RNfromMN

I worked at a facility with a lot of terminal folks & I was also very surprised the 1st time I learned we were letting a resident go simply by stopping her tube feedings. I asked a nurse on the floor with 30+ years experience & she told me this was the routine way of providing end of life care & that it was actually very humane. Just like a couple other posters, she told me that after awhile, hunger pangs disappear. I thought about it & it kinda reminded me of how every once in awhile, I would completely forget a grab a meal throughout the day. If you've ever gone a whole day without a meal, you know what I'm talking about. Your tummy starts to growl for a while & maybe you'll get a few hunger pangs, but after awhile, you just don't feel hungry. The nurse I was working with told me this was similar to what the patient was going through & she said yes - your body just "forgets" that it needs food & stops reminding you to feed it. We always provided lots of oral hygiene, though, with lots of lip moisturizers.

What an awesome, awesome story. Seriously - I think I could die happy the next day if I ever heard someone say something like that about me in my career. Next to knowing you made a profound difference in a patient's life, I think this is the "gold standard" as far as knowing whether or not you've "made it" as a nurse. Congratulations! -watch: now word will spread & all the little nurse hatchlings will be following you around:D

Aaaah - another example of why we were always taught that Assessment is always the 1st & more important step in the nursing process. Can't do anything until you assess!

I know that feeling :) Congratulations!!!

Something very similar happened to me. I'd been doing fine in my previous clinicals & then I had a clinical where the instructor told me constantly I wasn't going to "be successful" in her clinical, that nursing wasn't for me, etc. And I kept what she'd been telling me all to myself because this instructor had such a great reputation that I figured it had to be me, I kept trying to go above & beyond each week & it never seemed to be enough - every week, she would still tell me she was going to fail me. I finally confided in one or two of my classmates & asked them how they were writing up her careplans. That was very helpful - they were willing to go over my careplans with me & told me little tricks they found that seemed to impress this clinical instructor. I don't know about you, but getting help from my classmates was something that was very difficult for me - I didn't get along with most of the students in my program & up until then, had been keeping to myself with my schoolwork. But I had to suck it up & ask for help because my grade was on the line. I also called the nursing department at my school & found out what would happen to me if I did fail this clinical - just to prepare myself. I found out that this clinical wouldn't be available to me for another year, so I prepared myself to fail, then sit out of the program for a year until I could take this clinical again. It was terrifying, but after being told every week that I was going to fail, I just had to prepare myself for the worst. The head of the nursing department instructed me to give it my all for the remainder of this clinical & reassured me that failing would not be the end of the world. I know it probably seems like it is, but it truly isn't - in the end, it will just be a bump (although a fairly large one) in the road. Something else - my best friend reassured me every night that if this woman truly wanted to fail me, she would have done it already. You have to keep that in mind - at that last evaluation, your instructor was giving you a chance to let you know he/she was concerned - this is your chance to prove to that instructor what you're made of. Toward the end of my clinical, I was grabbing random charts off the rack & staying up until 4 in the a.m. writing up extra care plans for them, just to impress that instructor. She claimed it didn't make any difference, but I just had to do something to prove that I was willing to go above & beyond - that I deeply valued this clinical grade. So in a nutshell, here's my advice: -talk to your classmates about what's going on; see what they're doing to make this instructor happy. -really give this instructor something to look at - to "wow" him/her; get creative, if you have to: GO ABOVE & BEYOND -if the instructor had already made up his/her mind that he/she was going to fail you, he/she would have done it already. The instructor obviously still feels you can pull this off - he/she has given you an opportunity to turn things around for him/her - DO IT!:nuke: -you can't be afraid to fail. You just can't be. I know it sucks, but failing is not the end of the world - if it happens, you just start back from where you left off. I look at it this way (& this is how I feel about failing my NCLEX the 1st time, as well): Okay, so you have to take the clinical again - I have to take my NCLEX again. IT SUCKS, but here's the thing: Maybe you'll pick up just one little thing in your next clinical, or maybe I'll pick up just one little thing in studying again for my NCLEX that will truly make a difference in a patient's life one day. Failing sucks, but it happens & you just have learn from it & go back & do it again. DON'T GIVE UP - GOOD LUCK! Please keep us posted :)

