future L&Dnurse

UNM is based on gpa, science especially, your application essays, and letters of recommendation. They also prefer to take New Mexico residents and really like previous experience in health care as a tech or volunteer or something.

UNM does not have a waiting list, actually. You have to complete 2 or so years of prereqs and apply for the nursing program, and then you either get in or you don't. It is fairly competitive, but there's no waiting list. CNM does have a waiting list, I understand it to be about 3 years long at the moment. I don't know about the other programs available in NM.

The best person to answer your question is your clinical instructor. That said, I have chronic problems with tendonitis and what I suspect is carpal tunnel in one wrist. My wrist started aching last semester and I had to wear a brace for about 3 weeks to let it rest and make it stop hurting. I wore the brace to clinical - I asked for help with any lifting or moving, I pulled an extra-large glove on over the brace if I needed gloves. Not a big deal, it worked out just fine. Ask your instructor, he or she is the best person to know whether you can do it or not, but in my experience you probably can, as long as you aren't doing heavy lifting with that hand.

That's awesome. :)

Sorry I didn't respond sooner, I didn't end up subscribed to the thread for some reason and didn't know you'd posted! Thank you so much for the offer! I interviewed someone I work with who has 1 year of experience during my last shift, so I won't need to interview you also, but I really appreciate your willingness to help. Thanks so much, this is why I like allnurses.com . Thank you for the offer!

failure is not an option. This, too, shall pass. They were a lot more positive before I started nursing school but I'm just plain burned out at this point. I've got 73 days until Graduation and can't wait to be done!!

I'm 6' tall and I have had good luck with Lydia's Pro-Series tall scrub pants. They're still slightly short but don't look anywhere near as ridiculous as the other "tall" pants I've tried. Mens also work well, as far as length goes, but most of them have that tapered ankle and I don't like that style.

I had the same problem a couple of times - you want to do it as fast as seasoned nurses do it, but simply put, you can't at your level of skill! It's okay, you'll get there. I would slow down. Slow way down, think things through. Chances are that you are not going to be working in a life-or-death situation in clinical this semester, so it's okay to stop and think it through before you start. Another thing that I think is helpful is to ask the nurse or your instructor, BEFORE you go into the room and get started, if you can briefly walk through the procedure with them and then tell them what you think the procedure is. That shows that you are thinking about this and are aware that there are policies and standards of practice, and that you are at least generally aware of how you're supposed to do whatever it is you're about to do, and it also allows the instructor to correct any mistakes before you're "in the moment" and feeling frazzled and freaked out. I also have decided that I somewhat disagree with the assertion that you should always volunteer to do a skill if the opportunity arises, because you may not get another chance. While that's true, I've realized that sometimes it is SO much better to say "I have never done it, I would like to observe you if that is okay." They may still have you do it, but there is the understanding up front that this is the very first foley/IV/whatever and you are going to need guidance. Hang in there. It sounds like you have a really tough instructor which really will benefit you in the end, but meanwhile I would really open up the lines of communication with her and let her know that you are trying very hard, and see what she thinks you can do to improve. (ETA: I didn't realize this thread was so old, and should have read the whole thing. My advice still stands for any future nursing students who find this thread, though, and OP I wish you the best in your new program!)

I have an assignment due in mid-April. I am supposed to interview nurses who have worked for 1, 5, and 10 years about how they approached nursing when they first graduated, what they do differently now, etc. If anyone is willing to let me interview them via email or on the phone I would be very grateful. You can private message me or post here and I will private message you. Thanks in advance if you're able to share some of your time with me!

If I understand it correctly, dependent is lower. Have you ever seen dependent edema? It shows up in the legs, the scrotum, the forearms if the arms aren't elevated etc. I had a patient who had really severe dependent edema - his hands were so swollen, we put them on pillows, and within about an hour (if that) his elbows were swollen and his hands were much less so, but looked wrinkled and saggy because of the strain on the skin. The fluid went to whatever was the lowest point in his body. So your textbook means to raise the foot higher than, say, the knee or hip.

I would be surprised if anyone here has not felt that way at least one day of nursing school. I would spend more time with your patients. Get to know them, ask them those questions, ask them if they'll tell you about their history of whatever illness they've got, since you are still learning. There are an awful lot of lonely people in the hospital, and giving someone an ear to talk to is sometimes the very best treatment you can give. Offer to help nurses. If someone else's patient is discharged, help the techs clean the room. They will appreciate it, and will remember. Make sure every nurse on the floor knows that (insert some nursing skill here) is something you really want to try/practice/see, and if any cool or interesting (or even mundane and routine) procedure needs to be done, you want to do it. And if all else fails, ask to take on a second (or third, or whatever) patient.

As a student I think I would strongly prefer #1, simply because my experience with a peds rotation and an ob rotation is that both of them cover a TON of material and trying to do both at once sounds extremely hard.

You can usually get more than the school offers for Stafford loans, you just have to request a loan increase. I've had to do it a couple times. It depends on the school but the max can be up to $5K. Might be worth looking into if you think you are going to stick with nursing, but if you quit it won't be worth it unless you can go straight back into a program like nursing where you KNOW you'll be able to get a job when you graduate.

You are insane. That is all.

no, I don't. I've done an ICU rotation and while it was different, it wasn't harder because my experience was that the higher acuity of the patients was balanced by a lower patient load. An ICU nurse around here has 1 or 2 patients. A general med-surg nurse has 6 patients. A nurse with a full load in mother-baby can have 8 patients (4 mom and baby couplets) and there are some pretty high acuity patients on the regular floors, too. ICU is definitely a different area to work in compared to a regular floor, but my experience in clinical is that the work load feels about the same there as it does elsewhere.