MommyJoy

Hello. I would highly recommend you visit the webpage for the health dept. in IL. I work in Kansas as a school nurse, get get a lot of info from the KS. Health Department. I also look at the Johnson County Health Dept. website, as I work in JOCO! You should find a lot of info from your local health department regarding requirement for high school. I found this link for you... Immunization Program Joy

Hello, I was just hired as full time faculty at a local university. I thought during the interview process that I would be teaching adult health 1 (med/surg). I have now been assigned to teach patho. Don't get me wrong, I know patho is at the core of everything we teach...however, this is not my strong point. I worked med/surg for years, and feel very confident in this area. However, just looking at the patho book overwhelms me. How can I really regurgitate what I don't know? I feel like I am going to just be reading power points. I remember those professors who obviously didn't know the content. I just don't feel comfortable with this. Any advice besides "making my concerns known". Really, I want to know from experienced educators...can you really, really teach what you barely know or are frantically trying to relearn?

I realize this post is about 3 yrs old. But my friend and I are wanting to start out own business. Do you have any tips?

I graduated with my BSN in May. I had a handful of professors that worked PRN bedside nursing to keep up their skills. Those professors made the best clinical instructors by far. The professors that did not continue to work were awful in clinical. I can think of many, many situations in which a clinical instructor did not know how to work and IV pump, Kangaroo pump, etc. etc. I know that this is a little off subject, but if you have a masters in nursing, and you are doing any kind of teaching, you need to keep up your bedside skills.

Regardless of the job title, situation etc. It is very, very frustrating when you cannot understand what someone is saying. As a nurse, I hate it when I cannot understand what a doc is saying. It takes time to ask them to keep repeating themselves, and I think the risk of error increases. Pts do have a right to understand what is being said to them...all of the time. If a pt. cannot understand what the nurse is saying, they have a hard time trusting, and understanding what is going on with their care. If a pt cannot understand what the nurse is saying, then ask for a different nurse. Yes, we are short staffed, but pt satisfaction is important too.

Hi, I used Meds Publishing CDS. I used the NCLEX set, and the Pharmacology set. THey are a great review. However, you do need a fairly good understanding of Med Surg Nursing to be able to follow the cds, as they are an NCLEX Review, not a comprehensive teaching guide.

So when someone asks about residuals related to a CVA, what does that mean? What exactly does that mean. Would that mean like left sided weakness or something? Please let me know, because even if I did have a pt with a CVA, and a nurse asked for residuals, I would not know what to say.

Well if the question was "Any Residual" what does that mean? Like any residual effects or something?

So yestereday I had a pt who had fallen on the ice and fractured his ankle. He was going down for surgery, and when I was giving report to the surgical nurse, she asked what the pts residuals were. I told the nurse that I was not sure what she was asking for because the pt did not have any type of tube feeding etc. The nurse replied that she did not mean tube feeding residuals, and again asked what his residuals were, I told her that I did not know what she meant, and she said never mind. Today, I overheard another nurse talking about CVA residuals. All I know is that I am a new grad, and all I ever learned in school regarding residuals had to do with checking related to a tube feeding. I have looked all over the interent and in my textbooks for something regarding residuals besides what I already know. If there are other types of residuals, please someone help me, and let me know because I don't have enough knowledge regarding this topic to research it any further. Any and all thoughts would be appreciated!

Just wanted to say I took the NCLEX yesterday, and I have no clue as to my results. My computer shut off at 75. I had about 8 OB questions....yipes. Also, I had 2 lyme disease, and a black widow spider bite for crying out loud. I had no cardiac, renal, endocrine or anything that I know. I feel that the test was the most random, weird thing I have ever experienced. Who in the heck studies bug bites for the NCLEX? Also, I feel like the amount of ob I had was more than enough. The others were mostly meds I had NEVER heard of. Even my diabetic questions did not mention insulin, just some weird drugs I did not know. They must have been oral hypoglycemic agents or somethings. Anyway, I just needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

I have the ATI books and DVDs. I have not taken any of their online tests. The books and DVDs are a good review, but you really need to know the information by the time you go through the books and watch the DVDs. They books are basically an outline of everything you learn in school. The DVDs are handy because they are easy to watch when folding laundry, walking on the treadmill etc. One tip, if you want to buy a set of books and dvds, get them off of ebay. I got mine there, and know about 12 other people who bought theres off of ebay. Of course, with ebay, you will not get access to the ATI online review. If you buy off of ebay, you need to know which books/dvds you are getting. Go to the ATI website and check out the current books/dvds, and make sure you are getting the full set. I actually have a cd set by a company called Meds Publishing. There are 32 audio cds covering everything from lab values to cardiac disorders. Then I have 6 more cds that cover pharmacology. I like the meds publishing stuff too. I personally think any audio stuff is helpful because you can use it when driving, eating etc. It lets you study, when you normally would not be able to.