Kinda off topic, but this is why I don't agree with hospitals issuing cell phones to nurses as a way to communicate between staff members while on duty. When I was a student in clinical, one hospital had all their nurses carry cell phones - I knew what they were for, but I saw more than one patient do a double-take when they saw their nurse answer their cell phone while the nurse was in the patient's room. Even though they were used for work purposes, it just looked soooo tacky:nono:. Nurses would answer their phones while they were preparing meds, taking VS, etc. And their was no official greeting that they had to use. Most of the time, they would answer their phone, "Yup?" or just "Hello?" So the patient had no idea that they were taking calls for work & not personal calls. Oh, & I totally agree with what the OP said to the student. I know preceptoring isn't the same thing as a clinical rotation with an instructor, but all of my clinical instructors threw fits when a student's cell phone went off during clinical.

1. Will you consent to the information you provide to be used in my Sociology paper? Yes. 2. Do you feel male nurses are respected more by medical professionals (doctors & co-workers) than female nurses? I don't necessarily feel this, no. 3. Can you provide any specific examples to correspond to your answer in question #2? -I've worked with nurses who have told me they feel uncomfortable working with certain other nurses only because they are male. Occasionally, these nurses have cited flirting or inappropriate jokes as their reason for feeling uncomfortable around these male nurses, but often times it's simply, "I don't know - there's something about him that just makes me uncomfortable." 4.Do you feel that younger patients (kids, adolescents and young - middle aged adults) are more respectful and accepting of male nurses? -I would think, if anything, a younger patient would find a female nurse more comforting than a male nurse. 5. Can you provide any specific examples to correspond to your answer in question #4? -sorry, no. Just my opinion. 6. Are male nurses often mistaken for doctors by elderly patients? -Absolutely. I don't think it's just the elderly, either. I've seen more than one male nursing student be mistaken for a doctor during school. 7. Once the elderly patients find out that the male is actually a nurse, how do they react? (surprised, shocked, unwilling to accept treatment, disrespectful) -it's been my experience that the patient seems to not really care; maybe those patients are just embarrassed by their mistake & try to hide that embarrassment by acting as if it doesn't matter. 8. Are male nurses respected or looked down upon by society in general? -I think male nurses are probably looked down upon. Many are probably assumed to be gay, or doing a "woman's job." 9. Can you provide any specific examples to correspond to your answer in question #4? -No. Good luck with your paper!

Orca, I don't have any advice, but I thought it might make you feel better to know that I, too, am struggling with just the first tip...It's no problem when I can get a 75% on the Chapter quiz - but when I have to go back & re-read a chapter...it just takes me FOREVER!! I actually thought I was doing the first step wrong until I saw your post, so it's good to know I'm not the only one - thanks

I'll never forget what a teacher of mine told us the first day we had lecture on starting IVs. And keep in mind, this teacher was NOT known to coddle us: "So today we're going to talk about IVs. Before we get into the how tos & what not to dos, there's one thing I want to say. Once you all learn how to start an IV & have the opportunity to do so in clinical, you will either have one of two attitudes towards starting IVs: You will either jump at every chance you get to start one, or you will be the type of nurse that isn't quite as comfortable with it & will often run to another nurse on the floor to either supervise your IVs, or do them for you...EITHER WAY IS FINE." It really surprised me to hear her say that, because she was the type to "force" her students into running head on & doing any procedure they weren't 100% comfortable with. I was totally relieved to hear her say that, because I was the type of student that put off doing injections & putting in Foley caths, etc. until I absolutely had to to do them. As it turns out, even though I was absolutely terrified of IVs & decided right away that I would be the type of nurse to get some help every time I had to do one, my preceptorship involved starting up to 10 IVs a day - turns out, I love starting IVs. Oh, & it was this same teacher that drilled into our heads that we had to be super careful starting IVs because there are 10 different ways we could kill a patient (yes, she said "kill") if we did it wrong. When I told my preceptor & the other nurses I worked with about that, they all started laughing & said that was ridiculous. I'm sure it's possible to "kill" a pt (air embolus, infection), but that's the wrong attitude to have when going in to start your first IVs. I would guess there's more to your friend's story than he's telling you, otherwise, you can guarantee you would have also heard about the lawsuit that followed his unfortunate loss of his thumb.

