work experience before eligibility to work, and anything else pertaining to life in Dubai involving the nursing profession? I'm familiar with much of the culture- living conditions, marriage/single contracts, restrictive laws etc, I'm just unsure about working details. Thanks very much. :)

Don't worry buddy, you'll do fine. I'm the only male in many of my nursing classes, as the other guys are grouped into different sections. I had one instructor tell me that my being in her class was very unique, as my input brought a "new perspective" to discussions. Just make sure that you contribute, instead of being the 'quiet shy guy' that never talks. Some of the theory learned in class doesn't jive with a lot of us. Disclosing and discussing emotions, for example, was an incredibly difficult thing for me to do. Some people spend too much time focusing on the negatives of the program instead of looking at the bigger picture.

I remember feeling like I wasn't learning much and felt quite restricted in what I was allowed to do in clinical during the first couple of years, but that can change when you're in 3rd and 4th year of nursing school. This past semester on a cardiology unit, all students were responsible for 7 patients and took over the duty of the RN completely. I was incredibly stressed and couldn't sleep the night before because we had so much responsibility. Like you, I'm also drawn towards areas that place more of an emphasis on technical procedures rather than beside nursing, and in on way is this a bad thing. Find the area you're passionate about, and stick with it. Good luck with everything. :)

Grey's Anatomy's main characters are all physicians. The show never focuses on nurses and they're almost invisible in the hospital. You may have better luck with basing your paper off of ER instead.

Don't beat yourself up over it. If experienced nurses can manage to prick themselves, so can students. Just the other week one of my fellow peers had a needle stick after giving a subcu. She was quite upset, crying, the whole bit. Cheer up, it was an accident that happens more often than you think.