Our teacher told use to use the word ROME. Respiratory Opposite Metabolic Equal. If it is respiratory pH is the opposite direction of PCO2. When it is Metabolic pH and Bicarb go the same direction. If you need more help with blood gases, get the book Fluids and Electrolytes Made Incredibly Easy. It is the best book I have every bought.

What tapes are you referring too? Laura.... something. I am externing in the SICU this summer. I am currently a tech on a step down unit. Anyway, I am very interested in ICU, and just wondering what the information is that you are referring too.

I am a senior nursing student, and am externing this summer in the SICU. I was excited to read about a new nurse getting hired into that area. Can you tell me more about it, what types of pts. you see etc. Do pts. eventually go to the MICU once that are stable? Do you get a lot of contact with the families. I love family contact and critical pts.

I am a senior nursing student with a 4.0 GPA blah, blah, blah. I took a job about a month ago on a critical care floor. Lots of kidney, liver, heart failure etc. Lots of immobile, incontinent patients. Lots of bed baths, and lots of poop. Even with my 4.0 GPA , I learned more in 3 days on the job than I learned my entire junior year of school. Working as a CNA is the best thing I have ever done. Every nurse I have talked too says the best nurses are the ones that have been CNAs first. My CNA experience is far more valuable than any grades or honors I may attain. If you don't ever want to do CNA work, that means you will be one of those RNs that sees a patient lying in their waste, and walk away because it isn't your job. Nurses like that are not teamplayers. By the way, since I am working this semester, I probably won't pull all A's, but I will be a heck of a lot better nurse because of my CNA experience. Title means nothing, especially if you think you are above doing certain tasks.

Hello. I am a senior nursing student and am making plans to extern this summer. I am going to be externing in critical care, the problem is I don't know if I should extern in MICU, SICU, or ICCU. I really don't know the difference as far as the type of patients etc. If someone could please let me know what the differences are, and what a nurse does, I would appreciate it. I need to let the hospital know by Monday.

I got my job in postpartum/nursery because I attended a job fair that one of our local hospitals was having. I had a resume and a letter of interest with me. When I got to the job fair, I asked the gal running the registration booth who the hiring manager for mother/baby was. She pointed her out. I went up to her, introduced myself, gave her my resume and letter of interest to work in this area. A few weeks later, I got a call for an interview. Most hospitals have job fairs at one point or another. You could also just apply for a job and put the area that you are interested in. You might also call human resources and just ask about the possibility of speaking to someone about your area of interest. Also, starting out as a volunteer may also help you get started. I think one of the things that helped me, was the fact that I was aggressive, plus the fact that I am in nursing school. Hospitals are shortstaffed, and although mother/baby is a high demand area, I am sure that with some push, you can make your way into this field. Good luck.

Hello, I am a CNA and a senior nursing student. I have worked in the postpartum unit and the newborn nursery as a CNA. With the babies, I was able to give first bath, assess vitals, do hearing screens, PKUs, feed, etc. As far as the moms, I assessed lochia, assisted with ADLs, measured I and O, etc. With the new mothers there is not a ton of stuff to do because they usually just need help up the first or second time. If you like consistency as a CNA, than it is a great place to be. You won't have very much of the back breaking lifting and transferring of patients etc. It is much easier on the body than say a med/surg unit.

As a patient who has had many IVs and been stuck too many times, I appreciate any nurse that will take the time to give me a local.

Hello, I saw your post and wondered if you took the job at Select? I am in nursing school, and have been offered a position as a CNA at a Select hospital in Tulsa. I am pretty interested, as my aunt was in a Select hospital in Kansas for several weeks. It seems like it might be a good place to learn a lot while being a student. If you are working there, could you fill me in on the pros and cons and what you get to do as a nurse, and if it would be beneficial for a student.

There is a company called ATI, their website is http://www.atitesting.com. They have a book and dvd series. I am only in my second semester, but the dvds are great. I can watch them while exercising, lying in bed etc. There is about 28 hours of lecture style video on the dvds. I also have a set of audio cds by http://www.medspub.com, they basically cover the same info. Anyway, for me being able to listen to the information in my spare time has been great. Anyway, though this info. might help. By the way, the ATI books are for sale on ebay a lot. Let me know if you need any more information. Joy

I have heard that home health is the place to be for flexible scheduling. I really need advice on what type of nursing is flexible, and I don't mean flex scheduling at a hospital. Home health nurses please give me the scoop!

You need to check with your local library. I checkout NCLEX Made Easy and Kaplans NCLEX review just last week. Does your school have a library?

There is a compnay called meds publishing. There website is medspub.com. They have dvds and audio cds that are supposed to be pretty good. They are very expensive, but very comprhensive. I have not used it, but have heard that it is good.

How interesting. I am having the same experience. I talked to them about 2 months ago, and finally did get the income guidelines out of them. Then they told me I needed to come to an all day orientation thing. Well, I called them about a month later, and told them I needed more specifics because of having to get child care for the day. I was very clear that I needed to know about the program, and got no where. I really want to know more about the program, because I need money for nursing school, and my family meets the income requirement they gave me. By the way, I am a student at Langston, Tulsa campus.