I'm glad you found some help. I had to go to sleep last night, but I was going to tell you - I think the reason you had such a hard time getting responses to your question was because you posted in the Virginia forum. Not everyone looks in the other states forums & I barely even go into my own states. Sounds like you got some good advice - good luck!

Well, I'm sorry no one's responded to your post! I don't have any real advice for you - I just graduated myself in May. However, something smells fishy (on your employer's end) to me...I realize that "forcing medication" on someone is abuse, but doesn't your manager realize you're dealing with dementia patients? And I will never understand managers who write their employees up, or discipline them for something but refuse to tell them what they're being disciplined for...that always makes me think something's "up" with an employer. You can't give up! Lots of people's first jobs out of school suck...you just have to move on. I've seen tons of threads around here about people leaving jobs after they've only been there a short time. As I recall, most of the advice I've seen seems to say to find another job, then just explain at the interview that the previous job just wasn't a good fit. One of the reasons I got into nursing is because there are just soooo many different things you can do as a nurse. You can work with babies, cancer pts, school kids, home health care...tons of stuff out there. Good luck to you!

You did recommend United to me, remember? I'm the girl from WSP! Yeah, when I went to go check out Prescott a few months ago, I just fell in love with it - to live right next to the river like that... Might make for some tough winters, though. I also tooled around Woodbury for awhile...I can't remember the name of the hospital there, but it looked brand spankin' new. I noticed a Davita center there, too...don't know much about them, though. Those were my thoughts exactly! I'm finding newfound respect from all those RNs coming over from the Phillippines & such.

It's like you're reading my mind deeDawntee. If the choice was totally up to me, I'd love to live in Prescott/Hudson area. That would be the easiest way to get around this WI/MN license transfer stuff. Finally decided a few days ago to try & get this state board exam done here in WI. My lease is supposed to end in 2 months - hopefully hopefully, hopefully this will be enough time for me to get my paperwork in & be able to schedule my exam here. Otherwise, I'm sure there's gotta be a place in W. Wisconsin that will let me take the NCLEX. I thought about trying to take the exam in MN, but it just seems like 10 more hoops to jump through in order to get my auth to test; I contacted the MN SBON & there's a $100 fee to pay (& I'm sure a million more forms to fill out), plus paperwork to fill out involving the SBON communicating with my school to verify that I graduated in order to take the test in MN. Thanks so much for all the advice you guys - it's truly appreciated.

That link was awesome - exactly what I was looking for. I can't believe that "new grad" thing worked. The only ads I've ever seen where new grads are actually welcome to apply have been for prisons & one summer camp out here in WI. Thank you so much! I'm glad you guys brought this up - my preference is the outskirts & I probably only would have looked at the 'burbs if you hadn't mentioned that most jobs are in the Twin Cities. Thank you all for the responses. I've got 60 days before I'm headed back to St. Paul, so hopefully I can at least get on my way with interviews & such by that time - all your input will definitely help. I think I'm going to try & pull off taking the NCLEX here in WI. Again, hopefully this is something I can get out of the way in the next 60 days.

Sooo, after 6 years of living in the Cheese State, I'm moving back home to St. Paul. Gotta few questions from you locals :) -Ideas on where I can get a job as a new grad? It's been 2 months since I graduated from school (NCLEX still pending) & I've barely gotten a nibble out here in WI. Do you think I'll find the same in St. Paul? Hopefully I can get the wheels going on this NCLEX thing, but do you think I can get hired as a new grad without it? -I doubt there are many who've been in this particular situation, but I'm grappling with this whole WI to MN transfer. It's kinda extra-complicated since I haven't taken the boards yet. I contacted MN SBON & it kinda sounds like I have 2 options: 1) I can fill out paperwork & such to get my school records transferred to MN & take my NCLEX there or 2) I can try & get this NCLEX thing out of the way here in WI, then just get my license transferred to MN. I get the feeling that both options will cost about the same & probably take about the same amount of time. Anyone have experience with this? It's just really overwhelming to me - where do I start? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Oooh! Good one! What drug cards do you think would be the best to make? Let's see what I can come up with: -docusate -warfarin -REGULAR INSULIN (actually, ALL insulins) -furosemide -ferrous sulfate -pantoprazole -ranitidine -metoprolol -digoxin Okay, I'll stop...don't want to overwhelm ya:)

