Scrubz

I bought myself a Littman Master Cardiology stethoscope and it was worth the money. Auscultate an apical pulse with a cheap stethoscope and then compare with a Master Cardiology and you'll notice an extreme difference. I'd like to have one of those electronic ones, but I figure it wouldn't be worth the money compared to what I'd use it for. And you might as well spend the extra money to get a MS over a Cardiology III. So in my opinion the Littman Master Cardiology is one of the better stethoscopes a nursing student, or an RN for that matter, can purchase.

I recommend the Palm TX. It's reasonably priced compared to everything else out there. They usually go from $250-300, and I got mine for $250. They don't have all the little extra things that a high end pocket PC would have, but you have to ask yourself what you need and why you're buying a PDA. The Palm TX has everything I need in a PDA: places to write myself notes, you can upload documents, schedule, store programs, ect.. I bought the Nursing Constellation package from Skyscape and I highly recommend it. It comes with the Davis Drug Guide, RN Notes, Lab Values and Referecne, and a bunch of medical calculators. Also, invest in Taber's Medical Dictionary, and if you have extra money, get the IV drug therapy guide. All of this cost me about $370 total, so be sure to add in how much you intend to spend on programs. Nursing Constellation and Taber's are going to add about $120 to whatever PDA you get. My Palm TX and those programs were well worth the money. They come in handy so much!!

School is tough yeah, but it's the only way you're going to become an RN. Just think, every RN out there has went through some form of school to get to where they are. And you do learn a lot of the fundamentals in school and being your knowledge base. But like some people have been saying: you do learn a lot in school, but you learn everything you need to know once you start working in the real world. Just keep at it. Good luck!

I've got a Littman Master Cardiology stethoscope and it works great. It's a little on the expensive side, but it's worth it. If you can dish out the money I'd go for one of those electronic stethoscopes.

The hospital I work at right now uses the same things. I don't think they're all that great though becasue you really can't give someone a good bath with one of those. Maybe if you used these every other day, and on the off days gave someone a real soap and water bath, that'd be okay. I find these things best used just to spot clean someone off. Like if they wet the bed, use one of these to wipe them off, but not to give a complete bath. That's just my opinion. They'll never have anything as good as a real shower though.

I strongly suggest buying a PDA so you can get a good medical dictionary and a good drug guide on it. It's been priceless in my clinical sessions. If I'm getting ready to pass a drug and don't know what it is, all I have to do is pull out my PDA and I can have it looked up in less than 10 seconds. I got a Palm TX, which ran me about $250, plus another $120 for all the programs I put on it, but you can find cheaper PDAs. But due to how fast you can look things up on the spot, and not having to lug around cumbersome books or having to run back to the nurses station to look in a book, you'll find that a PDA is worth the money. I intend to use these things my entire career.

I make $10/hour, but since I work nights I get a 13% pay diff., so that makes it $11.30. Since I live in a small town I think it's pretty good pay.

Agreed.. What you don't like touching other people? I would not reccomend nursing at all. Everyone doesn't like at least one or two aspects of nursing, but what you don't like is an essential feature that all nurses have to put up with. So I'd back out before you got in deep and then ditched. Save yourself some time and effort.

Agreed.. Mater Cardiology if you want to dish out the bucks for it. Far better than any base model stethoscope though. Worth the money. Consider it an investment. And if you really want to dish out the doe, get one of the new electronic ones. I hear they're really awesome.

I think everyone approaches school with a certain mindset of what it's going to be like, only to learn that reality is much different. Wheter this is good or bad for the student depends on the student. Plus, every school is different so everyone's perspectives are different. My advice, don't stress out about it, you'll find out soon enough what nursing school is like, and then go from there. Everyone always stresses about how to best prepare for getting ready, but the best thing to do is nothing and don't stress, because more than likely you'll get enough stress in school. Savor your off time..

I had an OB class last semester that I thought about skipping the last clinical just because we never did anything. The last day we were there we seriously sat around for 6 hours and did absolutly nothing. I'm not being sarcastic. So if it's that kind of situation, go for it. I ended up not skipping though. But if you're lucky enough to be doing something worth while, don't skip.