I had weeks of down time at one point when I was going through the program. I finally had to go to my instructor & beg her to give me some advice on something to work on until classes restarted again. She suggested picking just one disease/disorder & become an absolute EXPERT on it. She thought maybe pick COPD, or hepatitis, or GERD & learn absolutely everything there is to know on it; the meds, nursing interventions, pathophysiology, labs, etc. In retrospect, I think this was really good advice. Too bad I didn't listen! I'd definitely recommend this; if you become an absolute expert on say, hepatitis, you are going to get such a break when it comes time to test on it in the nursing program. You'll be confident that every NCLEX question that comes your way about hepatitis, you'll already know the answer to. When you get that first patient in clinical with COPD, it'll save you a ton of time on your paperwork & give you a huge chance to absolutely blow your instructor away with how much you already know about the disease. Good luck!

hey, cs get degrees. funny - the day i took my cat lab exam, i told the teacher when i had finished that i'd had a dream the night before that i had failed the exam. we had a little chuckle over it & i went on to my next class. now, obviously, i wouldn't have told him this if i thought that i actually had failed it - found out the next day: yup, i'd failed. i felt so stupid for telling him about my dream:smackingf. still passed the class with a c, though - and yeah, i'm pretty sure it was a "pity-c." and that's fine with me; cs get degrees :)

I failed Chemistry. Twice. Dropped Micro the first time before they could fail me. Got an A my 2nd time around. I'd do it all again :) Totally worth it to me. And once you get into those nursing classes, that's when things get interesting. Hang in there!

OMG, you're so sweet! Please give yourself a break! First of all, a horrible aide wouldn't have even taken the time to reflect on this. He/She probably would have turned to his/her nurse & said, "No - he's been yelling at me all day! What'dya expect me to do?" You don't sound like a horrible aide, or like you're going to be a horrible nurse, so please don't drop out of school! I'm not the most aggressive either (would prefer to let pts rest, rather than bother them with assessments, etc), so I would also appreciate some tips on getting over this.

I think this is the best suggestion. I think it all comes down to personal preference - I'm sure most people probably feel the same way you do - don't want to be bothered to come in for the results. But I know for me - I don't have a lot of support at home, so I'd probably want someone there when I got the news (even if it was just a dr/nurse); also, since I work in healthcare, I'd have a million questions that I wouldn't be afraid to ask - I'd like to have the opportunity to do that, which isn't always the easiest thing to do over the phone. I don't know - that's just me.

That...stinks! Hate to say it, but I think I would apply to other facilities & lie. Or go pick up a waitress job. Sorry, I don't have any other advice...please keep us updated!

I've never heard of this - what does this mean? Is the health care profession recommending that people not get tested, or common-folk (if ya know what I mean)?

I thought about it & I think I'm with ya on this one. There are serious lifestyle changes that are part of the recommended tx of this disease that this pt needs to be aware of. Are you supposed to be responsible for giving the pt all that information? (Not saying you're not competent, just don't think that should be your responsibility - especially as a new nurse). And if the MD is going to have a follow up visit to discuss the prognosis & such, why not just give the news then? I don't know...this just doesn't seem right to me.

I've taken it - for the RN predictor exam, my program had to get a 70% to pass - I think I got like a 65, or something. The 2nd time I took it, I scored with a 73, I think. I know the reason I scored so well the 2nd time was because I took the practice online tests over and over and over and over again. Did your school give you passwords so you can access the practice tests online? If they did, that's what I'd stick to studying - if they didn't, PM me & I'll send you the passwords I've got:)