Thanks

Thanks

Is Propofol used on vented patients? Since the half-life of Propofol is so short wouldn't it be more justified using a longer activing sedative? I assume that Propofol isn't used for long-term vented pts right? Maybe just initially? I'm still in school so I have no experience with any of this other than what I hear or see, so thanks for any responses. I was just curious.

Is Propofol used on vented patients? Since the half-life of Propofol is so short wouldn't it be more justified using a longer activing sedative? I assume that Propofol isn't used for long-term vented pts right? Maybe just initially? I'm still in school so I have no experience with any of this other than what I hear or see, so thanks for any responses. I was just curious.

As far as how they're treating you, you can find better, because they shouldn't be treating you so poorly. As far as what you're doing in terms of work, everything fits in the job description. You might be able to find an easier place to work, but you'll be doing some of the same.

I'm trying to figure out ways to boost my GPA to make myself more competitive in the future. I've come to accept that my GPA will never be stellar thanks to my lack of effort during my freshman year and half of my sophomore year where I made mostly C's with a handful of B's. I didn't really care back then because at that time I hadn't planned on doing nursing, let alone wanting to be a CRNA at some point, I was persuing a degree where I didn't need good grades in the classes that didn't matter. Now I'm kicking myself in the butt for it. Since the second semester of my sophomore year I'd been making A's and B's, but the classes have been getting harder so it's harder to make all A's and B's just seem to be the best I can do in my nursing classes, since our dean is hardcore against A's and the lowest you can have is 93% for an A. Smart people are lucky to get a high B in our nursing classes. Anyway, aside from making good grades from here on out, how can I go about raising my GPA? Can I retake some old classes where I got C's and bring them up to A's? At what point could I take a semester just to retake some old classes and boost some C's up to some A's? Does anyone know if CRNA schools frown on people retaking classes? Because that's important to me too. Right now my science GPA is a 3.0 and only consist of 5 science classes. I got a C in one really hard chemistry, got an A in another chemistry, and B's in some anatomy and physiology classes. Also, will they CRNA schools look at my overall GPA from my ADN program and my BSN program as separate schools? Or do they look at undergrad GPA cumulative? So could I take as many classes as I wanted to before I got my BSN and ceased being an undergrad student? I've heard that CRNA schools look at things like last 60 hours, nursing GPA, science GPA, cumulative GPA... I'd like to raise my cumulitive GPA and at least get my science GPA to around 3.5. So if anyone has any ideas of how I can boost my GPA, any help or advice would really be greatly appreciated. I know it's my own fault for digging this hole, but I'm willing to do everything possible to get my GPA up to a semi-competitive level. I'm willing to retake classes, or even take out a semester at some point (I need help figuring out where) to retake some old classes to boost my GPA. I know I'm going to do good from here on out, but I'd rather have my GPA around 3.5 than around 3.0, so any help would be very, very, very much appreciated. Thank you so much if you reply!!!

My freshman and sophomore years I made mostly Cs and some Bs, and not really until the last part of my sophomore year did I kick it in and start getting just As and Bs. I've heard that some schools look primarily at last 60 credit hours and science classes as means for judging GPA. I mean, by the time I've graduated with my BSN I'll have more than a 3.0, but less than a 3.5. If my last 60 hours are called into question, it'll make my GPA look worlds better. I know not all schools just look at the last 60 credit hours, but I've heard some do, and I was just going to ask if there was any truth in that. Because if that's so then my last 60 hours will look good, and my science GPA right now is a 3.0, which I can hopefully raise. I'm mainly asking this because if I have to I guess I can retake some of the classes I took as a freshman to boost my GPA. I really don't want to, but if it'll greatly increase my chances later on of acceptance into CRNA school, then I'd do it. My biggest regret is my lack of effort in my early college years. Thanks for any help.

Peds/OB is kicking my butt.. I have an 81-82% in that class, and 85% is a B. I'm actually studying for this crap and still not getting a B. I hate this class. At least in Med/Surg I'll start learning about the stuff I want to know. I'm not saying I don't have to be familiar with Peds/OB, but I'm going into adult critical care, so hopefully the chances of me ever having to work with peds patients or women in labor will be minimal anyway...

Hopefully you'll get to do more than just observe. I'd assume many schools get much more hands-on than we're getting. Observation is good of course, but hands-on is 100x better for learning.

Proper perineal care is most important for women because of their much shorter urethra. On average men's are about 20cm while women's are about 4cm, so from a bacteria's standpoint you can see how making the 4cm journey would be much easier. So you really want to avoid wiping more "dirty" into the urethra because women are much more prone to developing UTIs. Front to back is very important because you don't want bacteria from the behind (namely E.Coli) to get into the urethra. If you ever see anyone wiping the wrong way, show them the proper way because it's important. But for women, wipe front to back, clean to dirty, start from the labia minora and work out towards the majora. It's definitly okay to wash the urethra, so don't be afraid of that or anything, just follow the steps to avoid more contamination than you want. I mean, do you think girls clean themselves the proper way all the time? From their standpoint they probably just throw the rag down there and.. You see where I'm going with this. But from a CNA's standpoint, do it the right way. (For the record, I'm a guy)

I'm in my second semester of nursing school taking peds and OB for nursing, and a microbiology class (waste of time). I've only got two weeks left, and though I know I don't have much time left, it still seems like I have so much more to do. Probably because this is the most boring semester of college I've ever had, and on the flip-side, pretty much all of the girls in my class are enjoying it. Our clinicals are nothing to be desired, 99% observation, which means little to me as I learn more while working at the hospital as a CNA than I do at clinicals. Next semester I'm heading to med/surg and psych. I'm looking forward to it. I know it'll be harder, but I hope it's harder. The harder the class, the better I do. And it'll be more interesting to me, and clinicals will be more involved and I'll actually get to spend time with patients rather than just observing.. ugh.. Where's everyone else heading?

I know as far as FAFSA is concerned, the less money you draw in, the more money you get. If you're still dependent, the less your family makes, the more money you get. Not totally fair, but that's how it works. You could always try looking for scholarships. Go see your school's financial services for advice. As far as wheter or not to get your BSN flat our or to wait and go back.. Just know that there's no real pay difference in the two degrees, but there are obvious benefits to getting a BSN, such as more advancement opportunities, and if you want to go back to graduate school eventually, you'd probably need your BSN, unless you did RN-MSN or something. I'm in an ADN program now, but I plan on going back for my BSN as soon as I graduate this program. I want to be a CRNA someday and I'll need it. Plus there are other reasons I want my BSN. The school I go to, I get free tuition cause my dad works maintenance here. It's an employee benefit. If I didn't get that benefit I wouldn't be going to school here and I'd be getting my BSN straight out. So my advice is that if you plan on getting your BSN, just get it done with all at once. Weigh the benefits though. Some people can do perfectly fine without a BSN, and as far as how skilled a nurse is, it's hard if not impossible to tell an ADN nurse from a BSN nurse. BSN just tags on a few extra classes, usually more theory that seems to be replaced with experience eventually. So personally I'd go with BSN, but you should look at each closey and decide for yourself. Obviously money is an important factor. But even if you go get your ADN first, you can always go back to an RN-BSN program later. So don't sweat it too much, just go with what's best at the time. The most important thing is to become a good nurse.

I can't wait until my clinicals get fun and challenging. Right now they're just flat out pointless and boring. I'm in my second semester right now. Last semester it was fundamentals with our clinicals in a nursing home where we basically did CNA work. Now we're in peds/OB and our peds clinicals consisted of going to a daycare and observing "growth and development" (i.e., babysitting), and now our OB clinicals are pretty much observations on a L&D floor at a hospital 30 minutes away. Where's the hands-on? This isn't nursing! The classes might actually be half-intersting if we got to apply it in clinicals, but we don't. I work as a CNA at our local hospital and I'm getting to see and do way more there than I have been in nursing school. The real joke is that I'd say more than half of the students in my program only know what they've been taught and shown, concerning nursing. Therefore, they know practically nothing and will probably be weeded out eventually when they hit reality. I'm just hoping that by the time we get into med/surg that our clinicals will be at least intersting. I'm glad I work in a hospital now because this is where I learn the most. What a joke.. Kind of went off on another rant.. It's easy to do under the circumstances..

I went to UK for a year, then came back to my hometown university to go to nursing school. I had planned on going to UK's nursing school, but I get free school back here, so I decided on that.. It's a split on whether or not I made the best choice, but too late now I plan on going back to UK to get my BSN degree through their RN-BSN program, and hopefully work in one of their ICUs. That's the plan anyway.